Lars Ulrich... How dare he!

[mazdah]

Typical drummer
When we were mixing an album ALL the drummer was interested about was HIS DRUMS SOUND.
The same thing I had "two bands ago".

Some people just can't accept the fact that they are IN THE BAND and they are working for the sound of the WHOLE band

 

[hintz]

Try this.

the way it should've sounded, I just listened to the whole thing, it was like hearing "justice" for the 1st time, got Goosebumps and everything, newsted is a badass, Lars sucks, end of story, if this is for sale anywhere, I'm buying it(lost my copy of AJFA)

Yup. If you watch any documentaries on them, video footage from that time shows they were neither too keen on getting a new bassist or with him as an excited young guy joining his favorite band.

the sad thing is Jason isn't much younger than James or Lars, maybe a few years IIRC, nobody should be treated like that in any band, I hope karma gets those guys good...a drummer friend sent me a link to this today, makes me mad, but doesn't surprise me, Lars is a damn tool!!

 

[sifi76]

the way it should've sounded, I just listened to the whole thing, it was like hearing "justice" for the 1st time, got Goosebumps and everything, newsted is a badass, Lars sucks, end of story, if this is for sale anywhere, I'm buying it(lost my copy of AJFA)


the sad thing is Jason isn't much younger than James or Lars, maybe a few years IIRC, nobody should be treated like that in any band, I hope karma gets those guys good...a drummer friend sent me a link to this today, makes me mad, but doesn't surprise me, Lars is a damn tool!!

I still remember that tool talking in modern drummer magazine after justice came out, blithering about his 'signature' sound on the album.. sure, if you count signature being a trashcan and and pot lids.. the dude had top notch tama gear too at the time, and that's the best he could do.. not even the double kick in one's outro can save that terrible mix

 

[peledog]

I always thought the sound was 'thin'. Then when the black album came out, and tons of folks were screaming 'sellout!' - I actually enjoyed the mix because you could hear the bass. Then 'Load' came out and I was done with Metallica for good.

 

[ashtray]

I was big in to Metallica before AJFA came out. I thought it was a little odd that this "underground" (ok, not really but NOT mainstream) band suddenly had a video on MTV. The early albums had this completely raw sound - like they stuck a mic in a garage and just captured everything as is. AJFA sounded like they spent some time in the studio. I remember is sounding more "digital".

Black album was the first I didn't buy - listened to it and was not a fan. Then all these teenage girls started liking Metallica and it was over for me. Anyone remember the T-shirts with "metal up your __", and I think there was a MOP one too. Even the AJFA t-shirts were heavy. (told my parents it was a Halloween thing - hahaha)

I think the band would have dissolved had they not gone mainstream. The money and fame kept them together I feel. Can't fault them too much either - Seattle grunge was taking over. Was nice to hear more guitar stuff on the radio after the 80's synth and pop stuff. Sure was weird when stations tried to dig in to Metallica's older stuff to play on the radio and you'd hear a track from KEA.

 

[Jeff Sarsippius]

What's funny is, while I have been VERY bummed by the albums these guys have churned out the past 25 years, I think that Lars has been the one most likely keeping the band relevant today through his business tactics. MetallicA changed my life; I first heard them in 1985 with Lightning and they blew my mind, then I got Puppets and FUHGEDDABOUDIT (lol): masterpiece.

....Justice to me has Lars's best drum fills....not boring, and seemed like in his own way he was raising the bar for his OWN playing. Notice I stress "own."

I feel regardless of who blames who, the album was released and reached a lot of new people. I am one of those who was shocked by there being no bass in the album, but again, it's MetallicA and I was just glad to hear them again especially with this "Newkid." Too bad they were grieving young men who hazed instead of nurture, and the industry didn't see that but instead saw money.

Scott Ian was pretty LAME for airing dirty laundry about how the band planned to can Lars IMHO; he talks too much and yeah, if Lars is such a jerk to have caused the MOST STRUGGLING BAND (let's be honest there) out of the Big 4's leader to out that, then, wow.

