I guess this thread hasn't been brought over yet from the old forum.

Been on a Sprung Aus Den Wolken kick, as I am wont to do periodically. I was listening to the album 1981 - West Berlin and at about 2:28 the song "Lust-Last-Liebe" has this synth riff that is very close to the Butthole Surfers's "Strangers Die Everyday" (1986).

The intro to "Lust-Last-Liebe" reminds me of something else...

https://youtu.be/l-ictMf4bvg?si=AyDRnWy0ig9cWUyN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjo9YaoSy60

Also, the following track on 1981 - West Berlin is almost exactly the intro to "Human Fly" by The Cramps. Maybe it's just a common scale, I'm not a musician. These were created around the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcQN8jvaEr8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK5Xe1SK0r8

Lulz I assumed this was going to be about Killing Joke, Nirvana, and the Damned.

1985
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-JcfJlx_9Y


1992
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9u5x-nNFQA


Whoops!

Christopher wrote: Mon Jan 12, 2026 7:10 pm 1985
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-JcfJlx_9Y


1992
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9u5x-nNFQA


Whoops!

And both are kinda a take on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNgxNxkUQF0

enframed wrote: Mon Jan 12, 2026 7:32 pm And both are kinda a take on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNgxNxkUQF0

Eh... the Barrett starts in a different spot, has a swing to it and resolves differently. The two I posted are identical in every way aside from key and tempo (and that shitty '90s tone).

This reminds me of the time I woke up and had a great riff idea, only to discover that I was just learning a Van Halen song. I think I was waking up with a radio alarm that was on an oldies rock station at the time.

Christopher wrote: Mon Jan 12, 2026 7:57 pm
Eh... the Barrett starts in a different spot, has a swing to it and resolves differently. The two I posted are identical in every way aside from key and tempo (and that shitty '90s tone).

I said kinda, geez.

"Identical in every way aside from tempo and key (and tone)." LOLZ. Alright, Charlie.

If a discussion about stolen riffs isn't the place to get nitpicky on details, what's the point?

Haha!

The Barrett one is identical in every way aside from having a swing to it and it resolving differently.

That's certainly more accurate.

enframed wrote: Wed Jan 14, 2026 10:36 am Haha!

The Barrett one is identical in every way aside from having a swing to it and it resolving differently.

That's certainly more accurate.

It's not, though. Besides the swing feel and more complex melody/added notes, Barrett's also playing everything in a different sequence, adding hammer-ons, and the whole motif is twice as long as the other two. I hear the similarities, but what I thought was so interesting about the PG vs. NIN comparison is the degree of rip-offedness. I actually can't think of many examples where two riffs are basically note-for-note the same. Same sequence/intervals, phrasing, etc. Many examples of "reminds me of" or "sounds similar to," but I'm drawing a blank on something so shamelessly close. The key and tempo differences between them don't really matter that much, either. Artists transpose their own music all the time, with tempo variation all over the place.