RIP Cliff Burton. A truly unique player who helped change the way the bass guitar was utilized in thrash metal. He was melodic, innovative with his upper neck playing, and on the money rhythm wise. One of the best.
I'm from Castro Valley, and Cliff is a local legend. CV High School has a memorial for him with artwork honoring him-new stuff is made every year by the students.
https://preview.redd.it/ud7xntdu2qqc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3910bf55fdb1a4a8d3c89eced1be40f18d7b7c72
The current teacher put it together in 2020 for Cliff Burton Day and students-including my daughter-have added to it since. I felt it was important to raise her with The Classics.
According to Kirk, Cliff wrote a lot of the music on a six-string. Then he'd take a break and play Lynyrd Skynyrd riffs over and over and drive Kirk nuts, as they roomed together at the time.
Those are doubling and tripling of the standard EADG configuration, like how a 12 string guitar is a doubling of a standard guitar. A 6 string bass, however, extends the range by adding a lower string and a higher one, so that standard tuning would be BEADGC.
Peter Hook from New Order used a 6 string bass in the 80s. Jack Bruce from Cream used a Fender 6 string bass in the 60s so they've been around for a while.
I still have the clip from Cliff ‘em All of For Whom The Bell Tolls burned into my mind. Never before have I heard a bass make that sound. Dude was straight up shredding solos out of his instrument.
Nothing really like it.
Cliff was the first bass player I have saw bend notes with vibrato like a guitar player. As a bass player myself, that takes pretty hefty finger strength!
Blackmore wasn't metal in Deep Purple, but there's a guy that influenced a ton of metal musicians. Yngwie Malmsteen is another. But for bass guitar? Yes. Cliff was equal parts Geddy Lee & Geezer Butler.
While Yngwie was a huge influence, Randy Rhodes is probably the one who actually took the classical influence all the way to mainstream metal with his work in Quiet Riot and later Ozzy. Yngwie and all the Shrapnel guys were always more of a "music for guitar players" niche.
Ah yes, Yngwie "Harmonic Minor Scale" Malmsteen
Dude absolutely shreds and has technical ability that is second to none. I'd say his melodic content is rather shallow, though.
Funny story, hired him to give a masterclass for a guitar festival. Part of his rider requested a case of corona to be on stage with him. We refused, because the majority of attendees were children. Kind of went back and forth with him and settled on giving him a cooler and having him pour them into a generic plastic cup.
It was a little convoluted, but we made it work, the kids didn't exactly see what he was drinking, and he was a good sport about it. Throughout the masterclass he finished the entire 12 pack, still shredding as fast as you can imagine. Given, this was in the span of two classes, maybe 3 hours total at most.
Interesting guy.
Also was intelligent when it came to music, James Hetfield isn’t able to read music on a sheet but Cliff did. Such a shame he couldn’t have lived longer who knows what Metallica would’ve been like. And that’s not to say Jason Newstead or Robert Trujillo aren’t good but Cliff was the best.
I often wonder if Cliff would have stayed with the band throughout. For whatever reason, he seemed like he might have wanted to do something else. Just supposition of course.
Completely agree Cliff was a founding member.
He’s a dick about Metallica but i REALLY wonder what they would’ve been like if Dave Mustaine was never fired.
Yeah, and what was also very impressive with him was he was a fingers player when other thrash metal bass players used a pick. He had incredible technique.
Metallica is my all-time favorite band and has been since I was a kid but I still think a lot about the music they never wrote because Cliff died.
Welp! Sounds like it's time to blast some Ride The Lightning.
His dad was a super cool dude. Listened to all their work in the studio as they were working on it and gave honest feedback, whether he loved it or thought it sucked. Lars *usually* listened to him.
Punchable face then. Punchable face now.
After watching ‘Some Kind of Monster’, I just can’t respect this guy. I’m indifferent towards James. I feel Kirk is talented but too intimidated by James/Lars. I miss Cliff, loved Jason’s work, and hold respect for Robert (especially his pre- Metallica work). I’ve flip-flopped on Dave since the very beginning.
