...check out Sonata Arctica. I saw ém play support to Stratovarius and Rhapsody and came away very impressed. They´re very young (average age 20) but great musicians and write really good melodic/symphonic metal songs. The guitarist plays in a Malmsteenesque way, has a very keen sense of melody and doesn´t overdo it the whole time. I bought their album "Ecliptica" on the strength of their live performance and I urge anyone into neoclassical/symphonic melodic metal to get a copy. I really like it. It´s also very encouraging to see young musicians forming a new wave of melodic metal and gives me hope that the genre will return to greater prominence. Sonata Arctica. Ecliptica. Go buy.http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1352#msg-1352Sun, 19 May 2013 18:22:08 +1000 Phorum 5.2.16 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1436#msg-1436 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1436#msg-1436
But I digress. The core of this post is something that has been debated for a long time and will continue to be debated for time to come. Nobody likes a blatant copyist, but what if a band takes "key" elements from2-3 other bands,mixes them up and then goes out and struts their stuff? Doesn´t that really sum up 98% of the entire metal/hard rock scene? And as long as the quality is generally good, how many of us really care? How much originality can we stand anyhow? I personally walk a very fine line in musical taste. I don´t like blatent copyists but at the same time I want big choruses, widdly guitars and thunderous drums. Stray from that and I don´t buy. So I want original stuff that sounds the same! A difficult balance!

I guess I´m not the only one out there with that attitude. Hence, bands like Warrant, Trixter, Britney Fox, Helloween...they never did anything for me because there were a million other bands doing the same thing - but some of them did it better. So why bother with the less good ones?

]]> Steve, Denmark NoticeboardFri, 19 May 2000 07:21:58 +1000 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1434#msg-1434 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1434#msg-1434
How original were Britney Fox/Warrant/Danger Danger/Helloween/Tyketto/Winger?

I think they were fairly original - more so than Sonata Arctica at this point - with the exception of Britny Fox who were basically bad Cinderella. Helloween certainly have developed their own thing and are/were actually a huge influence on the likes of Stratovarius, HammerFall and that whole Euro melodic speed/power metal retro movement. I think the thing that brought down Warrant, Winger and the whole pop/hair metal was the incredible inbreeding that was going on. Everyone started to use the same producers, outside writers and probably hairdressers and makeup people, too, thus blurring the lines even further. And of course then all the second and third rate hair bands were getting signed and flooded the market with music no one really needed because it was more of the same, only worse. That's why it was so easy for alternative to take over when it did - people were sick of the same old same old, and unfortunately, the good bands got flushed down the toilet with the Roxy Blues of this world.

]]> John Q NoticeboardFri, 19 May 2000 05:18:16 +1000 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1413#msg-1413 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1413#msg-1413
]]> Steve, Denmark NoticeboardThu, 18 May 2000 20:20:52 +1000 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1387#msg-1387 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1387#msg-1387
I really do feel that most 80's band had far more of an identity than today's bands. Maiden for example was influenced by Priest and Thin Lizzy, but you would've never mistaken them for either. The same goes for Def Leppard or Saxon or American counterparts like Queensryche or Armored Saint. All thse bands sounded unique and had singers that sounded unique. Nowadays you have dozens of bands whose songs are virtually interchangable. I don't know where it all went wrong, but it did...]]> John Q NoticeboardThu, 18 May 2000 05:05:55 +1000 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1375#msg-1375 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1375#msg-1375Sonata Arctica are - IMO - inspired by Malmsteen and Stratovarius and not copyists. I feel they merge elements from both acts and use them in their own songwriting and musicianship. That really is no bad thing. The fact they are barely out of nappies does bode well for the future, whatever you may think about their originality. Rather that than a bunch of 19 year olds reproducing Korn or Slipknot.
Oddly enough, I thought Rhapsody were pretty lousy Iron Maiden copyists with songs more corny than a truckload of breakfast cereal ("The Flames Of Revenge?" "The Wheels Of Eternity?" Give me a break..!). And originally, Maiden were inspired by Judas Priest.....


]]> Steve, Denmark NoticeboardWed, 17 May 2000 21:24:47 +1000 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1372#msg-1372 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1372#msg-1372
I hope I didn't miss your point, but I had to ask...

]]> c dog NoticeboardWed, 17 May 2000 16:28:40 +1000 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1365#msg-1365 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1365#msg-1365 John Q NoticeboardWed, 17 May 2000 10:34:53 +1000 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1355#msg-1355 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1355#msg-1355
Regards

Susumu

]]> Susumu NoticeboardTue, 16 May 2000 23:01:47 +1000 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1352#msg-1352 http://www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1352,1352#msg-1352Sonata Arctica. Ecliptica. Go buy.]]> Steve, Denmark NoticeboardTue, 16 May 2000 20:13:47 +1000