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reachers_toothbrush@reddit

I still like W.A.S.P. Blackie Lawless became a Christian in later life and doesn't play certain songs from their back catalogue. They rocked back in the day though.

https://i.redd.it/icxmr4thl1ug1.gif

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Ill-Lou-Malnati@reddit

I’m assuming Fuck Like A Beast didn’t make the cut.

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corpus-luteum@reddit

They were all American, and all shite.

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GenX-ModTeam@reddit

Poor Behavior - No antagonism, trolling, rage farming, flame wars, juvenility, or any other overly cantankerous commentary and/or behavior will be tolerated.

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According to my mom, all secular bands, from the Beach Boys to Motley Crue, were going to hell. She also thought that Stryper, Bloodgood, Barren Cross, Petra, and all the other Christian rock bands were "leading good kids to the devil's door." None of that music was allowed in the house. Classical and some sacred was all we could listen to. If it had a drum with the beat on 2 and 4 in it, we had to throw it away. Little did she know that I had a couple of Petra tapes inside a sock buried in the bottom of my sock drawer. Never really liked any of the others, but I did/do like Petra.

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

Same church experience here. So there was another band called Stryken, which was a cut rate Stryper. Like seriously cut rate. Terrible musically. Look them up on Spotify if you have the stomach for it. Here they are in their hair band glory ...

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Uptight_AI@reddit

This should be, "SHOUT at the Devil," and now we need to talk about Just Priest, hardcore Harley masculinity, and leather gear...

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Seventhson65@reddit

We

Are

Sexual

Perverts

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Every-Mousse6228@reddit

Some of the hair metal bands would sneak in some socially conscious lyrics. Like one of White Lion's biggest hits "Little Fighter" was about a Greenpeace boat, which you wouldn't have picked up from the video with them glammed out and all the lights.

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BeatlestarGallactica@reddit

and then you had Swedes singing about the plight of Native Americans. Europe "Cherokee"

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Apart_Olive_3539@reddit

I liked a lot of the 80’s hair bands, but whatever Stryper’s message was didn’t matter to me. Their shit was like nails on a chalkboard and it’s a quick channel change anytime they are played.

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BeatlestarGallactica@reddit

They were so terrible. I always felt sorry for my religious friends who had to listen to that crap, and other crap like Bloodgood, and pretend they liked it.

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Agent7619@reddit

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MagnumPIsMoustache@reddit

That’s the straightest possible FM photo you could find

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Free_Range_Lobster@reddit

Even his leotard outfits were straighter.

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Agent7619@reddit

Well, it's a meme, so exaggeration is to be expected.

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kevtay1969@reddit

Say what you want - loved Stryper then and still do. Their latest rocks even harder than back in the day.

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TheNolaCatLady@reddit

I saw them back in '87 and they rocked! 😂 My delinquent friends and I were definitely not "soldiers under God's command", but we enjoyed the concert immensely.

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Shoehorse13@reddit

Those were some rough years for heavy rock, but I was into it at the time. I think of the time that I willingly bought tickets to see Stryper as my most embarrassing teenage blunder.

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ThermalIgnition@reddit

Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Venom and two dozen other great bands were there through it all.

The 80s were great for metal, but people were just eating the shit MTV was shovelling into their mouths.

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vistaculo@reddit

Supposedly Exodus is the band that got Slayer to stop wearing makeup. Slayer came up to Oakland to play and Exodus told them if they couldn’t play if they continued to with the makeup so they ditched it.

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Shoehorse13@reddit

I saw all of those bands but wouldn’t put them in the hair metal category. Dio and Accept too. Loudness. There was a ton of good shit but Motley Crue swing things in an ugly direction til GnR came along.

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Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

I was into Maiden, old Van Halen and Priest. Stryper? Yikes, I couldn't stand to hear that stuff.

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DjQuamme@reddit

To this day if xm big hair plays a stryper song I instantly change it over to Ozzys boneyard.

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Dangerous_Prize_4545@reddit

For me it's "Smooth Up In Ya" by Bulletboys which they played all the time and yet I never once heard the song in the 80s.