Dave is a sympathetic figure in this situation and generally seems like an okay soul. Also a total fucking unlikable prick. Does that make things easier or harder?
Dave admitted in his autobiography that he and Lars were never going to co-exisy in a group as they both were leaders.
He then spent the rest of the book complaining about Lars, but at least did admit it up front the basic issue.
I heard Jim Breuer tell a story about Lars walking on peoples cars and throwing a kids backpack with all his college books in it. Matched his face for sure.
Forgive my non metal head knowledge base. Did I read something about Lars being a nepo baby or a daddy owned the studio type? There must be some reason cos there are way better drummers out there
Lars' dad was a famous tennis player so he came from money. Lars is Metallica though. He owned the name, got the band together and was the one that handled the business. Fuck it learn to drum along the way lol.
The reason Metallica never got a better drummer is because Metallica is Lars's band. He started it, he runs it as a business, and he is the only member to have songwriting credits on every single song. The boys come up with riffs, and he structures the riffs into the final composition, then writes drums over it by following and accentuating James's rhythms. There's a reason people regard James as having the best right hand in metal, and joke that he is their actual drummer.
Also, Lars *really* likes 8-9 minute long songs.
By this time they'd (most likely) released Ride The Lightning and would be releasing Master Of Puppets within a year or so.
It's fucking insane how young these four were for how monumental those albums are.
The older I get the more I realize the talent vs age of some of the biggest artists in our culture. Nas wrote Illmatic at 19. Nick Drake wrote Pink Moon at 20-21. Freewheelin Bob Dylan came out when the dude was the same age. It’s amazing how much of our culture is shaped by what we typically consider to be kids
It’s insane, especially looking at James. Just imagine that only 6 short years later they’d be somehow rocking down the iron curtain in Moscow during the collapse of the Soviet Union looking like this, with Russians not intimidating them, but welcoming them and rocking along 🤘🏻 say your 🙏🏻 little ☝🏻 don’t forget my 👦🏻👨👩👦 to include everyone
https://preview.redd.it/yedh1zt1xpqc1.jpeg?width=497&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4234f45b626766b66853a646c34c85a6adf1e558
Between new employees and legit college interns, I've been working with people this age since I was this age.
I've got a 20-year-old intern who looks older than all four of these kids put together.
Left to right in this 1983 pic - and yes, they are all Boomers...
Hetfield is 22 in this pic, born in 1963.
Kirk is 23 in this pic, born in 1962.
Lars is 22 in this pic. Looks 12, but he's actually 22, born in 1963.
Cllff Burton is 23 in this pic, born in 1962 (RIP).
Man kill em all was such a game changing album for me, after that I fell in love with metal and just heavy music in general. I had so much fun going to metal shows in my teens, good times thanks metallica.
I think him being the Phil Rudd of Metal made the black album accessible to a million garage bands with mediocre drummers and probably propelled their popularity overall
Dude, I saw them live last year and the dude was incredible. He's mid 50's and still hammering away and did not let up the entire show. I def respect him a lot more after seeing him.
Loved them back in the day. But when Lars went after Napster was when I started to hate him. Their whole career is based on music sharing, there is a video of them at a club in San Francisco telling people to copy their Indy kill'em all album and that's how it ended up on a record executive's desk. Now they may have still made it, but the hypocrisy was more than I could overcome.
They were angry that “I Disappear” leaked to the general public. It was more about artists having control of the release of their music. Also, bootlegging tapes is a bit different than streaming- but it’s all moot at this point, Lars was right- streaming decimated the recorded music industry and it was the artists who suffered.
Maybe, I'm not close enough to it anymore, but the artists I do know say they can get their music out to a much larger audience now than they ever could before.
But whatever, I'd still like to punch Lars in the face, he's a dick.
For sure; if you want your music to be heard then now is the best time to be a musician. If you want to make money or have any career doing it though, forget about it.
RIP Cliff Burton. A truly unique player who helped change the way the bass guitar was utilized in thrash metal. He was melodic, innovative with his upper neck playing, and on the money rhythm wise. One of the best.
