Weezer Ripped Off Metallica, Get Online Radio Station

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo says his band's hit single, "Undone (The Sweater Song)" is "almost a complete rip-off" of Metallica's "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" from 1986's Master Of Puppets.

Rolling Stone magazine recently asked Cuomo about the song because its 15th anniversary is coming up. Cuomo had this to say about the song, which he says was written in 1991 and was the first Weezer tune he wrote:

"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 realized 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."

Weezer, whose seventh studio album, Raditude, is due out Oct. 27, launched their own Artist Personal Experience online radio station on Friday. It will feature the band's playlists, interviews with Weezer and other goodies, and you can listen to it on Clear Channel's "iheartradio" network.

You can see Weezer here:

Aug. 29 Hartford, CT @ Comcast Theatre w/ Blink-182
Aug. 30 Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion w/ Blink-182
Aug. 31 Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center w/ Blink-182
Sept. 2 Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center w/ Blink-182
Sept. 3 St. Louis, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater w/ Blink-182
Sept. 4 Bonner Springs, KS @ Sandstone Amphitheater w/ Blink-182
Sept. 6 Englewood, CO @ Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre w/ Blink-182
Sept. 10 Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre w/ Blink-182
Sept. 12 Marysville, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre w/ Blink-182
Sept. 13 Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre w/ Blink-182
Sept. 16 San Diego, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre w/ Blink-182
Sept. 17 Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater w/ Blink-182