Lars Ulrich removed bass from Metallica album
Few records in heavy metal spark as much debate as Metallica’s …And Justice For All. The 1988 double LP cemented the band’s reputation for sprawling, progressive thrash, but fans have never stopped arguing about one glaring issue — Jason Newsted’s bass lines are practically inaudible. Lars Ulrich allegedly gave the order to remove it, and was highly annoyed that Newsted was a Metallica fan prior to joining the band.
Producer Flemming Rasmussen, who worked with Metallica on Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets, recently told Chile’s Futuro that he remembers being stunned the first time Lars Ulrich played him the finished mix. “Lars has a thing that every time they’ve done an album, he comes and plays it to me. And he always hopes that I nod and say, ‘That’s a good [one].’ And when he came and played …And Justice For All for me, I just looked at him and said, ‘What’s that?’ He said, ‘That’s the mix.’ I said, ‘No, it’s not. You forgot the bass.’ But there’s no bass on there.”
By the time Rasmussen was able to step in, the mixing process was already underway with Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero. He recalled how the sessions spiraled: “Metallica flew in, listened to what they’d done, and they went, ‘No, no, no. Where’s my drum sound? Where’s my guitar sound?’ And actually Lars said, ‘Now take the bass down so you can just hear it.’ They did that. You can see it on YouTube. There’s plenty of videos of Steve Thompson telling about this. And then once they’ve done that, he said, ‘Take it three dB more down.’ So, it’s Lars and James that decided, and why they did that, I’ve asked them a thousand times. I do not know.”
Rasmussen added that part of the problem may have been how different Newsted was from the late Cliff Burton, and how unsettled the band felt about that change. “[Jason and Cliff were] two very different bass players. Cliff was more free and was composing a lot more. I don’t think Jason was part of any of the composing on …And Justice For All.”
Lars Ulrich’s real issue with Jason Newsted
He speculated further on the band’s mindset in 1988: “Like 50% of it is because they were on tour with Van Halen at the time, I think, and they flew in and heard the mix. And I think that’s the point where Lars and James realized that, ‘We don’t have Cliff anymore. It’s not his bass. It’s a totally different sound.’ And I just think they couldn’t relate to that at the point.
That’s probably half of it. But this is just me; I don’t know if it’s true or not. But the other half is what they hated most about Jason was that he was such a Metallica fan, so every time they asked him anything, he just did it. So I think they took it down just to piss him off, ‘cause they were expecting him to say, ‘Can you turn the bass off?’ And he probably never did. That’s why the bass is so low. But I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know.”
Despite the controversy, Rasmussen noted that the album has inspired countless musicians. “The funny thing is that, in hindsight, I read somewhere recently that …And Justice For All is the number one album in the world that people say is the reason why they started their own band. So …And Justice For All has created more new bands than any other album in the world. So if you wanna start a new band, don’t be a bass player.”
