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Cliff Burton Hype

#61
worldfamousandy said:
As far as tightness, groove, and maturity goes, the best thing ever to happen to Metallica was Rob Trujillo.
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really what Metallica songs does Trujillo groove on *_* and I just want to point out that maturity has nothing to do with someone's ability to play bass and in a metal band one could argue maturity is a negative in this genre :P

sorry I just couldn't resist pointing those out :hiding:
 
#62
these arguments are really dumb
victor wooten can't play a metallica song bbetter than clif because cliff wrote i, and vis versa
saying someone is better than someone else from a different genre is rearted because they don't have things in common.

Cliff burton is the best basist on metallica's first three albums. nuff said
 
#63
i dont really like cliff either and i dont understand the hype =/, in a nut shell, because of the horrible distorted tone he has when he does solos and when he plays up high on the neck, i dont mind steve harris and lemmy and all that lot, cause they just stuck to a nice growly meaty bass tone

but hey thats my opinion!
 
#64
Robert Trujillo
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He looks like a monkey when he plays.

I'm sorry, I just had to put that out there.

In all seriousness though, Robert Trujillo is a good addition to Metallica, and he's a good bassist, though his tone is EXTREMELY ROUGH.

Also, the reason I like cliff so much is because of his influence on the rest of the band, and the fact that for his time, very FEW bassists that played metal were very musically talented. And then there's the fact that he wasn't even at his prime before he died.
 
#65
Gramtron said:
these arguments are really dumb
victor wooten can't play a metallica song bbetter than clif because cliff wrote i, and vis versa
saying someone is better than someone else from a different genre is rearted because they don't have things in common.

Cliff burton is the best basist on metallica's first three albums. nuff said
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Usually I'd agree about the cross genre thing, but I'm sorry to say, you're a fool if you can't see that Wooten is a more talented bassist than Cliff. Despite the different style.
 
#67
DistantTremor said:
And then there's the fact that he wasn't even at his prime before he died.
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Thats a bit of a stupid thing to say. You'll never know when his prime was because he died young. He may have been in his prime when he died, and if he had not passed away his bass playing might of gotten worser and worser in the albums to come. On the other hand it might have gotten better and better. One will never know.
 
#68
Sorry, but one thing greatly anoy me with burton fans, and that is the sentence: "And he wasnt even at his best/prime yet!"

What the hell do you know about that?! Have you seen how the future would have been if he stayed alive? Maby the guy HAD peaked? how DO you know?! And obviously the guy was at his prime, becouse you can not become much better after you are dead, can you now?

Im honestly getting a little tired of this discussion, and that argument in particulary.

To be honest, there were a few other bassists doing the same (and more) at the same time, but they didnt play Thrash Metal, soo.. (Steve Harris as a first, probaly have a much bigger impact on your general metal player than Burton.. And my belief was confirmed that Dimaio of Manowar were earlier than Burton too.)

WAIT! WAIT! We got one: Frank Bello of Anthrax, much more audiable than Burton, and probaly one of the first to do a slap solo in a thrash metal song (Anti-social). hes severly underrated when you see what Burton gets, is the problem that Bello still are alive?
 
#69
And obviously the guy was at his prime, becouse you can not become much better after you are dead, can you now?
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That is the most ****ed and honest thing I've ever heard about a dead musician.

But yeah I mean, I am pretty sure that the Burton hype is just that, hype. That's he's just an okay bass player. I wanted to make sure there wasn't something I knew about before I actually set my opinion on him.
 
#70
I think Victor Wooten would find any Metallica song pretty easy to play regardless of style, technique, and the original composer of the song. There's a reason why novice musicians learn Metallica when they first start out. If they want to play something a little heavier and faster, they learn Metallica. Metallica isn't exactly complicated or difficult to play. Normally I would also agree with not comparing musicians across genres and styles but it doesn't apply for Victor Wooten and Metallica. It would apply to comparing Victor Wooten and Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse though. I would never compare those two musicians because it's comparing apples and oranges.
 
