Cliff Burton

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Died 30 years ago to this day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoDQl4gT3jA

[dyerseve]

Love Cliff. Cool as a cool thing on a cool day and inspired me and many others too take an interest in bass and even to pick one up!

[megallica]

such an inspiring bassist and unique stage presence

[bartelby]

I listened to Kill Em All, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets yesterday and watched Cliff Em All today.
Totally love Cliff's playing.

[bassbiscuits]

He was a bit of a legend, and on Cliff Em All comes across as a right good lad too.

RIP fella

[bigjimmyc]

Cliff was my inspiration to play bass. Gigged "For whom the bell tolls" many times but nothing like the skills of the man himself: https://youtu.be/qdlQyNe_9tE

[dyerseve]

[quote name='bigjimmyc' timestamp='1475075685' post='3142853']
Cliff was my inspiration to play bass. Gigged "For whom the bell tolls" many times but nothing like the skills of the man himself: https://youtu.be/qdlQyNe_9tE
[/quote]

I knew that would be the version you would choose! Love that performance. You can tell how much he loved playing and felt the music - those bass faces are epic!

[Bassjon]

I play in a Metallica tribute - its an honour to play Master of Puppets all the way through : )

[stu_g]

i remember being at school and buying ride the lightning and kill em all on picture disc, it sounded so new to me back then,hair metal was the norm this seemed so good different to the other stuff around happy days.

[Barking Spiders]

Metallica and metal aren't my bag but I respect his ability and like the tone of the low notes

[Johnny Wishbone]

At the risk of being inflammatory (which is not intentional), I always believed that Cliff, like a lot of people who are no longer with us, is given undue exaltation purely because he's dead. I'm not saying he wasn't a great musician (and obviously played on a lot of Metallica's best material) but he was basically a guitarist who played bass - if you read any of the 'tallica biographies, he apparently rarely touched a bass offstage. Great stage presence, great performer and great writer by all accounts, but IMO far surpassed by both Jason and Rob as an actual bassist.

There, I've said it *ducks*

Edited September 29, 2016 by Johnny Wishbone

[Cosmo Valdemar]

[quote name='Johnny Wishbone' timestamp='1475161895' post='3143614']
I'm not saying he wasn't a great musician (and obviously played on a lot of Metallica's best material) but he was basically a guitarist who played bass
[/quote]

You're entitled to your opinions but to describe Cliff as 'a guitarist who played bass' is way off the mark. Bass was his original instrument of choice which he took up aged 13 following his brother's death, and by all accounts was an extremely dedicated student of the instrument.
The fact that he enjoyed playing guitar toward the end of his life does not dilute his importance as a bass player.
As for Rob and Jason, few would deny Rob in particular is technically a far superior player but it's clear who is/was more suited to the job!

[LayDownThaFunk]

You don't hear many people saying Paul Gray was an awesome bass player so I think Cliff has earnt his due.

[Johnny Wishbone]

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1475218419' post='3144036']
You don't hear many people saying Paul Gray was an awesome bass player so I think Cliff has earnt his due.
[/quote]
I'm not suggesting for a minute that Cliff wasn't great (the best musician in the band probably, and definitely the best performer), but would he be held in [i]such[/i] high esteem if he was still alive? Probably not.

For the record, I think "Master..." is easily in the top 5 metal albums of all time, and I do rate Cliff very highly. I would however strongly argue that opinions of Cliff are skewed purely by the fact that he's no longer with us, and that both Rob and Jason are better bassists. I also recognise that this view puts me very much in the minority, and I'm fine with that. It's just an opinion, after all.

I think we can all agree that Lars is crap though, right?

[Thunderbird]

I think Cliff was a monster player I think Cliff was more suited to Metallica than Jason or Rob even though I prefer Jason and he is so under rated IMO I think Rob is an awesome player but I really dont like him in Metallica

[bartelby]

I think Rob is a terrible bassist for Metallica. Doesn't fit in with looks or style...

Jason was great, but Cliff was head and shoulders above him.

[KevB]

[quote name='Johnny Wishbone' timestamp='1475224524' post='3144092']
but would he be held in [i]such[/i] high esteem if he was still alive? Probably not.
[/quote]

Who knows what he would have gone on to do though? 30 years is a long time.

[dyerseve]

[quote name='Johnny Wishbone' timestamp='1475161895' post='3143614']
At the risk of being inflammatory (which is not intentional), I always believed that Cliff, like a lot of people who are no longer with us, is given undue exaltation purely because he's dead. I'm not saying he wasn't a great musician (and obviously played on a lot of Metallica's best material) but he was basically a guitarist who played bass - if you read any of the 'tallica biographies, he apparently rarely touched a bass offstage. Great stage presence, great performer and great writer by all accounts, but IMO far surpassed by both Jason and Rob as an actual bassist.

There, I've said it *ducks*
[/quote]

I think it would be naive to think that his status/ability has not been elevated because of his death.
But that doesn't mean that much of the admiration isn't genuine and deserved.
A lot of his status within the rank of metallicas bass players will also be due to him being the bass player on Metallicas finest albums and before they arguably sold out.

[megallica]

metallica were at their peak when cliff died which is how he's now remembered. If it had been Lars that had died them Metallica fans would be unfavourably comparing their new drummer to Lars.

[Skybone]

RIP Cliff.

[Graham]

Funny thing is with Cliff and Metallica, I remember reading somewhere that Cliff wanted to take the band in a more melodic direction post Master, so we'd have probably got The Black Album sooner, and not had Justice at all.

I also read somewhere that they were planning on replacing Lars, but after Cliff's death decided it was too much upheaval in the band.

So what's better - Cliff in the band and a new drummer but no Justice, or history as it played out?

Apologies for the lack of citations in this post.

[TimR]

I'll never understand why people have to compare bands over the ages. They evolve, it's music, we should all evolve otherwise we stagnate.

I've been following Merallica since Donnington '87? Arguably the very beginnings of Thrash Metal in the UK?

The bass solo in the OP is a master class in why people shouldn't play bass solos, very technical but surprisingly lacking in substance. The bass 'solo' in the intro to the other post is much better, short and to the point.

There's a great video on YouTube of the Rob Trullio audition. They compare him to Cliff at one point. He is definitely the man for the job. Metallica don't need to worry too much about their image now, they have a massive and loyal fanbase who love the music and most of us are either approaching or over 50 years old.

http://youtu.be/aB0iuRnSjKU

Edited October 1, 2016 by TimR

[megallica]

Metallica with cliff in the band played donnington in 1985 also

[TimR]

[quote name='megallica' timestamp='1475333443' post='3145137']
Metallica with cliff in the band played donnington in 1985 also
[/quote]

I'm quite surprised how early in the 80s it all started. I certainly don't remember them being on my radar until '87

[DarkHeart]

Sorry but that was sh*te!