‘What They Hated the Most Was That He Was a Fan’: Metallica Producer Thinks This Might Be Why Jason Newsted’s Bass Is Inaudible on ‘Justice’

In a recent interview, Flemming Rasmussen, the producer of Metallica’s seminal album “…And Justice for All,” speculated on why bassist Jason Newsted’s contributions are virtually inaudible on the record. Rasmussen suggested that the band may have intentionally muted Newsted’s bass to prоvоke a reaction from him, as they disliked the fact that he was a fan of the band before joining.

Metallica’s fourth studio album was a significant milestone for the thrash metal legends. It marked their perseverance after the tragic deаth of bassist Cliff Burton and the introduction of Jason Newsted, who would later contribute to the band’s commercial success with “Metallica” (a.k.a. “The Black Album”). Despite the album’s powerful material, Newsted’s bass lines were notoriously buried in the mix.

Rasmussen, who also worked on “Master of Puppets” and “Ride the Lightning,” offered his theory during an interview with Daniel Sarkissian, as reported by Metal Injection. He speculated that drummer Lars Ulrich and the rest of the band might have muted Newsted’s bass as a way to elicit a response from him:

“I think — but this is purely speculation — I think that they did it to get some kind of reaction from Jason. Because what they hated the most about Jason was that he was a fan. He was never disagreeing or anything, or stating his own opinion. I think they were waiting for him to kind of state his place in the band… I think they probably did it to get a reaction, and when it didn’t come, that was the way the album turned out.”

Jason Newsted, however, has a different perspective. In 2022, he suggested that his bandmates didn’t intentionally make his bass inaudible:

“I love people’s enthusiasm, their determination, their love, and their appreciation. If the ‘Justice’ album had been mixed like a regular record, we wouldn’t be talking about it to this day. But because that isn’t the case – and I don’t necessarily think that’s that big a deal – we’re still talking about it all these years later. I don’t even think they realized, in their drunken stupor, what they were doing, but they made the best garage band album ever. Black Keys, White Stripes, whatever power duo, garage rock stuff you wanna mention, James and Lars were the original garage rock duo, as far as that goes.”

While Rasmussen’s theory is intriguing, it remаins speculative. The debate over the bass mix on “…And Justice for All” continues to be a point of fascination and discussion among Metallica fans and music historians.