Top Ten Hard Rock Bands That Formed In the 1980s

The Top Ten
1 Guns N' Roses (1985) Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1985. The classic lineup, as signed to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. Apart from hard rock they are also associated with heavy metal. ...read more.

Slash is a killer guitarist

2 Bon Jovi (1983)

Out if these I love Bon Jovi little more then Green Day
Livin on a prayer & you give love a bad name

Yeah This is right so right so correct

3 Metallica (1981)

Basically they're not a hard rock band although several songs can be regarded as hard rock. But these songs are exceptions and I think Metallica shouldn't be on this list. There's a big difference between metal and hard rock.

Mainly Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal but still has some great hard rock songs

4 Tesla (1982) Tesla is an American rock band formed in Sacramento, California in late 1981 by bassist Brian Wheat and guitarist Frank Hannon as Earthshaker, and later City Kidd. Lead vocalist Jeff Keith, drummer Troy Luccketta, and guitarist Tommy Skeoch joined them by 1984.
5 Red Hot Chili Peppers (1983)

They're not a hard rock band.

Alternatives

6 Mötley Crüe (1981) Mötley Crüe is an American metal band formed in Los Angeles, California on January 17, 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, lead vocalist Vince Neil and lead guitarist Mick Mars.
7 Green Day (1987)

Punk Rock In 90s.Punk & Alternatives in early 2000s and Alternative in late 2000s.Clearly they aren't hard rock.They are Punk and Alternative Rock.

They're not a hard rock band.

8 Nirvana (1987)

They're not a hard rock band.

Alternatives

9 Alcatrazz (1983)
10 Radiohead (1985)

They're not a hard rock band.

The Contenders
11 Headpins (1980) Headpins are a Canadian rock group, founded as a side project in the late 1970s by then Chilliwack members Ab Bryant and Brian MacLeod.

Don't It Make You Feel; Mine all mine

12 Soundgarden (1984) Soundgarden was an American grunge/alternative metal band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Chris Cornell died on May 17th, 2017.

They're not a hard rock band. They are grunge-to-metal.

13 Dream Theater (1986) Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band was formed in 1985 under the name of "Majesty", only to change its name to Dream Theater later.

The members of the band’s original lineup consisted of John Petrucci (Guitar), John Myung (Bass) and Mike Portnoy (Drums). The band had multiple keyboardists and singers, but as of and since 1991, the band's lead vocalist has been James LaBrie.

The band released their debut album "When Day and Dream Unite" in 1989, but only gained success and notoriety after the release of their second album, "Images and Words" in 1992.

Since the release of “Images And Words”, the band has developed to be one of the most well-known and successful progressive metal bands in the world, and with the release of their 5th studio album, "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory" in 1999, they created one of the most well-known and beloved progressive metal and also concept albums of all time. ...read more.

Not hard rock - they are progressive metal and progressive rock

Progressive Metal not hard rock

14 Cinderella (1983) Cinderella was an American glam metal and hard rock band from the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation.
15 Honeymoon Suite (1981) Honeymoon Suite is a Canadian hard rock/glam metal band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital.
16 Poison (1983) Poison is an American glam and hard rock band that achieved great commercial success in the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.
17 XYZ (1986)
18 X Japan (1982)
19 L.A. Guns (1983)
20 Britny Fox (1985)

Very unique in your face sound. Gotta love it!

21 Marilyn Manson (1989)
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