James Hetfield’s opinion on Jason Newsted

Since Metallica was formed in 1981 by Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield, the two have been the band’s leaders and, besides Kirk Hammett, the group’s lineup was completed by the bass players who joined them over the years.

The first, Cliff Burton, is still loved by the fans and considered the best by many, but Jason Newsted was also very important to the albums the band released afterward. Over the decades, Hetfield has talked about him and given his opinion on the band’s former bass player.

What is James Hetfield’s opinion on Jason Newsted

James Hetfield likes Jason Newsted’s playing and said he fit right in with the band live but didn’t have the right approach when recording with them. “I think it had to be extremely bittersweet for him, like a dream come true but I’m stepping into someone shoes who can never be filled. It must have been very difficult, and for him and for us was difficult, it just truly was. All our anger, grief and sadness got directed at him, not all of it, but quite a bit of it. He was an easy target.”

“I think there were a couple of things about Jason. His personality, he was goofy enough to take it which was a positive (thing) for him. I think he was such a fan and we hated that part, we wanted to ‘unfan’ him and become as hard as we were. So (we were) trying to beat the fan out of him, also trying to make him play something different like Cliff would. He played with a pick and he would follow whatever I would do. I remember there were times where I’d be playing and just turn around so he couldn’t see what I was playing, so he couldn’t follow me.”

He continued:

“I was like ‘Dude, do whatever you want to do, you know?’ But obviously live he fit right in, he was a great force and you heard the bass live. He wasn’t afraid to step up to the mic and bark whenever he felt like it. He would sweat (laughs), he would really sweat and he put a lot into the live show. So that gained a lot of respect, at least for us, when we started touring with him,” James Hetfield told David Frickie (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

James Hetfield described their early relationship with Jason as “We love you, but you’re not Cliff”

To James, during those first years with Jason, they were still processing Cliff’s tragic death at the age of 24. In his view, their relationship with Newsted was something like, “We love you, but you’re not Cliff.” “It’s a life story, set in a setting of extremes, where you’re going really far, farther than other people would normally go or even shallower. We were in such denial at times, saying ‘everything is fine. I’m not going to pay attention to this, like relationships.”

“‘We don’t have to work a relationship, we’re good’, and we were not. You know, obviously with Jason, all the unresolved stuff from Cliff, Jason had to be kind of the target for, you know. We see that now and I love that we created music together. But we also just grown up together and we’re still growing up. We’re still teachable and we’re still learning from each other. (…) (At the time our feeling towards Jason was) ‘We love you, but you’re not Cliff,” James Hetfield said in an interview with Apple Music in 2022.

James Hetfield and Lars have a lot of respect for Jason these days

Their friendship with Jason Newsted is much better these days since. According to Lars Ulrich, he and James understand what the bassist was going through and why he decided to leave the group. During the same interview with Apple Music, the drummer talked about Newsted with Hetfield alongside him agreeing with most of what he was saying.

“Jason is the only member of Metallica who has ever left willingly. The resentment from James and I was just (like) ‘You can’t do that. You can only leave if we want you to leave.’ Then we weren’t equipped at the time to do a deep dive into why he was leaving. So of course, 20 years later makes complete sense. But (it was like) ‘Ok, we write the song, we make the decisions, we do all of it. You have no creative outlet in this band, you have no creative voice'”.

He continued:

“Then when you go and do something that gives you satisfaction and a way for you to express yourself to the rest of the world then we get pissed at you. That resentment then goes to you leaving the band. That’s kind of psychiatry 101 here, but we weren’t equipped to see that side of it. Jason gave 14 years every day, every performance he was there, always. I mean, we all used to joked (saying) ‘He’s all fired up! Come on dude, slow down'”.

“He was the first guy in, the last guy out. He was signing autographs when we were driving by waving on the way out of the buildings. I’m now finally equipped to appreciate every moment that he gave. I think we have so much respect for each other now. So much appreciation,” Lars Ulrich said in an interview with Apple Music in 2022 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

Since he left the group in 2001, the bassist “joined” Metallica twice. During their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 and on stage during their 30th anniversary shows back in 2011.

Jason said that at the same time James is a Rock star he stills deals with personal issues and is a person

“I hadn’t heard that combination (James was a kind of Ted Nugent meets Danzig in the late 80s). It’s pretty accurate (laughs), Jägermeister, bro (laughs). I’m kind of messing, but that was all true, there was all kinds of things. I don’t think that James will ever recover from the Cliff thing. Because of his abandonment and separation, things that happened to him and his family. (He) suffered so far beyond his control.”

“This is the kind of shit that cuts so deep, you know. No matter how many people you’re talking through with, still gonna be there. So behind all that, he had to find a way to compartmentalize. There is one thing that I learned over these past years. I’ve always had a great respect for the guy but even more so now. There was never a time I didn’t respect him. His ability to harness, process and field everything that comes out of him.”

He continued:

“What he’s able to do with the crowd, there’s only a handful (that can do that. He has the entire audience in his hands), hold them as long as he wants and then push them away and comeback. I mean, incredible, and (he is) still flesh and bone. It’s still just a person that had all these things that still rise above. Get torched, break my arm, rise above, go and brake my arm again, then rise above.”

“You know, ‘dude, what you are made of? How many times you get back up? A million times, is this real?’ (James is real) and still leads us (in the band). (He handles adversity), he has the capacity to do anything you want, but it’s a real person. This cat that just wants to chill, just like you and me. (…) This is a big load for a human being,” Jason Newsted said in an interview with Let There Be Talk in 2023 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).