Foo Fighters

I mean that if I had the opportunity to jam with Alex Lifeson in Toronto, then record some music with Steve Harris down at Compass Point and toss in a little Painkiller riff into one of the songs I was recording in some classic studio in the UK, I'd be all over it.

You may have seen stuff that I haven't that has you thinking its all about Grohl's ego, and that's fair.
But from what I've seen he's just making music and having fun.
 
mckindog said:
I mean that if I had the opportunity to jam with Alex Lifeson in Toronto, then record some music with Steve Harris down at Compass Point and toss in a little Painkiller riff into one of the songs I was recording in some classic studio in the UK, I'd be all over it.

You may have seen stuff that I haven't that has you thinking its all about Grohl's ego, and that's fair.
But from what I've seen he's just making music and having fun.
Click to expand...

So, I'm sorry but I still don't understand but...Because he is a privileged musician it's OK for him to rip off classic rock/metal bands? When was that OK? If Kurt hadn't hired him because he hit hard on the toms and Kurt hadn't fuckin' died, no one would know who Foo Fighers/Dave Grohl are/were :p

Would I do the same if I had the chance? Jam with people, why the hell not. Re-playing old great bands stuff into my own music? Why??
 
I understand that NP and it's not even a complete riff of Holy Diver...But like, if everyone is OK with this? Then where does it end...I know it might sound silly, but rock bands just "borrowing" a riff here and there....WTF?

Why?
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Would I do the same if I had the chance? Jam with people, why the hell not. Re-playing old great bands stuff into my own music? Why??
Click to expand...

Sorry man. I'm not meaning to poke you, but my answer still is because it's fun and it sounds cool. Sometimes it's no more complicated than that.
I think this is more like Tony Iommi throwing that Santana riff into Lady Evil. It's not like Jimmy Page stealing entire songs from penniless old blues guys and pretending they were his own.
 
Yeah...I see what you mean. But I still really don't get it...I mean what a fuckin' ego tard would just sling Dio's classic in there because it's "fun" and "cool" I mean...if it wasn't because the name of the band was Foo Fighers and Dave Grohl, people would hate their guts.
 
Because+of+reasons+i+m+a+bear+because+of+reasons_8e9659_4905701.jpg
 
Right, well, I hope I can't find proof but if Avenged Sevenfold (or whatever) had used half a riff of Dio's Holy Diver (man they probably already have :p) on one of their albums,, everyone would scream blasphemy :D

BUT, as a final statement on this, I'll just say..Foo Fighters are a good band, way too good (and young) to start paying homage to other bands. Now excuse me, while I go and listen to the first three albums ;)
 
Last edited:
SixesAlltheway said:
Right, well, I hope I can't find proof but if Avenged Sevenfold (or whatever) had used half a riff of Dio's Holy Diver (man they probably already have :p) on one of their albums,, everyone would scream blasphemy :D
Click to expand...
The difference is that nothing on that A7X album (Hail to the King) was original. The entire thing was made up of Metallica and GnR riffs. There's a huge difference between borrowing a portion of a riff for one song and writing an entire album of unoriginal music. The comparison there is completely ridiculous.

Homages happen all the time. Riffs get recycled and sometimes songs sound a lot like other songs. There have been many discussions here about Iron Maiden ripping off other bands and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a band that has remained 100% original for the entirety of their career. Foo Fighters lifted one measure of music from a Dio song, so what?
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Right, well, I hope I can't find proof but if Avenged Sevenfold (or whatever) had used half a riff of Dio's Holy Diver (man they probably already have :p) on one of their albums,, everyone would scream blasphemy :D
Click to expand...

Unless it's a riff on Waking the Fallen, and then it will be hailed as brilliant.
 
I mean, in the early, early days the publishing firms owned all the rights... so basically the song you wrote as an artist was sold to everyone else for them to make their own versions...Because the song was the selling point, not the artist. So no, that's not anything new. But that was a while ago...
 
Last edited:
That doesn't make it any less of a ripoff though. There were countless artists at the same time as Led Zeppelin who were making their own original music. How is it any different just because the original writers didn't own the songs? They still wrote them.
SixesAlltheway said:
But enlighten me, but I don't think there's been a more obvious "rip off" than the latest Foo takin' on Dio song :)
Click to expand...
Really? How about the middle section of The The Nomad by Iron Maiden? Or the multitude of riffs A7X borrowed from Metallica to create their latest album?

This Foo Fighters thing has been amazingly blown out of proportion. It's especially sad because the song is really good. There are tons oforiginal ideas in there yet people are losing their minds over one riff. And the Foos put their own spin on that riff anyway; on Holy Diver it's sinister and heavy, on this song it's funky plays under a unique vocal melody.
 
That's why I deleted that portion from my post because there's obviously more examples ...I agree there's great ideas in there and everything I just don't see WHY they have to do to it.....I think it's silly.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
You have to explain that really @Cornfed Hick if you willl, please :)
Click to expand...
Everything borrows from what came before. The Beatles and Rolling Stones ripped off Chuck Berry, Elvis and the Motown artists of the 50s and early 60s. Everyone ripped off the Beatles and the Stones. Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton ripped off Robert Johnson, Sonny Boy Williamson and many others. Iron Maiden ripped off Beckett, UFO and perhaps others. George Harrison ripped off the Chiffons. Opeth ripped off Rainbow ("Slither"). Countless rap/hip-hop artists sample portions of prior recordings.

You hear something, and it causes you to think of something else which may be close to what you heard but not quite the same. Sometimes it's conscious, and meant to pay homage. Sometimes it's unintentional (Harrison). And sometimes (early Zeppelin) it is shameless. But everybody in music does it.

The Foo Fighters song doesn't concern me in the least. Did it remind me of Holy Diver? Sure. But it isn't Holy Diver.
 
I agree about all that but we differ when it comes to how we feel about the shameless musical plagiarism. No it doesn't concern me, I mean, it won't keep bugging me but right in the moment i heard it I thought it was a cheap shot, thought it was weak. Even if it was meant to be a fun homage or whatever I don't like it if a whole riff or section is lifted from one song to another, copy/paste job.

if they wanted to do a Dio homage why not jam out a Holy Diver cover and slam it on a b-side.

Or maybe there's like a theme to this album where Grohl will pay homage to all of his musical heroes by ripping off a couple of songs on ALL of the tracks? Then it would actually make sense instead of randomly dropping Holy Diver into a track :p
 
Last edited:
I ask myself if Dio would care about this, or be honoured. Let's be honest, Dio wouldn't give a damn. Dave Grohl is one of the most famous musicians of this generation, and this is a tribute on a massive scale.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top