Jason Newsted names the two bands that made Metallica “possible”
Although many believe the late Cliff Burton to have been the greatest Metallica bassist, Jason Newsted gives him a good run for his money. Newsted was present throughout the most commercially fruitful period of the band that saw them metamorphose from cult thrash pioneers to a chart-topping behemoth. Following Burton’s death, he spent 15 years with the San Francisco group, releasing four albums, including 1991’s mega-hit The Black Album.
Whilst things would end somewhat acrimoniously for Newstead and Metallica, he still played a crucial role in reaching the position they hold now, meaning that he is one of those best suited to commenting on their history. When speaking to Knotfest in 2021 as part of the 30th celebrations of The Black Album, the bassist outlined what he thinks is the key to Metallica’s success and what made them such a force to be reckoned with after the 1991 album arrived. “There are a few very important elements that made this concoction come together, percolate and do what it did,” he started.
Newsted outlined “the tools” that made it possible for Metallica to enjoy such monumental success. He said: “Start out with the hard work of the band, so you go back to ’83”. This entailed releasing their 1983 debut album Kill ‘Em All, touring Europe and building a fanbase there “before America even knew what were were”.
Next up was the tragic and premature death of Cliff Burton when the band were on tour in Sweden in 1986. He recalled: “Then there was Cliff. Devastating, it will never be, ever, forgotten. We will never be able to come away from the changes that were made there inside the people.”
Moving on to him entering the fold, Newsted outlined how the band moved into their next chapter, and it was by hard work. “And then I come in, and we work for four and half years, pretty fuckin’ hard, buddy.” This period included playing 30-35 countries and releasing 1988’s …And Justice for All…, which featured cuts such as ‘One’ and ‘Eye of the Beholder’.
Noting the brilliance of the team they assembled, he said: “Talking again about the team that was established, from carpenter to manager, to every person that took pride in the band, and was there to do whatever was needed to make it happen.”
In one of the most exciting points, Newsted maintained that the “secret” to Metallica becoming a mainstream hit was their “softest song” at the time, ‘Nothing Else Matters’. It saw them appeal to everyone, not just their diehard fans who wanted heavy music. He said: “The secret of it all, secret… I don’t know; it’s what came in, and now we know as knowledge and fact. The softest song that we ever had up till that point is called ‘Nothing Else Matters’.”
The track was released as the album’s third single when the quartet were already touring the record. He continued: “The softest song broke down the tallest, strongest barriers for ‘Battery’ and ‘Fight Fire With Fire’ to get through. We couldn’t have done it the other way around. It would not have worked the other way around.”
This was because of how radio worked then and how listeners worldwide approached music. The song appealed “to everybody” and allowed Metallica to break into the mainstream and spread the gospel of their other pieces, such as ‘Battery’. After its success – which saw it hit number one in 30 countries – the band went from playing in 30 countries “to 50”.
While Newsted’s account was compelling, his acknowledgement of the two bands that “made it all possible” for Metallica piqued interest most. These were hard-rockers AC/DC and heavy metallers Iron Maiden. He credits them with breaking down the barriers for heavy music in countries outside of the established circuit and going global. He concluded: “The one, chronologically, that actually made it all possible. AC/DC and Iron Maiden from the early 1980s up through to the time that we were coming to that spot right there. They had played those 35 or 37 or 39 or whatever it was, those countries that were allowing Westernised heavy music by that time. Communism, Islam or whatever didn’t keep it from coming there. They went to all those places first. They knocked down the first batch of trees and kinda gave us a rough road. In some of the places, they paved that shit in some of the bigger cities.”
