Q is for Quiet Riot

I wish I could tell you that Queen or Queens of the Stone Age or even Queensryche were in my favorite or impactful bands but they simply… were not. Now, Quiet Riot isn’t necessarily either (this has been by far the hardest letter) but they do represent a genre I love almost more than anything else: the 80s hair metal/glam scene.

Although they technically started in the 70s, with renowned Ozzy guitarist Randy Rhoads (RIP), this band reinvented themselves in the early 80s and put out Mental Health, which, with Cum on Feel the Noize, became one of the first commercial heavy metal songs/albums to receive radio play. This ushered in the rock revival we saw in the 80s. Rock was king during that decade. In fact, if you go back and watch any movie from that time period, there’s rock in the background, in montages, during the credits. Look at movies now: rap or pop. If I hear rock in a movie, it’s VERY rare. (The tv show Wayne is the only one that comes to mind.)

So really, this band was a forefather to bands like Skid Row, Poison, Motley Crue, etc. That, to me, is a huge credit to them.

I’d consider these my two favorites off that first real album. This kind of sound led to bands like Twisted Sister who wrote real, true rock anthems; themes of living the metal lifestyle, rebelling, doing what you want. And standing up for what you believe in. As you may know, as those bands got more popular, they came under fire during the PMRC trials where stuffed shirts like Tipper Gore read too much into songs and tried to ban them for suggestive themes. Even though Snider pissed me off yesterday with something he said, he killed it during those trials; of course, no one thought a guy who looked like he did would be smart and eloquent. And I LOVE that. People judge way too much on appearances and assumptions of those. Screw you: people are not always what you THINK they are. And this is why we have problems in America right now Oh, you’re white? You must also be a white supremacist. I mean, we have gone way too far to the dark side if that’s how we are living our lives.

Metal, to me, represents doing your own thing, being your own person, and not worrying what others think. The funniest part is that the metal community is super welcoming and inclusive, believe it or not.