Ever since the British rock trio, Muse, released their debut album, Showbiz, in 1999, they've been dogged by claims that they're nothing but a rip-off of fellow English rockers, Radiohead. While some critics have since declared that Muse has developed their own sound, others have not been so generous. Well, I'm here today to debunk that claim for good.
Radiohead, led by lead-singer Thom Yorke, released their debut album, Pablo Honey, in 1993. Muse, meanwhile, started jamming approximately one year later - in 1994. At the time, the Muse band-members (Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard, and Chris Wolstenholme) were 16- to 17-years of age. At that time, they were impressionable lads, trying to find their identity. So, as all bands do around that age, they experimented with different sounds, and in so doing, were largely inspired by a host of bands they were into at the time.
Looking back, drummer Dominic Howard said, "When we were 16, Radiohead was one of our major influences. The Bends was my favorite album when I was younger."
Lead-singer/guitarist/pianist Matt Bellamy added, "We take our influences from lots of American bands, like Nirvana. And yeah, Radiohead at the time of The Bends were doing new things with guitar music that it's hard not to be influenced by. If that's your opinion, then fair enough, I just don't care."
Bassist Chris Wolstenholme backed up his band-mates' claims, as he too said Radiohead was an influence for the band when they started, around '94.
For the record, I should note that The Bends was Radiohead's second album, released in 1995.
So, it can be deemed a fact that, when Muse first started in 1994-95, when they were between the ages of 16 and 18, Radiohead was one of their influences.
That's not the smear being hurled at them by music journalists, though. Never have I read a critic say something along the lines of, "Before Muse's debut album, they sounded like Radiohead rip-offs!" No, this allegation was made after the band began releasing LPs. So, the fact Muse was influenced by Radiohead before they released an LP is irrelevant to said journalists' arguments.
It seems a lot of the criticism is aimed at Bellamy's falsetto, which some critics feel bears a striking resemblance to Yorke's. Here's the thing, though - Bellamy's vocal-style wasn't influenced by Thom Yorke; it was inspired by Jeff Buckley. So, if critics want to label Bellamy a Jeff Buckley-rip-off artist vocally, so be it, but Buckley was never a part of Radiohead.
Delving further, Bellamy said the following in 1999 and 2000, as part of promotional interviews for the band's debut album, Showbiz:
- "There are elements where we've been influenced by a lot of the same things, but not influenced by them [Radiohead]."
- "Well, I've also seen Jeff Buckley in concert, and I'm also influenced by him. As far as that other band (this is what he started to call Radiohead) is concerned, I like a couple of songs here and there, but that's as far as it goes, really. They don't do much for me. Personally speaking, I don't think we sound anything like them at all."
So, this wasn't an effort by Matt to distance himself and his band from the Radiohead comparisons after years of criticism. No, this happened immediately after the release of the band's debut album.
At the time, even John Leckie - music producer, who had worked with Radiohead previously - said, "It's funny that people tell me that they sound like Radiohead, because it never occurred to me."
When looking back at an NME biography which was written about his band, bassist Chris Wolstenholme said, "With the Nirvana and Radiohead thing, what we were actually talking about in the bio was the fact that they were probably the two most influential bands of the decade. Not necessarily for us, they were just the two biggest guitar bands around really. We were into Nirvana when we were younger, when we were in previous bands we did covers of their stuff. It was what got us into bands really, it was what made us want to be in bands."
The bassist has since said, "There are miles between us and Radiohead, but is the same story with all bands, they'll always do comparisons because it's easier for more people to understand a new concept when it gets compared with something already known. We have things in common, such as we have worked with John Leckie, who produced our first two albums, and also has worked with Radiohead in the past. We also recorded in a studio where they have recorded before, but Muse is a heavier and more energetic band overall."
So, here's the truth: Radiohead was one of the biggest names in rock when Muse got started in '94-'95, so of course they were influential when the band was attempting to find themselves, as were bands like Nirvana, the Smashing Pumpkins, etc. However, once an identity was established, and they went on releasing LPs, Radiohead was no longer an influence. As a matter of fact, the band's songwriter - Matt Bellamy - was never too keen on Radiohead's sound (that's putting it nicely), so why in the world would he then attempt to rip off a band he doesn't like?
Interviewer: "So, which band is popular with the critics, but you've never much cared for?"
Bellamy: "Oh, that's easy - Radiohead."
Interviewer: "...and if you were to copy a band's sound, who would you want that to be?"
Bellamy: "Again, piece of cake - Radiohead."
Yeah, that back-and-forth would never happen.
For whatever reason, music critics decided early on that, since Thom Yorke of the British band Radiohead sang in falsetto, any English rock band which followed them with said vocal-stylings would be deemed copycats.
As Matt, Dom, and Chris have all said since these accusations began swirling, "[Comparisons to Radiohead] is just lazy journalism."
I couldn't agree more.
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