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When grunge exploded in the early ’90s, it left the ’80s hair metal<\/a> scene in the dust \u2014 but the best grunge song by these five hair metal bands\u00a0shows that some\u00a0groups managed to adapt to the times with their dignity intact.<\/p>\n Well, at least creatively \u2014 commercially, they were all a wash.<\/p>\n By the time Nirvana<\/a> and Pearl Jam<\/a> were racing up the charts, most rock fans were burnt out on the party-hardy glam metal that had ruled the roost for the past decade. The Sunset Strip hair bands were summarily written off as relics of a bygone era and nothing they did would help them overcome that stigma.<\/p>\n So even when a band like Motley Crue or Skid Row released a kickass album that was decidedly heavier than their previous work and fit in well with the grunge and alt-rock bands of the day, they were doomed to fail based purely on name alone.<\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong>Who Are the ‘Big 4’ of Hair Metal?<\/a><\/p>\n Still, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. In fact, some hair metal\u00a0bands’ grunge excursions yielded some of their best and most delightfully heavy songs.<\/p>\n Don’t believe us? Check out our list of the best grunge song by five hair metal bands and see for yourself.<\/p>\n Dokken<\/a>‘s namesake frontman Don Dokken<\/a> initially planned for Dysfunctional<\/i> to be a solo album, but plans changed after longtime guitarist\u00a0(and Dokken’s perpetual foil)\u00a0George Lynch<\/a>\u00a0returned to the fold. (Bassist Jeff Pilson<\/a> and drummer Mick Brown<\/a> were already onboard.)<\/p>\n The resulting album featured the band’s signature melodic vocals and fretboard-melting shredding, but with an overall darker, heavier sound. Nobody would mistake\u00a0Dysfunctional<\/em> for a true-blue grunge album, but they also wouldn’t lump it in with Dokken’s ’80s output.<\/p>\n On the whole, Dysfunctional<\/i>\u00a0came and went\u00a0without a trace, but the promo single “Too High to Fly” proved its staying power in the band’s setlists over the years. For good reason, too \u2014 its snarling, bluesy riffs and sturdy groove maintained Dokken’s ’80s ethos while charting a path forward for\u00a0a new era. It wasn’t enough to save their commercial fortunes \u2014 1997’s maligned\u00a0Shadowlife<\/em> put the final nail in that coffin \u2014 but it was a valiant effort nonetheless.<\/p>\n Even in their early, teased-hair days, Extreme<\/a> never quite fit the traditional glam metal mold. Still, the chameleonic Boston\u00a0rockers\u00a0took\u00a0advantage of their proximity to the scene with the chart-topping acoustic ballad “More Than Words,” which launched its accompanying album, 1990’s\u00a0Extreme II: Pornograffitti<\/em>, to double-platinum status.<\/p>\n By 1992, Extreme were ready to leave the so-called “hair metal” scene behind them, sprawling out on the genre-hopping concept album\u00a0III Sides to Every Story<\/em>. They changed course once again on 1995’s\u00a0Waiting for the Punchline<\/em>, stripping away their art-rock pretensions in favor of a groovy, grungy alt-rock sound.<\/p>\n Waiting for the Punchline<\/em> landed with a thud, but the single “Hip Today” found Extreme putting a unique stamp on the grunge and alt-rock du jour. The off-kilter rhythms of drummer Mike Mangini<\/a> and bassist Pat Badger propel the song, while\u00a0Nuno Bettencourt<\/a>‘s dizzying guitar solo proves that Extreme’s virtuosity could not be constrained to a single subgenre.