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BlastTyrantKM@reddit

Being an atheist, I was not into their lyrics to say the least. But the music was excellent. A buddy of mine that was involved in the local music scene got some tickets to a Stryper show, so I went. Why not? Free tickets. Loudest concert I've ever been too. And I've been to many, Metallica, Ozzy, Megadeth, Accept, Dio, Van Halen, Poison, Ratt etc etc. Stryper was a volume level that I didn't know existed

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Ray_The_Engineer@reddit

Personal preference, I suppose. Michael Sweet's voice got on my nerves, and I felt like the music was formulaic. I think the loudest concert I've been to was GnR back in the early '90's, pretty sure I left 25% of my hearing there, that night. We were front row, with speakers a few feet away, no hearing protection.

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peacefinder@reddit

It’s much later, but you might just love Lordi’s The Devil is a Loser

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Ninja187@reddit

Knights In Satans Service

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LittleMissProfessor@reddit

gif

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ztruk@reddit

You sound just like a boomer. Is that a man or a woman? There should be no confusion at this point. People do wacky shit for money and fame

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

I am allowed to comment on the ridiculous style of the 80s. Stonewash jeans, fat neon shoelaces, muscle shirts ... wore them proudly back then and laugh about the ridiculousness of it now.

gif

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yallelike2eat@reddit

I was born in 70, so as a kid, I wore half shirts, short shorts and tube socks, my shoes were probably from Payless

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Chauncy1911@reddit

Leg Warmers were the hottest fashion statement in the history of mankind!

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Kuildeous@reddit

Those dudes got hot girls into bed exactly because they wore so much makeup.

Eyeliner makes people hotter. I don't make up the rules.

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

I wish one of them had put out a sex tape. I love some girl-on-girl action.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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evasion-guard@reddit

Look_Up_Here evading a ban is bad, m'kay.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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GenX-ModTeam@reddit

{community_rule_7}

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False-Storm-5794@reddit

Makeup tips.

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Double_Individual_57@reddit

Saw a lot of them live back in HS in the 80s. Love them or hate them now, those were some fun times!

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painterlyjeans@reddit

Meh it was all pretty weak imo.

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Spreadeaglebeagle44@reddit

Agree for 99%...but Appetite for Destruction?

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ZipperJJ@reddit

“You’re not making Christian music better, you’re making rock music worse!” - Hank Hill

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Witty-Reason-2102@reddit

I remember Vince Neil appearing I one of those RAD PSA's. Ironic considering he was a huge cokehead...

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Sufficient-Pin-481@reddit

Was that before or after his drunk driving killed Razzle.

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

I think some of them appeared in the PSAs right before they appeared in court. Or maybe sentenced to a PSA or two?

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AbsolutesDealer@reddit

SLAYYYYEEERRRRRRRR

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MaximumJones@reddit

gif

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MissNancy1113@reddit

Shout at The Devil was clearly a response to the anti rock folks. Remember the cover of the album/cassette tape? Looked like Devil worship for sure!

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Dry_Ad7529@reddit

Heh you don’t really believe any of these bands were “devil worshipers?” Do you?

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MissNancy1113@reddit

Uh, no.

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Dry_Ad7529@reddit

Whew

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MissNancy1113@reddit

😂 you were ready to defend rock n roll. Well done dude. 🤟

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Dry_Ad7529@reddit

And satan.

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satan-spawner@reddit

Thanks

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MissNancy1113@reddit

😂

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Epicassion@reddit

Saw Crue warm up for Ozzy during the Bark at the Moon tour. Good show.

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Dry_Ad7529@reddit

If you want to hear some crazy crazy crazy drug stories - the stories that came out of that tour have to be some of the wildest

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MissNancy1113@reddit

I bet it was! Congratulations!

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dstarpro@reddit

Not sure I understand your question. Music then was about the same things that music is about today: love, sex, heartbreak, loss, getting famous, loneliness, depression. My ex was in the business for a while. He encountered Stryper backstage once behaving decidedly ungodlike LOL

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

Not really a question, just an observation. Stryper was pretty mixed message, Jesus in the lyrics with the Devil backstage.

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KitchenSad9385@reddit

So . . . just like the rest of the religion industry?

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

Pretty much, yeah. Stryper was just so up front with the hypocrisy, which I guess in a way is more honest?

