# Next/first album recommendations for a handful of bands, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-first-album-recommendations-for-a-handful-of-bands-please/190506 "2003-07-23T23:36:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-first-album-recommendations-for-a-handful-of-bands-please/190506/1 "2003-07-23T23:36:36Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Forty-Six\_Two](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/919ad9/32.png) [@Forty-Six\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forty-Six_Two)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-first-album-recommendations-for-a-handful-of-bands-please/190506/2 "2003-07-24T07:13:19Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![jtull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@jtull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtull)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-first-album-recommendations-for-a-handful-of-bands-please/190506/3 "2003-07-24T09:45:58Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-first-album-recommendations-for-a-handful-of-bands-please/190506/4 "2003-07-24T19:28:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Forty-Six&Two \* > \*\*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. \*\* 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? ---
**Author:** ![KillerFig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/51bf81/32.png) [@KillerFig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KillerFig)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-first-album-recommendations-for-a-handful-of-bands-please/190506/5 "2003-07-25T00:00:37Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-first-album-recommendations-for-a-handful-of-bands-please/190506/6 "2003-07-26T22:04:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*Dream Theater: I’ve got _Images and Words_, which I really like, and _Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence_, which I like a little less. > > I think that’s everyone I had in mind. Any other artists I should check out? \*\* Wow, how did I miss this thread? 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. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-first-album-recommendations-for-a-handful-of-bands-please/190506/7 "2003-07-27T01:53:30Z")
Actually, I just picked up Falling Into Infinity today. I’ll give it a listen and see what I think.