This one was suggested by Phil who points out Green Day‘s epic track “Jesus of Suburbia” and its similarity to Motley Crue’s 1983 “On With the Show”.
Motley Crue - "On With the Show" (1983)
Green Day - "Jesus of Suburbia" (2004)
After giving a listen to “Jesus” I couldn’t help notice the similarity to Bryan Adams‘ classic jam “Summer of ’69”.
Green Day - "Jesus of Suburbia" (2004)
Bryan Adams - "Summer of 69" (1984)
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eerier similarity to bryan adams than the crue, but just enough different that they wouldn’t have to pay him?
The first Green Day clip is based on Pachelbel’s Canon. Green Day uses way, WAY too much Pachelbel in their work (Basket Case, anyone?)
Maybe On With the Show is as well. The guitar arrangement reminds me of Canon Rock (2005), arranged by Jerry C, where Pachelbel’s Canon is played on guitar with a more traditional arrangement before going into the rock version, but this did come after both of them.
I was listening to 21st Century Breakdown today and I thought to myself: What does that last section sound like? I realised it was Pachelbel’s Canon that it sounded like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlprozGcs80#t=2m45s
Pachebel is nice if you want to come across as sophisticated, the rest of us just know that some chord progressions work. There is only so much you can do with them, so one is bound to find a lot of them that follow a specific progression. Recognising this one is just perception bias. Why should I really care that this is a popular chord progression?
Recognising a chord progression suggests you have musically trained ears, yet the more obvious fact is that the melodies are similar. Reminds me of when my grandfather saw an old photo which said it demonstrated different eras or something like that and he said about the fact there were cars from different eras, not noticing the mounted policeman.
I agree, only so many chords, eventually somebody is going to come up with something that sounds like something else.
They did. It’s called Aphex Twin.
There’s also a bit in the beginning of the song that sounds exactly like “Moonage Daydream” by Bowie. I work in a karaoke bar, and whenever someone chooses to sing this song first we groan at the length, and then we sing the “original” lyrics and melodies as loud as we can. So far this, and the two you have here are what we’ve come up with.
“Boulevard of broken Dreams” also bears a striking resemblance to “Wonderwall” by Oasis.
Awesome! I’ll add that Bowie track soon.
I saw someone else posted that Your Live is A Lie by Simple Plan sounds like Boulevard of Broken Dreams and I also noticed that Emotionless by Good Charlotte (2002) also sounds like Wonderwall and the rest. What is it with American Post-punk/New Wave bands sounding like Oasis?
And it’s not just Post-punk/New Wave bands either, Live and Breathe by Journey, off of Arrival, released in Japan in 2000 and in the US in 2001.
And in regards to Oasis, I’ve seen a video comparing Rocking Chair (1995) and Wake Me Up When September Ends (2004), which is a similarity in a small segment with both melodies being mostly two notes and Rocking Chair equally sounds like It’s Over by Boz Scaggs (1976).
Bowie also has a song called Buddha of Suburbia (1993), but they don’t sound similar. I’ve seen other comparisons for JOS, such as with Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones (1976), which I personally can’t hear. Maybe it’s a small similarity in a part which we’ve already discussed sounds more like something else.
Anyway, isn’t it frowned upon for a punk band to steal from a glam artist? Traditionally speaking, punks hate the self-indulgence of glam rock (which I assume is about the elaborate costumes).
Is green day even considered “punk” anymore? They have a Broadway show!
Yes, they have a Broadway show and grandiose rock opera concept albums with tracks in several movements and the lead singer is constantly changing his hair colour and style, so maybe it’s not that surprising, but anyway, they just don’t care. Punk is about doing your own thing and there is nothing less punk than trying to make yourself acceptable to the punk community, but stylistically, maybe they’re not anymore. I never used to think of them as punk because I liked them. On the other hand, recent songs such as Dirty Rotten Bastards are very punk in sentiment and although I don’t like the term pop-punk, which isn’t really an official term, they seem to be the embodiment of the style.
Anyway, they certainly don’t seem to have anything against Bowie, even performing at the same concert in 2002.
And it turns out I’m wrong anyway. While the first wave of punk rockers may have detested the self-indulgence of glam rock, where it was considered half of it was the costumes, that doesn’t mean they didn’t borrow from it sonically, like the Sex Pistols were influenced by Mick Ronson’s guitar playing for Bowie, and The New York Dolls have been considered both glam and punk. I actually think punk was just as flamboyant in it’s own way, in punk rockers efforts to make themselves unacceptable to society.