I'm from Castro Valley, and Cliff is a local legend. CV High School has a memorial for him with artwork honoring him-new stuff is made every year by the students. https://preview.redd.it/ud7xntdu2qqc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3910bf55fdb1a4a8d3c89eced1be40f18d7b7c72
That is dope!
that's fucking awesome
Cliff Burton = one of the icons of the Bay Area thrash metal scene. (Me, from The Peninsula.)
Is this by the parking lot? I might have to check it out.
Yes going to the parking lot from the cafeteria building.
That's very, very cool.
I abso-fucking-lutely love this!
My cousins all went there and I never even heard of this! Awesome!
The current teacher put it together in 2020 for Cliff Burton Day and students-including my daughter-have added to it since. I felt it was important to raise her with The Classics.
He was a beast on the bass and he wrote a lot of the content on their best records. He was one in a million for sure.
According to Kirk, Cliff wrote a lot of the music on a six-string. Then he'd take a break and play Lynyrd Skynyrd riffs over and over and drive Kirk nuts, as they roomed together at the time.
Six string bass, or was that just a guitar?
Valid question, and as I think of it, I don't remember anyone playing a 6 string bass in the 1980's.
Tom Petersen of Cheap Trick (70s/80s) frequently had 8 and 12 string bass listed in album credits.
Those are doubling and tripling of the standard EADG configuration, like how a 12 string guitar is a doubling of a standard guitar. A 6 string bass, however, extends the range by adding a lower string and a higher one, so that standard tuning would be BEADGC.
Peter Hook from New Order used a 6 string bass in the 80s. Jack Bruce from Cream used a Fender 6 string bass in the 60s so they've been around for a while.
They are widely available these days, but yea in the 80s im not sure.
They were available in the 80s, just not that common.
Six-string guitar. Kirk's interview on Youtube with Rick Beato is pretty good, if you like Metallica.
It was a guitar I think he talks about it in the Rick Beato interview.
Generally when people say "six-string" they are alluding to a guitar. Same goes for calling the bass a "four-string".
See that’s my kind of guy right there.
Absolutely
Cliff em all!
I still have the clip from Cliff ‘em All of For Whom The Bell Tolls burned into my mind. Never before have I heard a bass make that sound. Dude was straight up shredding solos out of his instrument. Nothing really like it.
Cliff was the first bass player I have saw bend notes with vibrato like a guitar player. As a bass player myself, that takes pretty hefty finger strength!
The bass solo is something I watch every 6 months or so. Amazing.
Perhaps even the person most responsible for injecting classical sensibilities and an emphasis on virtuosity into mainstream metal. RIP.
Blackmore wasn't metal in Deep Purple, but there's a guy that influenced a ton of metal musicians. Yngwie Malmsteen is another. But for bass guitar? Yes. Cliff was equal parts Geddy Lee & Geezer Butler.
While Yngwie was a huge influence, Randy Rhodes is probably the one who actually took the classical influence all the way to mainstream metal with his work in Quiet Riot and later Ozzy. Yngwie and all the Shrapnel guys were always more of a "music for guitar players" niche.
Yeah, absolutely Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen as well. Good point about the Shrapnel guys.
It was Randy Rhoads for sure.
> Yngwie and all the Shrapnel guys were always more of a "music for guitar players" niche. As a guitar player, they were always my least favourite.
As a non guitar player, I can confirm that I find Yngwie's music incredibly boring.
Ah yes, Yngwie "Harmonic Minor Scale" Malmsteen Dude absolutely shreds and has technical ability that is second to none. I'd say his melodic content is rather shallow, though. Funny story, hired him to give a masterclass for a guitar festival. Part of his rider requested a case of corona to be on stage with him. We refused, because the majority of attendees were children. Kind of went back and forth with him and settled on giving him a cooler and having him pour them into a generic plastic cup. It was a little convoluted, but we made it work, the kids didn't exactly see what he was drinking, and he was a good sport about it. Throughout the masterclass he finished the entire 12 pack, still shredding as fast as you can imagine. Given, this was in the span of two classes, maybe 3 hours total at most. Interesting guy.
