Billy Corgan has expressed his opinion on METALLICA‘s song “Fuel,” noting its striking similarity to one of his tracks with THE SMASHING PUMPKINS.
In a recent interview with Australia’s “Everblack” podcast, Billy Corgan mentioned METALLICA while discussing whether his band had ever performed their song “Tales Of A Scorched Earth” live. The track originally appeared on their 1995 album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.
He said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “ Well, let me caveat this by saying that I love James Hetfield as a person. I love METALLICA; I saw them in 1984 and all that great stuff. And James is probably the greatest riff writer outside of maybe [BLACK SABBATH‘s] Tony Iommi. James has written some of the greatest, most amazing riffs, and he’s still writing them. But if you listen to ‘Tales Of A Scorched Earth’ and you listen to that METALLICA song [‘Fuel’ from 1997’s Reload album], ‘Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire.’ See — a little lightbulb went off in your brain… Now, which song came first?”
When the interviewer pointed out that “Tales of a Scorched Earth” was released two years prior to “Fuel,” Corgan responded: “God bless you… Now, I don’t think James would rip anything off from me, but the first time I heard that song, I was, like, ‘That’s awfully close.’ But I love me some James. And I’d love somebody trying to get a troll headline out that, some clickbait out of that.”
“My father used to say, ‘Look, there’s only 12 notes.’ So, that’s the great thing. We all rip each other off, and if it works, great. I’ve got no problem with that. I mean, I’ve certainly ripped METALLICA off plenty, so…”
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.