Herring & HerringFormer Metallica bassist Jason Newsted is fan of the band’s latest album and current bassist Robert Trujillo, with maybe one small exception.
Speaking to Ultimate Guitar, Newsted said of Metallica’s new disc, Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, “I feel they’ve kinda come back into stride and there’s something of substance here,” adding that the album “is a bit different than the other efforts that led up to it.”
As for Trujillo, Newsted said, “Robert’s a great bass player and he’s always been a great bass player. I’ve known him for 25 years at least. He’s always been good…That guy has always got my respect. He got in there and he can hang with those guys and make it sound like it does? Peace, peace, power to you.”
However, Newsted does believe Trujillo should try playing with a pick sometimes and not just his fingers. He explained, “If you don’t play with a pick — this is where I’m gonna swing heavy, and I’ve always got crazy pushback because of not playing with my fingers as a bass player — look at the scoreboard…When it comes to playing with a pick and the aggression and tone that can come from the attack, you can’t get that with fingers. There are a lot of places you can do with fingers that you can’t do with a pick as well and I appreciate that.”
Newsted joined Metallica in 1986 as the band’s third bassist, following Ron McGovney and the late Cliff Burton. He left in 2001, but was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 along with Burton, Trujillo and fellow Metallica members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett.
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