The Abuse of Jason Newsted

Motley Crue

This topic has been covered before, but seeing as Newsted hasn't made any public apperances in the last several years (due I believe to a sholder injury sustained during tour rehersals) then I'd like to look at it again, especially with Metallica looking to accept their lifetime achievement Rock N Roll Hame of Fame thing in April...and a journalist questioning James about Jason recently and the possible attendance.

One could question the fact that Newsted was given an amaing oppurtunity and so therefore should have just shut up and taken it...but even looking at the "Year and A Half In the Life Of..." Documentary (and if you haven't seen this I suggest you track it down and watch it) you cannot help but feel for Newstead during some of the writing and post gig celebrations. Both he, and to a certain extent Kirk, seem to be shoved to one side - it seems that Metallica is, and always has been, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich

Newsted will be officially inducted into the RnR Hall of Fame alongside Metallica and as he was always my favourite band member of the group its just so difficult to see him be rather forgotten. A young fan of Metallica the other day, my cousin, actually asked me who Jason Newsted was when he saw him on my T Shirt and asked why he wasnt on his!lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SZ__yGE7y0

Doctor J

Newsted has been a part of two excellent Voivod albums, with a third on the way. I don't think anyone with an interest in quality Metal has forgotten him.

senordingdong

It may have been an amzing opportunity, and I'm sure that's what he thought when he was given said opportunity.

But how many years of that **** could you tolerate before your soul is completely and utterly crushed?
Fair play to him for going out and doing his own thing....and doing so damn well I might ad.

He is better off without Metallica, though Metallica are not better off without him.

seachto7

he prob did more technical stuff in the bass clip there than all his time combined in Metallica...

I dunno if Metallica are worse off without him. you could say the same about burton. Rob Truj. is a great bass player, different to newsted in that he used his fingers, different style, but a great player...

Newsted's vocals/backing vocals were attrocious I thought, just hoarse screaming rather than singing..

senordingdong

Trujillo ads nothing to the band imo, regardless of whatever talent he may or may not have.

Atleast I am confident in saying that Newstead is a great player/writer.

Pyr0

I always though Newsteads backing vocals were brilliant ! Who cares about singing ? During his time in Metallica it was all growls and harsh vocals by james, none of this high pitched singing that's banging around today.

judas101

seachto7 wrote: »

Newsted's vocals/backing vocals were attrocious I thought, just hoarse screaming rather than singing..

disagree.

he was great, especially when he got a chance to sing lead live.

Motley Crue

Pyr0 wrote: »

During his time in Metallica it was all growls and harsh vocals by james, none of this high pitched singing that's banging around today.

I enjoyed that, there is a bootleg that you can get called "Where the ****'s James" from around 2000/01, when Hetfield missed one gig due to an infection or something. Anyway the band announced a free substitute, free, concert and then decided to stay around and play their set regardless...with Jason singing a lot of the vocals that night...and the bootleg sounds pretty wicked! Its kinda a little thing people don't really know cause its not been really highlighted in the career of Metallica

The following clip isn't from that show, but does show Jason singing vocals on a Metallica track around that time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cJts1eCviU

GAAman

Newsted sounds very lemmy there, or is it just me?

smackbunnybaby

GAAman wrote: »

Newsted sounds very lemmy there, or is it just me?

ha ha - you got in just before me!
completely agree

seachto7

judas101 wrote: »

disagree.

he was great, especially when he got a chance to sing lead live.

I'll agree to disagree
I always cringed when he sang seek and destroy live, and when Lars used to start a song with just the kick drum to try and get the crowd going, and Newsted would just start roaring "oi oi oi" into the mic, it drove me mad...

steveone

I remember when he joined the band we called him jason newkid and I think some of the other fans might have sidelined him also in the early days.. not intentionally though. it was just that he was different.. he had a good chance alright.. flotsam and jetsam were barely on the thrash scene so it was a good move...

LD 50

Jason sings Whiplash on either the CD or DVD Live ****; Binge And Purge. I think his is voice is good on that song.

