JASON NEWSTED WROTE “BLACKENED”’S MAIN RIFF ON BASS — THEN THE MIX BURIED HIS INSTRUMENT

Metallica’s new bassist helped write the main riff of the song that opens ...And Justice for All.

Then his bass was reduced to barely audible in the finished mix. 🎸

Jason Newsted had joined his favorite band only recently. He was still living in a rented one-bedroom apartment when James Hetfield began visiting for dinner and informal sessions, the two musicians playing together on the couch. 🛋️

In the bedroom, Newsted had a small four-track Tascam recorder. One day, he began playing a riff on bass. Hetfield joined him on guitar, and the beginnings of “Blackened” took shape. 📼

Newsted later remembered Hetfield telling him: “Dude, that riff’s good enough to open our fucking album.”

For the newcomer, it felt like a victory. ⚡

“Blackened” became the album’s opening track and Newsted’s only songwriting credit on ...And Justice for All. But when the album was recorded, he laid down his bass parts without the other band members present.

The bigger shock arrived with the final mix. Mixer Steve Thompson later said Newsted’s playing locked tightly with Hetfield’s guitars, but recalled Lars Ulrich asking for the bass to be lowered until it was barely audible. 🎚️

Newsted believed he had played his parts well. When he finally heard what had happened to them, his reaction was blunt: “I was fucking livid!”

Yet the strangest twist remained right at the front of the record: the bassist was difficult to hear, but the main riff he brought into that little apartment helped drive the opening song. 🤘

You can bury an instrument in a mix. You can’t bury the riff that opens the record.

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