Metallica fans have long bemoaned the apparent absence of bass guitar on the band’s 1988 album …And Justice for All. Flemming Rasumussen, who co-produced the record with the group, praised bassist Jason Newsted’s work for the release in an interview with Rolling Stone conducted to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 1986’s Master of Puppets.
“Jason is one hell of a bass player,” the producer says. “I’m probably one of the only people in the world, including Jason and Toby Wright, the assistant engineer, who heard the bass tracks on …And Justice for All, and they are fucking brilliant.”
Rasmussen went on to say he still doesn’t know why the tracks were “nixed in the mix,” as the mixing duo Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero had been attached to the project prior to his arrival. “It’s not on them, that’s for sure,” the producer says. “It was Lars and James who said to turn the bass down. I know that for a fact because I asked them.”
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