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Dry_Ad7529@reddit

Christians give up that ass just as much as anyone they are just quiet about it

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woodbanger04@reddit

I heard an interview with Poison’s CC Deville and he said he actually tried out for Stryper. He said everything was really looking good for him to join until they told him that the band colors were yellow and black. He said that was the deal breaker he is more of a neon pink and neon green kind of guy. He went on to say he remained good friends with them.

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

Oh yeah, I mean yellow and black is just ridiculous. 😂

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HarveyMushman72@reddit

The yellow and black attack!

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therelybare5@reddit

The message was in the backward masking, when you turned your records backwards. 🤣

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liddybuckfan@reddit

I absolutely ruined a record needle playing Darling Nikki backwards.

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therelybare5@reddit

Zip Zip, Prince is the devil, Prince is the devil, zip zip. 🤣

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liddybuckfan@reddit

It's actually a very not devilish message! The end of the song sounds spookier playing it forward than backwards. :) Ironically it wasn't any of that that landed Darling Nikki on the PMRC's shit list.

I don't know why someone downvoted my comment about ruining my record needle. I promise, I had to buy a new stylus for the record player because I scraped it down by playing my Purple Rain album backwards. I love Prince though so he's worth ruining a needle for.

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

Oh man, I forgot about the secrets hidden in backward tracks of the Devil's music.

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KitchenSad9385@reddit

There's a mixed bag here. A lot of it was driven by money. Lascivious sensuality, as always sex sells. Then there were edgelords before the term existed. KISS and other proto-goth stuff embraced horror or demonic imagery to sell that fantasy. Then the prudes, pious lot, and always government trying to exert social control spawned sanitized or sanctioned groups or messaging, Christian rock/metal, anti-drug messaging, etc.

Sometimes quality music coincided with gimmicky packaging. Alice Cooper was absolutely ridiculous theatrics (even had the Amazing Randy behead him onstage once). But, he put out some real bangers! KISS has some hits, but was mostly mid, except when it came to selling lunchboxes. Yogurt has nothing on Gene Simmons when it comes to merchandizing.

Other artists or groups has more sincere ties to their religious convictions. Jimmy Page dabbled extensively in the occult, but the music has more references to Tolkien than Crowley. On the other Zeppelin is absolutely drenched in sex, some metaphors more disguised than others. And Alice Cooper, despite his schtick, is a traditionally pious Christian and by most accounts a really nice guy.

In other words, there are a lot of people involved with a lot of motivations and approaches. Some subtle, some cringey, some heavy-handed. There's no requirement for an art as diverse and continually evolving as music to have some over-arching direction.

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818Medic@reddit

I worked with someone whose dad was a regular golfer with Alice. Apparently he’s pretty much a regular suburban dad that has a sweet side job and owns a sports bar

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copperfrog42@reddit

My brother worked on a golf course in Florida, and he said that he played golf with Alice Cooper a few times. He said that Alice’s friends wouldn’t always want to play as much as he did, so he would ask the staff for a round.

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KitchenSad9385@reddit

I managed hotels in Arizona for some years and he had a restaurant "Alice Cooperstown?", but I think it closed down and didn't reopen after covid. I actually went to it in Phoenix, but it wasn't in operation.

He does have a reputation as a very good (though not pro-level) golfer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_oKJQwTEEk&list=PL5mE3OoEj6uC_fGRAVZqvfQrPScoPHhML

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818Medic@reddit

Thank you for the info!

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CrispyDave@reddit

I didn't identify with any of these bands.

They always looked and sounded ridiculous to me when you had the thrash and the hardcore bands releasing music at the same time.

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freakinreviews@reddit

Hehe yeah. You also had bands like Living Colour and Queensryche putting out solid music back then. "Do I listen to the new Winger album or Operation: Mindcrime?" Hahah no contest.

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CrispyDave@reddit

It's funny looking back, growing up in the UK I would get the metal magazines and they would have Warrant on one page and Agnostic Front on the next.

As a 16 year old in the suburbs I couldn't relate to the whole 'drinking Jack Daniels with loads of hot women at the Whisky a go go' bullshit, it meant nothing to me. Especially when you had very serious young men like Rollins and co. scowling at you and telling you to be independent and don't conform on the next page, the two just didn't compare to an impressionable teen.

And yeah Queensryche were kind of in a genre of their own making for a while there.

