The 11 Best Hair Metal Debut Albums (Ranked)

Our list of the 11 best hair metal debut albums shows just how much diversity existed within a subgenre that was too often maligned by critics as one-dimensional fluff.

Granted, hair metal — or glam metal, or whatever you want to call it — was less of a sound and more of a pejorative term that was retrofitted to bands with teased hair, leather pants and hooky hard rock anthems about sex and partying. But it’s the easiest and most widely recognized categorization for the hedonistic rock scene that ruled the ’80s, so it will have to suffice.

Even if the bands on this list shared some sonic and aesthetic similarities, they also put their own spin on the so-called hair metal sound. Bands such as Motley Crue and Twisted Sister debuted at the beginning of the decade with raw, raucous first albums that were equally influenced by the glam rock, punk and metal acts of the ’70s.

READ MORE: The Heaviest Song by 11 Big Hair Metal Bands

Others, such as Poison and Warrant, were part of a later wave of hair metal, one more focused on pop hooks and frothy power ballads. These groups played up the inherent ridiculousness of the genre with their outrageous fashion choices and excessively horny lyrics — and in hindsight, they came to epitomize all of the era’s most prevalent (and often negative) stereotypes.

Micro differences aside, the albums on this list also show just how often hair metal bands caught lightning in a bottle on their first try. Many of the era’s biggest acts seemed to emerge fully formed on their debut albums, having refined their sound over years on the club circuit. That some of them would struggle to recreate this first-album glory is beside the point; it’s impressive that they managed to do it even once.

Read on to see how we ranked the 11 best hair metal debut albums.