James Hetfield defends lack of bass on iconic Metallica album

Metallica frontman James Hetfield has stepped up to the plate to defend the ever-controversial lack of bass on 1988’s …And Justice For All album.

If you’ve ever listened to …And Justice For All, the 1988 classic from Metallica’s, you likely would have been too taken aback by the inclusion of gems like ‘One’ and ‘Harvester Of Sorrow’ to realise a distinct lack of bass on the album.

This isn’t new, either, with fans chalking up the poor mix due to the inclusion of new bassist Jason Newsted. Still reeling from the loss of Cliff Burton in 1986, it’s easy to assume that they just decided to turn down Newsted’s instrument, right?

While sound mixer Steve Thompson claimed that drummer Lars Ulrich is responsible for the lack of low-end, producer Flemming Rasmussen distanced himself from the record’s end result, blaming the band for the sound, while engineer Toby Wright begged Metallica to let him remix the album.

Check out Metallica’s ‘Harvester Of Sorrow’:

Now, frontman James Hetfield opened up about the lack of bass on the record, telling Metallica fan magazine So What! (via Blabbermouth) that Jason Newsted might have raised the issue at some point, but noting that the band were probably too “burnt out” to do anything about it.

“He probably did. I don’t know what my answer was then, but it was kinda done,” Hetfield explained.

“I mean, I will say, it was not all about, ‘Fuck him. Let’s turn him down.’ That’s for sure. We wanted the best-sounding record we could make. That was our goal. We were burnt. We were frigging fried.

“Going back and forth [between touring and mixing the album]. Playing a gig. No earplugs, no nothing. You go back into the studio, your hearing is shot. If your ears can’t hear any high end anymore, you’re gonna turn it up.

“So we’re turning the high end up more and more and more and all of a sudden, low end’s gone. So I know that played a bigger part than any hazing or any ill feelings towards Jason, for sure. We were fried. We were burnt.”

This admission follows Hetfield’s 2017 comments that the record could indeed use a bit more low-end, while conceding that was part of what made the record so great.

“These records are a product of a certain time in life; they’re snapshots of history and they’re part of our story,” Hetfield explained to Red Bulletin.

“OK, so … And Justice For All could use a little more low end and St. Anger could use a little less tin snare drum, but those things are what make those records part of our history.”

In related news, Metallica are set to visit Australia later this year as part of their first tour in six years. Here’s hoping that fans of low-end are properly catered for!