Metal Reviews

This diagnosis is good enough reason to dislike a lot of power metal, but how on Earth can you apply it to BG (especially IFTOS era)??? BG sounds nothing like this!

I dislike bands that fit the above description, but I'm not thinking to BG at all, but rather to Edguy, SA, RoF and their ilk. IMO, these are all bands that took the old Helloween sound, threw away everything that was good about it and kept only the cheese and the lightness. But there have been bands that did great stuff with that approach, like Scanner, or Gamma Ray, or Kamelot for that matter.

Anyway, power metal is much more diverse from that. There's a lot of quality in the old US power scene, from Savatage to Omen to Metal Church to Sanctuary, or in the modern power thrash scene, from Iced Earth to Nevermore to Morgana Lefay. I have a lot of favourite bands in this style and frankly it annoys me that so many people seem to only refer to Hammerfall & co. when they speak of power metal. There's so much more to this style.

yeah

I like/require metal to be catchy and don't mind it focusing on vocals, but power metal doesn't do it for me (except maybe one Dragonforce song at a time). I feel like there must be an ideal power metal album that'd be like a rock opera with badass riffs and lots of double bass kick, but I just haven't found it yet. Kamelot come close but Ray's singing is too safe and their overall sound is too polished.

Need songs this good but metal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJnjcX8skXk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbw6YFAGUac

Well yeah, I agree with Trapt, mostly. The over-the-top singing is too much for me and the emphasis on showing off individual instrument skills is frankly harrowing. I have the same with most modern heavy metal though.

I like power metal, but I tend to agree with this. That's the reason I fell instantly in love with Falconer the first time I heard them. They sound... I don't know... serious ? Plus, you can make your (non-metal listeners) friends listen to them without seeing them burst into frenetic laughter.

For example : the only Helloween song I could make my friends listen to (and like) is The Perfect Gentleman. And it's barely a metal song. With Blind Guardian, I could do the same with their acoustic-slow-paced (boring) ballads, however I kept getting the same reaction : "Ooh, very nice ! But tell me, why is the guy always singing about fucking hobbits ?"
And with Edguy... hum... no, I never managed to make my friends listen to Edguy. And I'm too depressed to even think about trying with Kamelot.

It's disheartening, but I think the world is just too tough a place for traditional power metal to survive.

I always have the opposite reaction on people when we listen to music together. They walk away feeling like they had been missing out on what is some of the finest music recorded, like I brought out the lost Led Zeppelin albums or something. I tend to really avoid bands that are standards. I would never make someone who has a pop sensibility listen to Maiden or Priest. Nor would I give a former nu-metaller something like Blind Guardian or Helloween. I mean, you bust out a more recent Kreator album to impress a Pantera fan, or you introduce someone who likes old 80's Heart to Axel Rudi Pell. Maybe you guys are stretching it a bit?

You have a point, I'm stretching it.
Although the first two Maiden albums did work wonders with a female friend (well, she was already deep into NIN, Tool and the likes, so not exactly a stranger to the cause).

Oooh, and I also noticed Kreator's Endorama is a good foothold when you aim to metalize a pop brain. However I gave up on trying to convert heathens : I just suck at it. Besides, I don't have a friend that I did not went inquisition-style on already. Now I'm the freak who listens to "closet case mass-murderer music" (that's an actual quote).

This is what you get when you try, as you said, to stretch it a bit.

It must be due to your presence during the listening experience solely

Nope. Half the time I'm not there. I'd rather let someone take a mix CD home and let it soak in rather than put them on the spot. I have no idea what kind of mood they are in or if they think a song sucks and it's time to change it. The more intimate encounters have been with band mates and people I spent a lot of time with like an old girlfriend or something like that. I don't think they are lying if they want to grab to guitars and jam right away to the music as it plays.

That is interesting. Maiden is one of those bands that even with huge metalheads, if you get into them later, they don't seem to have the impact they would if you listened to it a lot earlier. So it's weird to me that someone would listen to more modern stuff then go back to them. I have tried and can't really get into it all that much. It's pretty good, but I never got obsessed with their material where it plays in my head until I am forced to listen to the record again. To me, you have to completely destroy someone's expectations while not getting too far off from what they want. It's a difficult balance.

+1

Let me rephrase. The woman I spoke about, who was deep into NIN, Tool, etc, enjoys the first two Maidens with Di'Anno singing, not the others. That's because she had the feeling the music was "serious". Old, sure, but also mature. She liked the lyrics, she liked the "grain", she liked the tune. But she couldn't stand Dickinson-era. And still can't.

I, myself, was already into metal when I first listened to Iron Maiden (and received the giant punch in the face that comes with the first listen), 11 years ago. And I became a huge fan, even though I was already listening to more modern metal stuff (which I am not proud of : Metallica, Cradle of Filth, Korn, and bands I can't remember the name). And the same happened with Judas Priest (although I just can't stand Sad wings of destiny, for some reason), Accept, Saxon, etc.

So perhaps it's not that weird. It depends on what you're looking for. I remember I felt like an archeologist seeking for ancient treasures, treasures beyond my imagination. It's not an easy mood to be in.
This feeling is partly what you said about your acquaintances :"They walk away feeling like they had been missing out on what is some of the finest music recorded". The dreaded fear of missing out something breathtaking, that I would enjoy immensely.

This is precisely on this fear I tried to play, when attempting to convince my friends to listen to metal. With poor results, as we discussed already.

Jeez, my friends suck.

I just wanted to say:

1. Sad Wings of Destiny is one of the best albums the Priest made, it's hard to beat 70's Priest.

2. Dickinson > DiAnno any time.

3. What's wrong with liking Metallica and CoF? Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning and Dusk... and her embrace are great albums of metal.

4. In the 80's it was hard for a thrasher to admit he liked Motley Crue. It's the same thing with Black/Death and Power Metal nowadays. In one hand we have people who seek powerful, aggressive music; in the other we have people who wants catchy and uplifting music. Two different psychological profiles.

I like Power Metal a lot. One day I can listen to Heavenly, Edguy and Kamelot, and the next to Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord, depends on the mood.

1. I swear I tried to like it. I tried so much. I just sadly don't. I'd go further by admitting I enjoy Rocka rolla more that I enjoy Sad wings of destiny. I'm not saying it's a bad album, huh ? It would be ridiculous. It just bores me, for some reason.

2. Dickinson > everything. So, agreed. (It's my friend who fancies DiAnno, not me).

3. Nothing wrong with liking Metallica and CoF, I was mostly referring to the shitty bands I used to listen to. Korn, Bizkit, Creed... there where plenty others I don't remember now.

4. Agreed. Especially the mood part.

Limp Bizkit... now that's something to be ashamed of

I don't like Rocka Rolla. When talking about 70's Priest I was thinking of Stained Class, Hell Bent for Leather and my fav live album ever, Unleashed in the East; Rob Halford was at his best!

Stained class is my second favorite Priest album after Painkiller. Never had the chance to hear Unleashed, is this a must ? I don't know why I'm asking, as I already know the answer...

Totally a MUST! Get the version with 13 songs, instead of the one with 9.

One of the best metal albums ever, live or not.

With regards to number 4, I'll quite merrily go from something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi4c4Wp3zKA to something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8S3DPc8x3U without batting an eyelid, as they both rank in my favourite albums ever. Not sure what the problem with it is :S.

Paul > Bruce

Sad Wings > anything ever