One of the things that I enjoy about some symphonic metal is the complexity of the harmonies and parts. You have basic rhythm (percussion and bass guitar or equivalent), vocals (usually but not always), and then harmony instruments (keyboard, brass, woodwinds, other keyboard, entire orchestra, folk instruments . . .) Harmonies and rhythms shift more than the traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-up a half step-verse-chorus-cadence. I also listen to much simpler music – chant, some folk music, early rock and metal. There’s a time, place, and mood for everything. Harmonies appeal to me, even in otherwise very plain-seeming music.
I’ve griped in the past about pop music, especially church pop (praise choruses), and how there’s no “there” there. Now, granted, praise choruses have a purpose and are supposed to be semi-hypnotic, because that’s their function in worship in that style of service. Chant can also have that effect, perhaps. Not for me, but if you have been doing it daily for decades . . . Why is pop music so simple now, more so than in the 60s-80s? Simple sells.
https://www.mic.com/articles/107896/scientists-finally-prove-why-pop-music-all-sounds-the-same
It’s not just me. And it’s not just AutoTune and programs of that ilk. The marketing people want to tuck performers into the same box, because that box sells. Like all the “produced by” “Irish” music that has some nice moments but all sounds the same once it comes out of the mixing equipment. “Celtic Thunder” ain’t early DeDannan or The Bothy Band or the early Chieftains.
The more popular a genre of music grows, the simpler it gets. Which . . . might explain why symphonic metal and its offshoots, folk metal, and some others remain thick and complicated. Not always, because not all songs and moods benefit from complexity. A ballad can work perfectly or even be more effective with just a lone voice. (“The Cruel Mother/ Greenwood Sidie-o” being one classic example.) Symphonic Metal and Friends has its own fan base, will probably never, ever dominate the pop charts, and will always have that outsiders’ edge to it. Given that two groups are composer led (Nightwish and Xandria, Avantasia sometimes), complexity will probably remain more of a trait in the genre, at least for the foreseeable* future. To have multiple harmonic shifts and to trade parts back and forth with a choir as the brass does their thing, then drop to lead vocalist, guitar, and keyboard for the core of the piece, and to do it all well, might be a way of rebelling against the mainstream.
“Simplify it? Oh [rude words] no. I’m gonna polyphony the h-ll out of it! Listen to this!”
(Hmmm. Does this mean that groups like Freedom Call and Twilight Force, which use no swear words and have no references to sex, are rebelling against the rebellion?)
*Covid19, the economy dropping as energy prices rise, especially in Europe, might continue to encourage smaller sounds. Perhaps. Or something else no one has predicted yet, like a computer virus that takes out all the electronic keyboards on the planet.
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I remember being shocked and appalled about fifteen years ago, when I visited a city on the other side of the continent, and found mostly the same songs played on the same radio formats, with the same station self-promotions.
I’d obviously known that radio had gotten crappy, but I hadn’t realized how uniformly it had gotten crappy.
Most US radio stations are owned by the same conglomerates and thus have the same playlists, sometimes played at the same times.
OTOH, if you listen to Rick Beato or Professor of Rock, it is often the interesting, unexpected bits that made rock and pop hits into hits. So I expect that the cited study was full of crup and extensively fudged.
Most US radio stations are owned by the same conglomerates and thus have the same playlists, sometimes played at the same times.
OTOH, if you listen to Rick Beato or Professor of Rock, it is often the interesting, unexpected bits that made rock and pop hits into hits. So I expect that the cited study was full of crup and extensively fudged.
So true that it posted twice.
Those two songs that sound the same? Pretty sure that they were written and produced by that same German guy, who is one of the three German writer/producer guys who control almost all contemporary official pop hits.
So this study literally proves nothing, if it is contaminated by the three German guys. The sales numbers are mostly the conglomerate radio stations and mean nothing. The fix is in, and it is nothing but fix.
(Apparently their methodology is to listen to unexpected indie hits in various genres, and copy the mood of the lyrics, music, and arrangement without actually plagiarizing. And then they do it a bunch of times until they find something that does okay, and they copy themselves until it peters out.)
So, basically the same as the TradPub guys who if you ignore all other routes for selling books can control what’s popular?
Gatekeepers are gonna’ keep gates. I suspect the zeitgeist also has something to do with topics of songs (although love, falling out of love, falling back into love will always be popular.)
It would just be so cool if someone was really trying to get a record of what music people are listening to…
Even my mom is buying the music she ACTUALLY LIKES and listening to it through her phone sending it to the radio, now! Because the real radio stations are so bad.
Since I’m half deef, I’m not going to comment.
Good technical analysis of why I find symphonic metal appealing. I like the complexity also. Sure did get some weird looks from my daughter in law’s mom (same age as me) when Advantasia came blaring out the speakers when I gave her a ride. Guess I just like to broaden people’s horizons.
And I find louder music helps make my tinnitus much less aggrevating which is kind of odd.
“aggravating” darn it. I could have sworn I corrected that when I reread the post. A mind is a terrible thing to lose.
I gave up offering a reward for my mind years ago. It’s not coming back. I just hope it’s having fun, wherever I lost it! 🙂