I met Lars in 03 for St. Anger in Osaka Japan, and the man was truly a gentleman: let me in the VIP room at the bar we were in and we drank a lot on his dime: he was definitely in charge with his entourage, but the man was super cool and acted like my time meant a lot to him. I have met msny musicians here, but he, Fishbone, and very recently Jackson Browne were the most accessible and down to earth. Now as a leader....hmm....but many leaders HAVE TO BE ********, don't they?

 

[neurotictim]

I guess I'm the odd man out. Yeah, I definitely prefer the remastered YouTube version - even if it's not terribly exciting, I do like hearing the bass in the mix. And yeah, Lars is a real piece of work. But I literally grew up listening to Metallica (and Megadeth and Iron Maiden, you get the idea), and I was about 12 years old when Black came out. That was my first experience with a band "selling out", and I was sorely disappointed. But with Load and ReLoad, I actually like those albums for the most part. I don't think of it as "Metallica" - more like a different band with the same members of Metallica. St. Anger was just plain bad. Death Magnetic is actually pretty good.

I dunno, I don't feel like they're a "take it or leave it" band. I fall into the majority with MoP and AJFA being the best of the bunch, but I'm not gonna bash the rest purely because it doesn't fit my idea of what Metallica should sound like. :shrug: And fwiw, aside from Dave Mustaine being a bat**** whackadoodle, I prefer Megadeth anyway.

 

[Dave W]

But have you seen the crowds of fans in Europe during the 80's and early 90's? They were headlining and drawing 50,000+ fans even then. When you can put together those kind of numbers record exec's will pony up the money for a tour. And I can testify that at the same time they were selling equal numbers of tickets all over this country. I saw them 10 times on the "Justice" tour alone. East coast, west coast, north, south it was always a monster sold out gig.

That's what sets them apart from all of the other "great" thrash bands.

Sure, Megadeth plays some decent sized shows but they're not all sold out, every night, in every country.

Anthrax, Testament, Slayer, Overkill, Armored Saint, etc. All great bands, but not even close to being on the same level.

I love Metallica, primarily for Hetfield's right hand. My inner guitar player just can't get enough of it. Listening to Disposable Heros gives me chills every time, even after listening to it for almost 30 years.

Justice is probably my favorite album. And I strongly prefer the remixed version. It's sounds so awesome with all that distorted bass. I love it.

 

[Tonfifty]

This may be of interest to readers of this thread: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I have a newbie question; if Metallica/Lars relented and decided to re-release AJFA (one of my faves from them), would it be possible to restore the bass, or is it gonefor good and would need to be re-recorded?

 

[mattattack187]

Jason was the right guy for the band, he was just there at the wrong time. He was the scapegoat for their grieving of Cliff and would never be accepted as his replacement. Luckily he was able to record on one of the best selling albums to this date.

 

[mattattack187]

They made the right call dropping him out of the mix. So many of those iconic riffs and fills, like in AJFA the song just turn to mush and Jason had no idea what to play for them. Listen to One on that AJF Jason video, the bass part is terrible and it's this wide open clean tone Bm to G progression lots of us could have a field day with. Jason was fast, but he didn't know how to write. When he wasn't exactly doubling the guitars, he had no idea what to play. That said, Shortest Straw sounds awesome with the bass.

I just think that album had some pretty tight guitars and is almost iconic just for its sonic landscape. First album I ever heard sound like jackhammers.

I wouldn't say he had no idea what to play. In interviews Jason said it was just him and the engineer in the room when he recorded bass. Nobody in there to produce him or offer suggestions or direction. Being his first album with the band and not having Lars or James in the room with him, he was probably apprehensive and didn't want to do anything to mess up. Look at the drastic change when Bob Rock came in. He did a hell of a job producing Jason and getting Bass in the mix.

