‘End of the Line’: The Metallica song ripped off from Pearl Jam
Bands like Metallica are influenced by different artists every time they walk into the studio. It’s not always easy to catch on first listen, but even when the thrash legends had their sound down to a science, you could hear strands of everyone from Ramones to Judas Priest to Diamond Head on records like Kill Em All and Ride the Lightning. When making their massive comeback following the emotional vomit that was St Anger, though, James Hetfield may have had a bit too much inspiration listening to Pearl Jam on ‘End of the Line’.
But this wouldn’t be the first time that Metallica were accused of cribbing from alternative music. Throughout the promotional cycle from their Load era, every seasoned thrash metal fan remembered feeling betrayed that their beloved metal act had decided to cut their hair, cake on the eyeliner and start making tunes that were far more mainstream even by the standards of pop-metal they had on The Black Album.
Then again, calling Load and ReLoad “grunge” doesn’t really do them justice. They were released around the same time and acts like Alice in Chains were climbing the charts, but when listening to them from back to front, they have a lot more to do with traditional hard rock. ‘Cure’ isn’t exactly Soundgarden-lite, and you have to squint your ears pretty hard to think that ‘Fuel’ is anything but straight-ahead rock.
Upon reaching Death Magnetic, though, the order of the day was to play everything a bit safer. They had tried going out on a limb on St Anger, and since that went over about as well with fans as a Satanist speaking in a Catholic Church, it was time for them to re-energise themselves and make a record that was more in line with And Justice For All and Master of Puppets.
And with one listen to ‘End of the Line’, it at least sounded like they were ready for war. The swing rhythm that they use for the riff is a refreshing spin on their old sound, and having Robert Trujillo on bass meant everything would be locked in from the moment everything started. Then again, are any grunge fans noticing something similar to ‘Why Go’ by Pearl Jam?
While it’s not necessarily a one-to-one swap, the entire basis of ‘End of the Line’ is also present in Pearl Jam’s deep cut. And without trying to upset the metal faithful, Eddie Vedder and co. do a far better job at bringing the point across in their song than Hetfield could have hoped for at this stage in his career.
Hetfield’s lyrics were never Bob Dylan or anything, but hearing Vedder sing about a girl trapped in a mental asylum by her parents and wondering where to go once she leaves is much better than Metallica talking about human nature. Given that the latter is also eight minutes long, Metallica could have easily got the point across in just four minutes if they tidied everything up and maybe dropped the mellow interlude.
Does that make Metallica frauds? Not at all. They had more than enough classic riffs under their belt to justify their status as metal legends, but being fair, they may want to check to see if Mike McCready and Stone Gossard aren’t due some royalties.
