In a recent interview with Songfacts, Butler shared his admiration for Trujillo’s skills:
“Robert Trujillo from Metallica is a fantastic bass player. I’m not really sure about anybody else.”
Trujillo and Butler’s Collaboration
During a 2020 appearance on The Vinyl Guide, Trujillo reminisced about Butler’s guest appearance at Metallica’s 2011 anniversary show in San Francisco. Butler played with them on “Sabbra Cadabra,” which includes a segment from “A National Acrobat.” Trujillo recalled:
“I was helping Geezer play through their songs; we did a medley with them. Geezer kept saying, ‘It’s not the right key,’ and I had to explain, ‘I know, but Metallica plays it in this key.’”
Trujillo continued:
“And we do this transition into it, and he was like, ‘Okay.’ And he pulled it off. I remember we’re up there playing, but we had to review it, and I had to explain why it’s different than the Sabbath version. But we got through it. In my mind, I was thinking, ‘The Metallica version is the Metallica version, but these guys coming on stage to play this song, they’re going to be used to their version.’”
