Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 So obviously everyone knows that back in the early seventies around the golden age of classic rock, Jimmy Page, and consequently John Paul Jones, was considered the master of riffs as he seemed to have an endless supply of great ones. Not many guitarists (or bassists) since have come up with so many memorable riffs, most being lucky to find even one good one, however, after listening to Dead Star again recently and considering the increased solid riffage of DRONES, I believe Matt (with Chris of course) has written just as many, if not more, awesome riffs as Page (with JPJ) back in the seventies and late sixties. The only problem seems to be Muse's early stuff isn't nearly popular enough with the general public for most people to realize how much of a riff master Mr. Bellamy (with Chris) is, potentially the best riffmaker since Page (with Jones), and possibly even batter. Seeing as this is of course the Muse message board, I'm sure most of us would be more than a little biased in this discussion, but I would still like to ask: between Led Zep's riff masters and Muse's, which pair of riff heros is superior? And of course if all else fails, we can just argue over the best and worst Muse riffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareeh Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Not sure Led Zep have the genius in them to come up with something like Pink Ego Box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemsy Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Considering they just wrote a song with an ancient one MAYBE THEY'RE RUNNING OUT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Considering they just wrote a song with an ancient one MAYBE THEY'RE RUNNING OUT But then you've still got the riffs in The Handler, The Globalist, Defector, and Reapers, and the bass riffs in Mercy and Dead Inside. Au contraire, I think Matt just took a break from writing a bunch of riffs on the past few albums because it's so easy for him to do. When he wrote Psycho (I mean fleshed it out into a full song) he probably was just getting warmed up after taking such a long break from being the greatest riff writer in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Meh, Muse don't really have that many great riffs at all imo. /partypooper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemsy Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Indeed, there's tons of awesome riffs. I don't think I'd still be enthusiastic about Muse if it wasn't for the riffs. The riffs keep me coming back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 Meh, Muse don't really have that many great riffs at all imo. /partypooper butbutbut Dead Star tho... and CE? Hysteria? KoC? US? Supremacy? The Handler??? A bunch of other songs!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Dazed And Confused, Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Kashmir, Stairway To Heaven, etc, to name but a few, are iconic riffs. Muse have undoubtedly written a number of great riffs, and certainly in Plug In Baby and Hysteria, some iconic ones of their own. But Zeppelin's riffs were/are genre defining, they have inspired generations of musicians. I'm sure Muse's riffs will too, but they will always pale into significance when compared against Zeppelin. Heck, Muse themselves have already borrowed heavily from Led Zeppelin's riffs and quoted a couple live, Heartbreaker / Who Knows Who? comes to mind. And anyhoo, Zeppelin weren't even the class of their time/generation, that honour undoubtedly goes to Black Sabbath for sheer individuality of riffage at the time. Zeppelin's riffs hawked the blues; Tony Iommi / Sabbath's riffs were unlike anything ever heard before and, quite literally, scared the shit out of people. They as near as damnit single-handedly laid all the foundations, every single cornerstone of heavy metal. That > anything Muse will ever do. Honourable mention for Deep Purple too. Ritchie Blackmore's riffs were so clever, so refined for their time. Muse will never get close to Stairway To Heaven, Paranoid or Smoke On The Water. /thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 butbutbut Dead Star tho... and CE? Hysteria? KoC? US? Supremacy? The Handler??? A bunch of other songs!? KOC, Dead Star, The Groove and maybe CE are the only ones I'd consider great. The Handler, Fury, Supermassive, Execution Commentary, Psycho and a few others are good. Maybe the outros to Pink Ego Box and Ashamed as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Heat Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Tony Iommi is the creator of heavy metal and the riff master, someone ahead of it's time. Jimmy Page can sit and watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Tony and Jimmy were awesome, but I think it's easy to overrate their riffs based on their influence and the fact that they were in the right genres at the right times. I think Muse's best stand up there with the classics easily. New Born is particularly brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 I hate being a Negative Nancy but New Born ain't even that great of a Muse riff, let alone a classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 I hate being a Negative Nancy but New Born ain't even that great of a Muse riff, let alone a classic. I must disagree. New Born is genius to me, better than Plug In Baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kueller Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 I love Bellamy's riffs. A lot of them are probably not legendary worthy but so many of them do seem to hit that good spot of being strong and memorable, at least enough. It's a strong hook aspect, even on piano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Pretty much that. Muse's riffs are always the kind of riffs I crave. New Born is right up there for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemsy Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Dazed And Confused, Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, Kashmir, Stairway To Heaven, etc, to name but a few, are iconic riffs. Muse have undoubtedly written a number of great riffs, and certainly in Plug In Baby and Hysteria, some iconic ones of their own. But Zeppelin's riffs were/are genre defining, they have inspired generations of musicians. I'm sure Muse's riffs will too, but they will always pale into significance when compared against Zeppelin. Heck, Muse themselves have already borrowed heavily from Led Zeppelin's riffs and quoted a couple live, Heartbreaker / Who Knows Who? comes to mind. And anyhoo, Zeppelin weren't even the class of their time/generation, that honour undoubtedly goes to Black Sabbath for sheer individuality of riffage at the time. Zeppelin's riffs hawked the blues; Tony Iommi / Sabbath's riffs were unlike anything ever heard before and, quite literally, scared the shit out of people. They as near as damnit single-handedly laid all the foundations, every single cornerstone of heavy metal. That > anything Muse will ever do. Honourable mention for Deep Purple too. Ritchie Blackmore's riffs were so clever, so refined for their time. Muse will never get close to Stairway To Heaven, Paranoid or Smoke On The Water. /thread. /thread /thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Just realized this got moved, sorry I posted it where I did. I forgot at the time that it wouldn't really fit as well in the songs and releases forum than here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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