THE SMASHING PUMPKINS frontman Billy Corgan recounted a time when he told PANTERA members to “shut the f**k up” after they expressed their uncertainty about METALLICA‘s direction with their Load and Reload albums.
During a recent appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Metal Ambassador” podcast hosted by Jose Mangin, Corgan said: “Let me tell you a story since we’re talking PANTERA. So, they were having a big moment, obviously, during those [first] three [major label] albums. And I was backstage with them one day, and one of those mid-nineties [METALLICA albums] — might have been Reload or something — METALLICA had come out [with a new album]. And there was a lot of controversy about where METALLICA was trying to go, and what happened to METALLICA, and are they still metal, and they’re wearing makeup now or whatever.
“And [the PANTERA guys] were just going on and on about METALLICA. Not in a negative way — more like a confused, like, ‘I love METALLICA, but I don’t get it. And they’re not metal. And what’s going on?’ And I literally said — and this is a true story; I don’t think I’ve ever told this story in public — I raised my hands… And I knew them well enough that they would sort of listen to me. I mean, that’s saying something.
“And I would say, ‘You know what? Shut the f**k up.’ And they looked at me, like, ‘Did you just tell us to shut the f**k up?’ And I said, ‘Shut the f**k up.’ Okay, so the room goes silent. And I go, ‘Listen, set aside METALLICA for a second. Okay? You guys right now are the best metal band on the f**king planet, okay? Shut the f**k up. Worry about PANTERA. Just worry about PANTERA. METALLICA will work it out.’ And they did, right? And I said, ‘You just focus on PANTERA. You just focus on being the greatest metal band on the f**king planet.’ And they all kind of looked at each other like, and they were like, ‘Okay, he’s complimenting us.’ And then it was like, ‘Okay, drink this horrible poison, you f**king alternative weirdo.'”
In 2019, PANTERA frontman Philip Anselmo was asked which album he thinks shouldn’t exist in an interview with Metal Hammer, and he went with METALLICA‘s 1996 Load.
“I would have to say Load by METALLICA,” he said at the time. “I mean, it’s a terrible record, man. I just don’t get it. If you’re gonna put out a record like that, just do a f**king side-project or something, ya know?”
