Gimmick or Serious Band?

In your own opinion, are DragonForce a band who could go the distance, or are they destined to just be seen as another gimmick?

Do you know any other bands who you think are just a gimmick?

Has any band with a theme, such as DragonForce's speed and fantasy lyrics, ever made it more than a few years? (really, I don't know...)

Basically, discuss any rock band you can think of with a "gimmick" and tell us why they're different than the rest...

Mai wrote:

In your own opinion, are DragonForce a band who could go the distance, or are they destined to just be seen as another gimmick?

Do you know any other bands who you think are just a gimmick?

Has any band with a theme, such as DragonForce's speed and fantasy lyrics, ever made it more than a few years? (really, I don't know...)

Basically, discuss any rock band you can think of with a "gimmick" and tell us why they're different than the rest...

Hmm, Dragonforce DO smack of 'gimmicky' to me...their songs rarely vary, and the frenetic pace of the music itself is so telegraphed. It's like they're doing it just for the sake of being ultra-fast, not 'fast but good'.

I dunno, it's hard to call in any serious way...

I guess Slipknot could be categorised as 'gimmicky' due to their jumpsuits...hmm...

DragonForce is tricky... There are quite a few long running band with cheesy/fantasy lyrics (Rhapsody has been around for 16 years, so...), and there are (I assume) quite a few bands which are paced similarly to Dragonforce that have lasted quite a while. Keep in mind they've already been around since '99, so it's not like they've suddenly popped up recently. I imagine they've picked up enough fans from Guitar Hero that they'll last for some time to come.

a gimmic band are the likes of Spinal Tap, The Darkness, Lordi or Tenasious D. As such i dont see Dragonforce as a gimmic band but really i cant take them serious none the less as they seem either love em or hate em and really i think im put off with there guitar wankery and popularity with the young ones.

I wouldn't exactly call Tenacious D a gimmick band. They're a 'comedy rock' band, but that hardly counts as a gimmick (unless you count other deviations in genre as gimmicks too, in which case...)

EidonOfTheFist wrote:

I wouldn't exactly call Tenacious D a gimmick band. They're a 'comedy rock' band, but that hardly counts as a gimmick (unless you count other deviations in genre as gimmicks too, in which case...)

There a gimmick band all right - i had there first album and most of it was filled with them talking shit...more about giggles than the music if you asked me with it

Tenacious D is a mix of gimmick and rock. I enjoy their songs, but their CDs are largely filled with comedy.

Dragonforce is both kinda, they're great musicians, but they've been overhyped to seem to be more of a gimmick, so to answer your question, no, as a band, DF are NOT a gimmick, their reputation however, is

Slipknot is another band that is very gimmicky, what with the masks and all, and the various antics of the 100 members, but they make great music, so who cares? haha. most bands have their gimmicks, it's all part of the show.

Phil wrote:

Slipknot is another band that is very gimmicky, what with the masks and all, and the various antics of the 100 members, but they make great music, so who cares? haha. most bands have their gimmicks, it's all part of the show.

I know what you mean, but with Slipknot, they've proven an in-your-face gimmick works. People love a mystery and, when they began, Slipknot were a mystery because everyone wanted to know who they were. If I was to set up a band, the whole mysterious gimmick would definitely be ours.

But with DragonForce, I really like them, lets just get that straight, and they're really talented, but every single song has at least one element that was in one of their other songs. They can't seem to find new things to do because they are so stuck in a limited style. Yes, the guitarists are great, but they only seem to have a few riffs they can bring to their songs because of the speed, which makes almost every song sound like the next. Heroes of Our Time and Operation Ground And Pound definitely share parts from the solos by Herman Li. And Through Fire And Flame and Heroes Of Our Time also share elements.
Realistically, it's only possible to have one album from them without thinking every song is the same, it's just the lyrics that are different.

This is the reason why I'm wondering whether they can make it much longer. Only two or three of their songs are played on Music stations. It would be a shame, but until they start broadening themselves musically, they might not get past the end of this album because of how much it sounds like the last one...

But this is just my opinion, so please don't start shouting at me, I'm only little...

*shouts at you*

naw, i know what you mean, but what's one person's gimmick is another's serious band. It's just whether you like the gimmick or not. Everyone has them in order to sell more efficiently.

I've always found Bowling For Soup a bit gimmicky to be honest...