"Steeler"

Yep, sounds like they stole 'er!

Huh?

I definitely need more english lessons. I don't get it.

Lari wrote:

Huh?

What he said.

My guess is it has something to do with the Cavs finally bringing a championship to Cleveland (stealing it from the Warriors) and hence the Losers And Winners song reference. Just a guess, though.

He means they stole the riff from Judas Priest's "Steeler."

I don't think they're that similar. But, does it always have to be stealing? Can't bands come up with similar riffs just by coincidence?

lol, the first riff i ever "wrote" ended up being revelations by iron maiden.

i was so proud of coming up with something original, then was immediately devastated when i found out i was an accidental thief. i had to have been like 11 or 12.

so yeah, i'd like to think a lot of these "stolen" riffs are just a more complex case of that phenomenon. while some are probably straight-up borrowed.

80s Metal Lady wrote:

I don't think they're that similar. But, does it always have to be stealing? Can't bands come up with similar riffs just by coincidence?

I have wondered that myself.

Wurthless wrote:

lol, the first riff i ever "wrote" ended up being revelations by iron maiden.

i was so proud of coming up with something original, then was immediately devastated when i found out i was an accidental thief. i had to have been like 11 or 12.

so yeah, i'd like to think a lot of these "stolen" riffs are just a more complex case of that phenomenon. while some are probably straight-up borrowed.

If I were a songwriter, I think my biggest fear would be some song that I heard that stuck in my sub-conscience and thought was original. I wonder if there have been artists sued over copying riffs who had no idea.

band's will always create riffs that sound familiar. it happens, it actually can't be helped.

it's like with trying to find more songs that have a riff similar to Riot's "Swords and Tequila".

yeah, as a musician you're all playing around with the same (or very similar) ingredients. there's bound to be some overlap between the ingredients artists that are in the same genre utilize.

i recently heard about the psychedelic rock band Spirit suing Zeppelin over plagiarizing the intro to Stairway to Heaven, and apparently Zeppelin toured with them early on in their career. which kind of makes me want to believe Jimmy Page may've heard it while not really paying any attention, then years down the road, being sort of unconsciously effected by it, wrote something similar to it.

or it could just be a simple chord progression that's been utilized by musicians across genres back into the classical era, and Spirit just wants some royalty money, lol.

and there is another point right there. artists like Ritchie Blackmore and Yngwie J. Malmsteen took their inspiration's for classical music and infused into their writing. but i guess that might make them plagiarist's then since they created riffs taken from known classical pieces then.

That was a rather odd post.

Wurthless wrote:

or it could just be a simple chord progression that's been utilized by musicians across genres back into the classical era, and Spirit just wants some royalty money, lol.  

From what I read, Spirit guys want 1$ for that. As for the topic, the riffs are not THAT similar.

When I first opened this thread I expected it to be a question about the old band with Ron Keel/Yngwie Malmsteen. Hence my total confusion.

It happens all the time:



It's probably inadvertent - there's only so many riffs after all.

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

Wurthless wrote:

or it could just be a simple chord progression that's been utilized by musicians across genres back into the classical era, and Spirit just wants some royalty money, lol.  

From what I read, Spirit guys want 1$ for that. As for the topic, the riffs are not THAT similar.

hmm, i didn't see that. that totally changes things.

Wurthless wrote:

yeah, as a musician you're all playing around with the same (or very similar) ingredients. there's bound to be some overlap between the ingredients artists that are in the same genre utilize.

i recently heard about the psychedelic rock band Spirit suing Zeppelin over plagiarizing the intro to Stairway to Heaven, and apparently Zeppelin toured with them early on in their career. which kind of makes me want to believe Jimmy Page may've heard it while not really paying any attention, then years down the road, being sort of unconsciously effected by it, wrote something similar to it.

or it could just be a simple chord progression that's been utilized by musicians across genres back into the classical era, and Spirit just wants some royalty money, lol.  

Or it could have been Zeppelin plagiarizing the shit out of people! They have been known to do that.........a lot!

Yea, I'm not making a big deal out of this or crying "foul!" I just happened to be spinning that one in the truck the other day and thought; "Hey, I know that riff, even the opening drum roll is similar!"

80s Metal Lady wrote:

I don't think they're that similar.

Seriously?!

HeavyThrashhead wrote:

band's will always create riffs that sound familiar. it happens, it actually can't be helped.

it's like with trying to find more songs that have a riff similar to Riot's "Swords and Tequila".

Very true. A few years back there was a thread about this riff and all the various incarnations of it. I will see if I can find it.

There are some riffs that have become pretty generic.

Sorry, bros. I can't seem to locate the thread. I did however come across a good one (8 pages long) from back in '09 about "defending" an album that gets criticized a lot.

Fat Freddy wrote:

When I first opened this thread I expected it to be a question about the old band with Ron Keel/Yngwie Malmsteen. Hence my total confusion.

I thought the same thing!!