After Ozzfest here in California we were driving home and a local radio station 96.7 Kcal Rock was advertising for Symphony X and Sanctity tickets which are gonna be on July 30th. After that they played Set the World on Fire on the radio. Considering the only instance of radio play I have heard from Symphony X was Smoke and Mirrors on Sirius, I think this is the beginning of something more. If anyone else has heard Symphony X on their local radio stations, let me know, thanks. They are getting a lot mor exposure now.
Hearing Symohony X on the radio!!
- Thread starter Accolade2289
- Start date
Jax
Forum Goddess
A friend of mine heard them on the radio over in Ann Arbor here in Michigan a week or two ago. I don't listen to fm radio much, so I don't know if they've gotten airplay on this side of the state or not, though.
^^^Maybe an ignorant statement, but the same thing did happen with Dragonforce. Then again, their music does appeal to noobs.
DoomsdayZach
The Professor was right
Methinks you're the ignorant one here, and this statement made me hate you. Carry on.
I am gonna have to agree with Zach here, because Symphony X on the radio can only be a good thing. If the people listening like the music then what is the problem, cause I know that there are probably many fans within the metal genre that would like Symphony X if they heard them, the only problem is little exposure. And if Symphony X went mainstream I would never have a problem with it. As long as they wrote good music that is all that matters.
A similar parallel to this would be like when Metallica became mainstream in the early 90's. Though they lightened up their sound over the years, they were still putting out good music. I actually liked Load and Reload, because it was good music, even though it wasn't the classic "metal" or Metallica sound. Musical evolution is good, as long as the music stays sounding good, regardless of style. That's why I still like and respect Dream Theater after all the changes in style, albumwise.
DoomsdayZach
The Professor was right
actually, metallica is a horrible comparison because they completely changed their sound to conform to the mainstream. There are bands who have gained some success and still stuck to their sound (behemoth). sure, they aren't black metal, but they started going more death metally on satanica and thelma.6. the apostasy is continuing in the same vein, despite multiple high profile tours and more people knowing them.
Snowmaker
GO BLUE!!
All I know is Sirius 27 plays the hell out of Set the World on Fire. I hear it on there at least every other day.
Ive always had an issue with radio stations. They never play anyones music unless its status quo or the latest direction the music industry decided music was going to take. For example Disco, New Wave, Candy little girl "metal", Grunge, Rap, ect. ect ect. Sure there are good examples of all kinds (did I just say that ?) Seriously though, how many great songs by honest artists got beat to death on the radio until even die hard fans nearly hated them. My oldest example is "Stairway to Heaven". Nobody really like Led Zeppelin when I was listening to them. I had the grooves wore out on the IV LP long before Stairway to Heaven or Blackdog got airplay. 2 years later they were both played to death and everyone was all up in a Led Zeppelin frency .... anyhow I think this may be somewhat what the one poster was talking about. Its highly unlike that a progressive band would ever become a mainstream sound, however. Prog is for deep thinkers that like to be entertained by musical masterbation ..... yea that what most call it ... so I guess Im into self gratification. Paint me a large picture, take me on a voyage and Im happy.
On the other side for example, our local "Edge" station didnt advertise the Sym X concert till two weeks before it came and not once did I hear any music ....... ever ....... played by Sym X on their station. Yet they were there, waving their banner and so full of themselves that they brought us Symphony X ........ "who" says the field of sheep. Wonder if this is why the crowd was ... just guessing ... 200 people.
So I believe radio stations should give more abstract bands some air time and the "in" bands a little less. This would broaden the horizons of the average listener a bit and save the pop bands from being beat to death.
Being into Fates Warning, Savatage and Dream Theater for many years I felt like an ass when I discoverd Sym X over 5 years into their career, thanks to the internet. Actually during most of the 90's I thought good intence music had died, all due to the radio and falling out of the loop.
On the other side for example, our local "Edge" station didnt advertise the Sym X concert till two weeks before it came and not once did I hear any music ....... ever ....... played by Sym X on their station. Yet they were there, waving their banner and so full of themselves that they brought us Symphony X ........ "who" says the field of sheep. Wonder if this is why the crowd was ... just guessing ... 200 people.
