Even if one doesn't consider GnR hair metal, which is debatable, the pushback here is against the idea that somehow GnR was this refreshing change away from it. That's like saying Mr. Pibb is a nice respite from your usual Dr. Pepper. Yeah, it may taste a little different, and the ingredients aren't the same, but it's still a whole lot more similar than different. At best GnR is a very small step in the evolutionary process away from hair metal.
Well, since I'm doing the pushback, I'll take this.
I never said it was a refreshing change. In reality, Appetite was released before the hair metal explosion. So they weren't really a small step in the evolutionary process away from it either. They kind of predated it actually.
I know Slippery When Wet and Night Songs were released in 1986, but the real Hair Metal bandwagon jumping didn't really start until late 87/early 88. Appetite was released in July '87.
I'm just saying that they were independent of hair metal.
And these bands almost always had the token totally 80's-sounding monster ballad,
Monster ballads have been around since the 70's. Dream On, Still In Love With You, Beth...