<\/p>\n Fans and industry insiders were rightfully skeptical when\u00a0Motley Crue<\/a> parted ways with frontman Vince Neil<\/a> and drafted John Corabi<\/a> to sing on their 1994 self-titled album. This major personnel change, plus the five-year gap between\u00a0Dr. Feelgood<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Motley Crue<\/em>, meant the latter album\u00a0quickly tumbled down the charts and stalled at gold status \u2014 a far cry from the band’s multi-platinum successes of the previous decade.<\/p>\n The tragedy is that, had it been released under any other name,\u00a0Motley Crue<\/em> would be hailed as a grunge\/alternative metal masterpiece rather than the beginning of the end of the band’s glory days.<\/p>\n “Misunderstood” is a microcosm of everything that makes\u00a0Motley Crue<\/em> such an astounding record. The six-and-a-half-minute mini-epic deftly shifts between tender, acoustic guitar-driven passages and furious metallic riffage, ornamented by Tommy Lee<\/a>‘s titanic drums and Corabi’s bluesy, raspy howl. It’s one of Motley Crue’s most musically accomplished songs and it can go toe-to-toe with grunge’s biggest names.<\/p>\n Band morale was at an all-time low when Skid Row<\/a> recorded\u00a0Subhuman Race<\/em>, their contentious third album and final to date with lead singer Sebastian Bach<\/a>. The frontman blamed it partially on the overreach of producer Bob Rock<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I remember him saying, \u2018Everybody knows you can scream, Sebastian’ and suggesting I sing like Scott Weiland<\/a>,” Bach recalled<\/a>. “Why don\u2019t you just take a thoroughbred racehorse and hit him on the fuckin\u2019 kneecap with a baseball bat? I do like that album, but it\u2019s not a fun record.”<\/p>\n Maybe it’s not a fun record, but it sure as hell is a\u00a0heavy<\/em> one.\u00a0Subhuman Race<\/em>\u00a0is brimming with gnarled, down-tuned riffs and\u00a0pummeling grooves \u2014 a logical\u00a0progression from its\u00a0metallic predecessor,\u00a0Slave to the Grind<\/em>. On standout track “Beat Yourself Blind,” Bach instead\u00a0channels another grunge titan \u2014 Chris Cornell<\/a> \u2014 delivering some of his most devastating screams over ominous, bass-driven riffs. Subhuman Race<\/em>\u00a0might have been unpleasant to make, but it’s a thrill to hear.<\/p>\n Warrant<\/a>‘s Jani Lane<\/a> was always a pop songwriter in glam metal clothing.\u00a0Frustrated by the pigeonholing success of “Cherry Pie,” he led Warrant\u00a0into harder, more sophisticated territory on 1992’s\u00a0Dog Eat Dog<\/em> before briefly leaving the group\u00a0and\u00a0attempting to launch a solo career.<\/p>\n Lane returned to Warrant shortly thereafter and the band underwent a massive stylistic overhaul, delving into grunge and alt-rock on 1995’s\u00a0Ultraphobic<\/em> and 1996’s\u00a0Belly to Belly<\/em>. The latter features “Letter to a Friend,” a\u00a0poignant pseudo-ballad featuring a plaintive vocal performance and introspective lyrics from Lane.<\/p>\n “Letter to a Friend” and the rest of\u00a0Belly to Belly<\/em> might turn off fans of Warrant’s libidinous party-metal anthems \u2014 it sounds closer to Bush<\/a> or Silverchair<\/a> than anything off their first two albums. But it’s richly melodic and bittersweet all the same, proof that Lane could\u00a0thrive as a songwriter in\u00a0multiple styles.<\/p>\n Even as the genre hurtled toward irrelevance, several bands eked out terrific, underappreciated music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Bryan Rolli<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nDokken, “Too High to Fly” (Dysfunctional<\/em>, 1995)<\/h3>\n
Extreme, “Hip Today” (Waiting for\u00a0the Punchline<\/em>, 1995)<\/h3>\n
Motley Crue, “Misunderstood” (Motley Crue<\/em>, 1994)<\/h3>\n
Skid Row, “Beat Yourself Blind” (Subhuman Race<\/em>, 1995)<\/h3>\n
Warrant, “Letter to a Friend” (Belly to Belly<\/em>, 1996)<\/h3>\n
10 Underrated Hair Metal Bands That Deserved to Be Way Bigger<\/h2>\n