 

[e.rich]

I guess I'm the odd man out. Yeah, I definitely prefer the remastered YouTube version - even if it's not terribly exciting, I do like hearing the bass in the mix. And yeah, Lars is a real piece of work. But I literally grew up listening to Metallica (and Megadeth and Iron Maiden, you get the idea), and I was about 12 years old when Black came out. That was my first experience with a band "selling out", and I was sorely disappointed. But with Load and ReLoad, I actually like those albums for the most part. I don't think of it as "Metallica" - more like a different band with the same members of Metallica. St. Anger was just plain bad. Death Magnetic is actually pretty good.

I dunno, I don't feel like they're a "take it or leave it" band. I fall into the majority with MoP and AJFA being the best of the bunch, but I'm not gonna bash the rest purely because it doesn't fit my idea of what Metallica should sound like. :shrug: And fwiw, aside from Dave Mustaine being a bat**** whackadoodle, I prefer Megadeth anyway.

I kind of like the bass-enhanced versions as well, and generally speaking, I'm not a huge fan of going back and messing with the OG versions. Case in point, the 20th anniversary release of Vulgar display of Power...interesting but ultimately, I prefer the original. Ditto on Pearl Jam's 10.

Lars may suffer from epic douchebaggery and all that but collectively, they're still outstanding live. I grabbed some tickets that freed up at the last minute on the Death Magnetic tour. We were about 10 feet from the stage, and they killed it for the better part of two and a half hours.

 

[DwaynieAD]

Why I the internet acting like this is news?

 

[AdamR]

This may be of interest to readers of this thread: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I have a newbie question; if Metallica/Lars relented and decided to re-release AJFA (one of my faves from them), would it be possible to restore the bass, or is it gone for good and would need to be re-recorded?

AJFA has always been my favorite Metallica album song wise. Its even better with the bass pushed up in the mix.

 

[ImNotJoel]

No, no...I mean Lars. LARS!!!

I am so sorry I never said I was smart! Let's forget that happened lol.

 

[danosix]

I completely respect your opinion, and you have every right to feel how you do about him. Maybe a sad fact of human existence is that the most successful people are almost always colossal ********. Even in 'Cliff 'Em All' it was clear that Lars was the Alpha Dog in the group. I never watched 'Some Kind of Monster', I gave up on Metallica when they became an STP cover band and I haven't looked back. (Before anybody says anything, I like STP very much, but I don't want them to sound like Metallica, and I don't want Metallica to sound like them). I am still a devoted fan of early Metallica and listen to it almost daily. Cliff Burton was the musician that made me want to learn the bass. Today I wonder why it took me nearly 30 years to give it a try.

I remember when the "new sound" came out post STP and that's exactly what I said - I was practically thrown out of the house by my band members and friends for having the audacity to say that Metallica - by then an iconic band (I recognized this despite not being a fan) - would have don better to stay themselves than some fake "grunge" band.
I was clearly in the minority when I said that (at least in that room), of course, years later my friends listen to OLD Metallica....

 

[danosix]

Did Pink Floyd or The Stones switch to playing disco just because it was wildly popular once upon a time?

Ahem {Emotional Rescue}... coughing sound.

 

[bolophonic]

Why has the lack of bass on AJFA become such a... known thing? There's so many albums with no bass, why do people pick on that one?

Because it should have been full of bass. How do you even come up with these questions?

 

[sotua]

I'm just wanna point out that "And Justice for Jason" is not the same as "Enhanced original bass AJFA". I see lots of people make this mistake. If you got the full album with bigger bass, it's a fan recording over the album. IIRC, there are only three or four songs from AJFA in the Rockband game, and that's how the internet got hold of the original bass tracks to push up.

And enhanced bass AJFA sounds millions of times better than the originals. All that dry bassless clinical sound versus that face melting in your face punch. Does it matter it's mostly doubling the guitars? Nope. It still anchors and deepens the sound, gives it a rawness that the super processed guitars lack, and gives it low end, much needed since Lars' bass drums sound "click" instead of "thump".

There are also enhanced bass versions of songs played by Cliff. Turns out RTL also sounds better with enhanced bass instead of being barely there.

 

[fenderbassman40]

Cough cough "Miss You" cough cough