A question on the bands

[Stingray11214]

Folks;

First off, I would like to thank Glenn for his post on putting on an event like ProgPower. How it is constructed, and the reasons thereof. Maybe Glenn, AMBR, or anyone else can help me with this question: How are these bands found?

In asking, let me give my own history in my musical tastes. When I was a kid, I listened to mostly classic 60's and mid-edged 70's. Artists like The Doors, Wings, T-Rex, BTO and Hendrix were regular staples in my room during my childhood. As an early teen, I got into Country, partly to please my father (May he rest in peace) who loved Country. When I got into my senior year in High School, I started gravitating towards hard rock/metal. Bands like Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Scorpions, Van Halen, Dio and Deep Purple. This intensified with the formation of the old Z-Rock in the early 90's. That is when I started truly appreciating metal. At this point I was listening to some real good stuff like Queensryche's "Empire" and the Black Album. From there my tastes kind of halted in this era. It would remain so until this past April.

One night, while checking out the BB Kings' schedule (I would see King Diamond later that day), I found on the September page "Nightwish: TOUR CANCELLED". I went to the Nightwish site. I originally thought they were a Marilyn Manson-wannabe act. I clicked on "She is my Sin" and I was floored.
The rest, as they say, is history. I currently own every NW CD, excluding "Angels Fall First" and "Highest Hopes". I even own two Japanese imports. Since then, I got into bands like Stratovarius, Sonata, Tarot, and Timo Kotipelto's side project. I also picked up CD's that were in PP in the past. Stride's effort is incredible, and Kamelot which had a great song in "March of Mephisto". This is my extent so far.

That said, someone said while back on another board that sometimes he thinks ProgPower is for "insiders". What he meant was that since many of these bands are virtually unknown in the United States, the only ones that would know them are people who a) were artists themselves, b)worked in the industry, and c)promoted or played the music professionally. I do NOT say this as a knock. But, where does the casual fan like myself, short of living in Europe, find these acts? FOR ME, the only acts I have heard of before Glenn's announcements were Epica (I own "Consign to Oblivion" and "Phantom Agony") and Pyramaze, and that was only through Beyond Ear Candy. The others I heard of, and listened to, only after the announcements. The reason I went off on Freak Kitchen is because I could not for the life of me see where they fit. And, they just do not do it for me musically. To each their own. But, I would like to get a CD, or at least listen to a band. It feels really stupid to go to a show, and have no clue to who the band is or what they are singing. Banging your head while everyone sings along can look dumb sometimes.

So, where does the casual fan, short of moving to Europe, or living on internet radio, finds these acts, or any of them, before they are announced for a festival/tour?

Thank you all.

Peace,
Ray C.

 

[Sumeet]

Folks;

First off, I would like to thank Glenn for his post on putting on an event like ProgPower. How it is constructed, and the reasons thereof. Maybe Glenn, AMBR, or anyone else can help me with this question: How are these bands found?

In asking, let me give my own history in my musical tastes. When I was a kid, I listened to mostly classic 60's and mid-edged 70's. Artists like The Doors, Wings, T-Rex, BTO and Hendrix were regular staples in my room during my childhood. As an early teen, I got into Country, partly to please my father (May he rest in peace) who loved Country. When I got into my senior year in High School, I started gravitating towards hard rock/metal. Bands like Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Scorpions, Van Halen, Dio and Deep Purple. This intensified with the formation of the old Z-Rock in the early 90's. That is when I started truly appreciating metal. At this point I was listening to some real good stuff like Queensryche's "Empire" and the Black Album. From there my tastes kind of halted in this era. It would remain so until this past April.

