Getting really sick of discovering rip-offs in Opeth music

[blood8815]

To be honest, when we did "To rid" yes, it was ripped off from Marie! At the time I figured no one would ever know and I was right until we recorded her song. It's basically an e-chord and doing a played volume swell like that has been done a million times. I got it from Marie, her guitarist probably got it from someone else.

What can I say, I wear my influences on my sleeve. I'm usually pretty straight about my rip offs so it's not like I'm trying to make it "mine". It's an homage more or less.

Mike

So... Can i rip you off?

 

[in_my_time_of_disease]

One of the things that impresses me is that he takes influences from bands that I don't like, and uses them in ways that I end up liking.

Exactly.

 

[demon of the moor]

it could be more of a tribute than blatent steal, Rappers sample shit everyday so its kinda the same

 

[Katabasis]

Yeah well, what good ideas did the Dutch people ever have ? (besides legalizing the pot)

"I've been drivin' all night, my hand's wet on the wheel..."

 

[myndcrym370]

"I've been drivin' all night, my hand's wet on the wheel..."

 

[SeViMeTaL]

"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal" ~ Igor Stravinsky

LOL

 

[SerenityNow!]

One of the things that impresses me is that he takes influences from bands that I don't like, and uses them in ways that I end up liking.

100% agreement!!

 

[Scavneck]

No problem. I'll have a chat with Mikael about that point.

...no seriously, for some people it's a lack of creativity but for some others it's a good way to make links between ideas. if it's well done, why not.

ditto

 

[Klämrisk]

LOL, it's difficult to NOT rip off anything...

I came up wth a great chordfollowing a month ago, and in the evening, while watching the Lamentations DVD I heard that it was the same as the verses in ending credits....and I didn't care to come up with something original, so I ended up covering ending credits (with self-written lyrics) instead

 

[hibernal_dream]

Btw, Opeth didn't rip off "The Lotus Eater" from Nevermore. Nevermore's song is called "The Lotus Eaters"
Eat that pricks!

 

[JoeVice]

i think its awesome. listen to the charlie brown's christmas jazz album. its a bunch of engrained familiar melodies interperated in a real and original way. any familiar melody can be transposed in a shockingly new light. originality and identity matter alot. but, it seems that a lot of artists are too self-conscious with being original that it unfortunately corrupts genuine expression.

also, i think that tastefully sticking a rip-off in a song adds new meaning of a humbling novelty value, like, "thanks music, and for letting me join!"

 

[Ümlaut]

Yeah well, what good ideas did the Dutch people ever have ? (besides legalizing the pot)

Well, after they legalized pot, they had a good idea to make more McDonalds.

 

[hangtime]

Btw, Opeth didn't rip off "The Lotus Eater" from Nevermore. Nevermore's song is called "The Lotus Eaters"
Eat that pricks!

Are you bitter ??

 

[Markitos`s apprentices]

that part doesnt even remind me any opeth song, so shut up...

i think you get annoyed because of your "moronism"

 

[JemGaarenstroom]

OMG! You ripped off one of my notes!
I also used the D on my last album...

i lol'd

 

[Jester-Race]

Does a chicken pot pie steal a mish mash of vegtables for no good reason? No, because they are there to keep you healthy. Just like music.

 

[truhlo]

Plagiarism issue is probably the most complex and controversial issue i came across in my time as a music fan. I completely understand sangreal's interest and position in this topic, as i am familiar with general intellectual laziness and double standards of fans (or even musical critics!). This is my story.

When i first discovered these «things», rip offs, i did it through some pop music. I was rather disappointed to discover some artists wrote songs that i thought were fresh and original but were actually "parasiting" at expense of some other songs. Nevertheless, it was not until i discovered AND heard numerous Led zeppelin rip offs that i realized how serious the issue is, and how it actually requires a rather refined and nuanced approach.

With minor artists it was possible to say those were downright plagiarisms, that such artists are thieves, and so... With LZ though, whatever one might say about such misdeeds, it was absolutely impossible to deny the power their music retained no matter what. Admittedly, at that time it lessened the band's stature in my eyes, but also made me look for more examples of «creative borrowings».

I found out this way of re-appropriating and recycling other people's ideas is regular occurrence in composing/songwriting, it was there, in all genres and in all degrees. Therefore, while i (naively!) grew up with the idea of «pure originality» as some sort of ideal, at this time i had to review my understanding of creative writing and originality. I discovered that even such bands as Radiohead, Metallica, Tool and even Opeth «do it». It simply became less about some romanticized notion of «originality» and «creativity», and more about what it all comes down to at the end of the day – does it work, is it good music, does it make this sonic impact that only great art can make.

Furthermore, i learned to admire the skill great musicians use to take a piece of music they didnt come up with and then give it a new life and new strength in their own compositions. What better example for this than this To bid you farewell bit! And its not about «changing it» (though its not completely the same to begin with!) in order to make it original, or at least less of a copy, its about taking it as it is and then planting it in a different context and making it gain new force.

In time i even developed a perverse passion for the songs that rip off not only riffs, chord progressions or arrangement fragments, but actual melodies. I had situations like this: the song is a blatant rip off, artist could be sued, could easily lose and have to pay, he/she could even deservedly lose his personal and artistic integrity and yet – the song is awesome, if only as a cover!

 

[truhlo]

Anyway, what Opeth does is (unless you wanna stubbornly stick to that idea of 100% originality, which is a beginner's attitude, an admirable one, but eventually inadequate) pure magic. Id like to know it all some day, which riffs are original, which are rip offs, and so goes for every detail in every song on every album. Id like to know it all, not for the purpose of spying or hairsplitting, but just for better understanding and putting the pieces together (give me some examples, ill be thankful, im a metal newbie, which Morbid angel's songs i should check to understand Opeth's influences better?).

So, to wrap this up, i think musical talent and quality of music cannot be exclusively measured by «originality» of compositions, nor can this originality be narrowly understood as mere usage of previously unused or unknown combinations of notes and chords. Originality and creativity is also in the art of combining the borrowed elements, having an ear for good ideas in otherwise average songs, putting them together in new unity, using them to your own advantage...

So, when artists dont talk openly about «stealing» from other musicians, i kinda lose respect for them as «humans», but i still judge their music purely by emotional energy it conveys. As for Opeth, they really wear their influences up their sleeve, so their integrity cant be questioned. It might be a little disappointing though to discover that Mikael didnt come up with all the ideas and so, in a way that makes him a human rather than omni-potent god , but at the end of the day, my opinion is that «true» originality is in how you combine all the elements, original and borrowed, and make them co-exist.

 

[HaTeMaN]

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

 

[hexwind]

i think this is how music develope, we "ripp off" an acoutic riff, we play it with some effects and bass slaps and stuff, and here we are another song, and u the listeners put it in another form and u slow down the rythm and so on !!! but it 's okay as far as u don't deny that u had ripped that off !!
anywyas
does anyone knows from which Camel songs Ending Credits was ripped off?