Music videos that feature Thunderbirds

[wellREDman]

   \m/

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Re punk: James Hetfield- Metallica differentiated themselves from their influences by using  punk's sped-up aggression that was only reigned in by Cliff Burton's greater pop/prog sensibility and ultimately ended up redefining punk rhythm guitar in the process by accident. James Hetfield brought Malcolm Young's workman-playing, added distortion and locked with a awesome bass player for as long as he had one. (It's a shame Newstead quit just as he found a musical voice in the band. Trujillo is a soulless showoff aping two infinitely more legitimate predecessors). Het's rhythm guitar over Cliff bass is why Metallica's covers of NWOBHM bands sound FAR different (better IMO) than the originals and rather than playing what "metal proper" had contained up to that time with its sturm and drang but no real anger, (dungeons and dragons versus drugs and politicians) the Bay Area Angelinos inadvertently redefined punk by accident with numerous West Coast SoCal punkers who skateboarded with Het taking up his more disciplined playing technique.

I'm as bad as Uwe.

[slinkp]

That's interesting, I had always thought Bad Brains was the vector for a more metal style of rhythm guitar bleeding into the punk world.  In my limited knowledge, the I Against I album came almost out of nowhere - but of course nothing is fully without precedent.  I never thought to ask, what metal bands were Bad Brains listening to?

Maybe Dr. Know, Darryl & co were inspired by Metallica? That would explain a lot.

[uwe]

Don't laugh, but I just bought Master of Puppets for the very first time. Back then I only heard snippets of it (and liked those better than anything Metallica had done before, but not enough to look more closely).

Whether you like them or not, Metallica is certainly among the 10 most influential US bands of all time, more likely even among the top 5 or top 3. They are to late 80ies and post-90ies music "of the harder type" what Led Zep was in the late 60ies and all through the 70ies to heavy rock (there, I have even admitted it!). I'm no Metallica fan at all (I don't even know all their albums), but they have forged a sound and an approach to things. And like any great band they are prepared to take musical risks and challenge their constituency again and again.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Don't laugh, but I just bought Master of Puppets for the very first time.

So how do you like prog metal played pissed off? (aside from Fleming Rasmussen totally burying Cliff?)

[uwe]

Still in the car, haven't heard it yet, I have a Japanese remaster. I remember hearing Master of Puppets (the track) back then and thinking "Oh, they are beginning to play music after all!".

As most of you have probably noticed by now, I tend to be a contrarian, but I never had a contrarian urge against Metallica (or Nickelback for that matter), vastly popular as they were, they did not share the U2 or Coldplay fate with me. Lars is a spoiled bigmouth, but a spoiled bigmouth with a brain. And Hetfield (whose non-voice as it matured reminds me pleasantly of Eric Bloom of BÖC who wasn't an agile singer either, but had something I liked) always has something tormented to him which I kinda like. With Hammet, I'm still waiting when he will finally own up to his inner urges - hey, Rob Halford did it! I like his guitar playing btw, I find it - unusual enough in connection with Metallica, I know - tasteful!

Cliff was totally his own man, Jason underrated for his contribution of grounding the band and making it more accessible, and about the new guy I know little except that I kind of like his Mex/Native American looks. I forgive him the Warwicks. I don't think he's a bad player at all, neither were his two predecessors though by today's studio standards young Cliff wasn't the most tidy and exact bass player on earth. I'm sure he woud have matured though if that bus had only let him.  That was a freak accident back then of Final Destination teen horror movie proportions. 

[Basvarken]

I'm pretty sure Robert Trujillo could play circles around Newsted and Burton.
What he does with Metallica is most likely what Hetfield and Ulrich tell him to.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Cliff was totally his own man,

It's only now that with the Metalli-egos of James and Lars being significantly deflated by maturity that they admitted Cliff was the bandleader, not just the inspiration, that took the band from being just another LA thrash forgettable to what they became. Musically, their influence peaked with Master of Puppets and Cliff had already helped them sketch most of ...And Justice for All while on tour. Cliff's playing in and of itself isn't particularly original, but what made him the great was was his tenacious personality musically and personally (he was older than the other guys by three years and was the big brother of the band) and leadership of the band from beneath, completely unheard of in metal where bass players were generally rhythm guitarists who didn't make the cut. Cliff created "the Metallica plod," the way the sound coalesced as a unit and swung while pushing rather than chasing a song's rhythm. It still carried on afterward through two of the albums that followed, but after extreme fame and fortune spoiled Lars and James, they lost the ability to incorporate that crushing unity into any new songs. Their stylistic changes were more reactionary than artistic, and nothing post-The Black Album has any major impact outside of demonstrating the loyalty of their fanbase.

Jason underrated for his contribution of grounding the band and making it more accessible,

Jason got f***ed royally. Concert footage of him on the Master of Puppets tour after Cliff's death showed that he filled the musical shoes EXACTLY, but being the "kid" in the band and having no respect took its toll and he was marginalized so much that he was largely irrelevant until he left and was replaced by a scab who could be playing jingles or jazz. Metallica wasn't about musical prowess; it represented honesty and rebellion, and to hear Newstead's fire on Garage Days Re-Revisited be rendered literally inaudible on Justice and then musically excluded to the point that Bob Rock as producer was more of a band member (Bob played almost as much bass on the albums he recorded as Jason!),  Jason never got his due. The flubbing player you heard in concert during the Justice years probably didn't even have his own monitor mix. After being told that he was not important enough times and not leaving the situation, I think he did the best he could and tried to make it work playing in a band of his idols. It was only because Lars' playing kept getting sloppier with his laziness and drug use that Newstead was allowed any sonic space at all.

and about the new guy I know little except that I kind of like his Mex/Native American looks.