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818Medic@reddit

Saw Queensryche open up for Metallica in 88. They fuckn rocked it

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freakinreviews@reddit

Hell yeah! I saw them open for AC/DC in '86 and they were awesome then, too!

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bony-tony@reddit

Stryper? RAD?

Who?

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

Stryper: Christian Rock Band

RAD: Rock Against Drugs, ill-advised PSA movement that perportedly denounced drugs. Jon Bon Jovi did one. Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead as well. The Grateful fucking Dead for God's sake.

The Who: That was a 70s thing.

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bony-tony@reddit

Well done, sir.

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

😁

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IamTheMan85@reddit

It was the greatest time to be alive. Van Halen invented the sound and the scene and were known as a party band. The 80s metal bands all were all inspired with that.

I do take exception to "that's all they sant about". Casual fans here the hits on the radio and make ignorant statement blankets like this.

They tackled other subjects in their music, but you had to buy the album. Thankfully a lot of us did.

Warrant is a good example. Known for Cherry Pie but Janie Lane was a gifted song writer and wrote songs like Uncle Tom's Cabin. People forget that.

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SometimesUnkind@reddit

I’m gonna go listen to Cinderella and Tesla again

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Witty-Reason-2102@reddit

Tesla's Mechanical Resonance was a great album, definitely a notch or 2 above the usual hairband drivel

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Haunt_Fox@reddit

Warrant's "April 2031" is on several of my playlists.

And I'm not even into that band, but that's one HELL of a song.

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queenofcaffeine76@reddit

just when I think I'm the last one who remembers Stryper lol

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Mr_Tort_Feasor@reddit

A lot of my friends were at their shows at Magic Mountain throughout the mid-80s. By 1985, I was into bands like the Smiths and never went.

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ForeverFlannel@reddit

I actually went to see them in concert a year or so ago for nostalgia’s sake. Whatever you think of their music, Michael Sweet really does have an amazing voice.

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TurkGonzo75@reddit

I had a "Monsters of Metal" cassette and it included To Hell with the Devil. That's the only song I ever heard of theirs but I definitely remember them

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All_of_me_now@reddit

I was fully smitten in my freshman year with a gorgeous girl year ahead of me. We flirted, she said she had an extra ticket to a rock show.

Two minutes in I realized what was up, rough night for a secular 15 year old

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Savafan1@reddit

They just had a new album last year and Michael Sweet released a solo one last week

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queenofcaffeine76@reddit

what?? how am I missing this?

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Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit

Most of them didn’t even worship the devil, contrary to what they told us in church youth group. So disappointing.

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Mr_Tort_Feasor@reddit

I had a youth pastor who looked like Ned Flanders and he told us that Duran Duran was satanic ("Union of the Snake"). Things that actually would have shaken his world like "Armageddon Days are Here Again" by The The or any punk music never reached his radar.

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

Oh yeah, forgot about the PMRC.

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Fartina69@reddit

Motley Crue was very confusing. They were pro leather chick, but I could never tell if they were for or against the devil.

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WhatTheHellPod@reddit

Nikki Six supposed dabbled in "satanism" around the time Shout at the Devil was being written/recorded. Then he got super high and thought the devil stood over his bed one night and didn't want to have anything to do with the devil anymore. Drugs on the other hand...

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Intrepid_Practice956@reddit

I felt like Spinal Tap was making fun of Motley Crue with their overuse (and inexplicable use) of umlauts.

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Mr_Tort_Feasor@reddit

Yeah absolutely. Maybe also Iron Maiden and Judas Priest (with those British accents).

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Intrepid_Practice956@reddit

Definitely that too!

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Haunt_Fox@reddit

It was all just about shock value and edginess. Want Satanic stuff? Check out Venom At War With Satan. Their videos were stock Satan stuff.

It was all for selling records, and appealing to "rebellious" youth.

But a lot of the music itself was still solid.

As for Stryper and their ilk, I remember FM-channel surfing, 1980s Detroit area, just looking for background rock n roll. So I stop on something with solid guitars and the like, and left it on for at least an hour before I started to pay attention to the words of something new to me, and realized I'd hit the religious station, lol. But they were also playing stuff like "Every Time You Go Away", too.

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MaximumJones@reddit

Stryper is still touring and putting out music.

