BLACK SABBATH's Geezer Butler On 13 Being Classic - "It’s Hard To Say, It’s Been A Good Feeling Doing It"
June 6, 2013, 11 years ago
David Swan from Australia's Faster Louder spoke with legendary BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler about their anxiously-awaited new album 13. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:
On whether 13 is a Sabbath classic: “It’s hard to say. It’s been a good feeling doing it, which is half the battle, ‘cause some albums you just remember how horrible it was at the time, rather than the music. But this one’s been good.”
On the album’s themes: “It’s about the dark sides of life, which is what Sabbath is all about anyway.”
On using drugs to make music: “Funnily enough, the first three albums we did, we couldn’t afford drugs [laughs]. Really, we couldn’t! So we were drug free. And then the ones after that were all fuelled by drugs. But this one was completely sober. But it was good having a producer in charge of things to keep us focused.”
On the feud with former drummer Bill Ward: “He started the album with us, the writing stuff, and then we announced the reunion and everything, that we were all getting back together. Then Tony was diagnosed with cancer. We all got back together after Tony’s first treatment, and for some reason something had happened with Bill – the business side of it – and it just didn’t work out.”
Read more at Faster Louder.
13 is now available as a free stream via iTunes. In addition, fans who pre-order either the standard or the deluxe edition, with three additional tracks, will immediately receive a download of the album’s first single 'God Is Dead?'
