I know alot of people say grunge (Nirvana to be exact) killed 80s metal but i do not think so. What I think is the record company's killed it. By the end of the 80s and early 90s the record companies had signed so many bands and had them all playing the same sound and looking the same that the industry was way over saturated. I also think guns n roses played apart in things as well. To me they turned it from "Glam" to sleaze and ushered in the heavier sound. Grunge was really a continuation of that. Grunge seems to have drawn alot of influence from heavier 70s metal bands like sabbath, Hendrix and the punk movement. GnR also drew from the 70s in their sound and look.
I am not convinced 80s metal really died..it went back underground where it came from. Seems to me alot of metal genres start underground and eventually return there after there popularity fades. What does everyone else think?

It's easy to point at grunge (Nirvana specifically), but I think it was a combination of things. Over saturation, both radio & MTV, too many watered-down bands offering nothing new, bands overly concerned with style over substance, etc. That doesn't even account for the change in pop culture and the whole "good times 80's vibe" that seemed like a bad joke to a slightly younger generation. A change was needed.

The whole scene just got too top heavy and toppled over on itself. Grunge just happened by the carnage and said "Here, try this instead". Punk did the same thing in the 70's when the old rockers got too big for their britches.

I think it was all the second and below tier bands that records companies were trying to make the next big thing plus the way the established bands behaved. It was amusing to hear the escapades of Motley Crue at first but repeated drug busts and alcohol binges got old.

I've heard this saying before and believe it to be true.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit didnt kill 80's metal,Unskinny Bop did"

And the good times of sex and drugs in the 80's was showing it's ugly side by the early 90's. Overdosing and AIDS were hardly anything to feel good about.

I tend to think it had just run it's course with the general public. And like all things that get popular musically the music business just chased/cashed in on the trend rather than widen or expand upon the formula. It cannabalized itself in the end. Just as all genres that become big eventually do. To me the amazing part of 80's metal was how long it lasted as a big thing. Certainly a lot longer than the "grunge movement" did.

What always bothered me was the fact that a lot of metal bands could have easily found acceptance in the alternative rock scene. Even without altering their sound. You'll never convince me bands like Warrior Soul, Voivod, or even a King's X couldn't have been on the bill of a Lollapalooza. But once the music industry declared it "dead", metal became a bad word in popular music and no attempt was made to cross it over.

The thing that is always forgotten is that bands like Nirvana, Alice In Chains, and Soundgarden were marketed to metal fans as metal bands initially. Once Nevermind broke big that ended real quick.

You're all wrong.

Mindless humans killed it. The record industry provided the weapon.

The Black Album killed the 80's metal I dug most. MTV and music videos in general did it's share of over-saturation. IMHO, the begining of the end for the record industry as we once knew it.

I think everything comes and goes in cycles. By the late 80's, everything started getting boring and redundant. But if a band is truly good they can survive any trend.

It was better when I didn't know about the existence of that "Unskinny Bop" song. I'd sure be depressed throughout 90's.
The music had evolved, and gave birth to many other genres and bands we like now. So whatever happened, it was good.

Evolution happened to 80s Metal.

Pretty much everything mentioned here contributed to it's decline in mainstream popularity. But IMO it did not so much die as go back where it came from...

Interesting how it is starting to come back through newer sleaze/glam bands like Crashdiet, Gemini Five, Hysterica and Reckless love. Even the old bands are returning to their 80s sound..Saxon, Dokken, Y&T have all given us fine albums in the 80s tradition in the last couple of years.