The difference, by ear
The Los Angeles genre a decade later took the look and the choruses and attached them to metal. The two are related by appearance far more than by music.
Both are sung cleanly and move at much the same pace, around 110 to 160 bpm. To hear the difference, play T. Rex next to Mötley Crüe. Glam rock comes from the rock side of the tree and glam metal from the metal side, and glam rock came first, by ten years.
In figures
Glam rock
Where it sits
Rock › Blues rock › Hard rock › Glam rock
In short
Rock in glitter, platform boots and calculated ambiguity. The spectacle is half the music.
How it sounds
- A simple stomping beat with handclaps and drums up front - music built for singing along.
- Thick guitar tone but short, single-length songs.
- The sound is inseparable from the look: costumes, make-up, invented personas.
Key acts
- T. Rex
- David Bowie
- Slade
- Roxy Music
Start here
The pickT. Rex - Electric Warrior. The simplest and most effective record in the genre.
Full page →Glam metal
Where it sits
In short
Hard rock with hairspray, a radio chorus and a mandatory power ballad. It ruled MTV until 1991.
How it sounds
- Simple hard rock riffs with glossy production and gated reverb on the drums.
- Choruses with multiple vocal harmonies, built for radio and MTV.
- A mandatory ballad on every album, usually the hit single.
Key acts
- Mötley Crüe
- Ratt
- Poison
- Skid Row
Start here
The pickSkid Row - Slave to the Grind. The genre's heaviest album, released exactly too late.
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