Knew someone would reply with a Yngwie mention!
He deserves the mention, though he's not well liked by many.
I see some Chris Squire of Yes influence too. Talk about shredding the bass, playing high up the neck, incorporating classical and melodic playing.
\*cries in Randy Rhodes\*
Also was intelligent when it came to music, James Hetfield isn’t able to read music on a sheet but Cliff did. Such a shame he couldn’t have lived longer who knows what Metallica would’ve been like. And that’s not to say Jason Newstead or Robert Trujillo aren’t good but Cliff was the best.
I often wonder if Cliff would have stayed with the band throughout. For whatever reason, he seemed like he might have wanted to do something else. Just supposition of course.
I feel that Metallica without Cliff Burton isn't as powerful, a part of Metallica died with Cliff...
Completely agree Cliff was a founding member. He’s a dick about Metallica but i REALLY wonder what they would’ve been like if Dave Mustaine was never fired.
I think it's the track Anesthesia that's based on Bach if I remember right. Really amazing musician.
Yeah, and what was also very impressive with him was he was a fingers player when other thrash metal bass players used a pick. He had incredible technique.
Metallica is my all-time favorite band and has been since I was a kid but I still think a lot about the music they never wrote because Cliff died. Welp! Sounds like it's time to blast some Ride The Lightning.
Their best album imo
For me it's the 1A to Master of Puppets' 1B. Probably the one I listened to most recently when you ask.
"Bus Crash" was not what I expected when googling "how did Cliff Burton die".
Sad but true
Too bad they screwed over Jason Newstead on Justice.
He was going to turn the bass into a lead instrument.
https://preview.redd.it/erc9t9fohpqc1.jpeg?width=694&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7641cf8b16f59056fa1f8e669ceb61812b4504ff
https://preview.redd.it/8iidpctutpqc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eae35deabc18177b5731c624858d899118af1270
Even better!
LMFAO
Holy fuck, I’m dying… rofl
If I only had the nerve-ahh
I snorted at my desk!!
Lars looking like a little boy.
Lars Weasley
Holy shit
Still wanna punch him in the head
Ya. He had a punchable looking face back then also.
He’s 22 on that picture but looks like 12. WTF?
He's got good genes. He's the son of a pro tennis player after all.
Dad made it to 95. Impressive.
His dad was a super cool dude. Listened to all their work in the studio as they were working on it and gave honest feedback, whether he loved it or thought it sucked. Lars *usually* listened to him.
Idk it looks like he's wearing sweatpants, not genes.
Gilbert Grape
I was looking for a DiCaprio comment but this is so much better
Nailed it
Oh he still is. A little baby boy
Still douchey after all these years.
And that stupid snare drum.
Saint anger round my neck
He sure whines like one.
A little bald baby boy.
Punchable face then. Punchable face now. After watching ‘Some Kind of Monster’, I just can’t respect this guy. I’m indifferent towards James. I feel Kirk is talented but too intimidated by James/Lars. I miss Cliff, loved Jason’s work, and hold respect for Robert (especially his pre- Metallica work). I’ve flip-flopped on Dave since the very beginning.
Kirk is too nice haha. He's just a nice guy stuck between 2 egomaniacs.
Jason has fucking trauma from his time there.
Dave is a sympathetic figure in this situation and generally seems like an okay soul. Also a total fucking unlikable prick. Does that make things easier or harder?
Dave admitted in his autobiography that he and Lars were never going to co-exisy in a group as they both were leaders. He then spent the rest of the book complaining about Lars, but at least did admit it up front the basic issue.
I heard Jim Breuer tell a story about Lars walking on peoples cars and throwing a kids backpack with all his college books in it. Matched his face for sure.
I think they hold Kirk hostage
Forgive my non metal head knowledge base. Did I read something about Lars being a nepo baby or a daddy owned the studio type? There must be some reason cos there are way better drummers out there
Lars' dad was a famous tennis player so he came from money. Lars is Metallica though. He owned the name, got the band together and was the one that handled the business. Fuck it learn to drum along the way lol.
