Ahhh keyboards in rock music. I have always been a fan of keyboards in rock n’ roll, I mean John Paul Jones in Led Zeppelin, John Lord in Deep Purple, Rick Wakeman in Yes, Freddie Mercury in Queen, the list goes on and on. And then on December 21st 1983, a day that lives on in infamy to me, Van Halen released the single “Jump”, wait…what just happened? My hard rock driven guitar band released a song with a sickly poppy sounding keyboard in it? If you can’t tell I was sorely disappointed in the boys. People were labeling the song as “pop rock” or “synthrock”, I was aghast a this. I eventually overcame my lament and forgave Van Halen for this travesty (again this is my opinion).
Today on my commute home I heard “Jump” on the radio (no I still don’t like it) and thought to myself I wonder what others think about keyboards in hard rock and heavy metal. I know bands like Sonata Artica, Kamelot, and Nightwish use them, but what are your thoughts?
it’s loud, it’s dirty, i might as well JUMP!!!
-the Hellion
the Hellion Rocks 
I generally hate it, but I know it’s down to personal preference. It’s just really tacky/cheesy for me – the only band that uses it in the usual way and pulls it off well is Candlemass (again, to me). I tend to prefer when it’s used as ambience more than anything, like with Year Of No Light or Burzum’s “Filosofem” material. Bands like Rolo Tomassi use synths and keys pretty well too.