Under the Influence: Jason Newsted
Raised in Metallica's ranks for 14 years, one of heavy metal's great ambassadors presents a personal guide to “some of the building blocks of what our music has become." Strap in...
1. Metallica – Ride the Lightning (1984)
In the beginning there was Ride the Lightning. For me, this is probably the best Metallica album. As a fan, it’s between that and Master of Puppets. Master of Puppets is probably the ultimate in the songwriting and recording ability of that band, but as far as the jump of progress in such a short amount of time [since Kill 'Em All's recording just 14 months before], Ride the Lightning is the winner. It shows so much growth and potential in what is the best metal quartet there’s ever been, in our style, with those four guys. It’s the king for me, and Call of Ktulu is second only to Orion. Ktulu is such an incredible, groundbreaking piece – that has to be heralded always.
2. Sepultura – Chaos A.D. (1993)
My favourite original metal band. Voivod is probably the most innovative, unique metal band, but Sepultura is the most sink-your-teeth-into-the-music kind of metal band for me. Chaos AD was probably the peak of the togetherness, brotherhood, understanding, writing and power of the Cavalera brothers. They were really hitting their best stride with tracks like Refuse/Resist and Territory. Just amazing songs that continue to set the standard. Nobody else has ever been able to reach the fury of their tribal style. They really peaked out on that one.
3. Slayer – Reign in Blood (1986)
Reign in Blood pretty much sets the bar for all other bands to follow as far as the out and out intensity and relentless pursuit of their aggressive style goes. You always know what you’re gonna get with Slayer. This was the one that really turned everybody’s head and exposed the band to the world while they were still on the way to becoming the best in their field. The beginning of their rise.
4. Exodus – Bonded By Blood (1985)
For those of us in the Bay Area, San Francisco – Exodus were the kings. They were the ones that set the standard for the circle pit – with thrashy, duelling, muted, super fast guitars, and that down-picking style. Metallica looked up to Exodus for all of that stuff. It was aspirational stuff for many Bay Area musicians, and it made it all the way down to Arizona for this kid right here. They greatly influenced the writing for my first band Flotsam and Jetsam. Let’s tip our hats to Exodus.
5. Megadeth – Killing Is My Business... and Business is Good! (1985)
For Dave Mustaine, this was his first record away from Metallica. All of the guys in the band at the time were pretty altered on different substances and it made for a very visceral, authentic, warts 'n' all virtuoso kind of record. Even though they were fucked up on drugs and hurting emotionally they still showed this incredible musicianship and togetherness that no other band from that era had really exhibited yet. As far as the writing went, Dave took that next step from what he’d shown on the writing of Ride the Lightning for Metallica. There was a complexity to it, and this was their first album. More than anything, this was a personal thing for me, because at that time Flotsam was opening for almost all of Megadeth’s shows. This was such an important record for Dave to get his due.
6. Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast (1982)
This is an album that gave us hope that we could be a bigger band, that there’s a way to go out into the world and have a career as a metal musician. Maiden were showing us that you could sell records and take it out to the people. You could do what you want in your own style and make it work. Not to mention how great and appealing the songs were. Everyone could sing along. This was Bruce Dickinson making his debut and taking that band to the next level.
7. Voivod – Nothingface (1989)
My brothers. This is just about their greatest stroke of genius. It was a point in their career where bands like Faith No More and Soundgarden were opening up for them – it was a pretty big deal back in the day. Again, for Flotsam, this was a big influence on us. I have to show a lot of respect to those guys, because I repeat, they are the most unique band of our genre and continue to be the most innovative in that style. They’ve had many great records, but this one hit a certain stride in a way that appealed to the wider world.
8. Muse – Absolution (2003)
I’m going to go a little bit sideways and a little bit new with Muse. The musicianship, the virtuosity and songwriting ability here is head and shoulders above all competition. They could still get as heavy as any metal band but have the delicate sounds of the piano and Matt Bellamy’s great singing. Here, they were covering ground that no other band really had in terms of mixing innovation, instrumentation and technology – showing the diversity that can come about within a power trio. This felt like the beginning of their rise in America.
9. The Sword – Warp Riders (2010)
Their third album, these guys – alongside Mastodon – are keeping metal alive to this day and giving us all hope. They're from Texas, but they feed off that old wave of British heavy metal – there’s a little Sabbath-y and Maiden-y taste to what they do, and a lot of Metallica in there. They’ve hit a combination that’s so appealing to me, as far as stoner metal being my favourite kind of stuff goes. This is The Sword flying the flag true in this realm of heavy metal music.
10. Mastodon – The Hunter (2011)
Their latest release, that track Curl of the Burl is so amazing; as far as mass appeal goes, it’s their bust-out jam. What I appreciate most about Mastodon is that their bass player Troy is also their lead vocalist and frontman, plus they have such a light-hearted approach to music. No matter how heavy and scary it is, they still keep a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour about the lyrical content. They take it seriously when they play it live – sweat their balls off and kick ass like they’re supposed to. But they keep it light and fun – that’s so important in life.
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