dancerella said:

That song was actually a good piece of pop metal. If they had done more songs like that, and fewer cheesy ballads, then they would be remembered a bit more fondly than they are.

found1 said:

NO hair band was quite as crappy as Winger. They sucked shit in a truly spectacular way!

theAudience said:

Is that John Belushi in the middle?

Supernova said:

That's the picture I really wanted to post (the SNL Killer Bees).
But the large photo was "UNAVAILABLE".

Here's the tiny one with JB...



...The Killer Bees


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

JediMaster said:

Nuff respect to you for seeing them in concert! "honestly" (pun intended) I did like a few of their songs but the ballads had to go. They were too cheesy for words. I think they're still around today. Would you see them again?

JediMaster said:

what was it about Winger that people took the piss out of them so much? They were no worse than some of the other bands of that genre.

JediMaster said:

YES! You're totally correct! I get the two confused. Somehow, Winger's even worse to me.

minneapolisgenius said:

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what made Winger so much worse than the rest of those hair metal bands. what's your take on it? I mean technically Stryper was worse but they rocked in their own special way.

dancerella said:

I agree with you 100% I am also wondering why alot of people pick on Winger when they had a kick ass sound b/c the were just as chessy as other hair bands of their day. The only thing that I can figured that killed them was the ego of their lead singer Kip.

I didn't listen to any hair metal bands in the 80s, but I do know that Stryper was some nerd shit.

Hotlegs said:

Seriously, I don't know how the band Winger became the whipping boys of the metal scene and the butt of everyone's jokes. Very odd but are they the original Ashley Simpson?

CynthiasSocks said:

oh man, you missed out kid! they were working the yellow and black bumble bee look!

dancerella said:

Oh- I remember quite well. Nerd Shit!

dancerella said:

No, they are not Ashley Simpson like at b/c Winger can play live and don't lip sing. The problem was that Kip Winger, the lead singer, was too much of a pretty boy in peoples eye to play metal. And yes, he was very fuckable and could play the hell out of the guitar.

Hotlegs said:

i guess his looks and ego were too much for some folks back then but Sebastian from skid row was the ultimate pretty boy back in the day and he got more props from people. one of lifes true mysterys.....

Somebody alert the members of Stryper!!!! Their actually being talked about.

lilgish said:

dancerella said:

Wasn't Dixie Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein in Winger?
[Edited 3/11/05 17:48pm]

Stax said:

Yes. He certainly was.
Winger did have some good musicians.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...rmusic.htm

theAudience said:[quote]

Winger did have some good musicians.

tA[\quote]


[Edited 3/12/05 14:15pm]

Hotlegs said:

He was the bassist.

Winger had a few ok songs, waht killed them was Kip Winger appearing in PLaygirl but he wasn't naked. Just made the whole band look too boytoyish to be playing metal!


Stryper had a few good jams back in my 80's hair metal loving music days! Hell I rememeber even when they toned down their god act on one of their last albums they covered "Shining Star" I rememebr the video extememly cheesy!

Also caught them on VH1 where are they now:
They broke up, the lead singer works/owns a wild life sanctuary, one guys drives a forklift and hell I don't remember what the other 2 do. They said they do get 2gether everyonce in awhile and tour overseas and in South America where they are still big!

dancerella said:

I didn't like either of them.

vyper21oo said:

Exactly.

Why was Winger so bad? I'll tell ya!!


Back in the early 80s, metal became quite big (bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest). Naturally, a toned-down, more commercially accessible form of it came about, but the bands still had an edge (Motley Crue, Ratt). After a while, the clones of these bands arose, watering down the music to the level of being glorified pop with the trappings of metal(Poison, Warrant). By the late 80s, you had what were, essentially, third generation clones. There was no edge, the cheesy, shmaltzy pop ballads had taken over, and the uptempo songs were just like Debbie Gibson with guitars. Winger, in every way, epitomised this. They were sugary pop that had no edge whatsoever. They were a "rock" band that didn't, in any way, rock. Sure, the musicians were competent, but the songwriting was cringe-worthy (I'm talking Dianne Warren style cringing). Hell, compared to Winger, Stryper was fucking Maiden (I'm hardly defending Stryper here. I've acknowledged that my tastes back then was somewhat whacked).

Metal had always been a rebellious, rock-out with your cock out form of music. With the advent of bands like Winger, it essentially was neutered. The beast no longer had balls, and was now a playfull pussy.....cat. Sure, there were plenty of hair bands who were just as bad as the Winger boys, but Winger was really at the forefront of the wussification of metal. They are the perfect example of everything that went wrong with rock in the late 80s. Its no wonder all the grunge bands were able to come in and drive a stake into this genre. People were hungry for some real rock.

vyper21oo said:

The leads singer, Michael Sweet, still records as a Christian solo act, I believe (scary thought).
[Edited 3/14/05 6:06am]

JediMaster said:

Well said.

dancerella said:

Maybe if it was a free concert, I'd see them out of morbid curiousity. I wouldn't care much about them otherwise. I'd pretty much finished with them by 1988.

I agree that their ballads had to go (I didn't like those back in the day either). I really only listened to them for songs like "The Reign" and "To Hell With The Devil" (you gotta love that title! Only the 1980s could have produced that!). They had some strong pop metal, and a few of their songs had a bit of an edge. Unfortunately, the majority of their stuff falls in line with the late 80s pop-metal scene (yuk).

JediMaster said:

JediMaster said:

Damn, you broke it down!