The Rock Dose

The Answer: On And On Video Posted: 05 Feb 2009 12:27 PM PST The Answer’s new album, Everyday Demons is coming out on March 31st. Here is their new video from the upcoming release and brand new single called On And On. It’s a cool video withy a great vibe to it. They also have a message for the fans HERE.   Tags: Everyday Demons, On And On video, The Answer Share This

Classic Riffs or Classic Rip-Offs? Posted: 05 Feb 2009 11:21 AM PST Plagiarism in music has been in the spot-light since the beginning of recording music. Everyone wants their due and doesn’t want anyone else to rip them off and/or get credit for their work. As much as we’d all love to believe that our guitar heroes and favorite bands are all original, the truth is a lot of copy-cat and riff theft has been going on since the invention of the guitar…or any musical instrument for that matter. How many acoustic songs could be dubbed as rip-offs? There are only so many chords and notes and you can only put them in to so many different combinations. Before the marketing of music people used to like to play because they were artists and played for the love of it. Then one day someone had the grand idea to record that music and sell it to people. A lot of people still make music and play because of the love for it…but they still want their entitlements. The blues changed a lot of things. It progressed in to a heavier music that has even evolved into today’s various heavy metal genres. Again, there are only so many notes and variations that you can play. There has been a long running series on Youtube called Metal That Sounds Like Other Metal, where they show you songs that sound similar to other songs. Is it intentional? I don’t think so in most cases. I think it’s more of a coincidence. Led Zeppelin, being one of the most historic and biggest names in Rock N’ Roll are often ridiculed for copying riffs from various blues players. If you ever had a chance to read Hammer Of The Gods, then you know what I’m talking about. They admit to ripping of blues riffs as well as bits and pieces of lyrics. A lot of people can argue over similarities and coincidences in riffs but if you listen really closely you can hear grand similarities in the following songs. Let’s take a deep look in to Led Zeppelin’s most well known song, Stairway To Heaven. Spirit was a not as well known psychedelic rock band out of L.A. from 1967 to 1998. In the video HERE you will hear a song called Taurus from their 1967 self titled release. Around the :47 second mark you will start to hear the similarities to Stairway, which wasn’t released until 1971. Led Zeppelin opened for Spirit in 1968 on tour. It is said that Spirit was a big influence to Jimmy in writing the song, but I have to ask where do we draw the line between “influence” and blatant plagiarism? Here is another example. Bob Dylan wrote All Along The Watchtower in 1967 and it was released on his John Wesley Harding album. This song has been covered by so many different bands in the past 41 years. Most people that don’t know a lot about the history of rock think that Jimi Hendrix wrote this song. Those are the same people that think Guns N’ Roses wrote Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. However, there is good reason why people remember Jimi’s version. Jimi took All Along The Watchtower less than a year after it was released as a three chord acoustic folk song and completely electrified it. Dylan loved the cover and actually had the song licensed after Jimi’s version. After Hendrix died two years later in 1970, Dylan started playing the song in it’s electric form and has continued to play it that way ever since. Now to my point. If you listen to various parts of All Along The Watchtower in it’s electric form you can hear similarities in the solos. Are these just similarities or did Jimmy Page rip these off too? Being a Led Zeppelin fan, I would love to believe that it was all original but I have my doubts.     I’m not the first person to put this out there, but I was tipped off by a friend and found it interesting enough to write it up and spread the word. I wouldn’t let it make you look at Stairway To Heaven differently or change your love for Led Zeppelin. They’re still classic! Image: Newscom Tags: All Along The Watchtower, jimmy page, riff rips offs, Spirit, stairway to heaven, Taurus Share This

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