Jason Newsted
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| Jason Newsted | |
|---|---|
| Image:Newsted.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jason Curtis Newsted |
| Born | March 4 1963 Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Heavy metal Thrash metal Hard rock Alternative Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Bass guitar, Vocals ,Guitar , Drums |
| Years active | 1982-present |
| Label(s) | Metal Blade, Elektra, Chophouse, The End, Surfdog, Epic |
| Associated acts | Metallica, Flotsam and Jetsam, Papa Wheelie, Voivod, Echobrain, Rock Star Supernova, Ozzy Osbourne |
| Website | Chophouserecords.com |
Jason Newsted is an American bass guitarist, currently a member of Voivod and Rock Star Supernova. He is best known as a former member of the band Metallica, which he joined in 1986 following the death of Cliff Burton, and left in 2001. He currently resides in Walnut Creek, California.
Jason Curtis Newsted was born March 4 1963, in Battle Creek, Michigan. His European ancestors were Germans from Baden.
Contents |
[edit] Flotsam & Jetsam 1983-86
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Jason went to Gull Lake High School in Richland, Michigan, joining Arizona thrashers Flotsam and Jetsam in 1983. Jason left them to join Metallica in 1986 after the tragic death of popular bassist Cliff Burton. Following auditions and 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, California, on November 8, 1986.
[edit] Metallica 1986-2001
After confirming Jason as their new bassist (becoming Metallica's longest serving bassist) Metallica constructed a cheap studio in Ulrich's garage in order to acclimatise 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 year-long 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 them to his hotel room, and, according to a 2001 Playboy interview ([2]), 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 defense have cited this behaviour among the evidence that he was never fully accepted as an equal member of the band. As a running gag with Jason, James Hetfield would ask the crowd during live performances what should be played next, and Jason would suggest, "Something with Satan in it". Of course, James Hetfield would ignore Jason and the rest of the band would criticize him humorously (as seen on the Seattle disc of Metallica's Live Shit: Binge & Purge).
[edit] Metallica departure and Voivod
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Newsted 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 before playing the last few minutes of the song.
Later on Newsted shed more light on his depature from Metallica. Newsted called a meeting and suggested that Metallica take a year off due to mounting personal problems within the band. He also set out a vision for what he wanted Metallica to become. James Hetfield refused to support this and questioned Newsted's desire to be in the band. Jason felt this was insulting and hard coming from James Hetfield the person he respected most and quit on the spot.
Newsted also gave a reason for his desire to work on his Echobrain side project was due to the fact he is a musician and loves to play music. While the other Metallica members had started a family, Jason decided not to and devote his life to music. While they were at home he still had the desire to play music and felt working on his Echobrain record was harmless.
Metallica asked Jason Newsted to stay but his decision was made; he felt he had a lack of respect from his bandmates and that he could no longer work with them. James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett later admitted they were extremely upset by this and this is not what they wanted. Kirk Hammett has also stated that Metallica had become the band that Jason wanted and it is very sad that he had to quit the band before it could happen.
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."(as seen on the docu-movie Some Kind of Monster).
[edit] Working with Ozzy Osbourne
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."
[edit] Rock Star Supernova 2006
In July 2006, 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 Lukas Rossi as lead singer in the competition style reality television show Rock Star. Supernova's first album was released on November 21, 2006, to disappointing sales, debuting at number 101 in the US, although it reached number 4 in Canada and went platinum.
[edit] Injury
On October 23 2006 Newsted injured his shoulder while attempting to catch a falling bass amp head. The accident resulted in a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and biceps tear in the right. He was scheduled for immediate surgery, and is now undergoing a lengthy rehabilitation process. The band has chosen Johnny Colt, formerly of The Black Crowes, as a temporary replacement for the upcoming Rock Star: Supernova tour.[1]
[edit] Style
Newsted favors playing pickstyle instead of with 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[2] 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.[3]
However, Newsted does use his fingers on occasion and moreso since leaving Metallica, since one of the reasons for using them was to "keep up" and "get the same attack" as the guitars in the band. 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 on "Nothing Else Matters" and in other parts of the A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica documentary.
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 "- (Minus) Human," which was written a few years before the DVD was out on the street but previously unreleased, as well as on "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, displaying his well-known "war-face." 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." He has since attempted to remedy this problem by using lighter basses, and Newsted occasionally headbangs to this day, years after leaving Metallica.
[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] Echobrain
- Echobrain (2002)
- Glean (2004)
[edit] Flotsam and Jetsam
- Doomsday for the Deceiver (1986)
[edit] Gov't Mule
- The Deep End, Volume 2 (2002)
[edit] IR8/Sexoturica
- IR8 vs. Sexoturica (2002)
[edit] Metallica
- Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987)
- ...And Justice for All (1988)
- Metallica (1991)
- Live Shit: Binge & Purge (1993)
- Load (1996)
- Reload (1997)
- Garage Inc. (1998)
- S&M (1999)
[edit] Moss Brothers
- Electricitation (2001)
[edit] Papa Wheelie
- Unipsycho (2002)
- Live Lycanthropy (2003)
[edit] Rock Star Supernova
- Rock Star Supernova (2006)
[edit] Voivod
[edit] DVD & Video
- Metallica
- 1989 2 of One
- 1992 A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica
- 1993 Live Shit: Binge & Purge
- 1998 Cunning Stunts
- 1999 S&M
- 2001 Classic Albums: Metallica - The Black Album
- 2004 Some Kind Of Monster
- 2006 The Videos 1989-2004
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Jason Newsted Official Site
- Jason Newsted Official MySpace Site
- CBS's "Rock Star" to Select Lead Singer for New Band
- Papa Wheelie's MySpace page
- Harvester - Metallica tribute band
- HardRadio.com interview Newsted on Ozzy and Voivod
Voivod | |
|---|---|
| Snake · Jasonic · Away Piggy · Eric Forrest · Blacky | |
| Studio albums | War and 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) |
| Videography | D-V-O-D-1 (2005) |
| Related articles | Metallica · Flotsam and Jetsam · Music of Quebec · Progressive metal · Thrash metal |
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Categories: Articles needing additional references from December 2007 | American heavy metal bass guitarists | Metallica members | Reality television participants | People from Battle Creek, Michigan | Michigan musicians | People from the San Francisco Bay Area | German-Americans | 1963 births | Living people
