CYPRESS HILL's B-REAL On 'Chinese Democracy': 'That S**t Is Not GUNS N' ROSES'

Elliot Levin of the New York Hard Rock Examiner recently conducted an interview with B-Real of CYPRESS HILL. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

New York Hard Rock Examiner: Were you a GUNS N' ROSES fan before [the collaboration with Slash]?

B-Real: Oh, yeah. For sure.

New York Hard Rock Examiner: Have you heard the new album, "Chinese Democracy"?

B-Real: No, I mean, look. I liked GUNS N' ROSES in the old form. Right now they're just GUNS. Or actually they're just ROSES, no guns. 'Till he [Axl Rose] puts the rest of the guys back there, that shit is not GUNS N' ROSES. Just 'cause he owns the name means nothing.

New York Hard Rock Examiner: So you're a GN'R purist?

B-Real: I'm a GN'R purist. Just like VAN HALEN. VAN HAGAR, eat me! Look, VAN HALEN with David Lee Roth, I'm all for it. The only band that did that, two bands that did that that I was cool with, and didn't have a problem with. One was AC/DC. I loved Bon Scott, when they replaced him when he died, obviously I was younger but hearing the transition from Bon Scott to, what's his name, it was great it's like they didn't miss a step, you know. So I stayed an AC/DC fan because it was like, those were the first records I heard with Bon Scott and then I started hearing the other ones, with Brian Johnson, and I was like, "Fuck, this shit is still kinda cool." And then, I was a big BLACK SABBATH fan, and the records with Ozzy I loved, and I didn't know, 'cause obviously that was before my time, I was a youngster when BLACK SABBATH was actually active with Ozzy, so being an Ozzy Osbourne fan, I went to those back catalogues and found the old-era SABBATH stuff, then I heard the Dio stuff and at first I thought, "How the fuck did they make a record without Ozzy?" and they got Dio. And then I started listening to the Dio shit and was like, "You know what?!" It was actually kind of tight. But it doesn't work with all bands like that, you know? It's always a gamble. That's why I gotta give props to ALICE IN CHAINS, man, because they did just that.

New York Hard Rock Examiner: [William DuVall] sounds just like [Layne Staley].

B-Real: He sounds great, man. Their show is fucking phenomenal. That's why you gotta give it to a band that can get past a tragedy like that, and get out there and do the music. And you gotta give the new guy a chance, 'cause it's not his fault the other ain't there no more, it's a tragedy. He's just trying to come and take that band further so that you can always remember those first memories, and they'll give you some new ones, know what I mean?

Watch video of Elliot Levin's interview with B-Real below.