Jason Newsted has looked back on the legacy of Cliff Burton, the Metallica bassist he replaced, four decades after Burton was killed in a tour bus crash in Sweden. In a new interview, Newsted described Burton's talent as something that existed on a different plane, recalling how effortlessly the late musician could play compared with his own work ethic.
«Cliff could wake up and do it,» Newsted said. «James could wake up after how many ever beers and do it. Just wake up 10 minutes out of bed and play as good as I could after working for five hours to get to that spot.» The comparison was not false modesty but a measure of how highly Newsted regarded Burton, who was already, in his words, «pretty, pretty goddamn good» by the time he was 16 years old.
Newsted also pointed to the decision by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich to relocate from Los Angeles to San Francisco simply to be in a band with Burton before they had even recorded an album. «Both James and Lars, who are also very exceptionally talented people, recognised it so strongly that they moved their lives to be just in a band with the guy before they even made a fucking record,» he said. «He was that fucking good.»
Watching Burton perform live, Newsted admitted, could be dispiriting as much as it was inspiring. «Why do you even fucking bother?» he recalled thinking. «Maybe if I try really hard, I could be a tenth of as good as that.» He concluded that the experience was ultimately motivating: «It was inspiring, and made me want to try harder, but it was intimidating as fuck the whole time.»
Burton was Metallica's second bassist and played on the band's first three studio albums: «Kill 'Em All» in 1983, «Ride the Lightning» in 1984 and «Master of Puppets» in 1986. He also co-wrote several of the group's most enduring songs, including «Ride the Lightning», «For Whom the Bell Tolls», «Fade to Black» and «Master of Puppets». He died on September 27, 1986, when the band's tour bus crashed while they were in Sweden.
Newsted took over on bass after Burton's death and remained with Metallica until 2001. He was later replaced by Robert Trujillo, who joined in 2003 and is still with the group. In 2019, Newsted said he «would like to take some credit» for what he described as the stabilisation of the band in the wake of Burton's death. Hetfield has also reflected on Burton over the years, including in 2016, when he considered what his late bandmate might have thought of the records Metallica made after his passing, particularly as the group moved from a hardcore thrash metal sound toward a more mainstream rock style.
Metallica remain active on their «M72» world tour, which has taken them across the globe and followed the release of their album «72 Seasons». The band is set to begin a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas on October 1, with dates running into next year, and there has already been speculation about a possible 2027 tour with Limp Bizkit. Newsted, meanwhile, revealed earlier this spring that he had been declared «free and clear» after a battle with throat cancer.