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Keefer1970@reddit

And their recent albums utterly destroy their old stuff.

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Throw8976m@reddit

I am young Gen X and was not into hair bands. I am a straight woman and the dudes in makeup thing does absolutely nothing for me but now, in my 40s, I am beginning to appreciate some of the high energy guitar riffs. Hard to find those nowadays.

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seadub33@reddit

Sam Kinison: “Rock against Drugs? Rock created drugs! Somebody was high when they came up with this. It’s like Christians against Christ.”

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HackedCylon@reddit (OP)

Such truth in those words. Poor ol' Sam K and Bill H, struck down in their primes of life.

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Keefer1970@reddit

Stryper is the rare "80s band" that has gotten better with age. Their recent albums absolutely destroy their 80s stuff.

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NegScenePts@reddit

Hair metal was just guitar-driven pop songs, IMO.

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freakinreviews@reddit

Boy bands with electric guitars.

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BrilliantWeb@reddit

Thank you Whitesnake for this video

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JuJu_Wirehead@reddit

What message? Most songs were about sex in one form or another. What do you think She-Bop was about? Or Dancing in the Sheets? If they weren't talking about sex they were talking about parties or dancing.

Sidenote: Stryper has and will always be garbage. You'd get better and more wholesome music from the Kelly Family.

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BrilliantWeb@reddit

Hell "Rock 'n Roll" was a 50s euphemism for sex.

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QuirkyForever@reddit

People can have complex identities.

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Hot_Rock@reddit

Ehh - as a huge metal and rock person I’ll be the first to admit the primary thing they had on their minds was record sales. Whether it be a bikini clad girl on the cover or satan himself it was actually about the dollars. And that’s ok - they made some damn good tunes.

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1Pip1Der@reddit

I think "Fuck it all and fucking no regrets" is pretty clear and my personal mantra.

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DeliriousNomad1968@reddit

I too really liked Damage, Inc.

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RedditWidow@reddit

Nothing confusing about Stryper. It was a Christian version of something popular, to appeal to the religious youth group demographic.

Poison was a glam rock hair metal type band. That whole makeup and hair thing was popular at the time, both in and out of heavy metal. Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Adam Ant, Twisted Sister, Mötley Crüe, Culture Club, etc. It's theatrics.

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DeliriousNomad1968@reddit

Stryper was nothing but corporate rock packaged as “Christian” to give the parents with sticks up their patooties some music to gift to their kids. Stryper themselves were not practicing Christians - they liked the sex, drugs, and rock & roll that being musicians provided.

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Oliver_Klozoff653@reddit

Stryper was wack

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MisterEd1966@reddit

I wasn't into the hair metal / heavy metal music of that time period, but I got one hell of a kick out of all the Satanic panic it started in the suburbs. Remember the congressional trials wit Dee Snyder (Twisted Sister) and Frank Zappa testifying before Al Gore?!

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LassieDear@reddit

Dudes in makeup can be super hot, then and now

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automator3000@reddit

As a dude who wore a lot of makeup in my early 20s, yes, it made me extra attractive to the ladies.

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Grouchy_Branch_510@reddit

No, there was nothing confusing at all I think. It was simple, how can we shock people, sex drugs and rock and roll…self explanatory. Then the Christian rock bands which were very obvious.

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old-cigar-smoker@reddit

Um... Nope. Yes Poison wore make up but they were getting the girls. It was the thing at the time. Stryper, they wanted to rock out but bring their views to the audience. It was really all about fun and being over the top. It was also one of the best decades in music (IMHO.) As for RAD... they were also fighting the TMRP or something so this was a way to help defuse that shit.

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punkdrummer22@reddit

You're talking about wussy rock/metal though.

Slayer/Metallica etc wasn't confusing

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Practical_Wind_1917@reddit

It was the 80's There was always crazy shit going on in the 80's

You have to remember. It always repeats itself. Remember all of the crazy guys, long hair and makeup. Now you got the popular singers wearing dresses and makeup for shows. Kids now don't care, just like kids in the 80's didn't care

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Randall_Hickey@reddit

Most rock ‘n’ roll in the 80s was about sex. There’s no confusion that there’s a few bands that weren’t. I didn’t listen to the guys in make up so I can’t help you there.