Jason Newsted: I saved Metallica TWICE

[soundgardener75]

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?m ... um=twitter



Czech Republic's Muzikus.cz recently conducted an interview with former METALLICA, VOIVOD and FLOTSAM AND JETSAM bassist and current NEWSTED frontman Jason Newsted. You can now listen to the chat in three parts below.

Speaking about his decision to leave METALLICA in 2001, Jason said: "I don't know if this is selfish, and anybody can take it the way they want, or maybe it's egotistical — I'm not sure — but I truly feel that I saved [METALLICA] in 1986 by being the right choice [to replace late METALLICA bassist] Cliff Burton] and being able to take all the shit [from the other guys in the band]… and take all the good, too. And I also saved their band 12 years ago by stepping aside and letting them carry on with what they wanted to carry on with.

"I was not able to be on the same page with them anymore; they were taking too much time away from the band. We hadn't plugged in our amps for months and months and months by the time that I made the decision and called the meeting to talk to them. There had been so much distraction from actually playing the metal that I couldn't take it anymore. I was busy with my other project — I already started recording. I was already going forward with another project that I was gonna do a worldwide release with, because they weren't spending any time playing any music."

He continued: "It's great to [spend time with] your family, and it's great to do all those things, but METALLICA is still a fucking priority, and it always was a priority for me. And I think that, over time, it became not just a priority for them. It was always, and my band is still right now the priority for me — even though I have [other things] going on, it's still what I put first. And anybody around me, anybody in my circle, [like] my wife, or anyone, knows that that's coming first. And I always put METALLICA first. When those guys stopped putting it first all the time — like we all used to do together — it changed things for me. They weren't able to give the same amount of time to play at volume and remember why we were doing this.

"When we played loud together, it transcended everything — all the rest of the world went away, all the issues, all the shit. When we went loud, nothing existed except our power.

"In August of 2000, when we stopped playing live, James [Hetfield, METALLICA guitarist/vocalist] had injured himself — he couldn't be the same player, he had to wear his guitar different, he couldn't stand at the mic the same, it was a different approach on things. He wasn't spending as much time on music because of life, and I understand that — I don't have anything against that. But if you're committed to having this thing, this giant fucking thing that we worked so hard for to be the priority, if all of a sudden other things are more important than that, I can't do it. It's got to be the priority the whole fucking time. And it was for me, but it wasn't for them. Ultimately, at that time in our career, I had to step off, because I had things to do; I had music to play and share with people, and they had a different vision of how they were gonna go about things at that point.

"James was in a serious emotional and [alcohol-abuse] trouble, and I knew that. And I had to step off. And when I stepped off, I do believe that was the catalyst for him to realize that there was trouble. 'Cause I was always his brother. Dressing-room-wise, Kirk [Hammett, guitar] and Lars [Ulrich, drums] [always shared a] dressing room, James and Jason [shared the other] dressing room — for years. We were brothers. We were like-minded. We liked trucks, we liked guns, we liked the outdoors, we liked the mountains. We were like-minded people. We are brothers — strong brothers, like that. I mean, my family took James on as a family member. My mom sent… my mom probably still sends him birthday cards. We were that close. So when that kind of thing comes about where you don't have that same commitment anymore, or whether I'm misreading it or not, but we weren't committed the same way that we had been in the past, and I just wasn't feeling it; it wasn't right. And I was pretty well fucked up on some substances at that point too. So nobody was in their right mind.

"We should have kind of… Like Lars said awhile ago, we didn't take any time to assess the mental stability of the members of the band and the individuals. After so much hard work and not being home for 10 years, pushing and pushing and pushing it to be the biggest thing ever, we forgot about everything else. And it makes people unstable. And if we sat down and actually addressed people's mental issues… and I was addicted to painkillers and James was all drunk… It was a mess. If we would have addressed it as people instead of bringing in an outsider, then we could have probably done it. But because of what happened, and what transpired, and the managers bringing in an outsider and trying to fix it, and all that kind of shit, I was not gonna be a part of that."

[sleewell]

i really miss Cliff

[nightflameauto]

Jason Newsted seriously has the worst case of battered wive's syndrome ever. Maybe with some cause, but damn dude. Don't Mave us. Don't Mave us, bro.

[soundgardener75]

Jave Newstaine.

Christ almighty.

OMFG

[nightflameauto]

You know, at some point the Metallica boys (Lars and Het mostly) will need to actually address the fact they leave a trail of highly sanded vaginas in their wake. The question they have to ask themselves is, do they go seeking out the type that will turn that way, or do they turn them into that after being around them?

The fact they need industrial strength garden hose applications to their own vaginas should also be addressed at the same time. Whiniest bunch of bazillionaires outside professional sports ever.

[Devin]

Lol I always had the notion that he was rather pointless and easily replaceable


Also, holy lulz @ Jave Newstaine

[headlessdeadguy]

Jave Newstaine.

Christ almighty.

