Megadeth’s David Ellefson Defends ‘Bold Moves’ by Metallica and U2

Megadeth bassist David Ellefson opened up in a recent interview defending U2’s controversial release of ‘Songs of Innocence,’ which automatically appeared in everyone's iTunes library. He also compared the move to Metallica’s decision to fight Napster, saying Lars Ulrich and the rest of the band were “right” to fight the file-sharing site.

In the interview with JoeDaly.net, Ellefson was asked about his thoughts on the new U2 album and how it was delivered. “I think U2 are a fantastic band, just like any big group that goes out and takes chances,” Ellefson said. “Years ago, everybody wanted to hate on Metallica and Lars Ulrich because he fought Napster. Well, duh! He was right. Now there’s another big artist named Taylor Swift doing the same thing with Spotify. “

The bassist added, “So it’s easy to hate people when they’re making bold moves that quite honestly, the rest of us can’t make. So it’s easy to hate the 800-pound gorilla because everybody sees them as entitled and privileged and they get to do what the rest of us can’t. But you know what? They work their asses off for it. I didn’t buy the last U2 record, it was given to me by iTunes. (laughs) I did listen to part of it on the airplane and there are U2-isms on there. “

Ellefson continued, “They’re a phenomenally great band. Whether you like their recent songs or not, whether you like some of the publicity moves they make or their business acumen, I have nothing but tremendous respect for that band. I’ve always said, the hardest thing is to start a band and the second-hardest thing is to keep a band together, and they’ve been doing it for a long, long time.

Dave Ellefson isn’t the only artists who has defended Lars Ulrich’s actions against file sharing. Former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo recently said,  “Yeah, he was [right to fight]. He was smart. He tried to fight against it, and that was a brave thing Lars did, and his team. But, unfortunately, it’s still going on, and there’s nothing really at this point we can do about it.”

Meanwhile, Megadeth has been through a rough couple of weeks, following the sudden departures of drummer Shawn Drover and guitarist Chris Broderick. Ellefson did however jam with a mystery drummer recently. We will keep you posted.

You can read David Ellefson's entire interview with JoeDaly.net interview here.

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