BILLY CORGAN Says METALLICA's 'Fuel' Sounds 'Awfully Close' To SMASHING PUMPKINS' 'Tales Of A Scorched Earth'

In a new interview with Australia's "Everblack" podcast, Billy Corgan from THE SMASHING PUMPKINS brought up METALLICA while discussing whether THE SMASHING PUMPKINS have ever performed their "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" song — which originally appeared on the band's 1995 album "Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness" — live before. Billy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " 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?"

After the interviewer noted that "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" was released two years before "Fuel", Corgan said: "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."

Billy added: "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…"

Back in 2010, Corgan picked METALLICA's "Master Of Puppets" as one of his favorite metal bands of all time, telling Music Radar about the LP: "[It's] the perfect combo of blitzing riffs matched with the beginnings of Hetfield finding that melodies weren't just something in the way of his robotic right hand. This is smart metal at its greatest level."

You might not guess it listening to SMASHING PUMPKINS, but Corgan is a serious metalhead. After all, he calls Iommi "my hero." In April 2023, Revolver sat down with Corgan to discuss his Top 11 picks for the greatest heavy metal bands of all time, and he dug deep, spotlighting everyone from PANTERA and SLAYER to MERCYFUL FATE and RAINBOW, sharing stories and insights along the way.

Regarding PANTERA, Corgan said: "PANTERA I got to see many times live. I knew the band back in the day. 'Dimebag' Darrell even gave me a guitar, which I treasure. PANTERA was one of those bands in the early '90s that not everybody on the alternative side of the equation understood right away because they were seen as just a straight-up metal band. But eventually I think a lot of people in alternative music recognized that PANTERA was one of those bands that sort of transcended genres. I think thematically and the way they changed metal and the way people played metal ever afterwards, I think it almost puts them in too small a category. And like the great metal bands, they tend to almost create their own category of music."

Corgan called SLAYER "probably my favorite all-time super-heavy band. But, in a way, it's almost impossible to say that because, as somebody once told me, SLAYER makes SLAYER music. Calling SLAYER heavy, hard rock or metal — only SLAYER sounds like SLAYER. So I think they always need a category unto themselves. I was lucky enough to see SLAYER twice on their last, I guess, farewell tour. I think I saw the fifth to last show in Romania. And I saw SLAYER in 1984 on the 'Reign In Blood' tour. [Editor's note: 'Reign In Blood' was released in 1986.] I was by myself with my goth hair; believe it or not, I once had goth hair. It was a little bit scary in there at the Aragon Ballroom during the 'Reign In Blood' tour. But what an incredible band. I mean, what do you say?"

Corgan called Iommi "my hero" in an interview with Kerrang! magazine in 2022, saying: "Tony wrote those riffs that, when you hear him, it's like a movie. In my mind, I always call it 'Cosmic Sabbath. When I would listen to SABBATH, I felt like I was peering into the universe. That's the way it made me feel, even as a little kid."

Photo credit: Jason Renaud