Nostalgic 80s Metal

...WHERE did they come from?

It's like at that time where did all their technique come from?...

I know one factor was immersion schools like GIT (later MIT). A lot of '80s shredders either went there or were taught be guys who went there. Before GIT, there were legit music colleges like Berklee, but I believe they centered on jazz and classical more than rock.

I was a child of the '70s, and was taught by several good teachers in my town, but they were primarily jazz or fusion players. (Rock stuff was easy for them.) I was at the top of my game in the early '80s and played pretty well, but then guys started leaving town to go to GIT and they were coming back able to run circles around me.
 
I was a 80´s thrasher. There was no guitar store in the nearby town, and there were only less than 10 people listening to metal in this town. Hard to find metal magazines. More than 100 km to where bands toured. Had to phone (in another language) to the organizers to know who was touring.
And I live(d) in western Europe.
It was really hard/raw times...but great times with great bands...

Today, you’ve just have to click to get what you’re looking for...
 
Fates Warning are criminally underrated IMO, along with Crimson Glory and Savatage. Between those bands, Queensryche and Dream Theater there was something really special about that era.

@grandinq Crobot are awesome - lovely dudes too. Icarus Witch are another band worth checking out if you like the 70s/80s thing too.
Just saw Fates and queensryche. Both fantastic. Hung out with Ray and Joey after. Check out Rays other project Redemption!
 
Fates Warning definitely influenced DT and others alike afterwards. FW guitarists were in separate bands at a young age and they both studied and played classical guitar. Anyway, the two of them would get together and practice classical guitar because of the complexity, arrangements, and challenges it provided over playing the electric guitar at that time. Eventually they paired up to form FW. The album NO EXIT and PERFECT SYMMETRY had a major influence on my guitar playing today.
 
Holy necrophiliac Batman!

I never understood why searching for and commenting on old threads is like catnip for new forum members.
 
Fates Warning are criminally underrated IMO, along with Crimson Glory and Savatage. Between those bands, Queensryche and Dream Theater there was something really special about that era.

@grandinq Crobot are awesome - lovely dudes too. Icarus Witch are another band worth checking out if you like the 70s/80s thing too.

Queensryche - one of my favourite all time bands particularly the Jeff Tate albums. Such a shame when great bands split and then emerge as separate versions playing the same stuff, it doesn't have the same integrity.
 
Now I get on youtube and am floored with 7 year old bands playing full Metallica songs LOL etc etc....everywhere you turn crazy talent.

Know what you mean, but I think it's more a case of everyone just copies stuff now whereas the guys they are copying were the originals.

I saw a youtube guitarist one time showing his audience how to play a certain rock song, and he thought because he could play it really well, he was as good or better than the original guitar player... to which I responded - No, you are not as good or better, because you didn't create it, he did. All you're doing is copying a mechanical process and trying to get the glory for it lol.

And I think that's where we're at these days. Plenty of kids who practice the hell out of the guitar and sound impressive, but it's just the art of copying really. The guys they are copying had to learn to play and then created the best stuff we'll ever hear. Anyone who takes up guitar now, to copy any of the legendary guitar players, are 30 years too late. It's fine if you're doing it as a hobby, but not a career.

I suppose what I'm saying is 'Talent' is subjective. I don't give much kudos to these mega flash players you see on youtube and social media. I recognise they are good at the mechanical process of playing guitar, but the talent was all in the hands of the original creators.
 
Holy necrophiliac Batman!

I never understood why searching for and commenting on old threads is like catnip for new forum members.
I was going to add my FW presets to Axe Exchange, but wanted to see if anyone in the past posted some. Came across this thread and said something. Didn't know there was a rule against posting on old threads. Too bad you feel that way.
 
I've seen them live twice, and thought the shows were rather boring. I did like their first several albums though.

Probably my number one nostalgic 80s album was Fifth Angel's self titled debut. I heard the title track one night in my favorite 80s metal club, an tracked down the album the next day. That album blew me away the first time I heard it. They just had a little extra going on that a lot of the bands of that era lacked. Same with Lillian Axe. I thought both those bands should have been bigger than they were. Savatage was really something special as well.

I still have a lot of 80s metal in rotation.
Wow! I think you’re the only other person I’ve seen besides myself who knows who Fifth Angel are! Amazing first album. So damn good. If you’re looking for something similar from that era that was pretty under the radar, look up the album “Street Ready” from a band called Leatherwolf. You might dig it. Cheers!
 
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