Jason Newsted Shares Opinion on Metallica’s ‘Justice’ Bass Mix, Recalls First Conflict With Lars and James Over Band Politics

“We’re still talking about it to this day”.

A divisive character in the Metallica History, Jason Newsted rose through the ranks since his early days in Flotsam and Jetsam to join the biggest metal band in the world following the death of iconic bassist Cliff Burton in 1986.

Harassed by the band members and initially shunned by the most hardcore fans of the group, the musician saw his bass takes being turned down until barely audible on his debut with Metallica, 1988’s “…And Justice For All”.

Regardless of the band drama behind it, “…And Justice For All” grew up to become one of the most iconic and beloved metal albums of all time, and a lot of it it’s due to its raw production.

However, in recent years many fans shared alternative takes with a more audible bass, including the famous “…And Justice For Jason” remastered versions. When questioned about his feelings towards these fan tributes, Newsted commented (via Metal Hammer):

“I love people’s enthusiasm, their determination, their love and their appreciation. If the ‘Justice’ album had been mixed like a regular record, we wouldn’t be talking about it to this day. But because that isn’t the case – and I don’t necessarily think that’s that big a deal – we’re still talking about it all these years later.”

“I don’t even think they realised, in their drunken stupor, what they were doing, but they made the best garage band album ever. Black Keys, White Stripes, whatever power duo, garage rock stuff you wanna mention, James and Lars were the original garage rock duo, as far as that goes.”

“They always made the records that way, from [1983 demo cassette] ‘No Life ‘Til Leather’, it was Lars and James, guitar and drums. On the original cassette, in Lars’ handwriting, in ink pen, on the label [it reads] ‘Turn bass down on stereo.’ On ‘Life ’Til Leather!’ It’s just been that way their entire lives. They made ‘Kill ‘Em All’ that way, ‘Ride’… that way, ‘Master Of Puppets’ that way… all those two guys in a room, over and over, and you’re gonna argue with the most successful of all time…?”

“Back then, I was fucking livid, are you kidding me? I was ready for throats, man. Because I thought I did a good job. But, up until it got to Metallica, I had only ever played one take on the bass. In Flotsam I wrote the song on bass and the guitar player covered the part I wrote. I never knew any other way, until I met Bob Rock [producer], and then I could see how he made the bass its own thing. I didn’t know what the bass player did until about 15 years ago!”

Still, Jason stayed with the band and gained the respect of the fandom as he powered through incendiary live performances, and kept a metal persona while Metallica was going through an identity crisis with their controversial ’90s output.

Unfortunately, due to conflicts with the leading duo of Hetfield and Ulrich, the bassist left Metallica in 2001 to pursue other musical projects. In a recent interview, Jason revealed when did the conflicts that led to his departure start:

Tell us about the IR8 stuff [short-lived side project with Devin Townsend and Exodus’ Tom Hunting]. That’s where the problems with Metallica started, right?

“This was the very origins. I had just established the Chophouse in ’92, and by ’94 we had all the gear. Devin came down at the age of about 22 and was an absolute fucking maniac… dude, an hour-and-a-half of sleep a day for a whole week! And every time he would pick up a guitar you get, ‘Widdle widdle widdle,’ and you’re like, ‘Dude, where in the hell did that come from?! Now play it backwards!'”

“It was the first real project we took time to track in the Chophouse. It’s just drums and bass, Devin doing some mad guitar solo over the top, I go in and scream the vocal – done. Raw production, but an incredible accomplishment, because I always wanted my own studio. The guys got wind of it and Lars said, ‘You gotta come up to the house.'”

“I didn’t really know what it was for, so I take my bass and go up there: ‘What’s up, guys?’ ‘Dude, you know you’re in Metallica now, don’t you? You can’t just be making music and sending out tapes to whatever fucker with whichever fucker. You do understand that, right?’ ‘Oh!’ I didn’t realise at all! I didn’t know about the politics; I was just sharing some metal with my friends! I pretty much broke down on that day in front of Lars and James. I was like, ‘I’m sorry, it won’t happen again!’ And that was the first time.”