Metallica Superthread -All Metallica discussion goes in here

Motley Crue

bockeys jollocks wrote: »

It was the same at the Rock and Roll hall of fame induction, they barely looked at each other, it was obvious. On the other hand Jason and Lars seemed to be good mates.

Very true, I've heard they were very close

A rumor going around once said that Hetfield tried to get rid of Jason about six months after he had joined the band...Ulrich told him at that point "you've made your bed so lie in it" - there was little to hide from the fact that during virtually all periods of Metallica PR involving James and Jason they clashed on a number of issues.

Hetfield's decision (especially during the recording of the Black album) to write the Bass parts himself just mirroring the guitar work must have really made it clear that he didn't want Newsted involved.

Then during PR for Death Magnetic Hetfield makes comments to the press about how much writing Robert has done for that record...as if he ever gave Jason a chance to write anything...

Ash.J.Williams

Motley Crue wrote: »

Very true, I've heard they were very close

A rumor going around once said that Hetfield tried to get rid of Jason about six months after he had joined the band...Ulrich told him at that point "you've made your bed so lie in it" - there was little to hide from the fact that during virtually all periods of Metallica PR involving James and Jason they clashed on a number of issues.

Hetfield's decision (especially during the recording of the Black album) to write the Bass parts himself just mirroring the guitar work must have really made it clear that he didn't want Newsted involved.

Then during PR for Death Magnetic Hetfield makes comments to the press about how much writing Robert has done for that record...as if he ever gave Jason a chance to write anything...

and yet is still low in the mix!!

seachto7

Why didn't Newsted quit earlier than he did if things were that bad? Nobody forced him to do it...

Ash.J.Williams

seachto7 wrote: »

Why didn't Newsted quit earlier than he did if things were that bad? Nobody forced him to do it...

as he said himself....he was well paid and thought that was enough reward to put up with a relatively small amount of bullsh1t...

Lombardo wasn't even a member of slayer and he still put up with the sh1t for cash.

Motley Crue

seachto7 wrote: »

Why didn't Newsted quit earlier than he did if things were that bad? Nobody forced him to do it...

That's true, but although they had their problems, Newsted always wanted to continue for both the fans and his commitment to the band as a whole.

Plus they spent almost a decade consistently touring or recording at one point and just didn't slow down.

From around the Load tours onward s Newsted would travel separately when on tour, have his own bus and basically be able to avoid a lot of the group if he wished. Or just avoid James. At the end of the day his only real problem was with James and until Echobrain he himself admits he'd never found anything he believed was good enough to be a solo project on it's own merit.

He didn't want to leave Metallica when he did - he explains that he felt disrespected to the point of being bullied and treated like a child by Hetfield - so left for that reason. Plus Hetfield was obviously out of control in terms of alcohol abuse and despite a lot of work and a personal change in him from the ReLoad era on - due in part to meeting his future wife - there was still a lot of issues within the band and many of them were centered on Hetfield's bullying

And, of course, the money he made must have been a massive contributing factor. The connections, the chances and the possibilities, all that would have made the Hetfield issue something he could deal with.

seachto7

True. I remember reading an interview in Guitar World after Load where he mentioned he was hooking up with people on tour and recording ideas on the tour bus.

Lithium93_

So in short: Jason left Metallica because James was a bully and a bit of a control freak

seachto7

James comes across as a bit of a d1ck. Saying that, I never met him and don't know what he is really like, so can only base it on interviews and what not.

Would I still go for a (non alcoholic) beer with him? Maybe.

Would I go for a beer with Lars? Yes, even though he might wreck your head.

Would I go for a beer with Jason? Definitely.

Would I go for a beer with Kirk? Yep, but would prefer to go surfing.

Rob? For sure, but would ask him about Suicidal Tendencies all the time.

I watched the Scuzz interview with Jason, and he's very careful to not bad mouth anyone in it, which I will admire him for. He's careful about what he says, which I suppose, legally, he has to be.

He's done very well financially out of Metallica and still does I reckon with royalties and the likes.

Ash.J.Williams

The Howard Stern interview with lars is very revealing about James. Absolutely shy to a fault.

bockeys jollocks

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

The Howard Stern interview with lars is very revealing about James. Absolutely shy to a fault.

Is that one on youtube?, I'll have a look.

Ash.J.Williams

bockeys jollocks wrote: »

Is that one on youtube?, I'll have a look.

tis indeed

Motley Crue

seachto7 wrote: »

He's done very well financially out of Metallica and still does I reckon with royalties and the likes.

Yeah I'm not sure how performance rights work financially (as in the band releasing Six Feet Under EP in 2010 with his performance on that) but he'd be paid for copies of the Black Album, ReLoad, Binge and Purge (I believe Blackened is in the AJFA medley and on the DVD) and And Justice For All sold to this day on an annual basis retrospectively - if for nothing else because of his writing credits - and he'd probably also have royalties from Live Metallica for the same reason

Actually, come to think about it, his contract could have entitled him to severance money over a few years after he left the band...he could be saying what he is now only because legally he's collected every cheque. That being said it would still confuse me as to why he took the job on Rockstar Supernova if not for the paycheck.

Motley Crue

Wanted to share this here. Never seen it before.

