Rip off bands of the 70s/80s?

I've bought two Glass Hammer albums, If and Cor Cordium, due to their high ratings here on PA and the fact that they were mean as tributes to Yes. Jon Davison is a good Jon Anderson soundalike (even their appearance and names are similar), to the extent that he is now lead signer in Yes. The two albums technically have all the right elements (though the keyboard remind me of Tony Kaye rather than Rick Wakeman), including the mystical lyrics and Roger Dean style album covers. However there is a missing spark.

Classic French prog band Pulsar started off as a Pink Floyd tribute band and in their first album, Pollen, that the influences are the most obvious, though they grew into their own identity. I can particularly recommend their third album Halloween.

Another French band, Atoll, had a Yes-like sound on their third album, Tertio. It's a very good album, nevertheless. The band's previous album L'Araignée-Mal is also good.

I found the first Arena album, Songs from the Lion's Cage, and the second on, Pride (to a lesser degree), very similar to Marillion stylistically.

Electronic composer Michael Hoenig, who has briefly a member of Tangerine Dream, released solo album Departure from the Northern Wasteland in 1978, which sounds almost identical to a late 70s Tangerine Dream album.

American musician Michael Garrison released several albums between 1979 and 1998 that are strongly influenced by Tangerine Dream and Jean Michel Jarre. I've only listened to a couple of his earlier albums.

Of these albums, I genuinely enjoy and recommend all of them except for the two Glass Hammer ones.

I haven't had a chance to listen to their stuff yet, but I heard that Triumvirat is sometimes dismissed as a ELP clone.

Finally, the best example of a literal rip off band is probably the fake Deep Purple that toured during the early 80s.

I'd say both Adelbert Von Deyen ripped off Klaus Schulze - and Zanov to some extent ripped off Tangerine Dream. With great success I might add - especially the latter artist. 

Raff wrote: Atavachron wrote: I'd say there are more ripoff bands now than in the 70s and 80s. Indeed. Case in point: Wobbler's third album, Rites at Dawn, which might have easily passed for a Fragile/CTTE-era Yes album.

Triumvirat were an obvious emulation of ELP. The note patterns, the time signatures, the acoustic ballads..were all a simulation of ELP. Triumvirat I give much credit to for actually creating a style and sound of their own within all of that hogwash of emulation and as a result...some of their albums are very unique. In a sense, some of the songwriting and instrumental composition of Triumvirat was. (at times), a bit more interesting than ELP. But again, you might think that perhaps what you are hearing which sounds better or more interesting, is merely a different version of what's already been done by ELP.  Triumvirat were a bit smoother in tone ..yet the drummer , for example, did not literally cover the chops and technique of Carl Palmer. Their composition didn't require a Carl Palmer type sitting in on the drum kit. The music of Greenslade, Rare Bird, and Curved Air required skilled drummers and they had a certain distinctive dynamic style that differed from Carl Palmer's. Again it would be difficult to cover ELP's music , forming a tribute band, and becoming very tight during performances...let alone..attempting to emulate their style and dance in your own shadow.

Edited by TODDLER - October 05 2015 at 11:58

TODDLER wrote: Triumvirat were an obvious emulation of ELP. The note patterns, the time signatures, the acoustic ballads..were all a simulation of ELP. Triumvirat I give much credit to for actually creating a style and sound of their own within all of that hogwash of emulation and as a result...some of their albums are very unique. In a sense, some of the songwriting and instrumental composition of Triumvirat was. (at times), a bit more interesting than ELP. But again, you might think that perhaps what you are hearing which sounds better or more interesting, is merely a different version of what's already been done by ELP.  Triumvirat were a bit smoother in tone ..yet the drummer , for example, did not literally cover the chops and technique of Carl Palmer. Their composition didn't require a Carl Palmer type sitting in on the drum kit. The music of Greenslade, Rare Bird, and Curved Air required skilled drummers and they had a certain distinctive dynamic style that differed from Carl Palmer's. Again it would be difficult to cover ELP's music , forming a tribute band, and becoming very tight during performances...let alone..attempting to emulate their style and dance in your own shadow.

  Couldn't have said it better, myself, Johnny.

As long as bands don't plagiarise others, I don't have any problem with them resembling other bands in terms of overall style or sound. I don't think bands like Starcastle or Triumvirat deserve to be called rip-offs or copycats. That's not very respectful in my opinion, considering what effort it takes to write and perform music like that.

Guldbamsen wrote: The Watch is the first band I think of when copycats are being discussed. I love Gabriel era Genesis as much as the next person, but this is just too much for me. I'd rather pop on The Lamb. Don't take my word for it though; there are quite the number of old school Genesis fans who simply adore The Watch.

I actually wish they were just a cover band, their own materiel is notably inferior to the Genesis songs they cover in their gigs.

I asked for 70s and 80s rip off bands as they don't seem to be common. I know of PLENTY of them in the modern era, but that's no fun :)

Druid is often pegged as a Yes clone.  I quite like them though, especially their second album. 

Eloy occasionally ripped off Pink Floyd, but it was more in certain passages before they would warp out into their own style.  Try "Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes" to see what I mean.  But there are passages throughout Eloy albums very reminiscent of Floyd

Edited by kenethlevine - October 05 2015 at 22:04