10 Rock Bands Who Blatantly Copied Other Artists

10. Welcome Home (Sanitarium) - Metallica

Metallica deserve to be cut a little bit of slack compared to their metal brethren. Despite having some real clunkers in their discography like St. Anger and Lulu, that doesn't take away from the massive influence they had in birthing the genre of thrash as we know it today. Then again, maybe even some of their classic moments weren't all their own.

When combing through the back catalogs of Metallica's softer side, Welcome Home is the prototype for the thrash ballad, featuring darker lyrics and a more subdued musical structure. Though this type of rolling arpeggio figure was a staple of James Hetfield's guitar playing at the time, even he admits that the main riff behind this song was not all his own. Though he has remained tight-lipped about his inspiration, the old NWOBHM band Bleak House seem to be the true originators, with their song Rainbow Warrior having an opening guitar figure near identical to Hetfield's version.

Although there's probably a whole slew of lawsuits that could be made out of something like this, Bleak House seem to have mellowed out, citing the rip off as a plus to give them more exposure. Even when cribbing from their old influences, making something like this is a great way to keep the spirit of metal alive for those who never reached their fullest potential.