Plus The Damned toured with T-Rex.
Speaking of Bowie, his Did You Ever Have a Dream? (recorded 1966-1967 and released 2010) sounds like All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.
never heard of Montley Crue
Typo!!!
I think that we are talking and wastin time with 3 absolutely different songs…
Originality really means… the ability to mix up various elements and come up with something new. When you take it apart you realize none of the elements are really new, but the end product is. (Margarete Nagarkar)
check this part of jesus of suburbia out
Pretty close… but not close enough. But not bad.
And part of Rudie Can’t Fail by The Clash (1979).
There is a part of Jesus of Suburbia (2004), just after the part that sounds like Ring of Fire or Rudie Can’t Fail (just thought I’d say there is a bit of swearing in this part of JOS), which sounds like the pre-chorus or whatever of I Want to Know What Love Is, enough that you could sing along to it: “In this life there’s been heartache and pain, I don’t know if I could face it again.” The last part, titled: Tales of Another Broken Home, sounds like a slower version of the chorus of the part titled: City of the Damned, which is the part that sounds like Summer of ’69, but with this overture-style song you’d kind of expect a reprise.
For more Foreigner comparisons:Tooth and Nail (1984), Inside Information (1987) and I’ll Fight for You (1991), and also sound kind of like Rainbow in the Dark (1983). Lowdown and Dirty sounds like Stairway to Heaven. I Want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner (1984) has a riff that goes: 1 b3 4 b6 4, just like in Popsicle Toes by Michael Franks (1976) and the melody of Sinister Purpose by Creedence (1969). There is also a 5ive song that sounds like that part of Popsicle Toes, but I can’t remember the name.
But that part also sounds like their own At the Library (1990). Likewise, Walking Contradiction (1995) also sounds like their own 16 (1990).
Sorry, Social Distortion’s cover was in 1990 and I’ve also found that Johnny Cash’s version (1963) was a cover of the original by Anita Carter (1962).
while were on bryan adams check this
bryan adams:heaven
tiffany:feelings of forever
Keith that post on that site bout green day is a little off.youve got 2 different years for basket case.
Thanks Travis! I’ll update that.
Kosciusko by Midnight Oil (1984) also sounds kind of like Summer of ’69, but with a different rhythm.
I’m thoroughly enjoying this live performance video
And Green Day’s American Eulogy Mass Hysteria (2009) starts with a reprise of Song of the Century then goes into a rewrite of Jesus of Suburbia. Also from 21st Century Breakdown: the title track sounds maybe a little like Summer of ’69, but more like Jesus of Suburbia; the first part of Before the Lobotomy sounds like a cross between First of May by the Bee Gees and the verse of Come On Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, the next part sounds like Manic Monday; Last Night on Earth sounds kind of like In My Life by The Beatles and Murder City (strange names) sounds like Creep by Radiohead (1992). There may be others, but I’m not sure what they sound like.
Carpe Diem (2012) sounds like the pre-chorus of whatever of When by Shania Twain (1998) and Rusty James (2012) also sounds like First of May by The Bee Gees and When it’s Time (2010) sounds like A Whiter Shade of Pale (1967).
Extraordinary Girl (2004) also sounds like Homeward Bound, etc, but more like Even the Nights Are Better by Air Supply (1982) and some Arabic music. I don’t know how big Air Supply was in America, maybe someone could tell me, but this, as with most of the songs Green Day songs are similar to fit within a time frame of late ’70s and ’80s. I suppose it’s a generational thing, but they do also sound like their contempories.
Here are the links.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZAaA0Z-c-I&feature=kp
I think Even the Nights Are Better also has the CatrianiPlay melody. The problem with a lot of these cases is there are too many dishonest people in this world and it’s hard to tell who’s who, but considering Foreigner Suite wasn’t released as a single, what are the chances anyone but a real fan (and users of this website and similar sites) would know it?
The chorus of Even the Nights Are Better sounds like the verse of Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) by Christopher Cross (1981), but it’s hard to know which came first as they were both recorded in the same year, ’81.
The former part of Jesus of Suburbia also sounds kind of like To Be With You by Mr Big, but not as much as it sounds like On With the Show. Green Day have been known to steal tunes, but they really went mad on that one, like they were trying to tell someone’s story through every melody they ever heard.
And part of A Perfect Love by Trisha Yearwood (1997). Also, 21 Guns sounds kind of like Closer to the Sun by Guy Sebastian (2006).