So I believe radio stations should give more abstract bands some air time and the "in" bands a little less. This would broaden the horizons of the average listener a bit and save the pop bands from being beat to death.
Being into Fates Warning, Savatage and Dream Theater for many years I felt like an ass when I discoverd Sym X over 5 years into their career, thanks to the internet. Actually during most of the 90's I thought good intence music had died, all due to the radio and falling out of the loop.
Dragonforce ? Damn ! you know I read about them and made the mistake of buying that Alvin and the Chipmunks CD. What a JOKE.
PoisonSeed
Grin
I'd just be extremely happy if Symohony X would become something mainstream. It'd be quality mainstream for a change.
Honestly I have been thinking about this mainstream crap for a long time, and it really is too hard to understand. Mainstream only means more popular. A perfect example is Lamb of God, who hasn't changed their sound, but has gone to a point from playing shit-ass 600 people venues to pratically headlining Ozzfest within 2 years. So if they have gone mainstream, then I guess that it is all just a popularity issue, not a musical genre/sound issue. I think bands get considered mainstream once they get to a certain popularity. Metallica was just a great band, that became popular once they slowed down their music a little bit and got better production. So to say they conformed to mainstream sound is crap, because no one sounded like Metallica at that time but Metallica. The mainstream sound was leaving hair metal and becoming grunge, and Metallica did neither of those sounds. Metallica just knew that more people would listen if they weren't putting so many Battery's and Dyer's Eve's (fast songs) on their records. Symphony X knows that the general metal population doesn't like prog or softer sounding material, so thus Symphony X darkened their sound and themes, and now they are more popular. So if that is considered becoming more mainstream, then that's crap. Metal isn't mainstream anymore, its all underground. The only time it was mainstream was the 1980's and somewhat in the early 1990's.
PoisonSeed
Grin
exactly well said. but real heavy metal was never mainstream just the metal sound. I love the Black album, Countdown, and Empire but the bands took sell out flack for writting and producing their best work which was just an evolution and maturity of what they were all about.
Iced Dog
The Stormrider's Pooch
DoomsdayZach
The Professor was right
Addressing only this portion of the post:
You're right that most people equate mainstream with # of fans, but that's why i was careful to word my post as i did. Metallica went "mainstream" because they did drastically change their sound to become more accessable, whether intentional or not. it happened. My example of behemoth (and i can accept Lamb of God example as well) simply kept plugging away at what they were doing and as a result have gotten more exposure. Two different things to me. Good post though.
scanner313
The EYE
7 albums with limited exposure and they haven't sold out yet. Normally bands sell out in order to appeal to the mainstream, not the other way around. I highly doubt we'd ever have to worry about this.
dparker88
teh base gahtahrest
raythetse
Where am I?
- Jun 17, 2005
- 446
- 2
- 18
I have to disagree with people's definitions of mainstream here. You don't just decide to go mainstream. IMO mainstream simple means exposure. Its not a sound, its not a style, its not an image. Do remember that there are lots of different styles that are a part of mainstream radio play. hip hop, rap, rnb, pop, rock, hard rock, country, avant garde, all kinds of shit. What is given the opportunity to become mainstream is what is deemed worthy (in this case, profitable) by those with control. They want short songs because that way you can pack in tons of tracks without loosing advertising space. They want simple songs with hooks that people are gonna remember so that todays attention deprived youths don't have to invest their full attention to learn the 'hook' and sing along. They want songs that use a tried, tested, proved formula so that they can minimize investment risk. They want songs that kids can learn to play on guitar in 10 minutes so they can create an illusion that they all can become the next big star and so they will continue to listen to the radio so then can find knew songs to take 10 minutes to learn.
Its just a big money trap. Mainstream becomes poluted by its biproduct and young people are the victims.
Its just a big money trap. Mainstream becomes poluted by its biproduct and young people are the victims.
Similar threads
