Here’s a funny one submitted by Doug Bresler
Have a listen to The Legend of Zelda 3‘s theme song and the Real Time With Bill Maher theme written by Christopher “Kid” Reid. Reid (now 47) might have played a lot of Zelda in his late 20s. I’m not entirely sure when the Maher theme first aired but it looks like maybe 2006.
Submitted by Patrick
Here’s another great Theme Song comparison. Check out the intro and chorus of Whitney Houston‘s 1990 “I’m Your Baby” and the theme song from the X-Men cartoon theme written by Ron Wasserman. I’m not entirely sure if this is the 1992 version of the theme or not.
This is a little bit of a stretch but every time I hear a new Gaga song I hear about two hooks that I’ve heard before. There are definitely more sound-alike hooks in “Judas” but since I have the Super NES “Top Gear” theme (1992) around for Muse vs. Top Gear here ya go.
Submitted by Max
If you discover Muse on this site for the first time you can be assured of at least two things: They like Dr. Who and Super Nintendo game music. Have a listen to this music from Super Nintendo’s 1992 high speed car race game “Top Gear” and the etherial synth line in Muse’s 2001 “Bliss”.
While we’re here I can’t help notice the lead melody in the intro of “Top Gear”. In this sample below it starts after the first run of the arpeggiation. It sounds like a rather popular song with a female vocal. Help!
This is an update to R.E.M. vs. Cheap Trick
Mike says
The Elec Man theme from the video game Mega Man sounds freakishly similar to both of these. You should check it out.
Brilliant find Mike! Mega Man! And in my travels I also discovered a bit of talk about Journey‘s 1983 power ballad “Faithfully”. Here is all of them:
I had a few comments on the Weezer vs. Midnight Oil post relating to the guitar riffage. Here are a few more. They’re all really just along the lines of the Peter Gunn theme by Henry Mancini. Some of you might also recognize this as the theme song to the 1983 arcade game Spy Hunter. Weezer‘s “Hash Pipe” is much closer to Metallica‘s “For Whom The Bell Tolls”
Florida’s Surfer Blood put out a great debut album this year. There are a few parts on there that I just can’t shake. The following is for their track “Harmonix”.
The guitar harmonics part reminds me so much of Arcade Fire’s 2005 track “Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)”. Check it out:
I probably wouldn’t have posted this one but since one of Surfer Blood’s tracks is entitled “Twin Peaks” I figured there was something there. Here’s the ending half of “Harmonix” with a great part in the Twin Peaks theme. This is also the second time the Twin Peaks theme has made it to the site.
This is an odd one, but it’s been bugging me for years. Since 1994 NFL on Fox has used the same theme song produced by Scott Schreer (NJJ Music). Every time I hear it I want to sing “giddy up, giddy up let’s go” from the classic winter orchestral piece “Sleigh Ride” (Originally composed in 1948 by Leroy Anderson). Perhaps Schreer purposely incorporated this melody just for this reason. Below is a version of ”Sleigh Ride” by Bing Crosby.
Submitted by Glynis
I’m a big fan of the television theme comparisons here on the site. Last year British rockers Muse put out a track that contains a hook very much like the theme to the BBC show Doctor Who. Here’s a sample of the original theme from 1963 followed by the 2007 version recorded by the BBC National Orchestra Of Wales .
This one comes from Elliot
Another one for Green Day’s “21 Guns“. This time it’s the theme to the 80′s sitcom Full House. I love the television theme song comparisons.
