Dave Mustaine Criticizes Lars Ulrich for Fighting Against Napster: “Does He Have Enough Money? Probably, Right?”
One reason I’m really looking forward to dying one day is that I will never, ever, ever again have to talk about, listen to, or participate in any debate about whether or not Metallica and Lars Ulrich were “right” to take on Napster in 2000. I understand that if I were writing a metal history book (y’know, like the one I already co-wrote), this would be an important moment…
…but it’s not actually an interesting moment in metal history. Ulrich learned the hard way the folly of trying to put toothpaste back in its tube; at the time same time, Metallica suffered no actual consequences. The “fan backlash” turned out to be blown out of proportion, as evidenced by the fact that they’re still the biggest metal band of all time twenty-one years after this all happened. So Metallica said “Fuck technology” and technology said “Fuck Metallica” and they both turned out fine. A competition in which neither competitor was ultimately affected by the conflict is a boring story, especially when there’s no new light to be shed on the events in question.
Still, the makers of HBO’s new apostrophe-challenged documentary Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage chose to ask Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine for his opinion on the matter, and Mustaine, naturally, used the opportunity to a) remind the absolutely zero people who forgot that he used to be in Metallica, and b) take dig at Ulrich:
“For me, see, I remember back when I was in Metallica that we used to trade tapes. That’s how we even discovered bands. I don’t know. I can’t blame Lars for doing the things that he does. Who knows why a guy does that? I mean, does he have enough money? Probably, right?”
Mustaine then tacitly acknowledged the irrelevance of this discussion by joking around about how the filmmakers are just fishing for headline-grabbing controversy, and the filmmakers then tacitly acknowledged that Mustaine is correct by including his joke in the interview:
“My brain is going, ‘Don’t say it, Dave. Don’t say it, Dave. Don’t say it, Dave.’ And you’re going, ‘Say it, Dave. Say it, Dave. Say it, Dave.’ [Laughs]”
That’s it. That’s the whole story. Fascinating stuff, right?
You can watch the clip below.
Megadeth are currently on tour with Lamb of God, Trivium, and Hatebreed. Dates are as follows:
9/9 Tinley Park, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Chicago [tickets]
9/11 Danville, VA @ Blue Ridge Festival [tickets]
9/12 Wantagh, NY @ Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater [tickets]
9/13 Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion [tickets]
9/15 Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion [tickets]
9/16 Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center [tickets]
9/18 Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Music Center [tickets]
9/19 Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre [tickets]
9/20 Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavilion [tickets]
9/22 Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP [tickets]
9/24 Mount Pleasant, MI @ Soaring Eagle Casino Amphitheatre [tickets]
9/26 St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis [tickets]
9/28 Minneapolis, MN @ Armory [tickets]
9/30 Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage [tickets]
10/1 Laval, QC @ Place Bell [tickets]
10/2 Quebec City, QC @ Centre Videotron [tickets]
Metallica also have some live dates coming up:
9/24/21 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life at Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center [tickets]
9/26/21 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life at Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center [tickets]
10/8/21 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock at Discovery Park [tickets]
10/10/21 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock at Discovery Park [tickets]
11/4/21 – Hollywood, FL — Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino [tickets]
11/12/21 – Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome to Rockville at the Daytona International Speedway [tickets]
11/14/21 – Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome to Rockville at the Daytona International Speedway [tickets]
12/17/21 — San Francisco, CA — Chase Center [fan club only]
12/19/21 — San Francisco, CA — Chase Center [fan club only]
6/15/22 – Copenhell – Copenhagen, Denmark [tickets]
6/17/22 – Firenze Rocks – Florence, Italy [tickets]
6/19/22 – Prague Rocks – Prague, Czech Republic [tickets]
6/22/22 – Rock Werchter – Werchter, Belgium [tickets]
7/1/22 – Mad Cool – Madrid, Spain [tickets]
7/6/22 – NOS Alive – Lisbon, Portugal [tickets]
