Greg Prato at Songfacts recently caught up with bassist Dan Lilker (Brutal Truth, Nuclear Assault, Anthrax), who discussed his plans for semi-retirement from the music scene and entertaining the possibility of joining Metallica following the death of Cliff Burton. An excerpt is available below:

Songfacts: I know back in the '80s when Cliff Burton died, I always thought that since you have a similar bass tone to Cliff, you may have been a good choice to possibly join the band. Did that thought ever cross your mind at that point when Metallica was trying out bassists after Cliff Burton?

Dan: "Yeah, it did. And it crossed other people's minds, too, because that's around the time when I was going into a lot of CBGB's hardcore matinees, and people came up to me, saying with a wink, 'So, Dan, you joining Metallica?' But I never got a call about it." 

"Who knows if I would have lasted. But that's a band where two dudes make all the money and everybody else gets on the salary and they pretty much dictate exactly what they want to do. And that first Metallica album, …And Justice For All, that came out after Cliff died that had Jason (Newsted) on it, there's no bass on it at all." 

"Dude, I don't know. I don't know if I would have been happy creatively. I mean, most of the bands I've been in, I'm one of the main songwriters and direct the nature of the music. But no, I never got the opportunity to figure out what would have happened with that."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Lilker issued the following message at the beginning of October:

"I regret to inform Brutal Truth fans that as of October 18th, 2014, I will be retiring from being a full time recording and touring musician. That date is my 50th birthday, so I chose it symbolically as a significant milestone to make such a weighty decision. As a lot of you know, I've been an active member of the metal scene since the early 80s with the thrash metal bands I've been in before the formation of Brutal Truth in 1990, and I'm simply just tired of the rigors of touring mostly. Unlike some of my peers from the 80's who went on to sell millions of records I have always been drawn to extreme underground metal. I don't care about staying in 5-star hotels and having a big cushy tour bus but I am getting tired of squeezing into a van for 8 hours after all these years on the road. I have always played what I believe in and that is been priority #1, but the time has come to have a little bit more stability in my life.

"Brutal Truth will still be active on the touring front until mid-October and will aim to do as much as we can in the next 9 months or so. After that, I will still have creative output with my two local bands in Rochester NY, Nokturnal Hellstorm and Blurring and do the occasional project tour, but yes, as of mid-October, Brutal Truth will no longer exist. I do realize that will be an extreme disappointment to all the grind freaks out there that have supported this band so rabidly all these years, and your enthusiasm will always have a special place in my heart, but I've made my decision, and I hope everyone can respect that. Please note that messages sent to the Brutal Truth Facebook will not be answered as I do not have my own personal Facebook page therefore I do not have access."