The Best Grunge Song by 5 Hair Metal Bands - Motley Crue, Skid Row + More

When grunge exploded in the early '90s, it left the '80s hair metal scene in the dust — but the best grunge song by these five hair metal bands shows that some groups managed to adapt to the times with their dignity intact.

Well, at least creatively — commercially, they were all a wash.

By the time Nirvana and Pearl Jam were racing up the charts, most rock fans were burnt out on the party-hardy glam metal that had ruled the roost for the past decade. The Sunset Strip hair bands were summarily written off as relics of a bygone era and nothing they did would help them overcome that stigma.

So even when a band like Motley Crue or Skid Row released a kickass album that was decidedly heavier than their previous work and fit in well with the grunge and alt-rock bands of the day, they were doomed to fail based purely on name alone.

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

Still, it wasn't for a lack of trying. In fact, some hair metal bands' grunge excursions yielded some of their best and most delightfully heavy songs.

Don't believe us? Check out our list of the best grunge song by five hair metal bands and see for yourself.

Dokken, "Too High to Fly" (Dysfunctional, 1995)

Dokken's namesake frontman Don Dokken initially planned for Dysfunctional to be a solo album, but plans changed after longtime guitarist (and Dokken's perpetual foil) George Lynch returned to the fold. (Bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer Mick Brown were already onboard.)

The resulting album featured the band's signature melodic vocals and fretboard-melting shredding, but with an overall darker, heavier sound. Nobody would mistake Dysfunctional for a true-blue grunge album, but they also wouldn't lump it in with Dokken's '80s output.

On the whole, Dysfunctional came and went without a trace, but the promo single "Too High to Fly" proved its staying power in the band's setlists over the years. For good reason, too — its snarling, bluesy riffs and sturdy groove maintained Dokken's '80s ethos while charting a path forward for a new era. It wasn't enough to save their commercial fortunes — 1997's maligned Shadowlife put the final nail in that coffin — but it was a valiant effort nonetheless.

Extreme, "Hip Today" (Waiting for the Punchline, 1995)

Even in their early, teased-hair days, Extreme never quite fit the traditional glam metal mold. Still, the chameleonic Boston rockers took advantage of their proximity to the scene with the chart-topping acoustic ballad "More Than Words," which launched its accompanying album, 1990's Extreme II: Pornograffitti, to double-platinum status.

By 1992, Extreme were ready to leave the so-called "hair metal" scene behind them, sprawling out on the genre-hopping concept album III Sides to Every Story. They changed course once again on 1995's Waiting for the Punchline, stripping away their art-rock pretensions in favor of a groovy, grungy alt-rock sound.

Waiting for the Punchline landed with a thud, but the single "Hip Today" found Extreme putting a unique stamp on the grunge and alt-rock du jour. The off-kilter rhythms of drummer Mike Mangini and bassist Pat Badger propel the song, while Nuno Bettencourt's dizzying guitar solo proves that Extreme's virtuosity could not be constrained to a single subgenre.

Motley Crue, "Misunderstood" (Motley Crue, 1994)

Fans and industry insiders were rightfully skeptical when Motley Crue parted ways with frontman Vince Neil and drafted John Corabi to sing on their 1994 self-titled album. This major personnel change, plus the five-year gap between Dr. Feelgood and Motley Crue, meant the latter album quickly tumbled down the charts and stalled at gold status — a far cry from the band's multi-platinum successes of the previous decade.

The tragedy is that, had it been released under any other name, Motley Crue would be hailed as a grunge/alternative metal masterpiece rather than the beginning of the end of the band's glory days.

"Misunderstood" is a microcosm of everything that makes Motley Crue such an astounding record. The six-and-a-half-minute mini-epic deftly shifts between tender, acoustic guitar-driven passages and furious metallic riffage, ornamented by Tommy Lee's titanic drums and Corabi's bluesy, raspy howl. It's one of Motley Crue's most musically accomplished songs and it can go toe-to-toe with grunge's biggest names.

Skid Row, "Beat Yourself Blind" (Subhuman Race, 1995)

Band morale was at an all-time low when Skid Row recorded Subhuman Race, their contentious third album and final to date with lead singer Sebastian Bach. The frontman blamed it partially on the overreach of producer Bob Rock.

"I remember him saying, ‘Everybody knows you can scream, Sebastian' and suggesting I sing like Scott Weiland," Bach recalled. "Why don’t you just take a thoroughbred racehorse and hit him on the fuckin’ kneecap with a baseball bat? I do like that album, but it’s not a fun record."

Maybe it's not a fun record, but it sure as hell is a heavy one. Subhuman Race is brimming with gnarled, down-tuned riffs and pummeling grooves — a logical progression from its metallic predecessor, Slave to the Grind. On standout track "Beat Yourself Blind," Bach instead channels another grunge titan — Chris Cornell — delivering some of his most devastating screams over ominous, bass-driven riffs. Subhuman Race might have been unpleasant to make, but it's a thrill to hear.

Warrant, "Letter to a Friend" (Belly to Belly, 1996)

Warrant's Jani Lane was always a pop songwriter in glam metal clothing. Frustrated by the pigeonholing success of "Cherry Pie," he led Warrant into harder, more sophisticated territory on 1992's Dog Eat Dog before briefly leaving the group and attempting to launch a solo career.

Lane returned to Warrant shortly thereafter and the band underwent a massive stylistic overhaul, delving into grunge and alt-rock on 1995's Ultraphobic and 1996's Belly to Belly. The latter features "Letter to a Friend," a poignant pseudo-ballad featuring a plaintive vocal performance and introspective lyrics from Lane.

"Letter to a Friend" and the rest of Belly to Belly might turn off fans of Warrant's libidinous party-metal anthems — it sounds closer to Bush or Silverchair than anything off their first two albums. But it's richly melodic and bittersweet all the same, proof that Lane could thrive as a songwriter in multiple styles.