[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1344593471' post='1766767']
As for Cliff... maybe "get a sound engineer that knows how to set bass guitar levels correctly in the mix"? [See also AJFA, of course, et al.]
[/quote]
That was all down to Hetfield.
He told the engineer to "take the bass down until it's only just audible, then take it down 3dB more."
EDIT 2: Didn't get it quite right:
"Newsted himself was less than happy with the results, later remarking, “The Justice album wasn’t something that really felt good for me, because you really can’t hear the bass.”
Flemming Rasmussen agrees: “It’s inaudible. Jason, Toby and I are probably the only people who know what the bass parts actually sounded like on that album, and that’s down to Lars and James. I didn’t mix Justice — Steve Thompson and Mike Barbiero were already hired to do that before I became involved with the project, and after [b]Lars and James heard their initial mixes the first thing they said was, ‘Take the bass down so you can just hear it, and then once you’ve done that take it down a further 3dBs.’[/b] I have no idea why they wanted that, but it was totally out of my hands, and I didn’t even know about it until the album had been released. When I heard it, I went, ‘What?’ I wasn’t too keen on it, either.”"
[url="http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may11/articles/classic-tracks-0511.htm"]http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may11/articles/classic-tracks-0511.htm[/url]
EDIT: I was always surprised that Newsted stuck it out as long as he did. I also wonder if ol' Robbie T has a term of employment in his contract. To me he's just a hired gun.