Jason Newsted

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Jason Newsted
Born March 04, 1963 (age 44)
in Battle Creek, Michigan
Genre(s) Heavy metal
Thrash metal
Hard rock
Alternative Rock
Pop Rock
Affiliation(s) Flotsam and Jetsam
Metallica
Papa Wheelie
Voivod
Echobrain
Rock Star Supernova
Years active 1982 - present

Jason Curtis Newsted (born 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 a former member of the band Metallica from 1986-2001. He currently resides in Walnut Creek, California.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Jason went to Gull Lake High School in Richland, Michigan, joining Arizona thrashers Flotsam and Jetsam in 1982. Jason left them to join Metallica in 1986 after the tragic death of popular bassist Cliff Burton. Following auditions and 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 coolly: "Want a job?" Jason's first show with Metallica was in Reseda, CA on November 8th, 1986.

After confirming Jason as their new bassist (becoming Metallicas longest serving 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, a 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 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 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. He felt that the hazing never stopped. Many fans who have come to his defence have cited this behaviour among the evidence that he was never fully accepted as an equal member of the band.

He left Metallica in January 2001 and 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. During the bridge, when Hetfield sings, "death greets me warm, now I will just say, goodbye," Jason can be seen waving to the camera at that moment before playing the last few minutes of the song.

Jason Newsted in Some Kind of Monster
Jason Newsted in Some Kind of Monster

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. Kirk Hammett is credited with playing a guest solo on one track ("Suckerpunch"). Jason also admitted that after 15 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 to offend his erstwhile bandmates, but simply as a concerned 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

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 do 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 that he has jokingly referred to as Cookie Monster vocals. 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. In some cases, he even did lead vocals by himself. His backing vocals have been met with both respect and criticism; 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 an "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. During his years with Metallica, Newsted was the bandmember most likely to be backstage connecting with fans before and after shows.

[edit] Rock Star: Supernova

In July 2006 Jason joined the band Supernova. The other band members are Gilby Clarke (guitar), Tommy Lee (drums), and Lukas Rossi (selected by the other members 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 was scheduled for immediate surgery, and was to undergo a lengthy rehabilitation process. The band had chosen Johnny Colt, formerly of The Black Crowes, as a temporary replacement for their upcoming tour ([2]).

[edit] Philanthropy

In 2003, Jason signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. Jason has visited with children in the program and sits on the organization's board of directors as an honorary member.


[edit] Discography


[edit] DVD & Video


 v • d • e Metallica
James Hetfield • Kirk Hammett • Robert Trujillo • Lars Ulrich

Cliff Burton • Dave Mustaine • Ron McGovney • Jason Newsted

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

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

Related articles

Hetfield/Ulrich
Voivod
Snake | Jasonic | Away
Piggy | Eric Forrest | Blacky
Discography
Main albums: War & Pain (1984) | Rrröööaaarrr (1986) | Killing Technology (1987) | Dimension Hatröss (1988) | Nothingface (1989) | Angel Rat (1991) | The Outer Limits (1993) | Negatron (1995) | Phobos (1997) | Voivod (2003) | Katorz (2006)
Other releases: The Best of Voivod (1992) | Kronik (1998) | Voivod Lives (2000)
DVDs: D-V-O-D-1 (2005)
Related articles
Metallica | Flotsam and Jetsam | Music of Quebec | Progressive metal | Thrash metal
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[edit] References

    [edit] External links

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