Not just guitar but all  "heroes" help in the development of others, showing them what can be done and accomplished. Without someone taking things to another level we would never advance  in anything.  People that push the envelope so to speak bring these advancements to others, so that they too can do it, and possibly take it even further.
 
  Roger Bannister did the first recorded four minute mile. until that time the general consensus was it couldn't be done. Now  the 4 minute mile is common place.
 The same goes for anything that people can develop a passion for , like Sports, music, science, literature, etc.

  I personally would not call these guys guitar heroes even though they have  great ability.
But to consider that there's no musical knowledge here even if it's not the "type" of music you listen too seems strange to me, but we all have our own opinions that's what makes us unique.

they certainly are impressive...............................like the head banging

uh... well, I like this particular video, talk about over-the-top hard rock kitsch... but fun to watch yeah. And impressive skills applied. I don't really care about this whole genre as it's not orginal / innovative enough for my taste, but ... an entertaining sight it truly is.

uhmmm.... I went to check out some other DF vids... live takes... hmmmm that's really not living up to the studio quality, as it sounds shaky and sloppy, and badly mixed... really, I found it rather disappointing. Maybe with enough beers my opinion could change...

I too seeked out live videos, just cause I was desperate for them not to be, err, ya know, not very good and therefore fakes(imo if you can't play live you're a fake).
What I found was, aweful recordings of what sounded like a not very good live preformance.
But, it must be said, I saw an awesome band who were really tight playing live. Great preformance, the atmosphere was great but the band didn't use it as an excuse to play sloppy. It was a perfect preformance, improv over a perfectly played peice of music and the atmosphere was intense.
Watched a camcorder recording of them playying the same gig a couple of days later, they sounded aweful, really. Sounded like they were out of time, like the guitarist and drummer kept missing notes/drums etc etc
A few of my mates have seen them(DF) live and say they are better than in the studio.
In my opinion, I doubt they are nearly as tight live as in the studio but I also doubt the camcorder mikes quite do them justice.
Still, we'll have to ask Taka once he's seen them. Then we can settle this *shifts eyes*.
Ok, bye now.

I checked these guys out and was impressed. Great technique and energy. But I just can't listen to guys shred anymore. I used to love it, seek it out and try to cop what i could but after the millionth high-speed, pre-fab, scale/lick/tapping frenzy, I just don't care anymore.

Yeah I know it's heresy. Still, to me it's the equivalent of vocalists who can't stop riffing. They never just sing the damn song, they gotta embelish every f*#cking line. They just never shut up.

I feel the same way about speed in soloing. Yes, it is cool. It's impressive in an athletic sort of way. But all these guys play the same shit - over and over. I saw Ingwe in the nineties with a bunch of other guitar players and we were blown away.  i saw him again recently on video and he's still playing the same shit. Of course, when you're packing that many notes into a measure, there's not a lot of room to improvise.

I guess i just miss the idea of technique coupled with melodic content. I'm a guitar player too and i like to push my technique but not at the expense of melody, expression and dynamic range. I guess that's why i listen to jazz alot now. In jazz, there are still some players who put all that together.

Still, there's no denying these guys are good at what they do. They should do a cover of Giant Steps. That would be interesting.

yup, Thats how I feel too. I've seen this before and it's not my favorite. I love the jass/fusion players and dare I say it David Gilmour and players like Leslie West (listen to King's Chorale).

Ok, I don't like speed metal!
But I think, considering the few I know of it, this guys are quite different to other speed metal bands...
The thing is: Do you really think this guys play the guitar, for example, like that. This is jut a video clip. If you could get any studio session recording of this guys you will see their are sitting on a chair, completely focused on the guitar arm, with a good position to play. Video clips are not true!
But I guess people who like metal will really appreciate this.

        > Iszil

PS: F#$% long time since my last post on BandAMP! What's going on with me? Gotta stop playing that shitty game... Consuming all my cybernetic life.

Nice change of subject, Isz... almost seems like a cry for help

The Demons of Commercial Software Corporations have enslaved you... Put you under their will... Making you waste your precious time, energy and brain on something which is never going to bring you anything useful in life, ... just a quick shot of self-induced adrenalin and a faint illusion of progress through a process which has no value in the real world around you... at all. In the meantime the same demons urge you to purchase more of their products to keep you up to date in your "gaming" experience... Or else you will be labelled "square head"... And your "friends" (read: fellow slaves) will laugh at you... So you have no choice but abide by their whims... So they draw money from you, their only real purpose...