Stev_o

Jason is the reason why i cant listen to any Metallica album... I have to listen to the live versions as they are improved ten fold with him singing. He's a legend how should of gotten better treatment i mean fup sake he wrote Blackened nuff said why couldnt they get him to write before they all Ronnie and 2x4 on us =/

120_Minutes

the reasons why newstead was treated the way he did were covered in depth in some kind of monster. and it is both ironic (and sad to me) that metallica is now the band (not musically) he wanted it to be, and his leaving was the catalyst....i'm paraphrasing lars, but i agree with him.

it'd be great if he rejoined, but the others would never have him back.

ShawnRaven

Trust me, you won't see Newstead at the HOF. They couldn't get all four members of Van Halen together for their induction, If anything, it'll be Hetfield, Hammett and Ulrich, with maybe a Burton family member.

buck65

I would say that Jason would have no interest in rejoining Metallica even for a pint!

Frankly Trujillo is a better technical player and those who say he brings nothing to the band are clueless. He's a brilliant bassist, just a different style to Newsted.

BUT what Metallica have suffered BADLY from since his departure is lack of a backing vocalist.

120_Minutes

out of curiosity, does rob have any writing credits on the new album?

ShawnRaven

120_Minutes wrote: »

out of curiosity, does rob have any writing credits on the new album?

According to wikipedia, he's credited on the writing of the five singles that were released from it. One naturally assumes he had a hand with the rest of the album.

That's probably more than Newsted has ever been credited for writing in his stay with the band, i dunno if i should laugh or shake my head at this stage.

grames_bond

ShawnRaven wrote: »

According to wikipedia, he's credited on the writing of the five singles that were released from it. One naturally assumes he had a hand with the rest of the album.

That's probably more than Newsted has ever been credited for writing in his stay with the band, i dunno if i should laugh or shake my head at this stage.

according to a documentary i saw on bbc a while ago, hetfield actually said exactly that.....rob had more input and wrote more songs on this album than jason did in the years he was with 'tallica......altho thats priobably down to the fact that they didnt let him!

bigbadcon

If I was him I wouldnt show either. He would just look like a substitute bass player..

Feel sorry for him though and its not fair with James saying that Rob has had more input than Jason ever didnt if they didnt let him have any input.

He was obviously so frustrated with not having any input that he jumped ship..

Doctor J

Deleted User wrote: »

Frankly Trujillo is a better technical player and those who say he brings nothing to the band are clueless. He's a brilliant bassist, just a different style to Newsted.

I disagree. Very different styles, but Newsted is no technical slouch, I think each is capable of things the other would struggle with. He was never allowed spread his wings in Metallica (like Trujillo tbh). If you judje Trujillo on purely what he has done with Metallica he's not too impressive at all... my thoughts go back to him butchering Orion live, for example. Listen to the first Flotsam and Jetsam album to get an idea of how good Newsted could have been. If they ever put out a proper mix of AJFA people will finally get to see how good he really was.

rovert

Echobrain is the future, Metallica is the past

Motley Crue

grames_bond wrote: »

according to a documentary i saw on bbc a while ago, hetfield actually said exactly that.....rob had more input and wrote more songs on this album than jason did in the years he was with 'tallica......altho thats priobably down to the fact that they didnt let him!

Newsted spoke in a documentary made around 2001 about his main contribution to the Black album - My Friend of Misery - and how he expected this to be the bands traditional Instrumental track (in keeping with the 4 previous albums). He then plays the song the way he wrote it, quite different to the final product, and says Metallica decided not to keep it as an instrumental, added words, changed it a little and instead he just got a writing credit as opposed to the finished song he had presented.

He talks about being given a tape like every other member of Tallica and being told to record his demos and you just think....how many songs did he actually have an early hand in, only for the work to be changed so much that now it barely represents what he helped create but still retains Ulrich and Hetfields name all the time

Im thinking the same thing happened on the Blackening, except with that the album was more or less completed in the early stages when Newsted joined, and he just got the chance to add his name to a late bloomer.

