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Any feelings about recent Metallica album Death Magnetic now that you've listened to that album and heard a least some of it live during the European tour?
Yeah, a bit. You know, in the iPod era, I don't know the names of songs anymore. Unless it's like one of my favorite songs and I'm like "Fuck yeah! I love that song!" So even though I know they played something live from the new album, I couldn't tell you what it was called. But for them to be putting it in the set, they believe in it. And I'm happy that Metallica believes in what they're doing, you know what I mean? Because that means they're feeling the metal thing happen and hopefully they keep going down that road and make me a nice little "Damage, Inc. II" on the next one.
Getting back to Mustaine for just a minute, given that he is now a teetotaler who has been "saved," I imagine you're probably not getting into any religious debates with him over drinks anytime soon.
I don't think he has any desire to get in an epic conversation with me. I believe what I believe and he believes or thinks he believes whatever he believes. And everybody is entitled to their own thing. I can have that conversation with anybody in the world and we'd probably be choking each other by the end of the conversation.
I thought it was ironic that you've long been outspoken against Limp Bizkit and other rap-metal bands from the '90s, seeing as you played on "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" by the Beastie Boys, a song that could arguably be considered the genesis of rap-metal.
The Beastie Boys thing, the whole reason that thing happened was because we just got together with Rick Rubin and they were recording License to Ill just down the fucking hallway from where we were recording Reign In Blood. So Rick Rubin asked if I wanted to do it and I'm like "Sure, I could use 200 bucks." We didn't have much back then. That was the entire reason I did it: because I was poor [laughs].
The next leg of the American Carnage tour that you're doing is with Megadeth and Anthrax. It's the Big Four minus one ... Is the idea of bringing the Big 4 to the US still on the table at this point for sometime in the future?
I think everybody wants to do it. And, like this with this last one, if Metallica is on board, that's when everybody would say "Okay, let's do it." This whole second leg of our tour, the Slayer/Megadeth/Anthrax run that Jägermeister is sponsoring, when that got brought up to me, I was like "Sure, I'm into it. That's awesome. But one thing: I don't want it to get in the way of the Big Four happening." And I was assured that it wouldn't happen. So there you go.
