Metal Reviews

For this you have to remember thar Edguy started as a bunch of 14 years olds in 1992 when mainstream Metal was dead/dying, and had to get over the three demos they recorded essentially being laughed at before spending several years on a middle of the road label like AFM. They've paid their dues and if they make some money off signing to Blast then its fair enough (I still think the new album is pretty crappy.)

obviously it's still very hard to be ironic on the internet... :(
so let me point you I was and I already knew the story.
and, btw, I still think Rocket Ride is pretty good. 8)

I was listening to them before I even knew what they looked like. I downloaded some songs b/c my brother told me to check them out. I loved what I heard and I became an Edguy fan. No live theatrics made me enjoy the music.

+1

....except for the part about Ness' brother recommending them to me...that never happened....

lol, i'm the opposite, never heard them, saw em live and they kicked my arse, bought helfire club and thought it sucked!! lol

but like i said before, you shouldn't jugde a band on what they look like but thier music!!

Yep. If you compare the bands there is a marked difference in approach.

Whether it works or not is of little concern to me. Its how I feel and just because others dont agree with me doesnt mean that I should stop thinking the way I do. I have profound disdain for all commercial metal bands just do to my experience with bands in the underground, and larger commercial acts. On the local scene metal has all the grit and comraderie associated with metal. Once you get on the larger stage then its no longer just for the love of music, there is a vested financial importance tagged on to those bands and it makes it very difficult to coincide with them and their train of thought. We played with Slough Feg once, and while I think they're a great band and that the show was totally awesome...they were total dicks because they didnt get paid very much. I can only imagine what it would be like playing with Edguy. They would probably complain about the number of drunken metal heads singing Iron Maiden songs instead of their own.

You talk about the grit associated with heavy metal, but do you understand that metal arose as something more polished and media-acceptable (at least when compared to ->) in an era when punk was the "grittier" rock around. You speak as if metal grew from the underground and should stay in that vein, but metal grew in the theatrical arena and underground forms of it came about later. In fact thrash came about by bringing in punk influences, which is where that gritty sound mostly came from. It's not some be-all-end-all metal standard.

And still, you speak constantly of image, which ISN'T music. Music is music. There are good and bad versions of all genres, whether it be 80s hard rock, thrash, or power metal. If you don't like particular area, fine, but that doesn't make the music bad, which is all just a matter of personal taste anyway. I personally have never seen Edguy live and got introduced to them solely through the music itself.

And this nostalgic, colorful rock star image you despise Edguy for displaying is the same image displayed by many of the elder front-runners of your favorite music.

There definately is a difference, and I know this from the side of the sellout. A guy my dad works with plays in a cover band. They play crappy pop that said guy can't stand, but the thing is, he's trying to make money off the band, and makes it clear that that is his motive. It's not like he's into real gritty metal - apparently he's a big Dream Theater fan, but clearly you can't say it's for the love of the music or something like that.

Meanwhile, the New Jersey scene is full of little bands who play to like four people in no-name bars struggling to make it. For example, the Steve Bello Band just split up after barely squeezing out one album because all the politics involved with playing concerts drove the bassist to quit. Local original bands have to struggle, while cover bands are selling out of tickets.

Now, I think that's even worse than a poppy metal band making money with their music intentionally because at least then they write their own music. However, if you're barely making it but you push on, you're clearly doing it for the love of the music, and there are a lot of bands around here like that. There are some bands like my friend's ska band who refuses to be signed, sells T-shirts, home-burnt CD's, and other merch for the price of production, and usually play shows for no money.

That doesn't necessarily make any band better or worse, and I have no place to judge because I've never been in any kind of position where I could sell my soul for cash, so I can't say I've proved myself, but there IS a difference between those who are out for cash and those who are out to play.

Believe me, I'm not condemning the mainstream in any way - I'm actually a Fleetwood Mac fan if that tells you anything. It's just that I have a ridiculous amount of respect for musicians who prefer to play against the odds for music's sake rather than with the odds for their own.

I am not an Edguy fan so I can't comment on them specifically, but I will say that I don't really see anything that wrong with being entertainers in ways apart from just the music, GWAR being the band I have in mind. But then again, they pump most of the money they make back into the show, or so they say - they seem proud enough of such a fact that I'm willing to believe it.

