Ummm...I disagree with the classification of the band as thrashers, though you seem to have legit complaints with Cliff. I'll agree that Kill em All is thrash and they still retained a thrash element up until Black (can't comment on Death Metallic, and calling St. Anger thrash is an insult to thrash), but I find there's a lot of stuff they do that's very symphonic and where they try some pretty cool things (Nothing Else Matters, No Leaf Clover). They really moved away from thrash to a very noticable degree after Justice, and even then had been slowly becoming less one-dimensional basically since KEA. Now that's not to say they're the best songwriters around, when they moved away from thrash they became a lot more simplistic on the whole, I just think it's an unfair cla$$ification as probably 90% of what they've released wouldn't be considered thrash by most thrashers.
theone86
First of all, to people people mentioning Les Claypool and Victor Wooten, yes, those two guys are also very good players and very good at applying their abilities in a band situation, though I personally find Victor's music slightly boring but that's just an issue of personal preference (however I have no faults with his abilities as a bass player whatsoever, I think he's amazing). Les Claypool is actually a very good example, because aside from being a very good bass player and a very good musician in general, he pushed the envelope of the instrument such a way that was brought to mainstream attention, which is a great achievement, and all their music echos that same sort of theme.Now, in reply to the actual post I'm quoting, you're points about songs such as No Leaf Clover and No Leaf Clover are very valid, those songs are quite cool and do some interesting things given the genre that Metallica function in. I'm not criticising those parts of their career, I'm criticising Cliff Burton as a bass player and his place in Metallica. IMO, Jason Newstead was the best bass player they ever had, because all the albums they made that (from a production point of view) pass grade were with him, though ....And Justice For All having literally no bass on it is obviously quite crap. Metallica from the late 80's up until the mid-late 90's were a legitimately good band IMO, but everything since Jason left has been a total trainwreck. The Napster lawsuit, ok that wasn't so unjustified, but St Anger and yes, EVEN Death Magnetic mark low points for them. Robert Trujillo is a wicked bass player, better than Jason Newstead, so it's puzzling why DM didn't turn out better, but I guess that's just Metallica for you.
Their albums with Cliff sounded thin, weak, lacked low end, lacked general tonal definition, and weren't as progressive as so many people claim. Metallica were thrash for a few albums but never really did thrash properly; they are, and have always been, a heavy metal band, badly produced and over-hyped. Those last two factors are coincidentally the exact same issues I believe Cliff Burton had.
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