Roller compacted concrete (RCC) dams and concrete-faced rockfill (CFR) dams have become viable alternatives to large conventional concrete and embankment dams because of their considerable potential economic benefits. These new dams create also new risks, as their seismic is not known properly. A qualitative assessment of the seismic performance of RCC and CFR dams under strong ground shaking is presented and possible problems and deficiencies are discussed. Accordingly, RCC dams are expected to behave quite similarly to conventional concrete dams, but in the case of CFR dams some aspects related to the concrete face have been identified, which need further investigation.