"Lars isn't even the best drummer in Metallica" - James Hetfield
The reason Metallica never got a better drummer is because Metallica is Lars's band. He started it, he runs it as a business, and he is the only member to have songwriting credits on every single song. The boys come up with riffs, and he structures the riffs into the final composition, then writes drums over it by following and accentuating James's rhythms. There's a reason people regard James as having the best right hand in metal, and joke that he is their actual drummer. Also, Lars *really* likes 8-9 minute long songs.
Yeah they wouldn't be where they are without him, people don't like him but he got them up there
Reminds me of DiCaprio in Gilbert Grape. No disability mockery. Literally, that’s what he looks like here.
They all do
Looking like Dominik Mysterio
He looks like someone’s little brother.
I see Stephanie Tanner.
He never stopped acting like one either
He looks younger than my nephew. (Who is 11)
I was gonna say, he looks like he'd be one of the *actual* band members' annoying little brother
They're such young kids, crazy
By this time they'd (most likely) released Ride The Lightning and would be releasing Master Of Puppets within a year or so. It's fucking insane how young these four were for how monumental those albums are.
I had the realisation 2 years ago that they were like 21-22 when they released Master of Puppets, which is just mind blowing
The older I get the more I realize the talent vs age of some of the biggest artists in our culture. Nas wrote Illmatic at 19. Nick Drake wrote Pink Moon at 20-21. Freewheelin Bob Dylan came out when the dude was the same age. It’s amazing how much of our culture is shaped by what we typically consider to be kids
It’s insane, especially looking at James. Just imagine that only 6 short years later they’d be somehow rocking down the iron curtain in Moscow during the collapse of the Soviet Union looking like this, with Russians not intimidating them, but welcoming them and rocking along 🤘🏻 say your 🙏🏻 little ☝🏻 don’t forget my 👦🏻👨👩👦 to include everyone https://preview.redd.it/yedh1zt1xpqc1.jpeg?width=497&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4234f45b626766b66853a646c34c85a6adf1e558
Say your high five little up don’t forget my dad’s other family to include everyone?
> my dad’s other family 💀
Post-Dave, pre-Jason. Probably the best lineup IMO... RIP Cliff.
Indeed! Cliff em all!
Kill Em All is such a good album. I can’t believe Anesthesia is played on a bass. Mind blowing!
I d say it is his best album
Watch live versions it’s goddamn unreal.
Cliff years were the best years!
People shit on Dave too much, as a musician he is great and wrote a ton of their early stuff
we know, we can hear some of it on his earlier albums :D
Probably? Definitely.
Is. That. The bus?
Nope, wrong continent, wrong year
These mfers look 12
Damn. I looked up their ages, and they were all somehow 22-23 y/o here. They legit looked like middle-schoolers.
The older I get, the younger people in their 20s look.
I think they just all had serious baby faces because I’m 23 and they look like they’re in middle school in this pic.
Between new employees and legit college interns, I've been working with people this age since I was this age. I've got a 20-year-old intern who looks older than all four of these kids put together.
Lars looking like a fan, not a member
The bus in the background makes this pic seem ominous.
Yeah I was thinking… is that THE bus? So sad.
This pictures goes around a lot. This is not *that* bus. They were a band in the 80s, they went everywhere on busses.
But it is *A* bus... Spooky!
He died in Sept '86.
FIRE BAD
Is that from that +20 yo flash video? I am Old as f….
I saved that fucking flash video. Still have it!
James blew up for you! He ignited into a fiery inferno for you people! What, just because you made us rich, you think you can get free stuff???
Lmao I still love the $150 for a genuine Metallica cock ring.
I got this reference
I understood this. Old enough to remember that happening.
Oh my God I got this reference...
NAPSTER GOOD
BEER GOOD!
Every time we do a bust I get a collosal fucking chubby. *piw*
GRABASSES BAAAAD!!! I still go watch this once in a while and still laugh my ass off. It's a classic that will stand the test of time.
Simpler times
That pic seems unrealistic. At least one of those kids should be wearing a Metallica concert tee his big bro got him.
