Prince "borrows" from U2

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Bruce Springstein said during U2's rock n roll hall of fame induction, "if you play like them (Edge) then you will sound like them (U2, Edge).
The ultimate compliment one guitarist can pay to another.
Prince is a perfectionist. He is a phenomenal guitarist.
If it was a riff by the Edge, he meant to do it because he liked it or had heard it and wanted the effect to sound like that at the time. In my opinion.
 
"In God's Country" is stolen from Echo & The Bunnymen's "The Back Of Love"

"Guitar" is stolen from "I Will Follow"

So in theory, U2 is even. Now Prince owes a kick ass lick to Echo & The Bunnymen

~A.j.~
 
fandangamoq said:
"In God's Country" is stolen from Echo & The Bunnymen's "The Back Of Love"

"Guitar" is stolen from "I Will Follow"

So in theory, U2 is even. Now Prince owes a kick ass lick to Echo & The Bunnymen

~A.j.~


I can see it now,

Echo & The Bunnymen " Prince stole this from the U2's... and were stealing it back ! " as they break into I Will Follow for their new Rockomentery.
 
buzzkill27 said:
If you want an example of a rehashed riff look no further than The Offspring's song "Self Esteem" is a rehashed version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" basically it's SLTS played backwards

... and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is just "More Than a Feeling" by Boston - check out that riff in the chorus! :wink:
 
Well it's not only in LemonMac Phisto's head..the dirty boots/ vertigo story.. It's also in my head..
It's not as obvious as with Prince and I will follow, but still..


buzzkill27 said:


You have got to be kidding me I'm a musician....the riff in Vertigo sounds nothing like any part of "Dirty Boots" ,rehashed or otherwise ...it's safe to assume that connection is in your head and no one else's
Now Zeppelin REALLY ripped off a few artists,that has been established many times

If you want an example of a rehashed riff look no further than The Offspring's song "Self Esteem" is a rehashed version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" basically it's SLTS played backwards
 
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david said:
wow, in god's country really does borrow from echo and the bunnymen's "back of love"

You know, as a big fan of the Bunnymen, I can honestly say I don't think that Back Of Love and In God's Country sound as similar as people say they do. Yeah, same chords and all, but the overall sound of both songs is still very different.

That's not to say I don't think U2 are guilty of a little bit of Bunnymen imitation over the years, however. Boy owes quite a bit to Crocodiles. The bass lines to With A Hip (1982) and Indian Summer Sky are remarkably similar. Ripeness and Two Hearts Beat As One bear extremely strong similarities in the guitar department. Then there are the similarities in both bands' musical directions. U2 and the Bunnymen each released an album in 1980, 1981 and 1983 (the Bunnymen released theirs before U2's.) All three were heavily drenched in post-punk. 1984 came around and both bands changed to a less-aggressive style, featuring clean delayed guitars and a more atmospheric approach to song writing. Again, the Bunnymen released their album several months before U2 released theirs. Ever since I first heard it, I've been of the opinion that Ocean Rain (the song) could have ended up on The Unforgettable Fire or The Joshua Tree and no-one would have been able to tell the difference.

Then there was the whole back to basics thing... In 1997, after dabbling with industrial rock during the early 90s, Echo And The Bunnymen decided to get back to their roots with Evergreen, which gained them some success. It's a very radio friendly album that harkens back to the earlier Bunnymen sound, with a good dose of Adult Contemporary thrown in. Not to mention lyrics that feature references to "kneeling" and "soul." In other words, it's a less-catchy All That You Can't Leave Behind, released three years earlier. That's why I think the song title of "All Because Of You Days" (which sounds like present-day U2-by-the-numbers) from 2005's Siberia was completely intentional. Not to mention the opening lyrics of "I don't wanna run, I don't wanna hide." It always struck me as Ian McCulloch's way of getting back at U2, and Bono especially. Or maybe it was just coincidental, I don't know.

In short, everyone's guilty of ripping off someone. It's the nature of the music business and it's not really that big of a deal.
 
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"Borrows" is a bit of a light word for this, even if in rock that isn't a crime. It's inevitable riffs re-appear somewhere else.


Contemporary bands or singers can have a similar sound, doesn't mean they're ripping each other off.
 
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Am sure I read, way back in the mid 80s, that Prince had done some work with Edge but the result had been put away in a lil purple vault for a rainy day. Anyone else recall this?
 
^
No, but I do recall Bono's frequent praise 4 the Little Purple One and in "U2 at The End of The World", it's mentioned a few times, and 2 me, "Lemon" has always been U2's homage 2 Prince and his style.
 
oh for crissakes :mad:

transcribe the notes, i dare someone.

newsflash: they are NOT the same.

AND Prince is playing three notes, whereas IWF riff is two

give it up, it's only the tone that is similar


if it reminds you of IWF, fine, great, but don't go accusing an IMMENSELY accomplished genius of stealing when clearly he has not ever needed to, does not need to, and never will need to
 
gabrielvox said:
oh for crissakes :mad:

transcribe the notes, i dare someone.

newsflash: they are NOT the same.

AND Prince is playing three notes, whereas IWF riff is two

give it up, it's only the tone that is similar


if it reminds you of IWF, fine, great, but don't go accusing an IMMENSELY accomplished genius of stealing when clearly he has not ever needed to, does not need to, and never will need to

:rockon:

:applaud:
 
gman said:
Am sure I read, way back in the mid 80s, that Prince had done some work with Edge but the result had been put away in a lil purple vault for a rainy day. Anyone else recall this?

I know of the piss-poor recording of Bono and/or Edge playing "The Cross" live with Prince. :drool:

Now that's one of his most underrated songs.
 
Prince did recently steal the whole, "best ever Super Bowl halftime performance," from U2, so i guess we shouldn't be surprised that he continues to take things from them.
 
Irvine511 said:
Prince did recently steal the whole, "best ever Super Bowl halftime performance," from U2, so i guess we shouldn't be surprised that he continues to take things from them.

That show rocked. :yes:
 
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