“I said, ‘What’s that?’ Lars said, ‘It’s the mix.’ I said, ‘No, it’s not’”: Metallica producer recalls the dismay he felt upon hearing this classic album
Though one of the most iconic metal albums ever – and a common fan favourite in Metallica’s catalogue – …And Justice For All has long been criticised for its lack of bass guitar volume.
Last month, the album’s producer Flemming Rasmussen suggested James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich turned down Jason Newsted’s bass parts – who joined the band following Cliff Burton’s death in 1986, two years prior to Justice’s release – to “get a reaction out of him”. He said that because Newsted entered Metallica as a fan, the others were “waiting for him to state his place in the band”.
READ MORE: “There was a lot of thieving”: James Hetfield explains how Metallica had to turn to crime to survive when recording Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets
Now, in a new interview, Rasmussen recalls the moment he was shown the mixed album for the first time by Lars Ulrich, and how he was shocked, to say the least.
Asked by Chris Akins Presents if he was “mad” the first time he heard the mixed album, Rasmussen replies [via Blabbermouth]: “Yeah, I was.
“Lars came and played it to me, and I looked at him and I said, ‘What’s that?’ He said, ‘It’s the mix.’ I said, ‘No, it’s not.’ And he was like, ‘Yes, it is.’ I said, ‘What? There’s no bass.’ He said, Yeah, there it is. You can hear it. It’s in the bottom of the guitars.’ I was like, ‘No.’”
Rasmussen goes on: “You’re gonna have to ask Lars and James [Hetfield] why they took the bass down, ‘cause I didn’t mix it. Because I came in so late, they had already hired Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero to do the mixing. And I mean, just go online, [and] you can get the story from the horse’s mouth what happened. There’s no reason for me to retell that. It was Lars and James. And why they did that, I’m not even sure they know themselves.”
Despite all the controversy surrounding the level of the bass on the album, Metallica’s 1988 fourth outing remains one of their most loved, and spawned tracks like Blackened, One and Harvester of Sorrow, which are still staples at the band’s live shows.
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