24 years ago today, Metal lost it's greatest bass player.. Cliff Burton R.I.P.

[Anonymous]

Cliff & Mustaine were Metallica. When Cliff died & with Mustaine long, long gone, Metallica had a few scraps to put together a half decent album & just went downhill from there.

How many more kickass albums could Cliff have released, noone will know, obviously, but I bet he could've managed at the very least a couple more REALLY good ones.

He rocked. Hard. In a band of wet manginas.

Cheers! :bottle:

[sadaist]

I've watched Cliff 'Em All so many times that I figured out how to play the bass intro to "For Whom The Bell Tolls" from studying the master:

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Cliff was the first I saw who played bass like a lead guitar. CRAZY!

And James was the coolest motherfucker around during this era. The white Gibson, the beers onstage, the whole attitude. Imagine going back to that time & telling James he would need sober group therapy to stay in a band with Lars & Kirk.

[Diamondjimi]

Hey i dig cliff,and i mean this in no disrespect but,Cliff was not metal's greatest bass player.
Ian Hill of Judas Priest is better (my opinion),

(I know it's your opinion, but)

Ian Hill? Perfect for Priest but would probably be lost on a 4/4 shuffle (Just my opinion) ...

.So is Dimebag Darrell metal's greatest guitarist?.

R.I.P Cliff

Dime was the EVH of Metal.

I've witnessed both of these guys live. They were legends when they were alive and walking this planet. And they're still legends.

[Diamondjimi]

And James was the coolest motherfucker around during this era. The white Gibson, the beers onstage, the whole attitude. Imagine going back to that time & telling James he would need sober group therapy to stay in a band with Lars & Kirk.

[ppg960]

Just finished the auto-biography for the band. A good read indeed.
I was 16 when this happened-still remember it.
Master of Puppets was a great album!!

RIP-Cliff

[Green Manalishi]

I was very fortunate to see the killer version of Metallica in February of '85 kicking W.A.S.P. and Armoured Saints asses

in a night club and kicking Ozzy's ass very badly in Kiel Auditorium in April of '86 . Cliff was supercool live .

Metallicas music and psyche understandably took a serious hit when he died . Though I really like the original Garage Days

and Justice For All ( they both had remnants of Cliff ) I feel they were never the same and unfortunately crap like the black album

started to rear its ugly head . Its been downhill ever since . What a sad loss .

[sadaist]

I was very fortunate to see the killer version of Metallica in February of '85 kicking W.A.S.P. and Armoured Saints asses

in a night club and kicking Ozzy's ass very badly in Kiel Auditorium in April of '86 . Cliff was supercool live .

Metallicas music and psyche understandably took a serious hit when he died . Though I really like the original Garage Days

and Justice For All ( they both had remnants of Cliff ) I feel they were never the same and unfortunately crap like the black album

started to rear its ugly head . Its been downhill ever since . What a sad loss .

Spot on. Great post. Garage Days was very cool. It matched the fuck-it-drink-more-beers attitude all us "long hairs" had at the time. $9.99 album..DO NOT PAY MORE! with a Tower Records $11.99 sticker on it. We gave them so much shit & caused a ruckus at the register.

I saw them with Cliff when they opened for Ozzy. But I'm jealous of that WASP / Armored Saint show you saw them at. I can only imagine the testosterone levels of the crowd that night.

[Diamondjimi]

But I'm jealous of that WASP / Armored Saint show you saw them at. I can only imagine the testosterone levels of the crowd that night.

I saw that tour when it came to Toronto. They played at The Concert Hall. 800 people maximum. I was down front in front of Hammett. Hetfield pushed him into the audience (on us) . A friend of mine bumped into Hetfield before the show and gave him some hash. He thanked him and told my buddy he didn't toke but his bass player does.
He passed it on to cliff... Metallica fuckin Pwn3d the night. But I did enjoy seeing the original Armored Saint and catching WASP on their first tour..

[ThrillsNSpills]

Het always comes across as a great guy in interviews.
At least the ones I saw.

Axl.......not so much.

[sadaist]

Back on topic.

Yeah. We did stray off to Hetfield. But the death of Metallicas & Hetfields "cool" can be directly linked to Cliffs untimely passing.

When they buried Cliff, their mojo went with him.

[GAR]

uitar. CRAZY!

And James was the coolest motherfucker around during this era.

You must mean "coolest in appearance" because anytime I'd bumped into him, he was no gent.

[sadaist]

You must mean "coolest in appearance" because anytime I'd bumped into him, he was no gent.

I never got to meet him. Almost did on the Justice tour. My high school coach was the Staff Pro lead guy at concerts. The day after the LA show he gave me some of the unused backstage passes. The San Diego show was the next night. We tried to use them and got past 3 security until one actually looked at the badges we had & walkie-talkie to ask someone what the "color code" for tonight was. FUCK! So close.

So when I say coolest, I'm going off appearance, musical abilities, stage presence, and interviews from the time.

[SparkieD]

Cliff & Mustaine were Metallica. When Cliff died & with Mustaine long, long gone, Metallica had a few scraps to put together a half decent album & just went downhill from there.

How many more kickass albums could Cliff have released, noone will know, obviously, but I bet he could've managed at the very least a couple more REALLY good ones.

He rocked. Hard. In a band of wet manginas.

Cheers! :bottle:

No shit.