One night, while checking out the BB Kings' schedule (I would see King Diamond later that day), I found on the September page "Nightwish: TOUR CANCELLED". I went to the Nightwish site. I originally thought they were a Marilyn Manson-wannabe act. I clicked on "She is my Sin" and I was floored.
The rest, as they say, is history. I currently own every NW CD, excluding "Angels Fall First" and "Highest Hopes". I even own two Japanese imports. Since then, I got into bands like Stratovarius, Sonata, Tarot, and Timo Kotipelto's side project. I also picked up CD's that were in PP in the past. Stride's effort is incredible, and Kamelot which had a great song in "March of Mephisto". This is my extent so far.

That said, someone said while back on another board that sometimes he thinks ProgPower is for "insiders". What he meant was that since many of these bands are virtually unknown in the United States, the only ones that would know them are people who a) were artists themselves, b)worked in the industry, and c)promoted or played the music professionally. I do NOT say this as a knock. But, where does the casual fan like myself, short of living in Europe, find these acts? FOR ME, the only acts I have heard of before Glenn's announcements were Epica (I own "Consign to Oblivion" and "Phantom Agony") and Pyramaze, and that was only through Beyond Ear Candy. The others I heard of, and listened to, only after the announcements. The reason I went off on Freak Kitchen is because I could not for the life of me see where they fit. And, they just do not do it for me musically. To each their own. But, I would like to get a CD, or at least listen to a band. It feels really stupid to go to a show, and have no clue to who the band is or what they are singing. Banging your head while everyone sings along can look dumb sometimes.

So, where does the casual fan, short of moving to Europe, or living on internet radio, finds these acts, or any of them, before they are announced for a festival/tour?

Thank you all.

Peace,
Ray C.

I don't think you have worry about looking dumb or anything like that... lots of people that go to the show aren't already familiar with a lot of the bands that play ProgPower, and get introduced to them there. That's part of the very purpose of a music festival. That said, I personally usually enjoy a live show more when I know the material... but it's hardly a requirement. Now, I've been to every ProgPower except the first one in Chicago, and I can say I've been familiar with the vast majority of the bands who have played. However, I'm most certainly not a musician, promoter, or in any way professionally connected to the music industry. Nor do I live in Europe (not that I'm suggesting that metal is utterly ubiquitous in Europe, and head-slamming riffs ring from every church tower, heh).

I guess a big part of it is time... in that I've spent a lot of time talking about metal on the internet since I first got on the internet in 1996 and discovered the underground metal scene. This was well before most people had the bandwidth to stream music or download audio files. It was just a matter of having interest in it and talking to other people that have interest in it. These days, internet radio and downloading are also an option, but to me, the most value is still in talking to people online who are interested in the same types of music as I am.

Now, you ask how a casual fan finds out about these bands. Realistically, casual fans are really only going to find out about the occassional underground metal band here and there. These bands aren't on the radio, don't get much mass-media publicity, and their CD's often aren't available in every store, so you have to put in some work to learn of their existence and hear their music. I'd say part of the reason I know about so many bands is that I am not a casual fan. At times my interest in listening to this music has perhaps even bordered on obsessive (like, sometimes buying more CD's in a week than I could listen to in 4 months). I'm quite sure the same is true of many people on this board and on other such boards.

So, basically, the amount of bands you know about is proportional to the amount of time you waste digging into the scene, hehe. It sounds to me as if you know about a fair number of bands... likely proportional to the amount of time you've spent digging. And sure, there are a shitload of bands out there in this scene... the great thing about ProgPower is that it can help you focus on which ones to get into next. The lineup is announced more than 8 months in advance... plenty of time to get to know the music of the bands that are going to be playing!

 

[J-Dubya 777]

If Al Gore didn't invent the internet (j/k!), I'd still be listening to Skid Row, Maiden, Mr. Big. etc (I still do enjoy these bands...). When I first plugged my modem into the internet in 95-96, the main reason was to keep up with bands I was interested in, and search out new music. I was never one to be brainwashed by what the radio played being the be-all end-all of music. I always found out about bands on my own, back then, through Metal Zone & Kerrang. One of the first things I did was join an e-mail discussion list for Symphony X. That place, as well as several discussion boards, were chock full of information, and still are. There are quite a few informative boards
here at Ultimate Metal too. I guess what you really need to do is seek out stuff for yourself, check out some boards, follow some links, listen to an internet music station or 2 and get ready to be overwhelmed. Not all of us came upon this info the same way, there's no "magical" place to start.
Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask for band suggestions on any of these forums. Not all of us are dickheads!

