METALLICA Drummer Says He Has No Opinion On RIAA Crackdown On Music File Swappers

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was recently asked by Live Daily for his opinion abut the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) crackdown against Internet users it says are illegally sharing songs. "I was talking to my manager Cliff Bernstein about it yesterday on the phone," Ulrich said. "[There was] something in the New York Times, they were talking about the RIAA because it made some kind of false premonition that METALLICA was supportive of the RIAA crackdown. And I sat there and said, 'I've never heard myself voice support for the RIAA on their crackdown. What am I missing here? Should I go on the record and defend it?' He goes, 'No, because people will take what you say and make it whatever they want it to be. You're sort of…fucked.' So Cliff said, 'Well how do you really feel about it?' And I said, 'Is it possible to not have an opinion?' I actually don't have one. It's like, as you're driving by the scene of an accident, do you have an allegiance to the accident that you're watching unfold in front of your eyes, or are you watching it as a bystander?" Asked how he feels now when somebody downloads "Frantic", Ulrich said, "When somebody downloads a METALLICA track, does it bother me? I can't honestly say that it bothers me anymore. I can't get too wound up about it, because it's not something I control."

In the same interview, Ulrich spoke about devotion for legendary metal bands like BLACK SABBATH and MOTÖRHEAD and the fact that, in 30 or 40 years, METALLICA are going to be viewed in the same light.

"That's a very difficult area to navigate," Lars said. "I would like to think that in its purest form, part of METALLICA being whatever the fuck it is, it's because that way of thinking doesn't really show up on the radar. On our radar, anyway. At the same time, of course, I'm not completely stupid — although I'm doing a good job of appearing that way right now. Of course I have an understanding of what METALLICA means to a lot of people. It still blows my mind when I sit around all these people, your SUM 41s, LIMP BIZKIT, or whatever, I feel like their peers. I look at a band like KORN and think, 'These guys are completely on the same level.' They're peers of ours. They're a band I have the deepest amount of respect and love for. And then they're sitting there playing METALLICA songs on TV shows and sharing their respect ... that still kind of blows my mind." Read the rest of the interview here.