So a few summers back, I took my then 13 year-old daughter to DTE (or as those of us older folks fondly remember it... "Pine Knob") to see the band Heart.

This was really a great evening out as a) it was with my daughter, b) she digs Heart, c)she plays guitar, and d) I have always like said band, and often found them to be underrated (save for their 80's power ballad stuff, which I never liked).

Anyway, as Heart cruised through "Barracuda" it dawned on me that the bass line and drumming bore a striking similarity to those of Led Zeppelin's "Achilles Last Stand (on their "Presence" release).

Has anyone else ever noticed the similarity?

Granted, to call it a rip-off is a bit extreme, and Heart (the Wilson sisters in particular) have always spoken openly about how 'Zeppelin's music really informed their own sensibilities and stylings (in fact, in many of their live shows, they cover "Roack and Roll" as well as a few other 'Zeppelin tunes (There's even a really good cover of "The Battle of Evermore" that appears on one of the Bridge School live concert recordings).

If memory serves, "Presence" was released in 1976, and "Little Queen", the release on which "Barracuda" can be found was released in 1977. So it seems likely / possible that Heart was 'inspired' by this tune's meter and phrasing while writing "Barracuda".

So...if you have these tracks in your music library and have not done so before, queue up "Achilles Last Stand" and then "Barracuda" and see if you hear the similarities.

Or...maybe it's just me...

Nope don't see much resemblance there. The Heart riffs are much more musical and a part of the actual melody than the LZ riff is. They change in tempo and volume throughout the song and are much more in the foreground than the LZ stuff.

I also do not see any "ripoff" attempt on this. There may be a slight similarity but none that wouldn't be anything other than musical beat. Heart does like LZ.