For Better & For Worse, '80s-Styled Hard Rock Will Never Truly Fade

When a music genre gets the Time-Life treatment, it usually means one of two things: legitimacy or total cultural irrelevance. In the case of the company's brand new Hard & Heavy collection, available nationwide today, the truth probably falls somewhere confusingly in between. What else can be said about a product whose spokesperson is Poison frontman Bret Michaels, one of the most well-known but also most polarizing figures of '80s music? This is one of the first times a hard rock collection has become the stuff of infomercials, which, obviously, is another seriously double-edged sword. But at the very least it's amusingly notable to see so clearly once again how the pop culture wheel spins.

Speaking of evolution (or whatever term you may want to use, without putting too fine a point on it), another '80s rock phenomenon, the second annual '80s-styled festival Rocklahoma, kicks off this week in Pryor Creek, Oklahoma. The notable thing about this event is the sheer number of '80s hard rock acts brought together in one place, which, depending on who you are, functions as a great reason either to head desperately for any American shred of coastline or set your leisure course for the Lower Midwest. Regardless of one's taste, the lineup stands out as an impressive, varied Who's Who of '80s metal. If you haven't thought about names like UFO, Zebra, Steelheart, Kingdom Come, Armored Saint and Enuff Z'Nuff for more than 20 years (and would describe that experience as anything resembling a void), then by all means get thee to Oklahoma this week. Who cares about that pesky job? This is mulletized, electrified rock and roll we're talking about, dammit!

More '80s Hard Rock Resources
• Hair Metal Profile
• Top 10 Hard Rock Songs of the '80s