The Metallica album Jason Newsted will always regret: “Didn’t feel very good”
When Black Sabbath began making music in the 1960s, they didn’t know that they were about to invent a whole new genre that would completely take over the world. Once they had released their doom-laden and distortion-heavy music, which had never been done before, there was absolutely no stopping the band. The beginnings of heavy metal were starting to creep through the cracks, and with them, a whole array of new and exciting bands.
Heavy metal has since branched off into a range of different genres, and the vast array of sounds available within this one style is truly extraordinary. It means that when people ask who the biggest heavy metal band in the world is, the answer is borderline impossible to find. However, when you start discussing such a broad topic, chances are, it won’t be too long until someone brings up Metallica.
One of the undeniable aspects of metal, regardless of what branch of the genre you are talking about, is power. Each song must have a hard-hitting nature behind it, and Metallica can deliver this in spades. You hear it in the bass, drums, bone-crushing riffs and killer vocals, which are on display in every single track. However, ensuring that all of these different elements can be heard in equal measure is difficult to do and has also led to points of contention within the band throughout their career.
There were some songs where members didn’t think their contributions came through enough. This happened on their album …And Justice for All, which bass player Jason Newsted cites as one that he will always regret on some level. To him, it felt as though he was battling with his bandmates slightly, as the bass levels were off to the point that they could hardly be heard on the recording. The final release somewhat lacks depth as a result of this.
“The Justice album didn’t feel very good for me because you really couldn’t hear the bass. And there are many reasons for that. [I was] being there properly,” said the bassist. “When Bob Rock entered the picture, bass frequencies also came into the picture.”
While this led to some form of contention within the band, it wasn’t enough to force Newsted to quit. Instead, the band brought in the producer Bob Rock, who Newsted refers to in the above quote. While there were always some differences between Rock and the rest of the band, he was able to help them find a sound that went above anything they had recorded previously. With such a large and busy sound like Metallica’s, finding the right levels for everything can be difficult, but Rock made it look easy.
The first album he worked on also wound up being one of the band’s most famous, their 1991 release entitled Metallica (more commonly referred to as The Black Album). This record took the sound of Metallica and raised it to whole new levels. Rock became such an intrinsic part of the band that when Newsted left in 2001 for what he called “Private and personal reasons,” as well as “[The] physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love,” Rock stepped in and helped the band with bass duties on their album St Anger.
While heavy metal is such a massive genre, it remains difficult, as something that relies on a large sound can often fall guilty of drowning some band members out. This is what happened on …And Justice For All, and it’s why Newsted can’t get excited about that album.