Never too much crazy stuff in this PR nonsense but a nice insight into that period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVCgA1wMJrg

Ash.J.Williams

when jason departed the bands he said they were business partners for life

ush

Kinda think Jason is a bit of a drama queen.

SilverScreen

ush wrote: »

Kinda think Jason is a bit of a drama queen.

Compared to Lars?

ush

SilverScreen wrote: »

Compared to Lars?

No innocents really in the triangle Lars-James-Jason.

SilverScreen

I still think that Jason was the best bass player they ever had. Actually I think he was too good for Metallica.

Riddle101

SilverScreen wrote: »

I still think that Jason was the best bass player they ever had. Actually I think he was too good for Metallica.

For me it will always be Cliff Burton, but Jason was definitely a good replacement.

Motley Crue

ush wrote: »

Kinda think Jason is a bit of a drama queen.

He certainly was a bit intense about his music and the passion with which he played but I think holding onto the kind of information he did for so long and not simply badmouthing everyone the minute he got out of the band showed a lot of restraint and ultimately loyalty to the band and the fans and himself IMO

SilverScreen

Riddle101 wrote: »

For me it will always be Cliff Burton, but Jason was definitely a good replacement.

While Cliff was great, he had the benefit of being with the band for their first three albums which, along with his death, resulted in him being seen today as a legend. It's been said many times before, but the real tragedy about Jason was that the rest of the band never really let him play to his true potential. And if you listen to the stuff he did with Flotsam & Jetsam before he joined Metallica he has tons of it. But I still think that he played a solid role in the band.

I can only imagine what Justice would have sounded like had his bass parts not been muted..

D.Q

There are versions on YouTube with the bass remastered.

briany

Motley Crue wrote: »

He certainly was a bit intense about his music and the passion with which he played but I think holding onto the kind of information he did for so long and not simply badmouthing everyone the minute he got out of the band showed a lot of restraint and ultimately loyalty to the band and the fans and himself IMO

Absolutely. If you look up the word 'integrity' in the dictionary (heavy metal edition) you'll a picture of Newsted grimacing back at you. Probably the most down to earth guy in working in that genre, too.

Doctor Jimbob

SilverScreen wrote: »

While Cliff was great, he had the benefit of being with the band for their first three albums which, along with his death, resulted in him being seen today as a legend. It's been said many times before, but the real tragedy about Jason was that the rest of the band never really let him play to his true potential. And if you listen to the stuff he did with Flotsam & Jetsam before he joined Metallica he has tons of it. But I still think that he played a solid role in the band.

I can only imagine what Justice would have sounded like had his bass parts not been muted..

I think part of the reason those three albums were so great was down to Cliff though. I'll agree Jason is underrated and a great musician, but he doesn't top Cliff.

Wordless

I like Newsted I think he has conducted himself very well since he left. He hasn't ran around bad mouthing them and it took him nigh on 14 years to tell the world what Hetfield said to him i.e that if he didn't tow the line he would be thrown out of the band., which in my mind is a lot more of drama queenish behaviour. On top of that Newsted states that the hazing wasn't that bad and that the press have made more of it. The difficulty of stepping into the band after Burton's death must have been one hell of a burden.

Wordless

SilverScreen wrote: »

While Cliff was great, he had the benefit of being with the band for their first three albums which, along with his death, resulted in him being seen today as a legend. It's been said many times before, but the real tragedy about Jason was that the rest of the band never really let him play to his true potential. And if you listen to the stuff he did with Flotsam & Jetsam before he joined Metallica he has tons of it. But I still think that he played a solid role in the band.

I can only imagine what Justice would have sounded like had his bass parts not been muted..

I think Justice would have been a monster if it had low end on it.

Motley Crue

Wordless wrote: »

I think Justice would have been a monster if it had low end on it.

I think Jason said himself in an interview that a fan approached him and handed him a version of AJFA with the bass recorded in and was like "that's for you" (doesn't make it clear whether said fan recorded that material himself or just burned a bootleg from the Internet in 5 minutes...plenty out there) and Newsted tells the interviewer he told the kid "thanks, but AJFA is what it is...it's just how it sounds and that's the end of it"

That shows restraint

Funny enough the making of AJFA (apparently the "hidden story" that "you never knew") was the reason I bought an issue of Kerrang a few months back at the airport...left it on the flight....the "article" wasn't really Journalism...more speculation and half quotes out of context

This article though isn't bad

bockeys jollocks

ush wrote: »

Kinda think Jason is a bit of a drama queen.

Kirk is the ultimate drama queen in the band. I also thought he looked way too comfortable in make-up during the load/reload years.

Wordless

I have heard AJFA with the bass in the mix. Just think it was a pity it wasn't on the actual album as I love the songs on it.

AllGunsBlazing

According to a band autobiography written by Mick Wall it was Lars who first wanted rid of Jason, not James. Apparently Lars contacted Peter Mensch after they came back from their tour of Japan in late '86 demanding that Jason be fired but Mensch told him it was out of the question.

It seems Jason was a bit too straight laced for the hard partying Lars. Jason had even gone so far as to suggest that Lars needed to act more professionally and would benefit from lessons with a drum tutor. That didn't go down too well.

Wall also asserts that Metallica was split into two new factions during the Load era. With Lars and Kirk both experimenting with hard drugs, and eye liner - on one side, and James and Jason looking on with disdain from the other.