OK. I dont agree with the labelling of muse as radiohead copycats. They each have their own seperate characteristics and the only thing they share is a similar vocal range. Matt Bellamy does actually have a stronger voice, while radiohead is quitly powerful most of the time. I love both bands the same. What do people think of each. By the way, if you havn't heard of muse, shame on you. You should.
Best songs- Muse Hate This and I'll Love You Plug In Baby New Born Butterflies and Hurricanes
-Radiohead Paranoid Android Street Spirit A Wolf At The Door 2+2=5
------------------------------------------------------------ No one's gonna take me alive, the time has come to make things right. You and I must fight for our rights, you and I must fight to survive.
Completely different bands for sure. No way to properly compare them both great in their own right. Radiohead is overall a million light years better. They are a million light years better than anyone though so that doesn't demean the Muse.
Muse are outrageously good. Obviously the first time I heard them I instantly thought, "damn he sounds like Thom Yorke". But the music, the instrumentation of Muse is much different than Radiohead.
I completely disagree with sicnarf that Radiohead are a million times better than Muse. I think Muse definitely hold their own compared to Radiohead in regards to quality of music. Muse are fantastic musicians and the songwriting is very strong.
Some of the stuff on Hail to the Thief could possibly be compared to the music Muse makes, but other than a couple of songs that sound a bit similar, they are quite different.
If you haven't heard Muse, go buy their album "absolution" asap. You'll like what you hear.
Wait, WHAT THE F***!? I'm a big muse fan, but EVERYTHING they have done is completely copped from Radiohead. There would be no Muse without Radiohead. Matthew Bellamy is a good guitar player and he can write catchy songs, but this is like comparing a unicorn to a retarded pony.
Posts: 1115 | Location: new york | Registered: 10 October 2005
Originally posted by joji: Wait, WHAT THE F***!? I'm a big muse fan, but EVERYTHING they have done is completely copped from Radiohead. There would be no Muse without Radiohead. Matthew Bellamy is a good guitar player and he can write catchy songs, but this is like comparing a unicorn to a retarded pony.
Totally disagree joji. Apart from the singer's voice, and the commonality that all alternative bands share(namely the non-mainstream rock sound), Muse sound nothing like Radiohead. Muse copped their sound from, among other things, the early 90s alternative movement, just like Radiohead.
Muse are much harder, more aggresive and heavier than Radiohead, they are more derivitive of metal, goth and grunge bands than they are of a band like Radiohead.
Radiohead relied heavily on experimentation with electronica, in fact, after 'Pablo Honey' you hardly heard a single Radiohead song that didn't add some electronic, computerized beats and buzzes, and that's what set Radiohead apart and made them very unique. Muse barely even dabbled in electronica, if at all. Yes Muse used some traditional keyboarding, and quite well.
Where are the metal and grunge riffs in Radiohead's music that are everywhere in Muse's music? Where's the heavy bass thumping in Radiohead that you hear with Muse? Where's the piano in Radiohead's music that often accompanies Matt Bellamy's vocals in Coldplay fashion?
Like I said in my previous post, aside from a couple of songs on 'Hail to Thief', I see very little resemblance musically between Radiohead and Muse. Muse are much more in the vein of traditional alternative, while Radiohead resides in the experimental vein.
I could even argue that Radiohead borrowed a few tricks from Muse on 'Hail to the Thief'. Listen to 'Myxomatosis'(2003)by RH and then listen to 'Citizen Erased'(2001) by Muse.
I'm with joji on this one. I also enjoy Muse but there is no question that they are similar. When you look at an Elvis impersonator (even a terrible one), the first thing you think is Elvis. When I hear Muse, I can't help but think of Radiohead. They may be heavier, and have different arraignments but, why wouldn't they? If I thought they were a complete knock off, I wouldn't listen. I look at it like this: Radiohead came first and Muse was highly influenced by them. This isn't a bad thing. Maybe Muse would sound exactly like they do had Radiohead never existed. The point is, they do exist and it's not fair to write off a band because of a similar artist coming first.
When Stone Temple Pilots came out, they were dubbed Pearl Jam rip offs. I'll admit, the first time I heard "Plush" on the radio, I thought it was Pearl Jam. After their second album, STP changed and sounded like shit. They have been horrible ever since. Were they a rip off or just influenced? Assuming Scott Weiland was stealing a sound from Eddie Vedder, he still wrote and performed good songs that Pearl Jam didn't create. If an author completely steals the writing style of Aldous Huxley and writes an amazing novel, it's still an amazing novel. On the other hand, comparing them is like comparing Bob Marley to his son. It is possible for two similar things to be great. Why must we compare and contrast?
Posts: 1206 | Location: Konar Province | Registered: 04 January 2006
I think the stonetemple pilots analogy is a fairly good one, seeing that the main reason people mistook the 2 bands was because of the vocal similarities of the lead singers. Although I think that STP's sound on Plush was closer to PJ's sound on Ten and Muse's sound musically has never really been that close to Radiohead's.
People immediately thought that STP was PJ because of the MTV video. Weiland looked like Eddie Vedder with short hair, plus the 2 guys sounded a lot alike. But once people bought the STP album and started to listen, there would never again be the confusion between the 2 bands.
I'm mean, obviously the first thing you think of upon hearing Muse is Radiohead. Well duh, the guy sounds exactly like Thom Yorke...and that's a pretty unique voice. But musically, the 2 bands are just too different for me to call Muse radiohead ripoffs.
