Jason Newsteds abilities were wasted on Metallica

[DawnPatroller]

On 01/09/2020 at 16:24, No. 8 Wire said:

That is truly epic.  AJFA was actually my favourite Metallica Album as a guitar playing teenage numpty, but I really lost interest in them from the Black album onwards. 

 

Didn't we all ...

[Killed_by_Death]

 

I saw Metallica on their first nationwide tour in a small bar near home, it was fan-bloody-tastic.

Saw them in support of the Black album at the L.A. forum & it was crap on a stick in comparison, & the last time I saw a band in a large arena.

I hung out in the small venues, like the Whisky, the Troubadour, & my fave of all was the Coconut Teaszer where you could mosh with local celebrities, like Henry Rollins.

 

[No. 8 Wire]

47 minutes ago, MHMSWC#03 said:

Didn't we all ...

Someone is still buying all the albums though. 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

There are plenty of hardcore Metallica fans out there, they're the go-to songs after everyone gets drunk in the local pubs & the dance-cover bands are allowed some rope to play 'harder' stuff.

One local player is an adamant defender of any & all things Metallica!

 

[AndyTravis]

S&M was my limit, although “I disappear” from the MI:2 Soundtrack was ok.

I started listening to Metallica when ReLoad came out as I was about 13, I swiftly worked backwards and then they were “my” band.

My wedding dance was to the S&M version of Nothing Else Matters. Random fact of the day.

[DawnPatroller]

8 minutes ago, No. 8 Wire said:

Someone is still buying all the albums though. 

Sure but not anywhere near to the numbers that the Black album reached ...

[Doctor J]

Metallica lost me the day Load came out. As I listened to the tape, I had to take the inlay out of my pocket to check the lyrics corresponded to what my ears were hearing. That being said, I still find myself picking up the albums as they come out, sometimes sooner, sometimes later. Somewhere in there is still the band which captivated me as a kid with Master of Puppets and AJFA... but that band remains well hidden.

I even have Lulu, saw it in a charity shop for a couple of quid and thought "How bad can it be?"  The answer is very bad.

[paul_5]

I’m in the same camp as a lot of you; loved Ride the Lightning, Puppetz and Justice, but after that they sort of lost me. I find myself listening to Hardwired and (to a lesser extent) Death Magnetic and miss the bass.

Cliff’s playing and writing was superb, and elevated Metallica to a level above their peers. It’s always been James and Lars’ band though, and Cliff’s death just made it even worse.

[DawnPatroller]

14 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

Metallica lost me the day Load came out. As I listened to the tape, I had to take the inlay out of my pocket to check the lyrics corresponded to what my ears were hearing. That being said, I still find myself picking up the albums as they come out, sometimes sooner, sometimes later. Somewhere in there is still the band which captivated me as a kid with Master of Puppets and AJFA... but that band remains well hidden.

I even have Lulu, saw it in a charity shop for a couple of quid and thought "How bad can it be?"  The answer is very bad.

I think that the Load/Reload thing is exactly the same as the Use Your Illusion double album deal - a whole load of tracks that could have made just one half-decent album rather than being filled out with a lot of inferior tracks.
I really liked what you said about the band still being in there somewhere, and I consider myself lucky to have grown up alongside the music Metallica have produced as they made their journey, but sometimes I wonder what the hell they were thinking when they wrote Enter Sandman ..

Edited March 4, 2021 by MHMSWC#03

[Killed_by_Death]

 

That Load + Reload thing put me off of buying CDs. A new Music shop opened up in our area, so I nipped up there at the weekend & purchased about 10 CDs.

The Load & Reload were the poorest of the lot.

The standout in all my purchases was a Marylin Manson album, the one with Beautiful People.

Haven't purchased a new CD since, but I have bought a handful of used ones in the local pawn shop.

 

[Lloyd80]

1 hour ago, AndyTravis said:

S&M was my limit, although “I disappear” from the MI:2 Soundtrack was ok.

I started listening to Metallica when ReLoad came out as I was about 13, I swiftly worked backwards and then they were “my” band.

My wedding dance was to the S&M version of Nothing Else Matters. Random fact of the day.

I stopped listening to metallica after St Anger came out, one listen and I hated it.  I was a huge fan and seen them live. S&M was great and I disappear.  I will even admit I liked some of the stuff off load and reload. Not every song but there were some good ones. 

But I agree with alot that's been said about JN. He was always pushed to the side in the band. It's a pity because if had been given the chance, he might still be a part of the band and the music the band produced would have continued to get better after the black album.

[Guest]

I find the tweaked Justice For Jason version, and that recent bass cover version of AJFA too artificial to be properly enjoyable. Someone though has put together live recordings of all the album's songs here:

 

[christhammer666]

I was obsessed with them around the early 90s. I wore out the 2 year and a half videos. Soon as Jason left you could see they was dialling it in. I saw them at the o2 in 09 and they was terrible then, even worse in 2019 at twickenham

[weepaul]

The guy who mixed AJFA, talks about the bass situation.

 

Metallica Mixer Explains Missing Bass on 'And Justice for All' - YouTube

Edited March 5, 2021 by weepaul

[kendall]

Jason's playing on these three Voivod albums - 

Voivod

Katorz

Infini

It's pretty damn good.

[odysseus]

21 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

I hung out in the small venues, like the Whisky, the Troubadour, & my fave of all was the Coconut Teaszer where you could mosh with local celebrities, like Henry Rollins.

 

Damn! I'm not that bothered about meeting famous musos or celebs normally, but Henry Rollins is one guy I'd really like to sit down and have a chat with. I've read a fair bit of his writings - he's one interesting dude, and grabbed life by the cojones.

[Killed_by_Death]

 

Back then Rollins band was playing all the small venues, even Fairfax High School gymnasium 😀

Kudos for spelling cojones correctly, I always laugh when folks spell it cajones, which means 'little drawers'.

Tool was there as well, as they were up-&-coming at the time & had just done Lollapalooza II with RATM.

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Killed_by_Death
spelling

[CookPassBabtridge]

Off the back of the first 3 (maybe 4) albums, Metallica could fart into a microphone and I’d still listen to it. In fact, that’s pretty much what St. Anger was. Hardwired is a slight return to form but nowhere near the early stuff. 

I pretty much agree with everything that’s been said; they’ve never been the same since Cliff passed. Jason was a great bassist but he got shafted by a band that never got over the death of his predecessor and some very big egos. 

[DawnPatroller]

9 minutes ago, CookPassBabtridge said:

Off the back of the first 3 (maybe 4) albums, Metallica could fart into a microphone and I’d still listen to it.

I ain't farting on no snare drum!

 

 

Sorry, couldn't resist ..

[SH73]

I appreciate there are lots Cliff Burton fans out there, but Jason Newsted is 'the' dogs bollox.

[Killed_by_Death]

[Dan Dare]

I'm sure the money helped console him for the fact that he was "wasting his abilities". Seriously, landing the gig in a major act will give anyone financial independence and enable them to pursue stuff that satisfies their soul when said headline act isn't playing or after they leave. Anyone with sense would trade a few years of their life to be set up for the rest of it. Most of us spend (spent in my case) 45 or so years earning a living doing something not remotely connected to music or the things we really care about.

[Guest]

Just been looking at wikipedia's list of Metallica tours. In the first 8 years he was in Metallica, 1986-1994 they performed over 600 times, touring Master of Puppets, Justice and the Black Album. I'm sure JN found that more than just financially worthwhile and left him feeling useful.