Hetfield addresses tone on Justice album

[RaceU4her]

Nowdays people complain about the "scooped guitars"...... But I still think that guitar tone mixed with the clicky typewriter bass drums is one of the heaviest combinations ever.

i just put it on for the first time in a while and it really does still kick ass. fuck newstead anyway, hes lucky to even be in the band lol

 

[Philhouse]

... I love watching "A Year and A Half in the Life of Metallica" where Bob is telling Kirk "oh, then let's just put anything on there" for his solo because he hadn't done his homework. Or telling Lars about how things won't sound right if his drums are too loud, etc.

HAHA, ain't that the truth.
Kirk has pretty much phoned it in ever since, such a disappointment that he went from all those fitting and melodic & memorable leads, into someone who just blabbers basic pentatonic runs and double stops covered with 7 layers of wah. His leads on the first 4 albums used to worth learning and inspiring to as a beginner guitarist.
I know they've all changed a bit since their youthful playing, but Kirk for me is the biggest disappointment. I'm not sure if its because people like Satriani was helping him map out leads in the early days and from the black album onwards Kirk was on his own and there is nothing really inspiring in his playing anymore. Even on the Black album, if Bob wasn't pushing him for better leads he would have settled for blandness. Hetfield's melodic lead work is better than Kirks these last few years.

 

[hammered]

I will echo this sentiment with my own experience. Back in the day I never even thought something was wrong with it or heard anyone talk about this when the album was new. Quite the contrary actually. AJFA was a metal masterpiece musically....and remains my fav. Metallica album. These songs and album are so iconic I wouldn't want them any other way. My humble view is to leave it alone. The album is definitely a unique sound and I like that about it, for me it always imparted a cold kind of emotion from it...hard to describe. Hearing it on a sound system with any bass capabilities at all and AJFA definitely kicks... Will always love the album...don't fuck with it/change it.

The remastered version was released late last year and they left it as is . I think to add bass they would need to remix it . I've always liked it the way it is as I've heard people do their own remix of it on Youtube and it just sounds weird with the bass as prominent as the guitars

 

[Valtyr]

They could release a "definitive edition" with two disks. One with the classic mix, and one with bass. Then they could neglect to say which disc is the "definitive" version and then watch the carnage online.

 

[JimAnsell]

according to jason, lars was doing quite a bit of cocaine at the time. Lets face it, no one makes the best decisions while high on toot

 

[skullfxr]

Lars is the worst. Next is Hammett.

Justice was a good album IMO. their LAST good album.

 

[romanianreaper]

i just put it on for the first time in a while and it really does still kick ass. fuck newstead anyway, hes lucky to even be in the band lol

I know man, I'm one of the rare Metallica fans that never gelled with Jason being in the band. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy but Cliff was my dude. Jason did come up with the riff for "Blackened" so gotta give the guy props.

 

[Beyond Black]

Lars is the worst. Next is Hammett.

Justice was a good album IMO. their LAST good album.

Totally agree.

 

[skullfxr]

Lars is the worst. Next is Hammett.

Justice was a good album IMO. their LAST good album.

Totally agree.

I would pay to see Lars get bitchslapped by a real drummer.

 

[Exo-metal]

Even better was when James used to spit on him live. Has anyone ever heard Satriani comment on his part with Hamlet?

 

[Philhouse]

Even better was when James used to spit on him live. Has anyone ever heard Satriani comment on his part with Hamlet?

https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/joe ... ager-learn

 

[shredhead7]

its crazy to me hearing this guy and bob rock talk about there being so many edits that the tape machine wouldnt play anymore. i try and do everything one take when i record

Yeah, I used to do it that way as well, especially on the solos. But the new "school" which I guess isn't that new, it's to play a bar and stop. Play a bar and stop. That's how all of the metal albums are made and why they are so incredibly tight. Yes, they are probably fixing some timing errors, but most of it is just take after take after take. Then double that, take after take, etc.

 

[VH4_BigRig]

Funny, I was feeling a bit nostalgic and was just listening to Justice at work last week! I think it's been pretty clear for a long time that Lars has no idea what he's talking about and shouldn't be allowed in the mixing/mastering process, but what can you do. There have been plenty of "...and Justice for Jason" type videos where fans mix their bass playing with the original track, and I actually prefer to listen to those! This is the best one I've heard so far and what I usually go to if I'm listening to that album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMu4PrkTwuM&list=PL-QaZJ2jVG7p6WBozlD6QDFnVcYcwsPGq&index=1

Cheers!

 

[Beyond Black]

Lars is the worst. Next is Hammett.

Justice was a good album IMO. their LAST good album.

Totally agree.

I would pay to see Lars get bitchslapped by a real drummer.

Didn't Dave Lombardo offer to give Lars drum lessons?

 

[RaceU4her]

Didn't Dave Lombardo offer to give Lars drum lessons?

he breaks Lars down pretty accurately here starting at about 2:30. "really sad" is how he describes him lol

 

[thrashinbatman]

The production on AJFA is certainly weird, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The production makes the album feel cold, barren, and isolated, which is exactly the vibe the songs themselves put on. I'm not sure a more traditional production ala MoP would fit the atmosphere of the record.

 

[ghosty999]

I think two things can be true at once,

You can objectively like the album, but subjectively dislike the sound.

I mean I'd kill for a re-mix of Purple - Made in Japan or Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden... but we shouldn't get like the film industry as they "re-release/master" everything for cash flow.

 

[blackba]

I agree with Justice feeling cold, maybe that is why its an album I revisit the least in their black album and before era. Like others have said, never realized the bass was down till the internet, but did think the album was cold and not as inviting as the others.

But bad mixes seem to be a pattern as St Anger is terribly recorded and mixed. And then there is the total brick wall mixing of Death Magnetic.

 

[311boogieman]

^ That's pretty much how I feel about it too.
When the album came out I didn't go "where's the bass?". It just sounded a bit different.
Don't remix it. Leave it alone.
That was the jist of Jame's comment too.
Why change it. It is who they were and what they did in the moment.
I agree Lars is a dimwit and shouldn't be making decisions on mixing.
I also agree with James that they were burned out.
I've heard all the peeps 'remixes' attempted. Not a fan.
I've seen all the videos on the topic.
Not a fan of St. Anger. I am a fan of Load/Reload but nothing will ever be MOP.
As far as the Black album. I like it. It was at a time where music/metal was going through a pretty big transition and the Black album fit the times perfectly, whether we liked it or not.

I was just pointing out that James commented on the album mix.

 

[jkdsteve]

James Hetfield addresses the tone (lack of bass) on their album - And Justice For All.

If this is old news then please disregard. It is news to me. Word on the street was always that they purposely mixed Jason down because he was new and being 'hazed' or whatever.

This is what James said about it:

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/ge ... dible.html


"Can we sit behind a desk and make it happen? No. We ask people to do it, and they do it. So [mixer Steve Thompson] did his job. He's got nothing to apologize for or point fingers at. No one's to blame for 'something.' It is a piece of art. It happened and it ended up the way it is for a reason, and for reasons we were just talking about. We were burnt. We're traveling, we're playing a gig, our ears were fried. We were not sleeping. He doesn't need to defend himself. He was a part of an awesome album in history, "

That and they wanted a very 'in your face' record so they cranked up the snare and guitar and possibly due to ear fatigue - didn't realize the bass was suffering. That's what I got out of it. I'm glad James addressed it. I DO wish they would remix it and re-release it

As a piece of art, I think it stands alone.....it's an iconic piece of work and the tone suits the songs....nothing to publicly apologize or make excuses for. Anything else is between them and Jason Newsted