Artist Feature: Metallica - Turn the Page

Echobrain - Brian Sagrafena, Dylan Donkin, Jason Newsted

The period following the release of S & M was to be a stark contradiction to the relatively trouble-free time Metallica had had riding the wave of their success. Jason Newsted formally announced his departure from Metallica on January 17^th 2001. In an interview with Playboy Magazine, Newsted stated his reasons for leaving as: “private and personal reasons, and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love.” At this stage Newsted was heavily involved with his side project Echobrain and was on the verge of releasing an album. Patriarch of Metallica, James Hetfield, was sided against the idea saying; “When someone does a side project, it takes away from the strength of Metallica" and a side project is "like cheating on your wife in a way". Hetfield made a compelling argument by posing questions such as, "Where would it end? Does he start touring with it? Does he sell shirts? Is it his band?”. The tiff between Hetfield and Newsted had started back in 1987 when Newsted joined the band to replace the late, great bassist Cliff Burton and the Echobrain project seemed to have poured fuel on the fire

Artist feature: Metallica - The Struggle Within

Jason Newsted -  circa 1987

With the band in turmoil over losing a friend and fellow musician, the decision to carry on was taken on the basis “that is what Cliff would have wanted”, and with the blessing of the Burton family, Metallica held auditions to recruit a new bass player. Some 40-odd bass players auditioned for the chance to become part of the massive machine Metallica was quickly becoming, and after having impressed the band by learning their entire set-list, it was agreed that Jason Newsted would replace Burton on the bass. Metallica finished their tour in early 1987 and returned home to San Francisco. As a result of the new bass player (credited as Master J. Newkid in the liner notes), and a newly built studio, came the all-covers Extended Play (EP) release – Garage Days Re-Visited. The EP is considered a collector’s item as all 5 track were included in the 1998 double-album Garage Inc. [but more about that later...]