10 ‘Glam Metal’ Albums Released After ‘Nevermind’ That Don’t Suck

Contrary to popular opinion, glam metal didn’t immediately disappear once grunge hit the scene — but for all intents and purposes, the subgenre took its last breath on Sept. 24, 1991, the day Nirvana released their genre-defining Nevermind.

Spandex-clad rockers had ruled the Sunset Strip and beyond during the previous decade, but by the end of the ’80s and early ’90s, their hedonistic shtick had grown tired. Fans craved a change of pace from the cookie-cutter party-metal bands that popped up left and right, and they found it in the burgeoning Seattle alt-rock scene.

Once grunge officially supplanted glam metal as the rock subgenre du jour, members of the latter scene found themselves at an impasse. Would they stick to blazing guitar solos and sex-obsessed lyrics, even though they were now considered woefully uncool? Or would they cut their hair, swap their leather vests for flannel shirts and try to reinvent themselves as stripped-down rock acts?

READ MORE: Top 30 Glam Metal Albums

The cold, hard truth was that, for most glam metal bands, it didn’t matter which path they chose. Audiences still weren’t going to give them a chance. But that didn’t stop them from trying — and occasionally succeeding, at least on a musical level.

Some of the genre’s biggest stars, such as Bon Jovi, stuck largely to their guns and rightly assumed their audiences would continue to support them. Others, like Warrant, Winger and Skid Row, toughened up their sound and image in the hopes of staying relevant, to no avail.

Some of these bands’ post-Nevermind albums are so far removed from their trademark sound that they can hardly be considered “glam,” even though fans and critics categorized them as such. Regardless of classification, they still managed to churn out some damn good records, as you can see below in our list of 10 ‘Glam Metal’ Albums Released After ‘Nevermind’ That Don’t Suck.