[EndTime]

Nah, i don't see it like him pulling a Mave at all.. I can't really argue with what he said. Seems pretty honest to me.. Honesty shouldn't be a bad thing, even when its talking about his importance/accomplishments, whatever.. You can't argue that the band got bigger than they had ever before with him in the band.. Whether that was a timing thing and it was inevitable, or his presence in the band put them on a different projectory that put them on the course they took.. Whatever the case, he was there when it happened.. When he left they made the worst album of their career without a real bassist.. It could certainly be argued that when its just James, Lars, and kirk there isn't much magic happening.. Even if Jason, or even Cliff for that matter, didn't write a ton of material, their presence in the band seems to be important.. he might have embellished the statement of him being the best replacement for Cliff, but he still did succeed.. And I'd say when he left it was prolly a good move as well..

I gi ve the guy some props.. He's done some cool stuff since leaving while Metallica made a horrible collab with Lou Reed and a slightly above mediocre album with Death Magnetic

[EndTime]

Lol I always had the notion that he was rather pointless and easily replaceable

Biggest evidence of this is ...And Justice for All. No one could hear him playing on that record, and for the most part, no one gave a fuck. I certainly didn't.

James and Lars have said that was kinda intentional hazing.. Hell, before AJFA on Garage Days "the $5.98 ep" Jason's bass was pretty prominent actually and i think that mix sounds killer. Same overall guitar tone as what AJFA was, but a punchy bass guitar.. If justice had that mix, no one would shit on that mix..

[nightflameauto]

He did speak one truth here that he's always held onto. That he was one of the few that could tolerate all the shit they were gonna throw at the new guy for as long as he did. Unfortunately it seems the rest of his details keep morphing. It started as James told him he wasn't allowed to have other projects so he fucked off. Now it's that he was on painkillers and wah wah. We're a couple steps away from a teary eyed rehab sob story and an attempt to "recftify" the situation by hiring a film crew and his own therapist, then showing up on Lars and James's doors unannounced trying to "make good."

[soundgardener75]

He did speak one truth here that he's always held onto. That he was one of the few that could tolerate all the shit they were gonna throw at the new guy for as long as he did. Unfortunately it seems the rest of his details keep morphing. It started as James told him he wasn't allowed to have other projects so he fucked off. Now it's that he was on painkillers and wah wah. We're a couple steps away from a teary eyed rehab sob story and an attempt to "recftify" the situation by hiring a film crew and his own therapist, then showing up on Lars and James's doors unannounced trying to "make good."

Fucking LULZ

[Chris Z]

Gasin, ur base sounds pretty on the blak album



Mave y

[nightflameauto]

Gasin, ur base sounds pretty on the blak album



Mave y

LAWLZ for reference and result.

[Dickarms]

my interview would have went: "yeah, we started to fucking suck and sotp playing. so i split. peace"

[Telephant]

Nah, i don't see it like him pulling a Mave at all.. I can't really argue with what he said. Seems pretty honest to me.. Honesty shouldn't be a bad thing, even when its talking about his importance/accomplishments, whatever.. You can't argue that the band got bigger than they had ever before with him in the band.. Whether that was a timing thing and it was inevitable, or his presence in the band put them on a different projectory that put them on the course they took.. Whatever the case, he was there when it happened.. When he left they made the worst album of their career without a real bassist.. It could certainly be argued that when its just James, Lars, and kirk there isn't much magic happening.. Even if Jason, or even Cliff for that matter, didn't write a ton of material, their presence in the band seems to be important.. he might have embellished the statement of him being the best replacement for Cliff, but he still did succeed.. And I'd say when he left it was prolly a good move as well..

I gi ve the guy some props.. He's done some cool stuff since leaving while Metallica made a horrible collab with Lou Reed and a slightly above mediocre album with Death Magnetic

This. He's far cooler than any of the twats calling themselves Metallica.. With the exception of maybe Trujillo.

[TurboPablo]

Cliff does not approve.


Metallica died when the bus landed him.


Should have been Lars.

[jnurp]

Jave Newstaine.

Christ almighty.

[Reverse Entropy]

It's funny (weird) to me that I like all the bands he's been in, but I don't think of him in any particular way as a bassist. No dis on the guy, he just doesn't make an impression on me as a player. I'm sure that's just me, because I'm weird.

As a bandmate though, I have to say I'd be happy to have someone solid like him. Sure, OK there was drug drama in Metallica - big surprise there - but he was committed, worked his ass off, and doesn't seem to be an egotistical dickhead.

As for Mave - There Can Be Only One.

As for Lars - how much nicer if they'd had to replace Squashed Lars and ended up with someone like Tommy Aldrige.

[Johnny'sGotTheBlues]

Cliff does not approve.


Metallica died when the bus landed him.


Should have been Lars.

Lars as a pavement stain would have been a good thing.

I like people. I really do. You have to be a real douche for me not to like you. Even guys I hate I still like a bit. There's one exception. Lars pus stain Ulrich.

It took 15 seconds of me listening to him talk on the Black Album "Classic Albums" video for me to take a permanent dislike to the guy.

[Axe]

To be fair, anyone replacing Cliff already has two strikes against them. I mean, how the fuck do you fill those shoes? I give him credit for lasting as long as he did.