House of Pain

Written by Faster Pussycat frontman Taime Downe and guitarist Greg Steele, "House of Pain" is about Downe's father, who wasn't there for him: There's no one home In my house of pain Downe's dad was a guitar player who brought rock music into the household, which according to Taime was the only contribution his dad made to his career. Taime was named after his father (Gustave), but rejected it, going with a childhood nickname because he didn't want to give his father any credit.

Formed in Los Angeles in the late '80s, Faster Pussycat was part of the early Southern California hair metal scene. These bands usually proffered songs about girls and debauchery, but every now and then released a tender ballad that found a wider audience (see: "Home Sweet Home" by Mötley Crüe). This was the case with Faster Pussycat: "House of Pain" was their only pop hit, going to #28 in America and helping their second album, Wake Me When It's Over, earn Gold certification for selling 500,000 copies.

The song got a big boost from the video, which tugs at the heartstrings with scenes of a father walking out on his family - anyone with an absentee father could relate. It was directed by Michael Bay, who before directing blockbusters like Armageddon and Transformers, honed his craft on music videos. Other entries near the top of his CV include "Angelia" by Richard Marx and "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf. MTV gave the video lots of airplay, especially on their metal show Headbangers Ball, whose host, Riki Rachtman, later went into business with Taime Downe, opening a Hollywood club called the Cathouse.