Power Metal- Why is it popular?

[speed]

Ah so finally a decent discussion, thank you Disciple of Plato.

Point well taken Disciple, I am by no means as pessimistic and morbid as you may think i am. I suppose you are the eternal Candide,ha. Yet I do firmly believe in the need to confront the sufferings of life to find light, i have yet to find a person who finds happiness without experiencing suffering etc on the way; otherwise what would happiness be if one never new suffering?. And yes, I do feel the need for skepticism and pessimism, in todays world they are useful in deciphering the many lies etc we have been force fed.

And no I really dont care that people listen to power metal, they can do what they wish; i merely wish to understand why they listen to this form of metal i find so repugnant, and maybe learn something about myself along the way. I have listed all the reasons and arguments i have, and I now have received some strong rebuttals that have made me rethink my opinion on the subject.

I agree with you on metal and brutality, few bands are brutal, yet numerous bands rely on image instead of music to appear brutal- or true black metal-insert the style. Truly brutal bands, do not feel the need to drape themselves in the skins of satan, or goths, neonazi's etc., they need nothing more than the music itself. Yet, as i write this, i reminded there are few bands in which this statement proscribes to.

Like I said before, ramblings.

 

[speed]

I should really edit these posts before i post them, i spelled knew- new. Shame.

Oh, and I forgot to address the point you made about music not needing to confront suffering in order to be enjoyed. I totally agree. Yet, i do not think a masterpiece can be created with some sort of sorrow or suffering etc within. Look back on Classical music, or hell even old folk tunes, they are always about broken love, sorrow solitude, etc, these emtions are within them; as well as happiness and life, this is whay they are so great. But these are pointless arguments etc, that in the end mean nothing to the world- do they?

 

[skeptik]

If you think that music has to be sorrowful and pessimistic to be a masterpiece, then I think you may be listening to music for the wrong reason. And Power Metal isn't so happy as you may think. It's melodic, yes, but is that synonymous with happiness?

 

[epicous]

Is Iron Maiden power metal?

 

[Raumien]

I consider Maiden to be Traditional / Power Metal

Personal preference.

And I myself enjoy extreme metal (black/death), doom metal, gothic metal, power metal, traditional metal, speed metal, etc. Fuck limiting your taste in music; the metal subgenres are all metal and metal is the genre we all love, right?

Mournful

While we're on the subject....


I truely do not understand many people here. I'll make a topic called list your favorite bands of each genre and they will reply by listing groups from death, black, thrash and prog metal, etc. Nothing else but metal. Yes, metal is a good listen, but why are there so many people who choose to limit themselves to one genre? Why not hip-hop? Newage? Classic and prog rock? Why do I always feel like no one here but me enjoys groups like Enya, Public Enemy, King Crimson, The Faint, Yes and Squarepusher? Sometimes you see someone who throws in a Mozart or Beethoven in his list of favorite bands to make it look like he listens to a variety of stuff, when anyone knows someone who is interested in a genre, truely interested, can list more than the most recognizable face from that genre.

So, is there anyone else smart enough to wander outside the walls of metal?

 

[hibernal_dream]

Power metal is a lot more musical than other forms of 'brutal' music - it generally goes for composition, structure and melody above sheer aggression and force. Music such as this, if done successfully, takes real strength and power. On the other hand, pop music is actually synonymous with a lot of the harder, brutal music - repetitive, generic, and simply not very well thought out.

Reasons why 'brutal' music is inferior to power metal:

(a) Unskillful - riffs a child could play, every instrument is overemphasised - apparently these guys don't know the meaning of subtlety. We aren't deaf, we CAN hear sounds that aren't shouted, blasted or forced down our eardrums;
(b) Immature - most 'brutal' bands lack the balls to express emotion. Lyrics are often rubbish, themes of death are used to surpress the band's insecurity and to disguise their complete lack of musical vision;
(c) Unadventurous - Power chords used unendingly to disguise both musical incompitence and unwillingness to experiment. They feel safe in their own little musical niche, thereby foregoing the need to be creative in any form.

 

[R.I.P.2]

brutal music - repetitive, generic, and simply not very well thought out.

Reasons why 'brutal' music is inferior to power metal:

(a) Unskillful - riffs a child could play, every instrument is overemphasised - apparently these guys don't know the meaning of subtlety. We aren't deaf, we CAN hear sounds that aren't shouted, blasted or forced down our eardrums;
(b) Immature - most 'brutal' bands lack the balls to express emotion. Lyrics are often rubbish, themes of death are used to surpress the band's insecurity and to disguise their complete lack of musical vision;
(c) Unadventurous - Power chords used unendingly to disguise both musical incompitence and unwillingness to experiment. They feel safe in their own little musical niche, thereby foregoing the need to be creative in any form.

 

[J.]

Indeed. What a dolt.

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

So, is there anyone else smart enough to wander outside the walls of metal?

You know some people are actually satisfied with listening to one genre of music only (in this case metal)? How many genres you listen to does not have anything to do with how smart you are.

I have to agree.

