Thoughts on Metal VS Other Music Genres

Aecliptica

Aecliptica

NOT FRANCOIS
Dec 29, 2002
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Yesterday I was just listenin to some great metal and a thouhgt came into my head... "why is metal so damn good? how can i play it over and over again and still enjoy it? why do I like metal and not rap? or pop? or country?" well i came up with this answer.

The thing with metal is...it just takes so much talent to produce a good song. People that listen to metal can actually appreciate the time people take to make this great music and the skill needed to play. I find with metal , i can listen to a song literally 100 times...and still enjoy it like it was the first time i listened to it. As with rap, or some dance song, it gets old after like 3 times that i hear it. I was discussin this with my friends and we realized we can just get together, sit, and listen to metal for hours and appreciate it. For some reason i cannot see the same with rap, hip hop, country or any other genre. what do you people think about this?
 
i love metal best, but i dont think youre right. i think you underestimate the time and talent that it takes to make most kinds of music. some pop crap is obviously simplistic and repetitive, but there are other styles that you just might not like because they dont fit your mood or something, but that require talent and have little intricacies and nuances that if you took enough acid and listened, you could appreciate.

a lot of metal bands, while their music is well executed and precise and well produced, do not do anything very "interesting" musicallly (opeth is an exception!). in many styles, including metal, that people love, frequently nothing interesting or innovative is happening, which is why i dont knock people for liking other styles than metal. the way i see it, we just like different crap, but we all like crap, so we should understand and accept eachothers passion for it.
 
I think you need to listen to a lot of other music... Maybe you just need to find it.

There IS more to this world besides metal. :p

Maybe you'd like some instrumental Jazz Fusion, maybe you might like hardcore industrial, or maybe even something else... There are LOTS of other music that needs more skill than Metal to play.

Ever listen to some bluegrass? I hate the shit, but those players just rip... Who knows what you might be into if you opened your ears a little. :heh:
 
Well considering that complex metal arrangements are direct decendents of classical-style music... I would start there.

Fusion, progressive, some electronica (check Future Sound of London), and many other genres have as much complexity as the great metal bands do.

As we all know, not all metal is talented, complex music. The good stuff is though. :)
 
oh for sure , i agree with both of you, dont get me wrong thouhg, im not knocking other genres...its prolly mostly a personal thing. i DO listen to othe types of music, its just that like when i listen to metal... and some like sick riffs are goin on, i puicture on in my head that person playin the guitar and thinkin on insnae fingerwork etc..i just try to do that while listenin to something else and it just doessnt do it for me. but you are right, other music such as jazz etc...take extreme talent to produce
 
Bluegrass is like acoustic speed metal. White guys shredding.

In my view, all music genres demand skill and talent, just different kinds of skill and talent. For example, most metal is technically complex but stiff and monotous, while blues is technically simple but requires extraordinary feel, fluidity, and depth of character in the performer, or else it's cheesy and boring. Metal tends to have little subtlety or irony, characteristics prevalent in the best country, folk, jazz. However, metal, like prog, can be very cerebral, atmospheric, & viscerally powerful.

In terms of lyrics, IMO even the best metal can't touch -- not even close-- the best folk & country. It's just not verbal & literary music to the same degree as song oriented pop, musical, folk, country, etc.

I appreciate the poster's orginal sentiment because I don't have a lot of friends who appreciate metal, which is just plain wrong. IMO, if you can't at least appreciate in theory a band like Opeth, no matter how much you hate metal, then you're not a true lover of music.
 
IMO, if you can't at least appreciate in theory a band like Opeth, no matter how much you hate metal, then you're not a true lover of music. [/B]
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Very true. I even got my mom to appreciate Cannibal Corpse because the of the technical ability their stuff requires. She doesn't like them, but she still appreciates the talent. She does like Hypocrisy and Opeth though. :)
 
well classical beats everything always as far as intelligence, technicality and expression, so we can write it off right now.

its safe to say NONE of the popular styles compare to the likes of metal, bluegrass, pure industrial, or prog rock. but i think it would be very difficult to settle with one genre since they all have their good parts and not so good.
 
it's all a matter fo taste....if you like metal best, good for you...that's why other styles don't seem too damn good for you...'cause metal is the one you like best...

i don't think that to make good music (good metal songs or any other style) implies that musicians must have good skills, i mean, good techniques and stuff.....dream theater dudes are good muscians, but i hate their songs...for me they're souless, too mechanic...diferent from, for example, obituary...i'm not an obituary fan, but their music is more organic, energetic and a like some of them...we can't compare of course DT musicians with Obituary ones...it's all taste.

i'm almost like you...i like metal best, but i can listen as well to other styles and taste the same feeling i have while listening to metal...that's what i said...it's all a matter of personal taste...
 
sorry....i was too redundant...i didn't read the posts above before posting!
 
For me, I'm begining to shed my metal shell so to speak and become more open to other forms of music. Classical and any big score music is really good and I love the complexity. Metal seems to be the same in most cases. I've heard some jazz bands and jazz fusion bands recently that have perked my interest because the guitars were blazing through the song in a non-stop solo :D . Besides that I'm trying to get used to other types of music, but I will never EVER be able to get used to rap or pop, or nu-metal. Why? because it's all repetative rehased "samples" and nothing other than simple chord progressions over and over and over, and my mind must be fed complexity to appease my hunger for perfect and well composed music. I can even stand some country because on the odd occasion the acoustics in the songs mix well with a violin or fiddle.
 
If I may add a little something to this, then I'd say that a GOOD drum and bass song is very very hard to make. I know this cos I tinker around with music programs trying to make electronic music and it can be very tough to do. Drum and bass is FAR from my favourite genre, metal is way ahead for me, but I can appreciate the sheer amount of tinkering and hard work it takes to create a decent DnB song. You have to have good build-ups, a myriad of textures to make it sound interesting, smooth transitions, etc. etc. You need a keen ear to do a good job of it.

The main reason that metal will always be far ahead of DnB for me however is that DnB COMPLETELY lacks the type of emotions and feelings that can be generated by guitars, bass guitar and drums. It has no soul, its simply ear-candy with little to no emotional depth, and little meaning. Therefore it can't stand up to a good metal song. :)
 
I love good metal, because it has the feeling.

The feeling of reigning in hell...which I prefer over serving in heaven (haha).
The feeling of total chaos and loving it. The feeling of triumph and excitement the music creates.
The feeling of freedom in the 80s which seems like a good ol' memory in my head... and it creates peace in my dreams.

I makes me hyper and something close to an orgasm. It's great.
It motivates me to get in my car and drive as far as I can...and taste freedom that cities do not provide. Yep.

METAL IS MY DREAM!!!

Other music genres: Do not excite me as much, but excites me in other ways. I listen to Opera (absolutely beautiful), musicals (stories with music...enhances emotions), classical (the most highest form in music in my opinion...) and folk (it's peaceful).
Soundtrack music also.
 
I love metal, but it only comprises maybe half of what I listen to on a regular basis, maybe even less. Most of what I'm into is atmospheric psychedelic stuff. Even in metal, it has to have atmosphere for me to be able to enjoy it a lot. I don't think anyone should say that metal is the only good genre, especially when they haven't listened to much of anything other than metal besides the mainstream garbage. Musical appreciation is much like an important life lesson: the more you know, the more you know how little you really know, and likewise, the more you listen to, the more you realize how much music is actually out there to be explored.
 
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