J-Dubya

 

[longshot9]

I personally first got on the internet in probably around 1994 or 95. Wasn't really looking for music info at the time cause i was pretty put off by the fact that all my beloved 80's bands were dead and gone now thanks to Grunge. One band however was still kicking and really blowing me away, Dream Theater. So I found Ytsejam a few years later, 95-6 maybe, and joined the mailing list.

At some point in around 97, maybe 98 I found Impulse Music in Illinois. I don't remember if I found it on the net somewhere or a magazine, honestly can't recall. Got a catalog from them and was blown away by all the bands on there that i'd never heard of. And I always considered myself pretty knowledgable about metal in general. There were a few 80's bands on there that I recognized that put out unknown cd's and I wanted them. So I ordered and asked him what else he would recommend. He asked me what I liked, so I told him i'm into the catchy 80's stuff and I really like DT. He says "Then you need to get everything from Symphony X, "Visions" from Stratovarius, and "The God Thing" from Vanden Plas. As you said with Nightwish, I was freaking blown away. Joined the SyX mailing list shortly after and basically have found out about every band i've discovered since then from people I know on the net.

Most people on the net are more than willing to point you in the direction of some killer shit... the key is finding the people that love the SAME bands you do. I mean, if your favorite band is Nightwish... and you ask someone who likes Nightwish but is really into Opeth, you probably will find somethings you like but not as much if you asked the person who loves Nightwish. Just a thought.

 

[Pellaz]

My story also involves Dream Theater, and the old Ytsejam mailing list, back in c. 1992 when the Internet was basically just mailing lists and newsgroups. There was no worldwide web. I was already into metal a la QR and 'Tallica, but thanks to the Ytsejam I discovered a host of new bands that were like this awesome 'new' band I loved, namely Dream Theater. Bands like Symphony X, Superior, etc. DT online fandom is also where I first 'met' Glenn. I'm still on the Ytsejam to this day.

 

[Braxil]

Well, I'm probably a lot younger than most of you, but I definately agree it's next to impossible to get into this type of music in the US due to a lack of exposure. My first contact with metal came when my friend lent me Blind Guardian's Somewhere Far Beyond when I was twelve. I was hooked, and went out and got their other albums, but I really didn't go anywhere in terms of discovering similiar bands for about three years. What I've found that works for me is just asking people who enjoy similiar things you do what they like and giving that a try, or just finding projects/other bands of the artists you do enjoy, works especially well with the German power metal scene, it's like a big happy family.

 

[No-Mercy]

Well, I'm probably a lot younger than most of you, but I definately agree it's next to impossible to get into this type of music in the US due to a lack of exposure. My first contact with metal came when my friend lent me Blind Guardian's Somewhere Far Beyond when I was twelve. I was hooked, and went out and got their other albums, but I really didn't go anywhere in terms of discovering similiar bands for about three years. What I've found that works for me is just asking people who enjoy similiar things you do what they like and giving that a try, or just finding projects/other bands of the artists you do enjoy, works especially well with the German power metal scene, it's like a big happy family.

im 14 in the us and i, by myself (for the msot part, aided by darg a bit), have gotten into...

Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Dream Evil, Tad Morose, Falconer, Brainstorm, Stratovarius, Freedom Call, Hammerfall, Helloween, Edguy, Luca Turilli, Kamelot, Finntroll, Dragonforce, Gamma Ray, Sacred Reich, Dio, Nocturnal Rites, Rainbow, Drakkar, Accept, Queensryche, Vision Divine, Warlock, Angel Witch, Imperanon, Silver Mountain, Firewind, Bloodbound, Savage Circus, Nightrage, Mystic Prophecy, Odins Court, Angel Dust, Metal Church, Pain Of Salvation, Metallica, Nightwish, Angra, Stormgarde, Wolfcry, Dragonlord, Holy Dragons, Symphony X, Morgana Lefay, Megadeth, Demons And Wizards, Dragonland, Manticora, Blackmore's Night, Tesla, Mercenary, Tarot, Orphaned Land, Nevermore, Wind Wraith, Intense, Yngwie Malmsteen, Shaman, Rhapsody, Pantera, Motorhead, Fates Warning, Rage, Savatage, Evergray, Into Eternity, Testament, Saxon, Overkill, Judas Priest, Synesthesia, Riot, Bruce Dickinson, Slayer, Sonata Arctica, Human Fortress, Magistral, Pagans Mind, Labyrinth, Vanden Plas, Lost Horizen, Dark Empire, Aquaria, Symphorce, Jag Panzer, Adromeda, Thunderstone, Pyramaze, Dark Tranquility, Dream Theater, Kings-X, Anthrax.

 

[woosta]

I used to just try stuff based on name (or style) alone. Some misses, mostly "hits". Then when those bands break up or form side projects, I'd get those. Then when THOSE bands split, follow the players to their new band. It snowballs.

ANother suggestion is to get on Ebay or somewhere and pick up a copy of BURRN!, Rock Hard (germany), Metal Hammer, or some other non-United Kingdom magazine. Look through and check the tours section for sure. When you have an act you like, say NIghtwish, find who they have or are touring with. Check out those bands. Search the BNR metal pages online to see all the projects of the players and go for those. See?

I'd be happy to help you if you emailed me and told me who you liked. I listen to all styles of heavy music except for MTV2-style American Headbangers Ball bands and I'll even have a couple of those.

 

[Braxil]

im 14 in the us and i, by myself (for the msot part, aided by darg a bit), have gotten into...

Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Dream Evil, Tad Morose, Falconer, Brainstorm, Stratovarius, Freedom Call, Hammerfall, Helloween, Edguy, Luca Turilli, Kamelot, Finntroll, Dragonforce, Gamma Ray, Sacred Reich, Dio, Nocturnal Rites, Rainbow, Drakkar, Accept, Queensryche, Vision Divine, Warlock, Angel Witch, Imperanon, Silver Mountain, Firewind, Bloodbound, Savage Circus, Nightrage, Mystic Prophecy, Odins Court, Angel Dust, Metal Church, Pain Of Salvation, Metallica, Nightwish, Angra, Stormgarde, Wolfcry, Dragonlord, Holy Dragons, Symphony X, Morgana Lefay, Megadeth, Demons And Wizards, Dragonland, Manticora, Blackmore's Night, Tesla, Mercenary, Tarot, Orphaned Land, Nevermore, Wind Wraith, Intense, Yngwie Malmsteen, Shaman, Rhapsody, Pantera, Motorhead, Fates Warning, Rage, Savatage, Evergray, Into Eternity, Testament, Saxon, Overkill, Judas Priest, Synesthesia, Riot, Bruce Dickinson, Slayer, Sonata Arctica, Human Fortress, Magistral, Pagans Mind, Labyrinth, Vanden Plas, Lost Horizen, Dark Empire, Aquaria, Symphorce, Jag Panzer, Adromeda, Thunderstone, Pyramaze, Dark Tranquility, Dream Theater, Kings-X, Anthrax.

Good for you No-Mercy, but I know very, very few people living in the US able to do that, at least in Florida. It is nice to see more people growing up on this stuff than the trendy garbage that gets airplay.

 

[yardleybates]

There's a really cool site out there called LivePlasma which is a great start if you know 1 band you like.

http://www.liveplasma.com/

You put in a band name and you get this map that shows bands that are similar. They are grouped close if they are very similar, you'll see little offshoots like to other projects by band members and then bands that are similar to that.

