[quote="CARNVAL372"]If it hasn't been mentiined, No Self Control's intro borrows heavly from the Beatles Free as a Bird: [url]https://youtu.be/CSLQ7yWvCZw[/url] the PV also revealed this as a homage when Sawao released the white bird from his hands at the end of the video hence the homage to the song!

Nowhere's guitar chorusy effects seem to also came from Free as A Bird too.[/quote]

I can see the PV point, but I don't really make the connection between the audios? Not doubting you, care to elaborate a bit more though? I'm interested in such a connection.

[quote="MyFoot"][quote="CARNVAL372"]If it hasn't been mentiined, No Self Control's intro borrows heavly from the Beatles Free as a Bird: [url]https://youtu.be/CSLQ7yWvCZw[/url] the PV also revealed this as a homage when Sawao released the white bird from his hands at the end of the video hence the homage to the song!

Nowhere's guitar chorusy effects seem to also came from Free as A Bird too.[/quote]

I can see the PV point, but I don't really make the connection between the audios? Not doubting you, care to elaborate a bit more though? I'm interested in such a connection.[/quote]

Both songs are in the key of major A i think at least for No Self Control that is. The chords for both songs goes like this:

Free as a bird: A F#m F E
No Self Control: A5 F#5 F5 D5 A5 G#5 C#5 E5 A5 F#5 F5 D5 A5 E5 D5

what makes them similar is the chord progression starts off with I vi VIb.
No Self Control starts of with I vi VIb IV (even though the chords don't contain a third) while Free as a bird starts off with I vi VIb V.

As for Nowhere's similarity with Free as a bird, I take it that the chorusey arrpegios from the song is also applied to Nowhere's chorus as well.

I don't know that starting with the same three chords and using arpeggios in a section are nearly enough to make something "heavily borrowing" from another song, but I tend to be pretty staunch in thinking people over-think these things because our brains are designed to look for patterns.

I mean, every song borrows from slews of other songs, it's pretty hard to call it conscious without some sort of rhythmic motif or melodic quotes going on.

Not so much a pillows song being influenced this time, but River's Edge by Going Under Ground came on shuffle and I had to stop and listen hard for a second to see that it wasn't a Strange Chameleon cover. Dat chorus doe.

Of course, I can't find a clip though...

[quote="MyFoot"]Not so much a pillows song being influenced this time, but River's Edge by Going Under Ground came on shuffle and I had to stop and listen hard for a second to see that it wasn't a Strange Chameleon cover. Dat chorus doe.

Of course, I can't find a clip though...[/quote]
I don't think I've ever made a connection between the two before, but I definitely see what you're saying.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]FORGIVE ME
use headphones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Hm3FPnT8k[/quote]
I attended the public recording of Sawao's radio show last night and he was talking about Smash Mouth a bit. He said that Babylon tenshin no uta, Come on ghost, and Ladybird Girl are all inspired by Smash Mouth.

100% confirmed/good catch, m8.

So I was listening to my Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist , and when this [url=https://youtu.be/wflQ_0fkkog]song[/url] came on, I thought the riffs and the interplay reminded me a lot of "Spiky Goose"!

[quote="Mafu"][quote="GoldenRhino"]FORGIVE ME
use headphones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Hm3FPnT8k[/quote]
I attended the public recording of Sawao's radio show last night and he was talking about Smash Mouth a bit. He said that Babylon tenshin no uta, Come on ghost, and Ladybird Girl are all inspired by Smash Mouth.

100% confirmed/good catch, m8.[/quote]

Oh my god are you fucking me right now? Ohhh my god.

Ladybird girl is a pretty big surprise to me - but I've never really listened to a ton of Smash Mouth. :O

[quote="Marekenshin"]Ladybird girl is a pretty big surprise to me - but I've never really listened to a ton of Smash Mouth. :O[/quote]

No joke, their album "Astrolounge", which All Star is from, is pretty damn good. I absolutely love the song "Who's There": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDnIGYVKpsE

Try to get to the chorus. If you can stomach the guy's early 2000s brattydouche vocals, you'll find some solid production, crunchy guitars, and subtle harmonies on top of a tune that's better than it really needs to be.

Anyway, I listened to the Come On Ghost / Sister Psychic thing again, with full knowledge that it's totally cribbed from Smash Mouth. I honestly think Smash Mouth has really solid grounds for a settlement (if that were ever to happen). It's one of the more egregious cases of "too close for comfort" that I've seen. It's not quite Ice Ice Baby / Under Pressure, but it's [i]getting there[/i].

I think the similarities between Wonderful Sight / Ripcord are even more overt, i'd go so far as to argue it's a straight up [i]rip[/i]off while the similarities between Come On, Ghost / Sister Psychic are more general in nature, sort of the overall theme and pacing.

[quote="GoldenRhino"][quote="Marekenshin"]Ladybird girl is a pretty big surprise to me - but I've never really listened to a ton of Smash Mouth. :O[/quote]

No joke, their album "Astrolounge", which All Star is from, is pretty damn good. I absolutely love the song "Who's There": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDnIGYVKpsE

Try to get to the chorus. If you can stomach the guy's early 2000s brattydouche vocals, you'll find some solid production, crunchy guitars, and subtle harmonies on top of a tune that's better than it really needs to be.[/quote]

Song is tight. I think that the vocals sound worse in retrospect because of all the other singers that did various similar sounds back then - at the time, Smash Mouth was killing it with a very fresh sound, as I recall. I have no complaints with the vocals, some people just kind of sing with this throaty, darker timbre. The guy from Jawbreaker/Jets to Brazil has the same kind of voice but with more of a grunge growl on it.

I feel as though even purposefully writing a song in the similar vein, or purposefully using the same chord progression as a song you like, is just kind of standard songwriting practice, so as always I'm a little baffled by the level of concern over "ripoffs."

What if our talking about it is the thing that leads to a lawsuit?

[quote="Marekenshin"]I feel as though even purposefully writing a song in the similar vein, or purposefully using the same chord progression as a song you like, is just kind of standard songwriting practice, so as always I'm a little baffled by the level of concern over "ripoffs." [/quote]

Okay, but I think *especially* in this case it goes beyond simply using the same chord progression (you and I agree, a weak argument in any ripoff-debate).

Come On Ghost takes a *lot* of musical ideas from Sister Psychic. The chord progression. The syncopation of the bass and vocals in the verse ("does it ever-get-better" vs "twin-ego-ist"). The same chromatic-sounding prechorus feel. The goddamn *same* guitar and vocal "slam-slam...slam-slam" syncopation in the chorus. The same beginning melodic direction in the solo.

You could barely make this song anymore a rip without looking totally ridiculous. To me, it goes beyond the songs having a similar sound and chord progression. The very *idea* of the song, it's gimmicks, beats, and movement are jacked wholesale - and I say that with even more certitude knowing now that Sawao listens to Smash Mouth.

Writing a song is inherently doing that. Usually people don't like the entirety of a song so much that they write something purposefully similar - they snatch up little bits and pieces, a riff here, a progression there, etc.

I'm not trying to say this isn't an instance where the borrowing is blatant (and densely concentrated), I'm just saying that there's nothing at all wrong and the cutoff point for something being a "rip-off" seems kind of arbitrary to me. Not trying to party poop though, just tossing out my 52 cents. ;D

Also, to be fair, that rhythmic motif is killer and he would have stolen it from someone else if Smash Mouth hadn't killed it so hard.