Kenneth wrote
Again.......more a case of no-one except the artist being able to fully understand the motives behind the creation of the music.........what you might take as passages of showing off/wankery/ego stroke may infact be seen by the artist as a fully integral part of that piece of music.
It doesn't matter how you try to dress up your "argument"...its just an opinion wearing a pretentious suit....with cuff links provided by Mr Dictionary.
thanks for complimenting my vocabulary.
the issue i see here is that your argument reduces everything to subjective opinion. sure, you can argue that all music is subjective and it's all personal preference. I see where that's coming from. However, music is usually created with the intent of communicating some kind of idea, feeling, mood, or story to the listener from the creator. The stronger the connection, the more effective and lasting the piece will be.
Take for example The Beatles. Simple music, and as I write this, decades old. Yet they have more public presence today than many modern bands. Why? I argue the connection they made with the public was stronger, their music more effective, potent if you will. And they did not need technical wankery to do so. I challenge you to find three bands whose technical showoffery
alone secured them lasting appeal with the public. Wankery you may in your opinion call music, but no matter how you look at it, it doesn't have anything to
say.
And that's why I argue that it weakens pieces of music when overused, as in previously discussed cases like Dream Theater - In The Name of God. Even the Dream Theater fanbois gush over songs like Space Dye Vest or Great Debate instead of In The Name of God. It's precisely the issue with Dragonforce as well. They're a novelty. You are impressed by their skill, it's intriguing, but after listening to many of their songs, you realize that they are all the same, and none have anything to say. There's a reason why Starfire is so popular - it's not about playing-as-fast-as-you-mindlessly-can-just-to-do-it.
Now, I can and will agree that you may or may not subjectively, in your opinion, enjoy such music etc blah blah. But there IS, I feel, an argument that A is more effective at communication than B.
