Jason Newsted

Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan) is an American bass guitarist currently a member of Voivod, but is best known as a former member of the metal band Metallica. He currently resides in Walnut Creek, California.

Biography

Jason left his previous band, Flotsam and Jetsam to join Metallica in 1986 after the tragic death of popular bassist Cliff Burton. According to Metallica vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield, auditions for Cliff's replacement were held the day following his funeral, as their popularity was at an all time high having just released Master of Puppets.

During an evening of drinking, the three members of Metallica: Hetfield, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and drummer Lars Ulrich reportedly came to a decision in the bar's restroom amongst the urinals, and upon their return to the bar asked Jason to join Metallica. It was Ulrich who asked Newsted coolly: "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 Days Re-Revisited|The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited" target="_blank" >^*, 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 (with a 1989 release), the band recorded ...And Justice for All, Jason's official debut with Metallica. While the album contains classic Metallica songs such as "Blackened, "One," and "Harvester of Sorrow", the production quality is generally regarded as sub-par compared to their previous (and, ironically, their following) albums. In particular the bass guitar is all but non-existent, buried under layer upon layer of Hetfield's rhythm guitar tracks. It can be felt but hardly heard, 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 tour supporting ... Justice .... Some of his hazing experiences would include: being tricked into eating intensely hot foods, the band members ordering alcoholic drinks and charging it to his hotel room and, mentioned during the 2001 ^*Playboy interview, 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 citing "... the physical damage I've done to myself playing the music I love". He joined the Canadian metal band Voivod in 2002. The last song Jason played with Metallica was "Fade to Black," and he knew at the time that it was going to be the last song he would play with the band. Reportedly, the song is of great sentimental value to him, even though it was written before he joined Metallica.

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 the concerts cheering them on" on MTV Icon. However, after finding out the line up for the 2003 Summer Sanitarium tour, Newsted criticized Metallica for touring with pop-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 St. Anger as well, to which Hetfield has responded that "he's just a voice among many."

In most recent news, Jason Newsted has joined Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke to form Supernova, a band that will finalize its member lineup by retaining 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.

Style

Like Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Newsted favors playing with a pick 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, which led to his unique tone and sound. Newsted does use his fingers on occasion. The videos for "One" 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 finger-picking and occasionally slapping his bass. Also, on the live DVD S&M, Jason can be seen using his fingers on the song -Human, which was written exclusively for the said DVD.

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 "human ball of energy", Newsted would frequently run on stage, and headbang. He has stated in interviews that during some shows he would "fuck up his neck pretty bad" and "couldn't play for a few minutes" and mentioned that part of his decision to leave Metallica was due to strained cartilage from his immense headbanging. This is the first noted case of permanent damage from the action. He has since attempted to remedy this problem by using lighter basses and Newsted occasionally headbangs to this day, years after he left Metallica.

Rock Star: Supernova

In July 2006 Jason joined the band Supernova that is seeking a singer for the new band. The other band members are Gilby Clarke (guitar), and Tommy Lee (drums). Supernova airs on CBS on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Discography

Flotsam and Jetsam
- 1986 Doomsday for the Deceiver
Metallica
- 1987 Garage Days Re-Revisited
- 1988 ...And Justice for All
- 1991 Metallica
- 1993 Binge & Purge
- 1996 Load
- 1997 Reload
- 1998 Garage Inc.
- 1999 S&M
Sepultura
- 1998 Against (guest)
UNKLE
- 1998 Psyence Fiction (guest)
Voivod
- 2003 Voivod
- 2006 Katorz
Echobrain
- 2002 Echobrain
Papa Wheelie
- 2002 Unipsycho
- 2002 Live Lycanthropy
IR8/Sexoturica
- 2002 IR8 vs. Sexoturica
Moss Brothers
- 2001 Electricitation

DVD & Video

Metallica
- 1989 2 of One
- 1992 A Year and a half in the life of Metallica
- 1993 Binge & Purge
- 1998 Cunning Stunts
- 1999 S&M
- 2004 Some Kind Of Monster