Doctor J

Newsted joined in 1986 prior to the completion of the Master Of Puppets tour. AJFA wasn't released until almost two years after he joined, Garage Days Re-Revisited was also recorded and released in that time. He was there from the beginning of the writing period. Shortly after he joined, Lars phoned Metallimanagement giving out about Newsted and wanting him out, he was told the choice had been made and he had to live with it. There's your hint why Newsted was mixed out of it

When you consider that he wrote most of the first Flotsam & Jetsam album, the material he wrote before he left made up a lot of the second Flots album, plus his full credits on the Echobrain and Voivod albums, as well as the IR8 and a writing and playing credit on a Sepultura album, it's clear to see that he's a creative fella, he was just pushed out of the Metallipicture.

ShawnRaven

Doctor J wrote: »

Shortly after he joined, Lars phoned Metallimanagement giving out about Newsted and wanting him out, he was told the choice had been made and he had to live with it. There's your hint why Newsted was mixed out of it

it's clear to see that he's a creative fella, he was just pushed out of the Metallipicture.

I could well believe all of this, which poses the life long question.
If he was treated so badly from the get go, why did he stay there for fifteen years?!

bigbadcon

For the Metallicash

Motley Crue

bigbadcon wrote: »

For the Metallicash

At a David Lee Roth concert in Vicar St back in April...em 05 I think...maybe 04, I met a guy from the band Sweet Savage (his new band Red Rooster were supporting Roth that night) and he told me that he had been invitied backstage at the Metallica gig in the Point 99 because, of course, the band had recently released their own version of Killing Time on Garage Inc and Eric Bell would join them onstage that night too

Anyway, this guy goes into the backstage area of the concert, and is introduced to James, Lars and Kirk....who completely shun him as an absolute loser - he said they shook his hand without even looking at his face - and then Jason comes in, gives him a big hug, and tells him that he loves the original version of his bands song

THATS why Jason stayed, because in truth, anyone who had any contact with the band will tell you that Jason was the only one worth speaking to

scubagit

Yeah R.T. has no bass talent whatsoever :rolleyes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FOfSQFQCDc

Motley Crue

Id well believe this. Wasn't there a scene in Some Kind of Monster in which Lars finds out Jason is considering re joining the band and he gets extremely upset about it and takes the "you made your bed now lie in it" approach

Doctor J

That's what is written in Joel McIver's book, I've yet to read of anyone saying it didn't happen.

Motley Crue

Doctor J wrote: »

That's what is written in Joel McIver's book, I've yet to read of anyone saying it didn't happen.

Justice For All; The Truth About Metallica...prob the best Metallica book I have ever read

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

Funny clip there about Jason and his level headedness

buck65

I met James and Lars in Dublin 92. to be honest Ulrich signed an autograph and said nothing to me ( I met him on he street - with no one around) but that's rock n roll. James was a little more sociable and at least spoke to me.
I walked away starstruck but a little disappointed in my heroes. Compared to Max Cavalera and Paulo who brought about 20 of us into the SFX for the soundcheck and gave us beer from the tourbus. Andreas Kisser asked me what I thought of the sound!?

Motley Crue

buck65 wrote: »

I met James and Lars in Dublin 92. to be honest Ulrich signed an autograph and said nothing to me but that's rock n roll. James was a little more sociable and at least spoke to me.

If only we had a time machine would we have told them to pack it in around 1995

ShawnRaven

Motley Crue wrote: »

If only we had a time machine would we have told them to pack it in around 1995

And there I was thinking you were on crack for the Pantera post.
I hereby retract my statement, although personally I'd have told em to pack it in around 91 once i heard that god awful album!

Motley Crue

ShawnRaven wrote: »

And there I was thinking you were on crack for the Pantera post.
I hereby retract my statement, although personally I'd have told em to pack it in around 91 once i heard that god awful album!

I agree with ya, but I do actually like the Live in Mexico album, if that counts...considering that despite it being a well oiled machine of touring its still a pretty decent setlist (they even play Through The Never!)

senordingdong

Motley Crue wrote: »

If only we had a time machine would we have told them to pack it in around 1995

Then we would never have had Death Magnetic.

Clearly they went through an 'iffy' period but it seems like all bands go through one of these, and Metallica seem to be out of it now so keep bringing us good albums I say.

scubagit wrote:

Yeah R.T. has no bass talent whatsoever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FOfSQFQCDc

No-one said he didn't have talent, I just don't think he ads anything to the band. Sure he can throw out some awesome solos, but I didn't hear one bass solo on Death Magnetic.

