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Too many glaringly obvious influences in one album?


Gareeh

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Got to agree with this thread. It's definitely my main problem with Muse at the moment, they have been almost entirely consumed by their influences. Take Madness: I can just imagine them thinking "we need a guitar solo here...just stick on one of our classic, trademark solos" then bust out what is essentially I Want To Break Free.

 

Influences are obviously a positive thing and it is of course up to the bands discretion, but they've had too many songs influenced by the same bands - it's always Queen, U2 or maybe (if we're lucky) RATM. They're not Queen, U2 or RATM so I think they should just calm it down a bit.

 

So if muse basically ripped off a band you didn't know, you would have been ok with it?

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Let's complete the list, just for fun. Feel free to add:

 

Supremacy

 

- Andrew Lloyd Webber

- Whoever composed the main Bond theme

- Led Zeppelin

- The Wings

 

Madness

 

- Queen

- U2

- George Michael

 

Panic Station

 

- Stevie Wonder

- INXS

- Michael Jackson

- Queen

- Wild Cherry

- Red Hot Chili Peppers

- Primus

- George Michael

- Prince

 

Prelude

 

- Eric Carmen

 

Survival

 

- Queen

 

Follow Me

 

- Gloria Gaynor

- Nero (Well... you know)

- U2

- Johnny Cash' cover of Bridge of Trouble Water

 

Animals

 

- Radiohead

- QOTSA (I don't hear it, but that's what Matt said)

- Dire Straits

- Muse

 

Explorers

 

- Queen

- The Beatles

- Keane

 

Big Freeze

 

- U2

- Beatles

 

Save Me

 

- Beach Boys

- Porcupine Tree (Steve Wilson)

 

Liquid State

 

- Foo Fighters

- QOTSA

- Tool

 

Unsustainable

 

- Hans Zimmer

- Skrillex

 

Isolated System

 

- Philip Glass

- John Carpenter

- Mike Oldfield

 

Got some damn fine influences, so who really cares

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I mean without you noticing the influence-ispiration-ripping off

 

If I'd never heard of Queen before I heard USoE, Survival, Madness (minus the harmonies) and Panic Station I obviously wouldn't have made the connection but that wouldn't change the fact that they're working their way through Queen's back catalogue :LOL:

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They just sound like Muse. And that's good enough to me.

 

You're right, they just sound like Muse.

 

 

...and Queen.

 

 

....and U2.

 

 

 

 

........Oh, and Philip Glass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.......and Queens of the Stone Age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.........and a bit of Radiohead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.......and everything else listed in this thread.

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uhm?. But Queen has always been there, especially since OOS. I think you forgot Nirvana as well.

 

Not to mention Tool, Wagner, Chopin, QOTSA/Kyuss, Deftones, Jeff Buckley, System of a Down, Justice (since BH&R, along with Depeche Mode), U2 (ballsy, experimental early 90s U2 that is)...

 

Look, Muse have always thrown a hundred or so influences into their albums and they pull it off with enough wit and originality to justify it. Better than how plenty of bands just take one influence and use it for a single song.

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Me and my old man were rhyming off artists the 2nd Law mimics or has similarities too today and we got one for every song, and as we all know they aren't exactly subtle.

 

So my question is: does it take anything away from the album as a whole in your opinion, are Muse losing or still finding their sound, and is it all becoming a bit too much?

 

Discuss

 

Initially I agree with the comments made but it does bother me there is no New Born or Stockholm Syndrome or Knights of Cydonia or Uprising or Showbiz to this album - and by that I mean a song that has Muse written all over it, without a Queen, U2, Prince etc... imitation hanging over it.

 

Just a thought.

 

Definitely agree with this. I still really enjoy the album, but it does feel like they've lost their way and tried to go in about 4 completely different directions.

 

The great thing about Showbiz - BH&R was that they developed their own, recognisable sound. Even TR, although it's not great and has a huge amount of Queen influence, retains some of that. But here... it's like they didn't even try to put their own mark on a lot of the tracks. If it weren't for Bellamy's voice on tracks like Follow Me, Panic Station, Madness, Unsustainable, Big Freeze etc. it would sound like 5 completely different bands, no question.

 

Which is not good imo. They've either lost it for good or are just going through a really experimental stage. I think in the askmuse thing the other night one of them summed up T2L in one word as "experimental"

 

That's not to say I don't like a lot of the tracks because I do, it just bugs me how different and influence heavy they all are

 

Songs like Supremacy, Follow Me, Panic Station, Animals, Survival (especially the guitar part) have Muse written all over them.

 

Supremacy, Animals, and Survival maybe, but Follow Me and Panic Station? No way

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Definitely agree with this. I still really enjoy the album, but it does feel like they've lost their way and tried to go in about 4 completely different directions.

 

The great thing about Showbiz - BH&R was that they developed their own, recognisable sound. Even TR, although it's not great and has a huge amount of Queen influence, retains some of that. But here... it's like they didn't even try to put their own mark on a lot of the tracks. If it weren't for Bellamy's voice on tracks like Follow Me, Panic Station, Madness, Unsustainable, Big Freeze etc. it would sound like 5 completely different bands, no question.

 

Which is not good imo. They've either lost it for good or are just going through a really experimental stage. I think in the askmuse thing the other night one of them summed up T2L in one word as "experimental"

 

That's not to say I don't like a lot of the tracks because I do, it just bugs me how different and influence heavy they all are

 

 

 

Supremacy, Animals, and Survival maybe, but Follow Me and Panic Station? No way

 

Why not? Follow Me is Muse but electronic. I can still hear a lot of Muse in that song.

 

Same for Panic Station, it's Muse with slap bass. But still very muse-y imo

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Why not? Follow Me is Muse but electronic. I can still hear a lot of Muse in that song.

 

Same for Panic Station, it's Muse with slap bass. But still very muse-y imo

 

Follow Me would sound like a sub par Nero made-for-the-charts track if it wasn't for Bellamy's voice

 

And wat...

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The live version sounded incredibly "Muse" to me, and it was the same thing with some older setup going on

 

The live version seemed like a mixup of the electronic and rock version though... I agree though, live it did sound a bit Musey. Just on the album it doesn't at all

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The live version seemed like a mixup of the electronic and rock version though... I agree though, live it did sound a bit Musey. Just on the album it doesn't at all

 

Ae don't really know what the rock version sounded like. The live version just added some guitar and used a drumkit.

Even then first thing I remember mentioning was a Resistance feel, mainly for the chords, melodies, styles, etc. All of which would be present in any version.

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When I gave the album a first listen through I couldn't help thinking "oh that sounds like queen" or "did Bono join Muse on the sly?" BUT that doesn't change how much I love the album, some songs are a bit meh (big freeze) but the good ones more than make up for that!

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Muse have always been, to me, a simple 3-piece rock band. Of course we can dissect every song and find influences, but any time a big riff comes in and I'm in need for some head banging, then I know Muse are okay. To be honest, I've heard that more on The 2nd Law than on The Resistance.

 

I see this as the proper next step after BHaR.

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