Power Metal in general has a bad rep because of the over the top cheesyness. DF was popular within the genre because they were much faster and had more solos than most other bands in that genre at the time. A lot of people did find them boring after a while since a good amount of their songs sounded pretty similar. But they were considered a solid band, they can for sure play what they wrote.
They blew up during Guitar Hero 3. Now mainstream audiences are exposed to the cheesy lyrics and over the topness of power metal. Gatekeepers gate keeping and now you’re a posers for liking them.
Their band members started living like rock stars in the 80s with their new found fame, showed up to a lot of shows drunk, didn’t perform well. Now people doubt they can actually play their songs.
Fast forward a few years, and they got their professionalism back on track. They investing into better live setups to play even better live than before, things such as in ear setup, timecoded midi changes, etc. They’re solid now and better than their pre-GH3 era, but a lot of damage already done to their name.
Herman Li actually streams on twitch. Turns out when he does that holding the guitar horizontal by the tremolo thing he slams it into his knee afterwards. I have no idea why and it sounds painful as hell.
I upvoted already but I just wanted to add that this is an awesome reply and I appreciate the information. I grew up in the guitar hero days so I heard a lot of both good and bad about dragonforce but I never bothered to follow up after the hype died down.
Also, their mixes and compositions have improved. TtFatF was an assault on the ears where some instruments might as well not have been recorded. Mixes from more recent tracks are more balanced. Unlike TtFatF, on their most recent albums you can actually hear the bass.
Ha, admittedly am one of the people who discovered them through GH3. One year, they were one of the bands on some metal festival like Ozzfest or Mayhem Festival and my buddies and I made it a point to see their set even though they were one of the earlier bands. They were… Not great. Glad to see they have improved. Haven’t bothered thinking about them since.
Power Metal in general has a bad rep because of the over the top cheesyness. DF was popular within the genre because they were much faster and had more solos than most other bands in that genre at the time. A lot of people did find them boring after a while since a good amount of their songs sounded pretty similar. But they were considered a solid band, they can for sure play what they wrote.
They blew up during Guitar Hero 3. Now mainstream audiences are exposed to the cheesy lyrics and over the topness of power metal. Gatekeepers gate keeping and now you’re a posers for liking them.
Their band members started living like rock stars in the 80s with their new found fame, showed up to a lot of shows drunk, didn’t perform well. Now people doubt they can actually play their songs.
Fast forward a few years, and they got their professionalism back on track. They investing into better live setups to play even better live than before, things such as in ear setup, timecoded midi changes, etc. They’re solid now and better than their pre-GH3 era, but a lot of damage already done to their name.
Herman Li actually streams on twitch. Turns out when he does that holding the guitar horizontal by the tremolo thing he slams it into his knee afterwards. I have no idea why and it sounds painful as hell.
Theatrics.
I upvoted already but I just wanted to add that this is an awesome reply and I appreciate the information. I grew up in the guitar hero days so I heard a lot of both good and bad about dragonforce but I never bothered to follow up after the hype died down.
Thanks!
Also, their mixes and compositions have improved. TtFatF was an assault on the ears where some instruments might as well not have been recorded. Mixes from more recent tracks are more balanced. Unlike TtFatF, on their most recent albums you can actually hear the bass.
Ha, admittedly am one of the people who discovered them through GH3. One year, they were one of the bands on some metal festival like Ozzfest or Mayhem Festival and my buddies and I made it a point to see their set even though they were one of the earlier bands. They were… Not great. Glad to see they have improved. Haven’t bothered thinking about them since.