Yippee38 and I used this site a lot until we pretty much picked it clean I don't think there are many in our genre now on there that we don't have albums from

 

[Bryan316]

I think it all started when my brother heard HammerFall on Music Choice's Metal channel. He went and found the Legacy of Kings album, and we were STUNNED. After that, it was a combination of using the Century Media and Nuclear Blast CD order inserts they throw inside their discs, and Napster on high-speed at the college library. He spent three hours straight punching in band names and downloading whatever appeared. Then we all sat around, and went through the 150+ songs we had. We took notes on what bands we dug, then looked for their websites to get any info, and after that, WE SPENT SHITLOADS OF MONEY MONEY MONEY!!! We bought so many damned albums in one year, we couldn't listen to them all!

I think the only real example before this, was when my brother discovered Iced Earth, simply from the artwork on The Dark Saga. He's a Spawn nut and had to see what they were like. LIFE. ALTERING. EXPERIENCE. We were stunned how good Iced Earth was. We're all superfans now.

I discovered Blind Guardian when I heard that Nightfall was based on Tolkien's work. I hadn't read The Silmarillion yet, and after spinning that album, I was shocked that a band could have such an epic sound like this. Then I started my BG collection.

When Iced Earth got Richard Christy as their drummer, Jeremy HAD to research where this guy was from. He then traced back to Death, and from there damn near every other band from any of the members of Death. That spread like wildfire for him.

For me, though, it was primarily trying to find bands with great vocalists. I rediscovered Dream Theater when Scenes From A Memory came out. Then when that dude in the computer lab showed me Iron Maiden, GAME OVER. Then Joacim Cans from HammerFall, Henning Basse from Metalium, and, of course, Tobias Sammet from Avantasia brought all of the bands from the members related to that project.

We discovered Prog Power because we had to see Edguy live. And the rest, they say, is addicti... er... history.

 

[Petethedrummer]

I downloaded some Blind Guardian by accident. and now I love metal. the end =)

 

[Sumeet]

I think it all started when my brother heard HammerFall on Music Choice's Metal channel. He went and found the Legacy of Kings album, and we were STUNNED. After that, it was a combination of using the Century Media and Nuclear Blast CD order inserts they throw inside their discs, and Napster on high-speed at the college library. He spent three hours straight punching in band names and downloading whatever appeared. Then we all sat around, and went through the 150+ songs we had. We took notes on what bands we dug, then looked for their websites to get any info, and after that, WE SPENT SHITLOADS OF MONEY MONEY MONEY!!! We bought so many damned albums in one year, we couldn't listen to them all!

I think the only real example before this, was when my brother discovered Iced Earth, simply from the artwork on The Dark Saga. He's a Spawn nut and had to see what they were like. LIFE. ALTERING. EXPERIENCE. We were stunned how good Iced Earth was. We're all superfans now.

I discovered Blind Guardian when I heard that Nightfall was based on Tolkien's work. I hadn't read The Silmarillion yet, and after spinning that album, I was shocked that a band could have such an epic sound like this. Then I started my BG collection.

When Iced Earth got Richard Christy as their drummer, Jeremy HAD to research where this guy was from. He then traced back to Death, and from there damn near every other band from any of the members of Death. That spread like wildfire for him.

For me, though, it was primarily trying to find bands with great vocalists. I rediscovered Dream Theater when Scenes From A Memory came out. Then when that dude in the computer lab showed me Iron Maiden, GAME OVER. Then Joacim Cans from HammerFall, Henning Basse from Metalium, and, of course, Tobias Sammet from Avantasia brought all of the bands from the members related to that project.

We discovered Prog Power because we had to see Edguy live. And the rest, they say, is addicti... er... history.

