Sabbath feared Wilk was wrong man for the job

(Image credit: Paul R Giunta/Corbis)

Black Sabbath had concerns over whether Brad Wilk was the right man to replace Bill Ward, it has emerged.

Bassist Geezer Butler told Faster Louder that there were times that it seemed the Rage Against The Machine man might not be the perfect pick to replace Bill Ward.

Butler said: "We literally had two weeks to work with him before we recorded the songs. The first week we were going, 'This guy's just not working out,' and we were panicking.

"We went into the studio and recorded the first three songs with him - and that was probably where Rick [Rubin] really worked out the most. He had the definite idea of what the drummer should do, so he was communicating with Brad, and he's worked with Brad before.

"It just all fell into place. He did a great job in the end."

Sabbath release new album 13 on Monday.

Rich Chamberlain

Rich is a teacher, one time Rhythm staff writer and experienced freelance journalist who has interviewed countless revered musicians, engineers, producers and stars for the our world-leading music making portfolio, including such titles as Rhythm, Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, and MusicRadar. His victims include such luminaries as Ice T, Mark Guilani and Jamie Oliver (the drumming one).