Drummer Tommy Clufetos has revisited one of the quieter disappointments of his tenure with BLACK SABBATH: being passed over for the band's 2013 comeback album, "13." Clufetos held down the drum throne for SABBATH's reunion tours, but it was Brad Wilk of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE who played on the record itself.
"It's all water under the bridge," Clufetos said of the snub. "You gotta be thick-skinned when things work out or don't work out." He placed the decision squarely with producer Rick Rubin: "I believe it was strictly a Rick Rubin decision. He had worked with RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, so he thought that he could get what he wanted out of him."
To his credit, Clufetos refused to let bitterness color the outcome. "They made a really great record that went to Number One, so it's hard to argue with the outcome," he conceded, noting that he still got to tour the material night after night.
The drummer wasn't alone in questioning the call at the time. Back in 2013, OZZY OSBOURNE told Billboard the move "wasn't very fair on Tommy," stressing that Rubin's decision came without discussion and calling Clufetos "a great drummer." Rubin, for his part, said Wilk's "groovy" feel simply suited SABBATH's swing, and that the first rehearsal sealed it.
The "13" sessions were further complicated by the absence of original drummer Bill Ward, who was announced for the reunion but stepped away amid a contractual dispute. The album went on to top charts around the world and earn a Grammy, becoming SABBATH's first studio LP since 1995's "Forbidden" — and the last of the OZZY era.