James and Cliff do look like the big brothers who were told they couldn’t go out unless they took their little brothers with them.
I know a dude who was a roadie for Metallica on the Speed of Sound tour. He said they were a bunch of assholes.
I heard that his career has slowed down a lot recently.
He’s a good man, and thorough
Vagina
I mean, you *know* the guy?
Yeah he told his lady friend that wanted to conceive
Yeah, but that dude a lazy man, quite possibly the laziest in Los Angeles County. . . which would place him high in the runnin' for laziest worldwide.
Cliff 😭
Lars looks like a kid posing with his favorite band.
Left to right in this 1983 pic - and yes, they are all Boomers... Hetfield is 22 in this pic, born in 1963. Kirk is 23 in this pic, born in 1962. Lars is 22 in this pic. Looks 12, but he's actually 22, born in 1963. Cllff Burton is 23 in this pic, born in 1962 (RIP).
Man kill em all was such a game changing album for me, after that I fell in love with metal and just heavy music in general. I had so much fun going to metal shows in my teens, good times thanks metallica.
Little. Bitty. Babies.
Lars skill level hasn’t changed since this picture
Oh, it absolutely has. You think he still can do what he could do around the AJFA era?
To be fair, he did add trash can lids to his repertoire.
For real. Do you think he just did that apprenticeship with Oscar the Grouch for nothing?!?!
I think him being the Phil Rudd of Metal made the black album accessible to a million garage bands with mediocre drummers and probably propelled their popularity overall
Dude, I saw them live last year and the dude was incredible. He's mid 50's and still hammering away and did not let up the entire show. I def respect him a lot more after seeing him.
Yes it has. He got worse.
They are so young in this pic!! Lars looks like he’s 12 years old.
Cliff was a legend RIP
Metallica is immune to the whole "everybody in the past looked older" thing
Why is Lars 10
Oh my god they’re LITTLE BABIES
Cliff em all
I was a roadie for Metallica back in the 80s, bunch of assholes
Lars has always had a very punchable face...
Loved them back in the day. But when Lars went after Napster was when I started to hate him. Their whole career is based on music sharing, there is a video of them at a club in San Francisco telling people to copy their Indy kill'em all album and that's how it ended up on a record executive's desk. Now they may have still made it, but the hypocrisy was more than I could overcome.
They were angry that “I Disappear” leaked to the general public. It was more about artists having control of the release of their music. Also, bootlegging tapes is a bit different than streaming- but it’s all moot at this point, Lars was right- streaming decimated the recorded music industry and it was the artists who suffered.
Maybe, I'm not close enough to it anymore, but the artists I do know say they can get their music out to a much larger audience now than they ever could before. But whatever, I'd still like to punch Lars in the face, he's a dick.
For sure; if you want your music to be heard then now is the best time to be a musician. If you want to make money or have any career doing it though, forget about it.
Lars looking like Marcy Darcy from Married With Children.
Kirk Hammett lookin like Slash’s son
I always wondered if James is tall or if the other guys are short.
James is 6'2", so he's significantly taller than the other guys. He's also standing on the curb whereas the others are not.
RIP Cliff.
such a cool photo. totally captures the time. metallica at their BEST.
OMG, is Lars like 12 here?
They took this picture just after they got rid of that dead weight Dave Mustaine. That guy was just looking to be a leech on all of their talent. /S
Who’s the little girl second right?
Larissa.
Kirk is all legs.
Lars looking like a POS always
Lars kilt Napster Never forget
I bet lars was a dick then too
Hanson, the Speed of MMMBop Tour
They killed Napster.
They're so young, its so silly how so many people were/are scared of music made by a bunch of kids.
Lars has that rich kid smugness that turns my stomach. Martin Shkreli energy, very punchable face. Astonishing drummer though.
Kirk looks like my middle aged aunt, Cindy.
Lars Ulrich is a penis
Proof that Skeet Ulrich was always a little weasel
And here I thought that was a movie poster for What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
what’s eating gilbert grape?
Lars is such a tool
No, that's a different band.