"Pyromania" features great melodies and harmonies with a hard rock edge that Def Leppard would never truly recapture. Most bands would kill to be able to write songs with "hooks" that were this addictive, and, for now, Def Leppard seemed to do it effortlessly.

Early W.A.S.P. might be best described as shock-rock with an obvious stylistic debt to Alice Cooper and Kiss. However, W.A.S.P. was not a mere gimmick. Blackie Lawless understood the art of writing memorable songs.

The epitome of arena rock consisting of radio-ready songs with shout-along choruses. Unlike Motley Crue, there was never anything dangerous about Bon Jovi.

This album was Def Leppard’s commercial pinnacle and was instrumental with regards to helping hair-metal cross-over in to the mainstream. In any event, this studio-slick album contains some of the best “hooks” ever recorded…in any musical genre.

This is David Coverdale’s most successful Whitesnake album and an obvious attempt at attaining commercial nirvana. Nevertheless, Coverdale clearly possesses a great voice and this album features numerous stellar rock songs.

Sebastian Bach was arguably one of the most gifted singers in hair-metal. It was 1989, and with the emergence of grunge on the horizon, Skid Row had left their run a little too late. Nevertheless, this album contained numerous addictive tracks and, in my view, was perhaps the last great hair-metal release of the 80s.