Former Metallica producer Flemming Rasmussen has been talking about his work on the band’s 1988 album ...And Justice For All and the notorious absence of bass in its final mix. Essentially, he’s still baffled by it.
The album – Metallica’s fourth – was the third that Rasmussen had worked on. He came into the project late. Recording had begun with Guns N’ Roses producer Mike Clink before Rasmussen reshuffled his schedule and came onboard. As he explained to Chilean radio station Futuro, the band’s decision to eschew bass puzzled him.
“Lars (Ulrich) has a thing that every time they've done an album, he comes and plays it to me," the producer said. "And he always hopes that I nod and say, 'That's a good lad.' And when he came and played … And Justice For All for me, I just looked at him and said, 'What's that?' He said, 'That's the mix.' I said, 'No, it's not. You forgot the bass.' But there's no bass on there."
He continued: "By the time I got there, they already got some hotshot Los Angeles mixers, Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero, to mix it," Rasmussen recalled. "And the story is that Metallica flew in, listened to what they'd done, and they went, 'No, no, no.' 'Where's my drum sound?' 'Where's my guitar sound?' And actually Lars said, 'Now take the bass down so you can just hear it.'
Part of it, Rasmussen speculates, was that the band were still grieving bassist Cliff Burton, who had died in a bus crash in 1986. "I think half of it is because they were on tour with Van Halen, and they flew in and heard the mix," he said. "And I think that's the point where Lars and James realised, 'We don't have Cliff anymore. It's not his bass. It's a totally different sound.' And I just think they couldn't relate to that at that point."
There was also an element of Ulrich and Hetfield testing out new bassist Jason Newsted, Rassmussen suggests: "What they hated most about Jason was that he was such a Metallica fan. So every time they asked him anything, he just did it. So I think they took it down just to piss him off, 'cause they were expecting him to say, 'Can you turn the bass up?' And he probably never did. That's why the bass is so low."
There is an irony in all this, Rasmussen says. "I read somewhere recently that …And Justice For All is the number one album in the world that people say is the reason why they started their own band," he said. "So … And Justice For All has created more new bands than any other album in the world. So if you want to start a new band, don't be a bass player."
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