So do not hesitate... And break loose your shackles!!! Turn away and do not look back... And get back to guitaring, young Iszil... Pick up your axe and axe the game, and start recording again.... It is your destiny... Now start fulfilling it...

Lol, PX. Yeah, that's exactly what happens.

Gotta say I'm, now, working on a new song, so I'll try to leave that f$#$%& game aside and spend more time making drums lines (that's what really make me get bored of working on the songs, cause it's a really tedious task) but as soon as I have the drums done, I'll start the recording process, that's what I really love! And even more now that I have my new POD xt Live... gonna kick ass with its sound!

Well, my lovely BandAMP mates, now I say goodbye, and I hope I'll be back soon.

         > Iszil

PS: BTW; that's freaking game I play is called Soldat, a 2D game about killing people and capturing flags... ( lol... silly, isn't it?), so if there's anyone interested on it, you just can download it from http://www.soldat.pl ... yeah, created buy a goddamn polish... Lol. Joke

....wondered where the hell you were, Iszil.....

....Oh, and I tend to agree with Alerion and ToastedGoat on the issue of speed although I have been a fan of speed in the past as well...and will still enjoy a brief sample of it every now and then (however, I don't think I've ever seen anyone, including Yngwie, who was quite this fast. This is SO fast, if I didn't know better, I would suspect the recording is "sped up". And listen, the speed of the guitar playing is ONE thing, but what the hell is happening with those "machine-gun" kick drums?) Toastedgoat, thanks for the eloquent description of why fast players are indeed of value to all of us...I agree totally with you on this issue. Automobile racing (as extreme as it is) contributes to automotive technology for all of us....bodybuilding (as extreme as it is) contributes to knowledge about fitness and health for all of us...space exploration (as extreme as it is) contributes to technology that is used in our everyday experience (Velcro....!) and so on. These guys (and guys like them who went before), have mastered techniques that have been useful to all of us. Having said all that, in my old age, I find myself more drawn to players that have a broad vocabulary of instrument voicing, phrasing, technique...that make "sentences and statements" with their playing (and are not necessarily fast). I find myself listening to a wide variety of players, just to gather inspiration....everybody from metal to jazz to new and old country...I listen to old soul and rhythm and blues to gather inspiration about rhythm...when you want to hear effective and powerful rock playing that is not fast, listen to (like Toastedgoat says) old Leslie West or for that matter, Mick Ralphs. Although I won't seek out this kind of music as a steady diet, anymore, I really do enjoy watching this and I appreciate your sharing this with us, Moses.

The thing is I agree, speed lacks emotion. A lot/some of the time, emotion lacks interest. So it's ying yang really. I just like the whole spectrum. I like Jimi Hendrix cause just one note he plays has more emotion in than any of Dragonforce's songs. 
But, Dragonforce is still cool, it's impressive and sounds awesome(to me) so I like it. Both have their pros and cons. As far as the actual music is concerned I would probably say I prefer Jimi Hendrix. He wrote music for the reasons I write music. For emotional reflection. As an outlet. But there is no harm in playing music just for fun.
It gets stupid (like with Cheeky Cheeky and The Nose Bleeds -http://forum.bandamp.com/The_Pit/33984.html, who are just crap and shouldn't be allowed near instruments) but music isn't all about expression of self. No one would bother if it wasn't any fun.
Personally I prefer songs that are serious and about reflecting your emotions and the world around you how you feel about it etc etc. But not all the time, cause it does get a bit much sometimes.
...........
IMO,
KI
PS, no problem Battlecat, tis what I am here for....that and posting songs, IF I EVER GET THE CHANCE!!!!!!!!!  

Speed can be exhilerating. But it's subjective. One man's fun is another man's irritating display of scale knowledge.

Guys like Van Halen, John Mclaughlin and even some country players like Brent Mason (check out the song Hot Wired) and Danny Gatton manage to imbue their speedier solos with some excitement that comes from an ability to play fast stuff that the listener can follow thru the changes. These guys don't do that for me. To me it sounds like they're practicing.

Like I say though, it's purely subjective. Some people are into this stuff, some aren't. Life is still beautiful.

I have to hand it to them though, they are cool to watch.

Um. I saw dragon force live, and they are that fast. I was most impressed when they started the show with their dueling. Bu it was clear that one of them was far above the other.

[Edit] Look at Smells like teens spirit again. It sounds like they recorded over the track three or four times which kind of makes it a ballad.

Saw Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds the other night at The Social in London. One of the best gigs I've been to in ages. They write really catchy tunes that you can't stop humming. Can't wait to see them again!