Cool story... considering how Iron Maiden was more or less the entry point for many people in this scene (including myself), it's interesting to hear the journey of someone who first got into younger Maiden-influenced bands, and eventually worked back in their direction...

 

[The_Kinslayer]

I accidently downloaded 'Bless the Child' by Nightwish while searching for 'Blessed in Contempt' by Testament, or something along those lines, and it was all downhill from there. Already being a fan of thrash metal, it wasn't too much of a jump to turn in the prog/power direction.

 

[Bryan316]

It's weird... being a bass player, I learned my shit from Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler, Geddy Lee, Rudy Sarzo... but I never really grabbed onto Steve Harris. Nobody had any Maiden for me to get exposed to. Until I met this really tall lanky black guy and he had a bass guitar on his lap and a stack of Maiden albums. I watched his stuff while he ran for a meeting with his counselor, and he told me to give this Number of the beast stuff a spin on his headphones. WHAT WAS I MISSING ALL THESE YEARS?!?!?

Needless to say, I really changed my playing style. Heh heh.

 

[Yippee38]

I really started expanding my musical tastes when one day I walked into Impulse Music and found this black and white newsprint fanzine called Lamentations of the Flame Princess (LotFP). After reading it and checking out the >100 bands mentioned therein, I subscribed. Jim got me listening to stuff I had never heard of before. It really expanded my metal horizon. I think you can still buy a subscription, though they are much less regular now since Jim can't keep footing the bill for it out of his own pocket.

Now, I listen to some internet radio, read band pages occasionally (see who a band I like is booked to play with), read this board, and that keeps me pretty up to date on what's going on.

 

[J-Man]

Mine started when i was looking for some CDs and went into a place called Sound Wharehouse. I asked the girl there for some good metal with nice vocals. The first CD she played was ICED EARTH, and then RHAPSODY, and then EDGUY. Well by that time i was hooked, and she said also check out STRATOVARIUS, but she didn't have any so i went on line to the only place i knew AMAZON, i looked up STRATOVARIUS and saw the icons for other music like this, and what pops up but NIGHTWISH, so i listened to KINSLAYER, and the rest is history, NIGHTWISH has become my favorite and for alot of reasons. Today, i look to this forum for advice, and my favorite genre has expanded to include not only Power, Speed but also Progressive which is now my favorite, and also Melo-Death and some Dark, and anything really that is good and shows talent.

 

[Kenneth R.]

someone played Scenes From a Memory for me. I swore no one could play that fast and it must have been edited heavily. Then I saw them live.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

The internet did it for me. It started for me with a simple web search for Queensryche sound-alike bands. I was a big time Queensryche fan, and was sick and tired of what the radio and mtv was trying to feed me.

Shortly after getting hooked up with the internet I did the search, and soon found out about a band that really got their hooks into me ... Conception. I also found Kamelot out of that search .. prior to Khan joining.

The one website I would credit the most for turning me onto a lot of kickass music was a now defunct site called ... NO EXIT. They had great little descriptive writeups about the bands, and sound files to check out.

Some of the first bands I started with were Conception (Flow era), Symphony X (Twilight era), Dreamscape (Trance Like State era), Centaur, Stratovarius, etc.

Shortly after stumbling onto NO EXIT I found the Perpetual Motion message board. I found out about Prog Power from that site. Glenn posts there on occasion.

I used to mailorder stuff from Dream Disc, but then switched to places like The End and Lasers Edge. Well, that's my story.

Britt

 

[trentdk]

There's a really cool site out there called LivePlasma which is a great start if you know 1 band you like.

http://www.liveplasma.com/

You put in a band name and you get this map that shows bands that are similar. They are grouped close if they are very similar, you'll see little offshoots like to other projects by band members and then bands that are similar to that.

Yippee38 and I used this site a lot until we pretty much picked it clean I don't think there are many in our genre now on there that we don't have albums from

Haha, that website is awesome. Cool idea. I wonder where it gets its info from, or how one can add to it?