Jason Newsted

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jason Newsted during Metallica's S&M performance
Enlarge
Jason Newsted during Metallica's S&M performance

Jason Curtis Newsted (b. March 4, 1963, Battle Creek, Michigan) is an American bass guitarist currently a member of Voivod and Rock Star Supernova, but is best known as the former member of the band Metallica from 1986-2001. He currently resides in Walnut Creek, California.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Jason left his previous band, Flotsam and Jetsam to join Metallica in 1986 after the tragic death of popular bassist Cliff Burton.

During an evening of drinking, the three members of Metallica: James Hetfield, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and drummer Lars Ulrich reportedly came to a decision in the restroom of "Tommy's Joynt" in San Francisco amid the urinals, and upon their return to the bar asked Jason to join Metallica. It was Ulrich who asked Newsted cooly: "Want a job?"

After confirming Jason as their new bassist, Metallica constructed a cheap studio in Ulrich's garage in order to acclimate Jason to Metallica. In this studio, the band quickly recorded an album consisting completely of cover songs called The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited, an homage to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands that influenced them. Jason was often referred to by the nickname "Jason Newkid" and in autograph sessions Jason would sign his name and add "Bassface" below, often having the B marked out by one of the other band members.

In 1988, the band recorded ...And Justice for All, Jason's official debut with Metallica. While the album contains classic Metallica songs such as Blackened (which Jason co-wrote), One, and Harvester of Sorrow, the bass guitar is all but non-existent, buried under layer upon layer of Hetfield's rhythm guitar tracks. Only a trained ear can make out many of the parts, although this can also be partially attributed to Jason's doubling of Hetfield's rhythm guitar parts (drummer Ulrich has challenged fans to find any instance in any song on the album in which Jason is not doubling the rhythm parts).

Jason withstood an ongoing series of practical jokes during the mammoth two-year Damaged Justice tour supporting ... Justice .... Some of his hazing experiences would include: being tricked into eating wasabi, the band members ordering alcoholic drinks and charging it to his hotel room and, mentioned during the 2001 Playboy interview ([1]), having his personal belongings getting thrown out of his hotel window. He said the hazing went from fraternity pranks (such as the autograph sessions mentioned above) to being downright cruel with turning down the bass in ...And Justice for All as an example. He felt that the hazing never stopped. Many fans who have come to his defense have cited this behavior among the evidence that he was never fully accepted as an equal member of the band.

He left Metallica in January 2001. He joined the Canadian metal band Voivod in 2002. The last song Jason played with Metallica was Fade to Black at the VH1 Music Awards and he knew at the time that it was going to be the last song he would play with the band.

In the film Some Kind of Monster, Newsted claimed that he left Metallica because of James Hetfield's controlling desire to keep everyone in Metallica and out of side projects (specifically Echobrain, which Newsted desired to release an album and tour with). Ironically, in Echobrain's self-titled debut album, Kirk Hammett is credited with playing a solo on one track ("Suckerpunch"), without consequence from Hetfield. Jason also admitted that after 13 years, he still felt that his bandmates had not accepted him as an equal to his predecessor, Cliff Burton. He also said that the band's decision to hire a psychologist was, "really fucking lame. And weak."

In 2003, Metallica picked former Ozzy Osbourne and Suicidal Tendencies bassist Robert Trujillo as Newsted's replacement. Jason was very happy with the decision Metallica made and in a bizarre twist, Ozzy immediately chose Jason to replace Rob for Ozzfest 2003. Following the end of Ozzfest, Jason left Ozzy's band to concentrate on his work with Voivod. Even though he isn't 100% happy with his relationship with Metallica, they are on better terms than they were immediately after his departure. He has said, "I'll be right there [at the concerts] cheering them on" on MTV Icon. However, after finding out the line up for the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, Newsted criticized Metallica for touring with nu-metal bands such as Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit, stating that they were only doing that to get stadiums full. He also noted that he wasn't saying that as the hurt former member, but as a fan. He briefly criticized the production of post-Newsted album St. Anger as well, to which Hetfield has responded that "he's just a voice among many."

