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Why so much Cliff Burton's "hate"?

S

Seba_H5001

Guest
Jul 15, 2012
50
1
#1
Well, I really like Metallica early stuff and Cliff's (RIP) playing, but I realize there are a lot of haters out there, like "bass is not meant to be played like that", "only 14 years old like Cliff" (which I am :D ) or some say he's overrated and more BS, or people just don't give a **** about his playing, not like about other players. So that, regards :)
 
#2
It's not so much as "hate", but more like he doesn't deserve the kind of godly praise he gets.

I too had my time when he was the greatest bassist ever and wanted to play like him, but i eventually grew out of it by listening to more and different music.

He was good for metallica and an important part of their first 3 albums, but he is definitely overrated.
 
#3
He gets pretty decent love here by a number of people. I'd even personally say he was one of the three guys that really got me into bass (the other two being Steve Harris of Iron Maiden and John Taylor of Duran Duran [yeah, figure that out!]), but he is a bit overrated. I outgrew him about a year or so after I really got into bass.
 
#4
Well you know when young artists die tragically there is a tendency to overstate their legacy. I'm not saying Cliff Burton wasn't talented - he was. But I also agree that he is not in my top 10. Perhaps not even top 20.

Still though, such a shame what happened to him.
 
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#7
well, hard rock and metal are great when you're in high school but one does tire of that sort of thing. for many of us it's something we grew out of years ago, like old clothes or hair styles, and it can seem a bit silly in retrospect. as we age we come to appreciate subtlety more, and suddenly "What's Going On" is considerably more thrilling than "Call of Cthulhu".
 
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#8
I dunno. I love early metallica. I will listen to anything up to the black album. And, yes, I know that was quite a while after Cliff's death. He was a knowledgeable musician and was very important in establishing that bands legacy... However, I was never impressed with his bass playing. It's obviously a great expression of musical knowledge. But it never sounded or felt right for the instrument. It worked in the music but it never felt like he played to the strengths of the instrument. If that makes sense. Steve Harris on the other hand... Now HE is a ****ing metal BASSIST.
 
#9
I truly respect Cliff as a bass player and he was great before his demise (Metallica, not so much after), however, he's not the first person I site as an recurring influence since my beginnings, I go back and spin those first few albums for nostalgia but, that's it. Influences like Geddy Lee, Phil Lynnot, Steve Harris, Roger Waters, Mike Levine and Richard "Groove" Holmes (ok, he's not a bass player but, he could play the bass pedals on an organ like nobodys business...) so on during the 80's really pushed me above and beyond that initial threshold of infatuation.
 
#11
IronLung1986 said:
well, hard rock and metal are great when you're in high school but one does tire of that sort of thing. for many of us it's something we grew out of years ago, like old clothes or hair styles, and it can seem a bit silly in retrospect. as we age we come to appreciate subtlety more, and suddenly "What's Going On" is considerably more thrilling than "Call of Cthulhu".
Click to expand...

Respectfully disagree. I'm 44 this year and still like to crank some of that old late 70's early 80's rock/metal that I loved as a kid. Yes, my tastes are far more rich and varied these days, but I've never 'outgrown' the desire to play 'Reign In Blood' at full volume. It's just that these days, I have to make sure my daughter is not around to hear such filth :)

As for Cliff Burton. Good player, but not great IMO....but as JimmyM said, he was in Metallica and I wasn't.
 
#12
IronLung1986 said:
well, hard rock and metal are great when you're in high school but one does tire of that sort of thing. for many of us it's something we grew out of years ago, like old clothes or hair styles, and it can seem a bit silly in retrospect. as we age we come to appreciate subtlety more, and suddenly "What's Going On" is considerably more thrilling than "Call of Cthulhu".
Click to expand...

i appreciated both call of cthulhu and what's going on when i was in high school and i haven't "outgrown" either. i also don't understand hating on a player. music isn't a sport, there are no scores or stats to compare one player to another. if someone's work speaks to you, then appreciate it. if it doesn't then thats cool too, but maybe you, as the listener, need to find what they are saying. i think cliff was a great player for metallica. i don't know how he would have done playing what's going on, just as i have no clue how jamerson would have done playing call of cthulhu. why limit one's listening to one or the other?

maybe thats just me; i still have the same hair style as i did in highschool.
 
#13
Tituscrow said:
Respectfully disagree. I'm 44 this year and still like to crank some of that old late 70's early 80's rock/metal that I loved as a kid. Yes, my tastes are far more rich and varied these days, but I've never 'outgrown' the desire to play 'Reign In Blood' at full volume. It's just that these days, I have to make sure my daughter is not around to hear such filth :)

As for Cliff Burton. Good player, but not great IMO....but as JimmyM said, he was in Metallica and I wasn't.
Click to expand...

I'm 45 and relate completely to what you are saying. I'll happily go from dance music to jazz to classical to old school metal. For me and my tastes at least, Iron Maiden has survived the test of time a bit better than old Metallica.
 
#14
IronLung1986 said:
well, hard rock and metal are great when you're in high school but one does tire of that sort of thing. for many of us it's something we grew out of years ago, like old clothes or hair styles, and it can seem a bit silly in retrospect. as we age we come to appreciate subtlety more, and suddenly "What's Going On" is considerably more thrilling than "Call of Cthulhu".
Click to expand...

I just turned 30 and I still listen to metal music but my taste of metal greatly changed. Blotted Science, Necrophagist, Behemoth, Quo Vadis, Beyond Creation and Spawn Of Possession have all almost dayly play. But I had my jazz phase and I'm also a lot into classical music for the past 10 years.
 
#15
Metallica while good during the first 3 album went downhill very very fast. If it wasn't for Cliff it wouldn't have been interesting at all to me like most 70's 80's metal.

My biggest complain again Cliff is he started that put some overdrive/distortion/fuzz on the bass and let's it totally disapear from the mix !!! Between that and the dreaded "follow the guitar" there is no chance you can hear the bass nor does it help seeing metal bass as a legitimate art. Nowaday you have many bass player who use fretless without that dreaded overdrive/distortion/fuzz and doesn,t follow the guitar !!! finally something interesting.
 
#20
Got to see him live when Metallica opened for Ozzy. I did like Metallica up till master. I think Cliff was great for what he was good player great on stage good songwriter and brought a kind of street punk feel to the metal Metallica was playing he was the band back then i do not think Metallica would have been as big as they got if Cliff never died " Kind of Paul dianno /Maiden thing" But none the less Good solid bass player but more of a well rounded musician with a vision of what he wanted Metallica to be they lost that when they lost Cliff .
 

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