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If you've ever thought Metallica's "Fuel" sounded like Smashing Pumpkins' "Tales of a Scorched Earth," you're not alone. During a new interview with the Everblack podcast, Billy Corgan pointed out that Metallica's 1997 hit was "awfully close" to the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness track, which happens to be one of the Pumpkins' most aggressive songs and came out two years prior to "Fuel."
The topic came up when the Pumpkins frontman was asked about playing the song live, which they've never done. “ 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,” he explained (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?”
“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 pointed out. “But I love me some James.”
He also added that he has no problem with the similarities and admitted he's gained inspiration from Metallica plenty of times. “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…”
Watch the full interview below.