Billy Corgan insists that Metallica’s hit “Fuel” sounds “awfully close” to Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tales of a Scorched Earth,” while noting that he didn’t think James Hetfield and company would intentionally “rip anything off from me.”
The remark came up when Corgan was asked in a new interview about performing “Tales of a Scorched Earth” live, which has never happened.
“ Well, let me caveat this by saying that I love James Hetfield as a person. I love Metallica … James is probably the greatest riff writer outside of maybe [Black Sabbath’s] Tony Iommi,” Corgan told the Everblack podcast [as transcribed by Blabbermouth]. “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, ‘Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire.’ … Now, which song came first?”
“Tales of a Scorched Earth”— one of Smashing Pumpkins’ most aggressive songs — was released two years before “Fuel,” on the band’s 1995 opus Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. There’s definitely some similarities between the thrashy riffs that are central to each song.
“Now, I don’t think James would rip anything off from me, but the first time I heard [“Fuel”], I was, like, ‘That’s awfully close,’” Corgan said. “But I love me some James. And I’d love somebody trying to get a troll headline out that, some clickbait out of that.”
The Smashing Pumpkins founder went on to add that he’s just as guilty of plagiarism, even of Metallica, and that there’s only so many notes on the guitar.
“My father used to say, ‘Look, there’s only 12 notes.’ So, that’s the great thing,” he said. “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…”
You can watch the interview with Billy Corgan below, as well as stream both of the songs in question.