Robert Trujillo is a chops-heavy hired gun who has helped ride down other good bands (Suicidal Tendencies, Ozzy) after their prime. He is a stylistic chameleon and fills the role he was hired to perfectly: play to make James and Lars still be able to ape the old days but don't make any waves. That he was also a child-actor, appearing in an episode of CHiPs, (ironically one with Potsie from Happy Days transparently parodying Kiss playing up to 80's "Satanic music" hysteria) sums him up completely for me. He can play very well, but he's an empty suit with no heart, a mercenary in what had once been a very righteous musical army.

I forgive him the Warwicks.

He was an endorsement whore decades before Metallica came along. In a recent video interview James did for EMG in the studio, in the background where Metallica had all their studio gear set up,  there was a rack of Fender basses, ONLY Fender basses, mixed in with James' racks of guitars.  A few makers have made signature instruments for him, but I didn't see any of them. That's part of why I don't like him. At least James USES the gear his name is on

I don't think he's a bad player at all, neither were his two predecessors though by today's studio standards

That's not much of a complement!

young Cliff wasn't the most tidy and exact bass player on earth. I'm sure he woud have matured though if that bus had only let him.

I hope he wouldn't have, at least not in the sense that most folks regard "musical maturity," but had he not died, Metallica would not have been given the platform or had the will to make the compromises they did to become a household name.  His reach as a dead legend is much greater than he would have ever had were he to have lived.

I'm pretty sure Robert Trujillo could play circles around Newsted and Burton.
What he does with Metallica is most likely what Hetfield and Ulrich tell him to.

If Trujillo had stuck to playing that stuff instead of a making a larger career of replacing bass legends (Bob Daisley included), I would have NO problem with him. He's a shredder, a trick player, and it's obvious from what Metallica has put out with him that he'll play anything with a big enough paycheck attached to it any way he's asked, but Metallica is just a job and for old Metallica fans like me, one he does VERY poorly. If Metallica had truly wanted musical growth in that vein, they would have hired Les Claypool, who auditioned both times their bass chair was empty, but they knew his personality would assert itself in the music. Trujillo is content to make string rattles over classic lines with the occasional solo break.  The Metallica that changed the musical landscape of the world, punk included, died long ago. They're the Rolling Stones of loud music. Enter Start Me Up Sandman.

[uwe]

"They're the Rolling Stones of loud music."

Actually, that is a brilliantly apt description and I think they would wear that badge proudly. Metallica have left the incestuous heavy metal fraternity long ago and gained a mainstream appeal with music that really isn't mainstream in a way that Rammstein's music isn't mainstream (yet enormously popular) either. More people go to their concerts than have actually ever owned a Metallica CD and more people wear their T-shirts than actually like and know their music. They've become a brand. Gene Simmons will no doubt claim fatherhood.

[gearHed289]

The one thing that amazes me about Trujillo is that Hetfield actually allows him to do that "crab walk" thing on stage.   

[Psycho Bass Guy]

BTW, you guys ARE aware that Trujillo is one of the sub-players who re-recorded all of Sharon Osbourne's re-released classic Ozzy albums to cut out old band members from performance royalties, right? I know that sometimes a gig is a gig, but principles, man!

[Dave W]

Anything for a buck, even if it means stiffing the original players. 

[uwe]

BTW, you guys ARE aware that Trujillo is one of the sub-players who re-recorded all of Sharon Osbourne's re-released classic Ozzy albums to cut out old band members from performance royalties, right? I know that sometimes a gig is a gig, but principles, man!

I knew. And of course I prefer Bob Daisley's style, whether with Widowmaker, Rainbow, Ozzy, Gary Moore, Sabbath or Mothers Army. But to be fair: I don't believe that El Bobby was in a position to say no to Sharon's proposition unless he wanted to lose his then day job too. Mrs Osbourne doesn't take no prisoners. Daisley's principles weren't the greatest either when he returned to Ozzy again and again on a wage basis after having been treated so shabbily when the original line-up was torn apart at the instigation of Sharon.

BTW, I've never heard those versions, did they sound remarkably different? Daisley is an arch-pick player while Trujillo is not, replicating that terse pick-driven EB sound on the Ozzy debut must have been a challenge.

[gearHed289]

BTW, you guys ARE aware that Trujillo is one of the sub-players who re-recorded all of Sharon Osbourne's re-released classic Ozzy albums to cut out old band members from performance royalties, right? I know that sometimes a gig is a gig, but principles, man!

Yeah, and Mike Bordin was backpedaling recently, saying something along the lines of "that's not what was supposed to go down when I was asked to the studio". I get it, but it still makes me think of them differently for doing it.

Daisley is an arch-pick player while Trujillo is not, replicating that terse pick-driven EB sound on the Ozzy debut must have been a challenge.

Funny, I didn't know he was a pick player until reading it here a few years back. When I learned those tunes in high school, I thought it was all fingerstyle, and that's how I played them. "I Don't Know" is a fun one!

[the mojo hobo]

I consider that Kitsch album with its archtypical RAK glammed up over-production (including background vocals by these RAK label mates here)

One of the bands I am in actually does that Alice song and while learning it I accidently left the Smokie channel running and discovered the bass player, like so many of us went from a P Bass to a Rickenbacker, and then a Thunderbird.



Hey! A video with a Thunderbird!