 

[epicous]

From Classical music, I listen the Baroque style, but I like the other areas.
From Metal music, I only dislike death.

 

[Raumien]

You know some people are actually satisfied with listening to one genre of music only (in this case metal)? How many genres you listen to does not have anything to do with how smart you are.


I have to agree.

But how many of those people who are 'satisfied with listening only to metal' do you think have even given the best of each genre a chance?

 

[speed]

I totally agree with you Raumien. The power metal fans i know, and prog metal fans also, only seem to listen to power and prog metal, and maybe a little prog rock. They refuse to listen to anything else, as anything not metal- is not for them. Idiocy. This is based on my observations.

One point that must be addressed, is that of the power/prog ballad. On every power/prog record i have heard, there is a obligatory ballad, sometimes two or three. These ballads are so over the top, they make clay aiken's ballads seem good.

Oh, and did anyone see today that Devin Townsend apologized to Symphony X fans whom he called gay for liking symphony x during his opening set. Personally I think this is a riot, and these damn power/prog metal fans take their music so damn serious they cant take a joke. However, I dont understand why Devin was on a tour with Symphony Z, it just doesnt make sense.

 

[skeptik]

It doesn't make any less sense for any band to tour with any other band. Why is this so mind-boggling to you?

 

[Tool]

Speed, you could say that about any fan of underground metal. I've actually seen that people who listen to death will ussually only listen to that, while Power and Prog fans will ussually like Thrash, Classic\Prog Rock, and Classical too.

As for Power Metal, I think the good bands in the genre are great, and its one of my favorites. One thing that confuses me are these "happy" statements. I've yet to hear one real BG song that is "Happy", and I own 3 albums of theirs, same with Stratovarious [with the exception of Eagleheart, and I only own Visions], or Rhapsody [at least in Power of the Dragonflame]. Well, stuff like Helloween and Angra can have SOME few songs that could be considered 'happy', but aside from that, PM is loaded with very gloomy songs [and I'm only counting the bands that absolutely everyone agrees are PM].

Besides, Power Metal is just as cheesy and gimmicky as Death or Black metal, and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

But how many of those people who are 'satisfied with listening only to metal' do you think have even given the best of each genre a chance?

I would say no. It's hard to keep track of what's going on other genres (specially going deeper into them) when you love a genre in specific. That's why you probably see a lot of metal heads that throw around names like Mozart and Beethoven instead of lesser known names in the classical music genre.

I've actually seen that people who listen to death will ussually only listen to that

The majority of those only listen to Death Metal for the sake of brutality. They think everything that's not death metal is music for pussies.

Btw, I haven't met many of those.

 

[speed]

Ok well i will stop my crusade against power metal. Maybe I should start another one against black metal ( or at least the so called true black metal)- it seems ripe for the picking.

Devin and Symphony X however, should not be on tour together, totally different fanbases, i dont see why they were packaged together, poor management.

 

[Naggamanteh]

The majority of those only listen to Death Metal for the sake of brutality. They think everything that's not death metal is music for pussies.

Btw, I haven't met many of those.

If you haven't met many of those, why do you say they listen to the music for the sake of brutality? I like brutal death metal and I know people who listen to brutal death metal but they do it because they like the music, not for the sake of brutality. And those I know absolutely listen to other genres, even outside metal. I like to say I am a brutal DM fan rather than just plain DM or BM fan because the "brutal" dudes appear to be the most "normal" to me. They seldom have retarded and/or extreme opinions about life (communism, racism, satanism, NS, straight-edge etc.), nor do they feel the urge to wear warpaints and pentagrams (or wear curly long hair and gay tights and sing in high-pitched vocals about dragons and horsemen). I like the fact that they play their music for the sake of musicianship, which is pretty much the opposite of what you suggested in your post.

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

If you haven't met many of those, why do you say they listen to the music for the sake of brutality? I like brutal death metal and I know people who listen to brutal death metal but they do it because they like the music, not for the sake of brutality. And those I know absolutely listen to other genres, even outside metal. I like to say I am a brutal DM fan rather than just plain DM or BM fan because the "brutal" dudes appear to be the most "normal" to me. They seldom have retarded and/or extreme opinions about life (communism, racism, satanism, NS, straight-edge etc.), nor do they feel the urge to wear warpaints and pentagrams (or wear curly long hair and gay tights and sing in high-pitched vocals about dragons and horsemen). I like the fact that they play their music for the sake of musicianship, which is pretty much the opposite of what you suggested in your post.

You took my comment out of context. I'm a death metal fan (an extreme metal fan overall), but there are people that listen to brutal death metal just because its extreme. To make themselves look tougher. They don't understand the technical aspects of the music.

 

[Naggamanteh]

You took my comment out of context. I'm a death metal fan (an extreme metal fan overall), but there are people that listen to brutal death metal just because its extreme. To make themselves look tougher. They don't understand the technical aspects of the music.

Ok, I gotcha. Yeah, you will find "bad apples" everywhere.

 

[Ultimate_Symphony]

Indeed.