ShawnRaven

Motley Crue wrote: »

I agree with ya, but I do actually like the Live in Mexico album, if that counts...considering that despite it being a well oiled machine of touring its still a pretty decent setlist (they even play Through The Never!)

That's the 2 disc album that came with Livesh*t Binge & Purge isn't it? That's actually a solid set. I nearly put on the Live DVD from San Diego earlier when i gave up in frustration looking for Some Kind Of Monster. I might still watch it a little later on. A solid box set btw, for those who don't have it, it's worth getting.

Motley Crue

ShawnRaven wrote: »

That's the album that came with Livesh*t Binge & Purge isn't it? That's actually a solid set.

That's the one, recorded over 5 nights in Mexico City, 3 discs of killer tunes

Which makes me think that this years 5 night stint in Denmark is going to make it onto a future live CD release...would be a shame for them to waste the oppurtunity really!

1408

On topic, I think Newsted was amazing, he certainly gave that fan connection to Metallica...which you don't really get with Rob, who just seems to be a helping hand at this point, and its nice he's a member of the band but its like being Ozzy's bassist....its just really a session gig for him more than anything else.

They, that being Metallica, have said Rob has already written and contributed more material then Jason ever did in his whole time in the band but thats most likely because Jason was either intimidated by James Hetfield, who I believe hazed him the worst, and they also rejected his ideas....picking the ones they did pick because they knew it would look bad if he didn't have something on the album

Jason was Metallica's biggest fan, you can imagine he just didn't think of himself as a member of the band, he prob always taught of himself as a fan and when they knocked back his material he accepted this and said "thats ok its not good enough cause these guys wrote Master of Puppets and they know whats good"

lord lucan

Motley Crue wrote: »

That's the one, recorded over 5 nights in Mexico City, 3 discs of killer tunes

pity about the 18 minute version of seek and destroy:rolleyes:

finbarr

Doctor J wrote: »

That's what is written in Joel McIver's book, I've yet to read of anyone saying it didn't happen.

Good book that... Where'd you get your hands on a copy?

Doctor J

Yeah, must give it back to you, thanks for reminding me

finbarr

ha ha. No panic...

With regards my opinion on the Newsted thing he really did get a tough time and gets no respect for his talents. The guy was a monster on bass and was picked for that very reason. Reading that Ulrich wanted him out was a suprise in that book but I can only assume that it was based on personality since technically he was a great contributor on both new and old stuff, staying loyal to Cliffs stuff while putting his own stamp on it.

It's a shame that he'll forever be remembered as the guy that never fit in fully because when listening to his work on the Black album and knowing what his other work is like he is extremely underrated as a musician.

SirLemonhead

buck65 wrote: »

I walked away starstruck but a little disappointed in my heroes. Compared to Max Cavalera and Paulo who brought about 20 of us into the SFX for the soundcheck and gave us beer from the tourbus. Andreas Kisser asked me what I thought of the sound!?

Megadeth did that with me and my friends. Just saying :P

We didn't get beer though, but Mustaine letting you into the soundcheck is pretty awesome none the less.

Red Sleeping Beauty

GAAman wrote: »

Newsted sounds very lemmy there, or is it just me?

Nah, he growls a lot too

calerbass

Regarding metallica and their bass player rob trujillio, he is only a hired musician within the band, nothing more, jason newstead was certainly a great bass player but such was their trust in his abilities when they first hired him they completely turned down his bass playing on the justice for all album. What would make metallica great again is to bring back dave mustaine as a second guitar player. a genius on the six string, so much so that when slayer where starting out they used to go to see metallica just to see mustaine play guitar.

ShawnRaven

calerbass wrote: »

Regarding metallica and their bass player rob trujillio, he is only a hired musician within the band, nothing more, jason newstead was certainly a great bass player but such was their trust in his abilities when they first hired him they completely turned down his bass playing on the justice for all album. What would make metallica great again is to bring back dave mustaine as a second guitar player. a genius on the six string, so much so that when slayer where starting out they used to go to see metallica just to see mustaine play guitar.

I laughed anyway!