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And Finally
Weezer just one long Metallica rip-off
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 28 August 2009
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has revealed that the band’s entire career stems from one unintentionally ripped-off Metallica riff, which slipped into the band’s first song while he was intentionally trying to rip off The Velvet Undergound.
Cuomo told Rolling Stone: “‘The Sweater Song’ was the first Weezer song I ever wrote, back in 1991. I was trying to write a Velvet Underground-type song because I was super into them, and I came up with that guitar riff. I just picked up that acoustic guitar and the first thing I played was that riff. And it just feels so classic to me, even now when the band starts to play it, it just takes over the energy in the room and you’re just transported into the world of Weezer. It wasn’t until years after I wrote it that I realised it’s almost a complete rip-off of ‘Sanitarium’ by Metallica. It just perfectly encapsulates Weezer to me – you’re trying to be cool like Velvet Underground but your metal roots just pump through unconsciously”.
