Guitar Gods of the 80s

The most disticnt aspect of 80's music was the "Solo". Trying to narrow down the guitar gods was a bit hard, but...not really. These guitarist ( in my opinion) were the best of this genre. I was inclined to put others like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmi Paige, DimeBag Darrell but we are talking about 80's glam band so lets stick to those. Well here we go....if I leave any out that should be on the list by all means post your opinion.

Some Guitar Gods :

Eddie Van Halen - Van Halen

Randy Rhoads - Ozzy, (the original) Quiet Riot

Steve Vai - David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, Alcatraz

Yngwie Malmsteen - his own band, Alcatraz

Joe Satriani - Chickenfoot, Solo stuff

Paul Gilbert - Racer X, Mr. Big

George Lynch - Dokken, Lynch Mob

Warren DiMartini - Ratt

Jake E. Lee - Ozzy, Badlands

Kirk Hammitt - Metallica

Mick Mars - Motley Crue

When Singers Sang

I remember, opening the window to this efficiency we lived in, in about 1986, and singing. Just belting it out trying to keep up. From Bruce Dickinson, to Don Dokken, throughout the years I have tried to sing along with the good ones...lol. These are ( in my opinion) the most talented singers from the era of decadence. Add who you think should be on this list.

My Top 10 Vocalists:
Geof Tate - Queensryche
Ozzy Osbourne - Ozzy
Don Dokken - Dokken
Sebastian Bach - Skid Row
Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden
Klause Meine - Scorpions
Rob Halford - Judas Priest
Ronnie James Dio - Dio
Vince Neil - Motley Crue
Cory Glover - Living Colour

Down came the Hammer

Van Halen was signed to Warner Bros. in 1978. Which started the Sunset Strip explosion with bands like Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Ratt, W.A.S.P., Dokken and others. Everything began to change once the " Power Ballad" became a way to get on the charts. The 80s rock formula, first single rockin , followed by a power ballad. Pretty soon they all had power ballads and all began to sound the same. Which pretty much ended the scene and opened up the doors to the Seattle grunge scene.
Here are some bands the 80s could have done without ( in my opinion):
Enuff z Nuff
Danger Danger
Winger
Trixter
Jailhouse
Britney Fox
Bullet Boys
Kingdom Come
Kix
Shotgun Messiah
Pretty Boy Floyed
Quierboys
Steal Heart
Firehouse
Stryper
Loudness
L.A. Guns
Warrant
House of Lords
Vinnie Vincent Invasion
Slaughter
Krokus
Europe
Can you think of anymore?

The *80's spawned many copycat bands of a lesser talent that ultimately diluted this decade of music. Unfortunately, the final nail in the proverbial casket of this genre of music came to an abrupt stop for the *80's hair bands. Thus, began a new age in music that detoured many of the *80's acts into solo projects,with little success. They could not compete when early *90's grunge was introduced to audiences around the globe and was the end of glam rock as we the fans knew it, or so we thought. Bands like Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Nirvana, The Screaming Trees. Other seattle based bands, like Pearl Jam had a massive impact on the grunge scene. The grunge scene soon started to fade as did our *80's metal gods. The grunge scene was soon tragically derailed by unfortunate suicides,drug overdoses.On the brightside of the whole rock, metal and or glam scene is that the true talent of the 80's still continues to make music and tour, for they're fans.The pioneers of this genre was and is Motley Crue. Instilling the good, the bad, the ugly and the wildest band in the base of music and possibly the world. Many tragic moments, near death, out of body experiences, drug induced comas to the debaucheries of only which they can tell.still they remain one of the most notorious bands in history and as a fan,hope that they remain that way. (insert metal horns here)
What 80s rock song is your guilty pleasure?