#71
MyUsernameHere said:
Dude, I'm not even that big of a Metalica fan but back when they came out that s#$t was a revelation. I'm not trying to be condescending when I say this...you're just not old enough to understand what type of impact their music really had at the time.
Its kind of like when Nirvana got big. The whole music scene changed almost overnight. Every thrash, black and death metal band you hear today is either influenced directly by what they did or influenced by a band that was.

Also, keep in mind that at that time metal wasn't nearly as palatable as it is today. They built themselves up to the point where they were selling t-shirts in freaking Sears when And Justice For All came out with virtually no radio play.

Give him some props. He is considered good because every song he played on, whether he shined in it or not, was part of a revaluation or sorts. It also doesn't hurt that he died in such a f&*#ed up way.
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Totally agree. It went from Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister to Ride the Lightening(Metallica). **** just changed overnight.
 
#75
Thunder_Fingers said:
Burton did the works, but noway he revolunized (is that a word?) the metal bassists, they still mostly follow the guitars or play straight root notes.
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I had to comment on this. I do not care for the bassets you describe there. There is so much more to the bass then mere 'back up' to the guitarist. I am of the opinion that without the bass player there is no band. They are the backbone and they rarely get any attention for it IMO. A song interests me when the bass player is doing his own thing and not following the guitar like a lost puppy. The diversity between what the guitar is playing and what the bass is playing can make or break a song I feel.

That being said, what do I think of Burton? Funny I have been listening to Metallica straight now for a good week and am listening to Master of Puppets (CD) right now. Burton is ok..he was a presence in their early work not the background bass sound. Was he some uber awesome player? I think he was average but what makes him stand out was I don't think he was afraid to try things on a bass even with his 'average' talent that others at that time wouldn't think of. His willingness to stretch the envelop on what you could and couldn't do on a bass (should and shouldn't do) compensated for any lack of above average talent. Hope that made sense.
 
#77
JOHNNY CHINGAS said:
Totally agree. It went from Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister to Ride the Lightening(Metallica). **** just changed overnight.
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Uhhh, no. No, that's not right.

Kids chewing bubble gum in 1983-84 were digging Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister. The big kids were listening to Manowar, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Venom, Sabbath, Judas Priest, Celtic Frost, etc., etc. Metallica was part of the underground metal tradition who made a couple of kick ass albums, scored big with metalheads everywhere, hit critical mass, and went big with AJFA and the One video. They were riding a wave. It did not happen overnight, unless you slept for 3-4 years. They got very lucky. Not to diminish their talents at all, but there are many unlucky and very talented musicians out there. They're great, I loved them then, but they're not geniuses.
 
#78
BillMason said:
Metalheads knew who Manowar and Talas were in the early 80s, before Kill Em All was released. Maybe not the AC-DC variety of metal heads, but the real metalheads knew who they were.
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I don't know anyone who ever heard of Talas untill the train wreck that was Mr Big arived on the scene. As far as Manowar. Are you refering to the "true" metal heads who dressed like gay bikers?
 
#80
why do people think because something is more difficult to play it is some how better?cliff is cliff and people like cliff because he was who he was.i like cliff.i don't like wooten i'm not saying he's bad.just not my scene,and yes i have heard him (bass player curiousity)i remember some "amazing grace" harmonic thing,again not my scene.people love wooten for who he is.their bass playing is only part of the equation. sometimes taste is more important than skill.i would rather hear an OK band do a great song than a great band do an OK song.i dont think cliff could sound like wooten even if he tried,but i dont think wooten could sound like cliff either.it not a contest no one is "better".some people even like trujilio.?i mean pete wentz has a bass?somebody out there must like him.what make one persons music more "serious" than someone else's.its all taste.i only like the Metallica records with cliff.but thats just my taste.have your own.
we as musicians sometimes forget how to enjoy music.
 

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