Last night, while lurking in a couple of LJ communities, someone posted a random YouTube video of Muses's "Uprising." That's not unusual, but the responses to the posting really confused me.
"'The Resistance' is a rip-off of NIN's 'Year Zero!'"
... What?!
If you know anything about me, you know that I like Muse and Nine Inch Nails. I own both of the albums in question and several other albums by both Muse and NIN. I asked Sam if he'd heard about this last night and both of us were equally confused as to what the hell that was about.
First, you have to consider NIN and Muse don't even sound similar. Second, if you're going to say that both albums were politically motivated, then I'd say Black Holes and Revelations (2006) was far more political than The Resistance (2010), which to me felt more like a combination of a political statement and a celebration of finally breaking away from Blair/Bush. Black Holes was practically dripping with contempt for Tony Blair/George W. Bush without outright stating their names. In Year Zero (2007), Trent Reznor went so far as to actually title a song "Capital G" and makes blatant references to the Iraq War in more than one song. Finally, if you want to condemn Muse for using their music to push a poltical platform, then you need to condemn the majority of musicians and artists throughout history. Trent Reznor, for all his talent, was not the first modern musician to do it, and he won't be the last. Muse sure as hell didn't rip him off, though I'd argue they were channeling Queen for at least one song on The Resistance ("United States of Eurasia").
I'm not a huge music buff by any stretch of the imagination, and while I enjoy music, I rarely can tell you the names of members of my favorite bands simply because I listen to music I enjoy and not much else, so I'm willing to admit that maybe I'm wrong. I don't exactly believe Muse is some band gifted to us from up above, that they're somehow incapable of being tools. It's possible Muse did try to make The Resistance like Year Zero, but I'm really not seeing/hearing it from here.
In short: Haters gonna hate no matter who they are.
"'The Resistance' is a rip-off of NIN's 'Year Zero!'"
... What?!
If you know anything about me, you know that I like Muse and Nine Inch Nails. I own both of the albums in question and several other albums by both Muse and NIN. I asked Sam if he'd heard about this last night and both of us were equally confused as to what the hell that was about.
First, you have to consider NIN and Muse don't even sound similar. Second, if you're going to say that both albums were politically motivated, then I'd say Black Holes and Revelations (2006) was far more political than The Resistance (2010), which to me felt more like a combination of a political statement and a celebration of finally breaking away from Blair/Bush. Black Holes was practically dripping with contempt for Tony Blair/George W. Bush without outright stating their names. In Year Zero (2007), Trent Reznor went so far as to actually title a song "Capital G" and makes blatant references to the Iraq War in more than one song. Finally, if you want to condemn Muse for using their music to push a poltical platform, then you need to condemn the majority of musicians and artists throughout history. Trent Reznor, for all his talent, was not the first modern musician to do it, and he won't be the last. Muse sure as hell didn't rip him off, though I'd argue they were channeling Queen for at least one song on The Resistance ("United States of Eurasia").
I'm not a huge music buff by any stretch of the imagination, and while I enjoy music, I rarely can tell you the names of members of my favorite bands simply because I listen to music I enjoy and not much else, so I'm willing to admit that maybe I'm wrong. I don't exactly believe Muse is some band gifted to us from up above, that they're somehow incapable of being tools. It's possible Muse did try to make The Resistance like Year Zero, but I'm really not seeing/hearing it from here.
In short: Haters gonna hate no matter who they are.