In most recent news, Jason Newsted joined Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke to form Rock Star Supernova, a band that finalized its member lineup by selecting a lead singer in the competition style reality television show Rock Star. Supernova's first album is to be released just before the new band hits the road in 2007.

[edit] Style

Like Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead and many bassists in the Rock and Metal genres of music, Newsted favors playing pickstyle instead of his fingers. In Metallica's documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica he explained that while learning to play his first bass he had no amp. To make the sound audible, he played with a pick and used a very heavy downstroke that physically starts from his shoulder ("the movement comes from the shoulder and involves the whole arm" - Bass Player magazine Sept/Oct 1991) and not his wrist (as does most other pickstyle players), which led to not only his unique tone and sound but a strength and consistency in his right-hand picking technique which leads to Jason hitting the strings at the exact same area on every single stroke (Bass Player magazine Sept/Oct 1991).

However, Newsted does use his fingers on occasion. The videos for One, King Nothing and Nothing Else Matters show Jason using his fingers, and he also plays with his fingers on the fretless acoustic bass used for "The Unforgiven" from the aforementioned film.

In addition to this, the video for the song The Memory Remains shows Jason playing fingerstyle and occasionally slapping his bass. Also, on the live DVD S&M, Jason can be seen playing fingerstyle on the song - (Minus) Human, which was written a few years before the DVD was out on the street but previously unreleased (as well as No Leaf Clover). More recently he played fingerstyle while performing some of the Supernova original songs while on Rock Star Supernova.

He is also known for his deep and throaty singing style. While in Metallica, he provided backing vocals to Hetfield and would even take entire verses from Seek & Destroy, Whiplash, and Creeping Death for himself to give Hetfield's voice a rest. His backing vocals have been met with both respect and criticism from fans; the respecting fans often cite this as one of the aspects of his departure from Metallica that is most missed.

Newsted is also noted for his energetic stage presence. Once described by Lars as a "energy bomb-of-a-person", Newsted would frequently run on stage, and headbang. He has stated in interviews that during some shows he would "Jack up his neck pretty bad" and "couldn't play for a few minutes." He has since attempted to remedy this problem by using lighter basses and Newsted occasionally headbangs to this day, years after leaving Metallica.

[edit] Rock Star: Supernova

In July 2006 Jason joined the band Rock Star Supernova. The other band members are Gilby Clarke (guitar), and Tommy Lee (drums). The band selected Lukas Rossi to be their lead singer on September 13, 2006 on the television show Rock Star: Supernova.

On October 23, 2006 Newsted injured his shoulder while attempting to catch a falling bass amp head. He is scheduled for immediate surgery, and will then undergo a lengthy rehab process that could detain him for up to nine months. The band has chosen Johnny Colt, formerly of The Black Crowes, as a temporary replacement for their upcoming tour ([2]).

[edit] Discography

[edit] DVD & Video

Metallica
Members
James Hetfield - Kirk Hammett - Robert Trujillo - Lars Ulrich
Former members: Cliff Burton - Dave Mustaine - Ron McGovney - Jason Newsted
Discography
Albums and extended plays: No Life 'Til Leather - Kill 'Em All - Ride the Lightning - Master of Puppets - Garage Days Re-Revisited - ...And Justice for All - Metallica - Load - ReLoad - Garage Inc. - S&M - St. Anger - Some Kind of Monster - Ninth studio album
Videography
DVDs and videos: Cliff 'em All - 2 of One - A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica - Live Shit: Binge & Purge - Cunning Stunts - S&M - Classic Albums: Metallica - The Black Album - Some Kind of Monster - The Videos 1989-2004
This box: view • talk • edit

[edit] References

    [edit] External links

    Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../j/a/s/Jason_Newsted_9144.html"