Cliff Burton mystery solved

In the biography "To Live Is to Die" page 111 John Marshall, Cliffs bass tech in 1984

“John describes some of Cliffs onstage gear 'He used to like getting different sounds: the Power Wah Fuzz was his thing and he had a red compressor that he used on the solo.'"

 

No disrespect meant to the op, but seriously, does anyone really care about Cliff Burton anymore? I mean, the dude played decent bass on three albums in the 80's. Nothing groundbreaking. Pretty much note for note copy of the guitar riffs. Would we be talking about this guy if he hadn't been tragically killed? I say probably not.

 

I've personally never been drawn to Burton or Metallica, but I know some bassists who look up to Burton sorta like how folks look up to Jaco, especially re: Burton's solos

 

I loved Metallica back when they were relevant (83-87) but never saw Burton as anything special. I hear you about those solos.... I personally was never all that blown away by them. I agree people are giving him the Jaco treatment, but man, at least Jaco deserved it (and I am not a fan of his either, but I can recognize his genius). Anyhow, diffrent strokes I guess. Apologies for derailing thread.

 

Did anybody ever consider the fact that all their gear except the guitars got stolen in January 1984. What if Cliff replaced his stolen PWF with a PWB? That would explain this too.

 

Burton was one of the first bassist I heard using effects within the context of extreme music, especially contributing to music that was new at the time. He was ahead of the curve and had to use guitar pedals for his effects. The note for note copy of the guitar riffs were actually riffs he wrote or contributed to. His speed and dexterity was pushing the bass forward progressively. What really sold me was the non-traditional basslines. For yrs I didn't realize the solo in Orion, not the bass break, was a "bass". "Anesthesia" further proves the point. So much of why Metallica was good was because of him and meh without him. I have moved on and It does get old seeing Burton's tone being chased, effects, etc. I even get bored of Jaco, Victor, or whoever. But, Cliff does inspire new bassists and there's always a younger gen that will discover guys like Burton when they get bored of the norm.

 

Not really much truth to what you say.

Would what Cliff Burton did be as ground breaking as it was back then if he had done it today?

Not really, but the same can be said about a lot of the other guys who are still considered bass icons and legends.

At the time he did it though it was unique and innovative and the influence it had on contemporary as well as future bass players can not be denied, which is why it is still relevant.

As already said a lot of the guitar riffs you claim he copied note for note he actually wrote himself, also did some incredible bass solo work at a time where that was kind of unheard within the genre he played.

Would he had been considered a legendary bass player on the same level had he not been killed?

Really hard to say, perhaps not, but really one can only speculate about where he would have been today career and skill wise had he not been killed.

Under all circumstances as I already said, the influence his play have had on other musicians can not be denied.

Just as an example to put things a bit in perspective:

Would Thomas Edison had been considered a genius inventor had he lived today and done the same stuff as he did while he lived?

Most definitely not, I mean I am by no means a genius with electronics, and I could probably make a light bulb if I wanted to.

Was he a genius inventor at the time he did live and invented some groundbreaking stuff that was the foundation of many great future inventions that wouldn't have been invented without his work?

Most definitely!

Which is why he deserves his recognition and is still relevant.

Because of the impact and influence his work had and still have.

 

Yes, we would. He was a legend before he died. He broke the mold then..... and was worshipped before the accident.

 

What?
Here you go.



I'm too lazy to link part 2 of that video.

 

Sweeping statements are dumb. Folks tend to learn that in their teenage years

Anyways, I'll provide evidence since you can't provide burden of proof to provide your claim.



PS - I'm not a cliff fan, I just hate stupid comments.

 

Something to keep in mind when discussing Burton is that he was dead by 24, in 1986.
Extrapolate what you will regarding Metallica, effect usage in metal bass, metal bassists or whatever else... just do keep it in mind.

 

I have an amp with a crazy amount of gain for two reasons -

Motörhead

Anesthesia:



no, I don't want a fuzz pedal

 

He used the PFW to record pulling teeth and kill em all but switched tot he pwb around ride and master