I’ve got a list of artists that I’d either like to check out, or continue checking out. I figure that I’ll find people with great musical taste here, so here goes.
Savatage: I’ve got Poets & Madmen, which I like very much.
Dream Theater: I’ve got Images and Words, which I really like, and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, which I like a little less.
Stratovarius: I don’t have anything they’ve done, but I like what I’ve heard. I was thinking Infinite–is that a good choice?
Hammerfall: I don’t have any of their stuff, or a clue as to where to start.
Iced Earth: Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of my favorites.
Blind Guardian: I’ve got A Night at the Opera (great) and Nightfall in Middle Earth (not quite as great).
Symphony X: Let’s see, I’ve got The Divine Wings of Tragedy, The Odyssey, Twilight in Olympus and V. Anything else worth picking up?
I think that’s everyone I had in mind. Any other artists I should check out?
Hammerfall is kind of like watered-down Iron Maiden. Why don’t you get “Powerslave” and “Brave New World” by Maiden, that’s one old album with classics and one new with better production and complex song structure.
Although I’ve been away from this kind of music for some years, I still own some albums, and so my opinion goes:
Savatage: “Hall of the Mountain King” is still considered by many fans as one of their greatest, along with “Gutter Ballet”. Haven’t heard any of their newer albums, though.
Blind Guardian: “Tales from the Twilight World” and “Imaginations from the Other Side” are nice, although you may get tired of the repeating musical scheme (you know, fast drums, fast guitars and everything).
I used to listen to power metal a lot when I was younger, but now I can’t stand it. Having made that point, I now say that I’d gladly listen to Savatage’s “Hall of the Mountain King”, while I can’t stand the fast-paced Blind Guardian songs (some of the ballads are nice).
Yeah, I know Maiden, and those are both great albums. But I heard some stuff from Hammerfall that I kinda liked. You don’t think there’s anything worth picking up?
I’d highly recommend the first Hammerfall album, Glory to the Brave. My favorite Hammerfall songs, “The Dragon Lies Bleeding,” “Hammerfall,” and “Steel Meets Steel” are all on that one. I like all their stuff, but if you just want to get one to check them out, that’s the one to go for. Yeah, it’s no Powerslave, but still a really good power metal record–one of my favorites (if not my very favorite) of the last decade.
I used to be a huge DT fan. (Now I’m just a big one… ) I have to admit that I haven’t bought Six Degrees yet. Anyway, I’d really recommend Scenes from a Memory if you liked I&W, since it’s probably the closest musically. It is a concept album, though, which tends to put people off. Awake is still pretty close to I&W, but Falling into Infinity is a little more “heavy metal-ish.” I don’t know where on the spectrum your tastes lie.
Fates Warning’s Perfect Symmetry is kinda like I&W, but not as complex. Their other albums are all over the map, but I’m always partial to Pleasant Shade of Gray.
Also, look into the various side projects the DT members have undertaken over the years.
) I have to admit that I haven’t bought Six Degrees yet. Anyway, I’d really recommend Scenes from a Memory if you liked I&W, since it’s probably the closest musically. It is a concept album, though, which tends to put people off. Awake is still pretty close to I&W, but Falling into Infinity is a little more “heavy metal-ish.” I don’t know where on the spectrum your tastes lie.