So I had a brain fart and created my own extreme-o-meter music scale!
Sep 29 '02 (Updated Oct 01 '02)
The Bottom Line Musical styles and genres are getting to be so complicated...bands are becoming more and more complex...no problem, just use the extreme-o-meter music scale of metal madness!
Good quality music is good music, regardless of the style or genre. When a band finds it’s groove or appears to have found the perfect blend of melody and catchiness and/or aggressiveness that better suits their style/genre of music, then what usually results is pure magic. Nowadays, were finding more and more genres are being created, bands are mixing styles and coming up with their own original mix and sound. How many different styles and genres of music are we going to end up with? My point here is that, whatever you want to call it, is not important. What’s important is people should have a “reference chart” by which to help them evaluate “new” music.
When it comes to mainstream music, there’s no real problem because most people can relate when comparing one Pop band with another Pop band. So N-Sync is like the Backstreet Boys and you immediately know what they’re talking about. The same can be said for many mainstream bands such as in Pop Metal: Van Halen are similar to Aerosmith, Queen, Def Leppard, and everybody knows what that music is like. No problem!
The difficulties arise when you get into the “underground” world of music, when you are surfing in a new musical territory or foreign music to you at least, and you have no known standards to help guide you through it all. So you check the music maps at “All Music Guide” who define musical genres and provide information regarding the bands more closely associated with that particular style. But talk to any “Grindcore” fanatic and he will tell you that there is a BIG difference between Grindcore bands “Carcass” and “Crowbar,” or any “Progressive Metal” fanatic who enjoys “Opeth” and “King X” but can’t stand “Dream Theater” or “Lacuna Coil”...or sometimes there’s no explanation to differentiate between two styles such as Speed Metal vs Power Metal.
What do I mean exactly? Well, after spending many a nights listening to all genres of music and reading so many music reviews, I’ve come to the realization that there are no standard benchmarks when trying to explain how heavy an album is compared to another album. Everybody attempts to make comparisons that the music in question is similar to this band or that band...but what happens when you don’t know this band or that band? So, I had a brain fart!
What I have set out to do here is to create a scale that could help people better understand not only the similarities and influences of one band over another, but more precisely the “heaviness” of one music compared to another and even if you only recognize one band on the list, you will immediately have an idea where the music is situated, thus a practical reference for your own evaluation.
People would suddenly have a better idea where the music is situated on a scale, depending on its style and genre? At one end you could have smooth/slow non threatening heaviness while at the other end we get harsh/fast and violent heaviness. Then we would have a much better idea where the music stands. You could easily add a few bands along the scale for comparison purposes. Maybe you didn’t like anything at both ends of the spectrum but then you truly enjoyed something straight down the middle! You may discover more bands this way that otherwise would have been overlooked because of the ever so complicated world of styles and genres, because judging the style of one band can be difficult at times and the possibility of erroneously missmatching it in a musical map increases everyday.
So whatever the musical map, I don’t really care. The music is what it’s all about! I suppose someone could create the neoclassical-o-meter music scale, the power-o-meter music scale, the new country-o-meter music scale, the flamenco-meter music scale and so on...Further I encourage you all to create your very own personal music scale and to use them in your music reviews!
I had a brain fart and ended up creating my very own extreme-o-meter music scale. So, If you have any suggestions I would appreciate your input!
At the beginning of my scale you’ll find more mainstream/pop metal. In the middle, the transition area of the scale you’ll find mostly Progressive/Speed/Neoclassical/Power Metal. While at the end of the scale you’ll find nothing but Total Metal Madness and Brutal Bone Crushing Music. So without any further ado here it is...from the least extreme to the most extreme music you could find on the planet!
Vanwarp’s Extreme-o-Meter music scale (of heaviness):
1. Van Halen/Lacuna Coil/Ozzy Osbourne
2. Creed/SOAD/Papa Roach/Soil/Lullacry
3. Iron Maiden/Metallica/WASP/Pantera
4. Stratovarius/Nevermore/Nightwish/Blind Guardian
5. Sentenced/Nocturnal Rites
6. In Flames/Dark Tranquility
7. Soilwork/Atreyu/Unearth
8. Children of Bodom/Meshuggah/Dimension Zero
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vanwarp
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Location: Canada
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"Only sick music makes money today." Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (1844 - 1900)
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