10 Bands That Ripped Off Themselves

10. Footsteps - Pearl Jam

Footsteps is an interesting case study when it comes to the grunge rock lore. As opposed to being a great tune, at the end of the day, this song actually became the foundation for two totally different bands. While it's understandable to have some cross influence in the Seattle scene, it's another thing to just do a song all over again.

After losing Mother Love Bone vocalist Andy Wood to an overdose, guitarist Stone Gossard started shopping around for a new singer with the initial licks of what would become Footsteps. Though the band that would later be Pearl Jam found their man in Eddie Vedder because of this tape, they ended up running into trouble when Chris Cornell took a liking to the track when cutting material for the grunge tribute record Temple of the Dog.

While the song ended up being released as Times of Trouble on the TotD record, Pearl Jam also released the song as a B-side to their single Jeremy, with completely different lyrics by Vedder continuing the story put forth on the PJ tunes Alive and Once. Instead of reworking the music, the acoustic guitar slides and hazy energy remain virtually unchanged on the original song. It's one thing to try to pass off your riff in two separate bands, but this is the kind of recycling that was a little too close for comfort.