Who is better for Metallica Newsted or Trujillo

Temple of Blood wrote:

I question the official story that Cliff had tons of input in their writing. I tend to believe Dave had a lot more and he was only in the band a year or so, right?

Has Trujillo ever written a song that sounded anything like METALLICA? I can see why they wouldn't want him to write for them. Newsted on the other hand had talent in that department and probably could've been a real asset, especially during the late 90s.

Well, even back before Cliff passed away, the band often said that Cliff was the one who controlled the music in the car on the way to shows and whatnot, and how he was always introducing the band to new music and sounds. He may not have written a lot for Metallica, but he certainly had a lot of influence on their sound and writing. His bass playing really stood out in those old albums. They featured him a lot. He experimented with the bass sound. Not so with anyone that has followed him in the Metalli-corporation.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

They took Trujillo cuz he's a yes-man who wouldn't butt heads with James or Lars. End of story.

Yeah, plus he's got monster chops.

That is true. I was impressed with him when I saw him live w/Metallica back in January. His goofy caveman-style stomping around the stage got a little annoying but he can definitely play.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

I'm looking at the fact that he had very few songwriting credits on the discs he played on. Mustaine had a lot more.

I understand...but you don't necessarily have to have writing cred (ie, come up with a specific, original part) to enhance the overall vibe and direction of what is there...Cliff, IMO, was an intergal part of thier sound in this way...

Right. That's what I was trying to say.

BTW, I do agree that Mustaine had a big impact on the band's songwriting early on. Obviously since Dave never recorded an album with them yet they were still using his riffs two albums into their recording career.

Troublezone wrote:

What you said about Jason and Robert wasn't exactly a compliment...

But I did about both of them at other places in this thread. And even if I didn't, what of it? How does that justify a personal attack? Are we here to discuss musical opinions or not?

Temple of Blood wrote:

Are we here to discuss musical opinions or not?

I'm here for the free Cheetos.

Quote :

His bass playing really stood out in those old albums.

Not to my ears. I thought those albums were notoriously anti-bass centric.

Cliff probably did open them up to a lot of bands, but I think Lars also did that a lot too. Didn't Lars introduce Dave and James to DIAMOND HEAD? They were REALLY trying to copy them in their earliest days.

SpectreFate wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

Are we here to discuss musical opinions or not?

I'm here for the free Cheetos.

They were all gone before I got here.

I think Newsted was a good fit for Metallica. He did a great job on the first Flotsam disc. Trujillo is a jack of all trades player but he was best at the funk stuff.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

What you said about Jason and Robert wasn't exactly a compliment...

But I did about both of them at other places in this thread. And even if I didn't, what of it? How does that justify a personal attack? Are we here to discuss musical opinions or not?

You are critical of Metallica's bass players and Manny is critical of your band... i'd say that it was a musical opinion response.

ToB I may agree with you as far as Newsted and Trujillo's contribution to Metallica, but are you saying Cliff Burton did not make a significant contribution to Metallica's style and how they approached songwriting or even how the songs are performed?

Cliff Burton's name appears on song credits throughout the first three albums as a contributer just like Kirk Hammet. He also added a lot of the melody ideas such as on "Orion" for example. His bass playing was excellent! Plus James and Lars pursued him to join the band going as far as to relocate to the bay area at Cliff's request. I'd say they definately saw something in him to do that and he definately influenced the others with the Misfits stuff that added the punk delivery to their sound.

Troublezone wrote:

You are critical of Metallica's bass players and Manny is critical of your band... i'd say that it was a musical opinion response.

Well, considering that Manny ended up agreeing with my actual musical opinion I'd say it was just a personal attack, also considering that this thread isn't about my band at all.

manny wrote:

ToB I may agree with you as far as Newsted and Trujillo's contribution to Metallica, but are you saying Cliff Burton did not make a significant contribution to Metallica's style and how they approached songwriting or even how the songs are performed?

I think he made some contributions, like I already said, but I think he made fewer musical contributions than any of the original 5 guys (James, Lars, Kirk, or Dave). I just think his influence/input has been vastly overstated since his death.

Last warning, stop bickering.

Temple of Blood wrote:

manny wrote:

ToB I may agree with you as far as Newsted and Trujillo's contribution to Metallica, but are you saying Cliff Burton did not make a significant contribution to Metallica's style and how they approached songwriting or even how the songs are performed?

I think he made some contributions, like I already said, but I think he made fewer musical contributions than any of the original 5 guys (James, Lars, Kirk, or Dave). I just think his influence/input has been vastly overstated since his death.

I am not sure if his contributions to Metallica where overstated or not since his death, but what I do know that as a bassist he was unique and certainly unlike the two other bassists that preceded him. If he had lived would Metallica still gone to a more commerical direction now that is very very hard to say.

As far as the original question between Newsted and Triujillo, based on Newsted's post Metallica work, his work with Voi Vod and Echo Brain shows a very talented and very diverse songwriter in his own right he may have made a significant contribution to Metallica if he had been allowed to particapte in the song writing.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

You are critical of Metallica's bass players and Manny is critical of your band... i'd say that it was a musical opinion response.

Well, considering that Manny ended up agreeing with my actual musical opinion I'd say it was just a personal attack, also considering that this thread isn't about my band at all.

I just think that your constant grumpy persona rubs people the wrong way.

It's simple, really. Trujillo is the better bassist for the band because he's the one who's in the band, and he's the one who wants to be in the band.

Troublezone wrote:

I think Newsted was a good fit for Metallica. He did a great job on the first Flotsam disc. Trujillo is a jack of all trades player but he was best at the funk stuff.

I'm in that camp as well. Both very talented, but having seen Trujillo years ago in Suicidal doing his slap-bass-funk-thing, I thought he was an odd choice when I first heard the news. Seeing Jason do a memorable bass solo live during the touring of The Black Album gave me a whole new respect for the guy. Just a personal preference for Jason I suppose.

And I agree that both guys were, for lack of a better term, more or less just hired hands as far as influence or song writing of the band. James & Lars steer that ship exclusively.

Just think what would have happened if Les Claypool had gotten the job instead of Jason??

Ron McGovney

Hamer12 wrote:

Just think what would have happened if Les Claypool had gotten the job instead of Jason??

Imagine Metallica doing "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver."

Mike Dean from Corrosion of Conformity supposedly auditioned to replace Cliff back in the day too. That was when C.O.C. were still a crazy-fast hardcore band. That would've been SICK!

Dave Ellefson could have been a good fit too. He isn't too flashy but he is a solid metal bassist

MetalFRO wrote:

It's simple, really. Trujillo is the better bassist for the band because he's the one who's in the band, and he's the one who wants to be in the band.

I have to agree on this comment. It is obvious that the guys of metallica haven allow Newsted or trujilo to contribute on their music. The band needs DAVE, but I don't want DAVE on the band cause he is better by his own

I also am of the opinion that it doesn't really matter much since Metallica is really a three piece unit as far as decision making and song/music writing goes. Peace.

ultmetal wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

How much impact does a bassist have in METALLICA anyway?

None anymore. With Cliff Burton, he had a ton of influence on the band's sound and writing. With Newsted and Trujillo, it seems they have very little influence at all. Half the time you could barely hear Newsted. I sometimes wish he would have stayed with Flots, as his influence there was outstanding and obvious.

Exactly. Both bassists came from an extreme metal background, but thata really doesn't matter. Lars, Kirk, and James have all the influence.

On a side note, all the songs on Death Magnetic had Robert listed as a writer. I think Jason only had credit on two or three Metallica songs.