And to clarify, I wouldn't make the foolish claim that Muse is better than or even as good as Radiohead. I don't claim that Muse is nearly as inventive or has the genius that Thom Yorke possesses. But Muse, without a doubt, has their own sound and style. That's my point and that's why I don't think they are RH ripoffs.
Muse are much heavier than Radiohead has ever been, which is the biggest difference. They're really good, but I doubt Radiohead cares about them enough to actually copy their ideas - I think it's pretty blatantly the opposite. And the vocals! There's no denying that Bellamy sounds like a second rate Thom Yorke, mostly because his voice is higher and lacks the emotional range Thom Yorke displays. They're not ripoffs, but they're pretty heavily influenced by Radiohead. The Pitchfork review of Showbiz basically portrays them as "mediocre Radiohead clones with great ideas and a lot of potential."
Posts: 1115 | Location: new york | Registered: 10 October 2005
In ref to your initial comment comparing vocals of Thom Yorke to Matt Bellamy??? For real… Yorke leaves Bellamy sounding like a pre pubescent 12 year old whining to his mum for some more pocket money in comparison. Literally stood there in awe of the bloke live, what Yorke does vocally is just incredible and is not copyable by anyone who might try, like Bellamy. Agree with all posts stating comparing the 2 is redundant.
You know, I've heard both bands live. I am a enormous fan of both bands, more dedicated to Radiohead though. Trust me when I say that Matt Bellamy has incredible vocals. He is a force live. If you doubt me, pick up their live cd "hullabaloo".
I guess the fact that I listen to both bands a lot makes the differences between the two that much more obvious. I hear 2 completely different bands with only similar vocals to draw any real comparisons on.
That's just me. And obviously my opinion is based upon my own subjective assesment.
Hudson, didn't you learn your lesson from the Pixies v Nirvana thing. I mean Muse are a good band I'm not gonna argue with that but much like Nirvana to the Pixies, Muse derives most of their sound from Radiohead especially the vocals. I'm on an album level, well I mean there's no competition.that Showbiz simply doesn't compare with the sheer brilliance and originality of a Kid A or an OK Computer.
Originally posted by brighteyes215: Hudson, didn't you learn your lesson from the Pixies v Nirvana thing. I mean Muse are a good band I'm not gonna argue with that but much like Nirvana to the Pixies, Muse derives most of their sound from Radiohead especially the vocals. I'm on an album level, well I mean there's no competition.that Showbiz simply doesn't compare with the sheer brilliance and originality of a Kid A or an OK Computer.
Hey, I held my own in that "pixies/nirvana" discussion...sorta.
As I said above, obviously I would never make the claim that Muse are as good as Radiohead. I was simply adding my opinion that musically, Muse undeniably have their own sound and style. And the fact the Bellamy sounds like Yorke, well...so what, that's the voice he was born with. And whereas Yorke can relay and transmit raw emotion with his voice, Bellamy possesses a powerful and beautiful falsetto, perhaps lacking the depth of emotion but not the talent. Bellamy's vocals are by no mean second rate to Yorke's.
I know that Muse get labeled as 'Radiohead ripoffs', and that annoys me because I think the only reason people impulsively apply that label is due to the similarity between the two lead singers voices. Musically, the similarities just don't add up to much at all.
I don't listen to Muse because I feel the need to listen to Radiohead wannabes, I listen to Muse because they friggin' rock, hard. Their songs are well crafted and they offer sonically, what Radiohead simply do not, namely hard rock, infused with metal, punk and pop.
Originally posted by hudson: Muse are outrageously good. Obviously the first time I heard them I instantly thought, "damn he sounds like Thom Yorke". But the music, the instrumentation of Muse is much different than Radiohead.
I completely disagree with sicnarf that Radiohead are a million times better than Muse. I think Muse definitely hold their own compared to Radiohead in regards to quality of music. Muse are fantastic musicians and the songwriting is very strong.
Some of the stuff on Hail to the Thief could possibly be compared to the music Muse makes, but other than a couple of songs that sound a bit similar, they are quite different.
Well the above quote that ehem you wrote says that you think the quality of music is comparable to what Radiohead has accomplished. Radiohead is a groundbreaking band, pushing experimentalism to brilliant effect on every album(OK every album since and maybe excluding The Bends, even though its great also) Muse are a good band, with strong musicianship but a relative lack of originality and compared to Radiohead, well the music just doesn't compare. And um different instruments, I believe Radiohead uses the same as Muse, you know guitar, bass, albeit with more distortion effects and other rare instruments used by Radiohead due to their varied and brilliant ways. And yes Muse are harder than Radiohead but the music is essentially Bends-era Radiohead with a bit of a harder edge.
Originally posted by sambobo: In ref to your initial comment comparing vocals of Thom Yorke to Matt Bellamy??? For real… Yorke leaves Bellamy sounding like a pre pubescent 12 year old whining to his mum for some more pocket money in comparison. Literally stood there in awe of the bloke live, what Yorke does vocally is just incredible and is not copyable by anyone who might try, like Bellamy. Agree with all posts stating comparing the 2 is redundant.
I dont doubt that Thom yorke has an excellent voice. But you shouldn't underestimate Matt Bellamy as a whining 12 year old. True, his voice is high pitched, but the power he forces out is mindblowing. Just listen to Hate This and I'll Love You from Showbiz, New Born from Origin of Symmetry, and Stockholm Syndrome from Absolution. Or if you're one of those people who bases their entire opinion of a band after overhearing one song on the radio of a passing car, don't bother.
------------------------------------------------------------ No one's gonna take me alive, the time has come to make things right. You and I must fight for our rights, you and I must fight to survive.