Edguy just believes in playing music they enjoy playing and can use to put on a fun show for fans. Tobias has said he can't stand bands who put on doom and gloom shows. He wants to entertain. Adding some aspects of 70s-80s hard rock doesn't do anything to help them all that much commercially. They already have a good following and sell alot of albums by power metal standards, and they aren't going to start selling multi-platinum albums for being a bit nostalgic. What was commercial 20-30 years ago is not going to suddenly make someone a commercial giant today. If they were really going to sell out for cash, they'd do nu metal or something.

The thing is, if you play what you enjoy, you're doing the right thing. Watch some studio or concert footage of Edguy. They like what they do.

I agree. I know a guy who was a guitar tech for the Edguy/Hammerfall tour. He said all the Edguy members are out there for the fans. Tobias could care less about the image he portrays, which is why he is going the direction he is going. He wants to do it, and fuck you if you don't like it. The same guy also told me that one of the guitarists for Hammerfall doesn't know how to tune his guitar. I found that pretty damn funny.

I'm sorry, but first of all, Edguy doesnt have that "fuck you if you don't like us" vibe. They have more of a "look at us, we wear bright colors and sing happy songs" type vibe. And if anyone tries to convince me that metal should be clean and happy just because early rock n roll was...then you're fucked. It may sound clean and neat to us, but back then it was extremely rebellios and dirty. Which brings us to heavy metal. Heavy metal is dirty and exceedingly evil. Edguy does it no justice by jumping around in designer clothse like a bunch of homos. THey are not what real metal stands for and if you can't handle it, then fuck you.

they're part of the metal scene as all other happy PM acts are... should you like it or not, it's a FACT.
and stop with the rage and all saying it's a major part of what defines a band as metal or not, it's just retarded...
and about the old times, this rock'n'roll was evil only because it was black music in a time when black music was evil (and also a certain reflection of the changes in time that older generations are never prepared to accept)... but overall that was pretty much harmless (as most metal is anyways)... everybody knows the real bad boys are in hip hop now... and that doesn't make good music :roll:

Its not retarted, in fact it makes a whole lot of sense. There is a marked difference between the new crop of super happy power metal bands and the old heavy metal bands that defined the sound. Power metal is the new hair metal and Edguy is the new Poison. Everything is too polished and has no fucking balls anymore. Edguy seems to be leading the way for this new group of scenesters. Just like Dokken fans would show up a Vio-lence show to pose, so do Edguy and Lacuna Coil fans. Thats why the underground wants nothing to do with them. Its all sell out bull shit, Thats why the tickets and merchandise are so fucking expensive. Those bastards are just trying to make a buck. it seems to be working, they've convinced a lot of fools that they are a real metal band. They may have been a metal band in the past, albeit a generic and boring one, but now they are plain and simply butt rock...for homos. Enjoy if you must, but you definately suck for it.

this whole "it's not how metal used to sound therefore it's gay" routine is boring David... have you heard of a little thing called evolution ? without it we would still be stuck on Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin (etc) which are good bands but that doesn't mean we want clones of those... the thing is, metal have fucking broadened and that's a good thing. do you realise how many youngsters started with a "poser band" (make it Edguy or Metallica or whoever else defines it for you) to find out after about more obsucre/uncompromised acts ? those "easy bands" are a gateway to metal therefore they have their purpose (plus some have good songs and are actually pretty nice to listen to)...

and I think the gay argument is retarded...

and I think the new Hair Metal is Nu Metal...

and I think your elitism is more tiring today than it was yesterday and will be even more tomorrow... :roll:

Oh horse shit.

Keeper of the Seven Keys parts I & II have super happy songs and clean, shiny production (for their time). And Helloween never acted threatening or shied away from wearing fruity shit onstage and joking around with the crowd. Your hypocrisy is astounding.

*Cough Cough* Nocturnal Rites *Cough Cough*

Ha ha I love seeing how riled up you guys get about this. And don't you dare cough Nocturnal Rites name, you should herald it with trumpets....at least you should have until they released Afterlife.

In other words: the only response I have is to repeat myself again so i will feign disinterest.

What a dumb argument. I can't stand Edguy, but please. If they enjoy doing what they do, then good for them. If you like listening to them, then good for you. I bought Hellfire Club, it was the only album that has ever truly annoyed every fiber of my being, so I returned it and got something else. Surprisingly enough, the world continued turning.

Nobody is holding a gun to anyone's head and forcing them to listen to the damn fruity band.