Before his untimely passing in 1986, Cliff Burton was more than just Metallica’s bass player. He was a core part of the band’s songwriting team as it began its ascent toward world-conquering success.
Continuing without him, as Metallica did with Flotsam and Jetsam bassist Jason Newsted, was never going to be easy. And the fact that the band’s first album since Burton’s death was so bereft of bass that its mix remains a major talking point in metal more than three decades later shows just how controversial that decision was. Steve Thompson, who mixed the record, says the band was “stupid” to do so.
On Metallica’s three Burton-era albums — Kill ’Em All, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets — his modified Rickenbacker 4001 and Aria Pro II SB-1000 basses were ever-present in the mix, rattling like a runaway freight train. On 1988’s …And Justice for All, meanwhile, Newsted’s bass was barely noticeable.
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In 2024, the album’s producer, Flemming Rasmussen, suggested that the band originally lowered Newsted’s prominence in the mix as a way of testing his steel. The bassist has since said he was “fucking livid” when he first heard the final mix.
Thompson, appearing recently on the Appetite for Distortion YouTube channel, has continued to criticize the band’s decision.
“When I worked with Metallica, I thought they were the best at what they did,” he begins. “I absolutely loved them.
“Our philosophies were different, though,” he adds. “I believed in bass and [Lars Ulrich, drums] didn’t. And when we did …And Justice for All, I got nailed for why there’s no bass in the mix.”
Eager to clear his name, Thompson pushed back against the band, pinning the bass-light mix on James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett.
“This is what they wanted,” he says. “I fought hard, but at the end of the day, it’s their record. If that’s what they want, that’s what you have to give them. I didn’t agree with them.
“I thought it was stupid because Jason’s bass parts were a great marriage with Hetfield’s rhythm guitars — perfect. But you know, it is what it is.”
Notably, two YouTube videos remixing the album with a more prominent low end have clocked up more than 13 million views between them. Rob Scallon’s tongue-in-cheek …And Justice For Bass video, which sees him covering some of the album’s most iconic moments exclusively on bass guitars, has three million views. Clearly, there remains an appetite for the original mix to be rectified.
It’s worth noting that most of Metallica’s albums have since been remastered as part of deluxe reissues. The original mixes were preserved in all those cases.
Hammett once confessed that, as the band grieved Burton’s passing, Newsted became a “punching bag,” and expressed remorse over his treatment of the bassist. The two have continued to have a good relationship in the years since Newsted left the band.
Yet Hetfield has also gone on record to defend the record’s mix, offering his own explanation.
“The bass was obscured for two reasons,” he once told Guitar World. “First, Jason tended to double my rhythm guitar parts, so it was hard to tell where my guitar started and his bass left off. Also, my tone on Justice was very scooped — all lows and highs, with very little midrange.
“When my rhythm parts were placed in the mix, my guitar sound ate up all the lower frequencies. Jason and I were always battling for the same space in the mix.”
Meanwhile, with Megadeth set to retire, Dave Mustaine has said these bands could make up a whole new thrash metal four.
