If it hasn't been said enough and if you really don't know, Hair Metal OWNED the 80's!
The decade of excess used the genre as a soundtrack, and the look and sound of it fit perfectly with the rockstar lifestyle everyone wanted, but as the pretty people lived out their fantasy their less glossy counterparts began to simmer underground. The mostly female fan base of hair metal began to grow older and give way to a rising generation that tuned out the pyro of hair and wanted the pureness of 70's Hard Rock. The masses would begin to shun anything glammed out and wanted to hear more Raw Power.
On September 24, 1991 the death knell would strike in the form of something old, something new, and something borrowed. Three albums would be released laying down the foundations for the end of hair and the rise of alternative.
Nirvana's Nevermind would hit stores and enter the charts at No. 144. A slow crawl in the beginning, the band itself would not see the rise of the album, as they were on a European tour when the effects of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" catching fire on MTV, would cause the album to blaze up the charts like a rocket! The album hit No. 1 in January 92 and sell over 30m copies world wide! The song and the band would be the flag bearer for Grunge which would embark on a hostile takeover of rock, collapsing Hair Metal under its own weight and burring it completely within a year.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers released their fifth album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the second album to feature their now classic line-up of Frusciante and Smith joining Flea and Anthony Keidis. The band would strike gold with the hits 'Under the Bridge' and 'Give It Away', and become a worldwide hit that countered the gritty Grunge sound, with their funk/punk infused rock. The album and their joining of the Lollapalooza tour took them from underground darlings to rock giants, joining grunge and industrial music in their wiping out of glam
Rounding out the day would be AC/DC who would spark a second comeback in their career with the release of 'The Razors Edge'! Their 11th album brought them blasting into the 90's after a disappointing end of the 80's. The only album to feature drummer Chris Slade, roared up the charts to No.2 and instantly dished out one of their greatest anthems with "Thunderstruck"! Capitalizing on the new younger generation's love of 70's Hard Rock, AC/DC never took to the Glam Sound of the 80's which began to eclipse them from the middle to the end of the decade, but their hard driving sound was perfect for the newer rock fans that wanted their music stripped down and raw, and the band saw newfound success in the new decade!
The fall of 80's hair was not really an overnight one, the over saturation of the sound and style was going to topple at some point, but the rise of alternative just needed a big bang to open its already rising floodgates and one day in September did just that.