Ontario guitarist Sean Kelly is best known for his work with Crash Kelly and Lee Aaron, and this book should cement his place in Canadian hard rock history. Don't Call It Hair Metal is Kelly's unapologetically gushing examination of '80s hard rock and heavy metal—yes, “hair metal”—in an effort to show that the genre is more artistic than that dismissive moniker gives it credit for being. 

Right off the bat, I'm on board—as someone who has spent decades arguing that Frehley's Comet were a legitimate artistic prospect, to hear it coming out of the mouth of someone else (someone who actually spent time in a band with someone from Frehley's Comet!) fills me with all kinds of joy. I love the middle spread featuring obscure era-relevant ads, and I love the passion for details throughout the book: for example, at one point, Kelly looks pretty deep into the technical aspect of guitar-making and how it influenced the sound of the era, and how there was a lot of creativity involved, and it's fascinating. Elsewhere, his obviously huge knowledge of the genre shows in playful references and wordplay, and it's sort of like having beers with a new friend talking about all our old friends. 

Old friends like Rudy Sarzo, Gilby Clarke, and Warren DeMartini, all of whom—along with many others—are interviewed here, making the book better-rounded than just Kelly's opinions and recollections. But, truth be told, as good as the interviews are, I'm here for Kelly's writing, and his very impassioned belief that, you know what, this stuff is art, this stuff is important, and this stuff matters, and even if I disagreed—which I certainly don't—I'd still read this book cover to cover and love it.