Billy Corgan has never been shy about tooting his own horn. As Blabbermouth points out, the latest instance of this pattern took place on a new episode of the Australian podcast Everblack.
On the show, Corgan was asked whether Smashing Pumpkins have ever performed the Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness track "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" in concert. (According to setlist.fm, there was a lyrical tease from "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" during a show-closing "Silverfuck" at Madison Square Garden in 1996, but the Pumpkins have never performed the song.) Corgan responded to the question by pointing out his song's resemblance to Metallica's hit "Fuel," which was released two years later on Reload:
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 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, "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 replied that the Pumpkins song came first, Corgan continued:
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…
You can watch the relevant part of the interview around 14 minutes in below.
In all seriousness, I would like to know which Pumpkins songs rip off Metallica according to Corgan. Billy, let us know!
