Everybody, from the biggest Metallicaholic to the band members themselves, thinks the final mix of Metallica's fourth studio album ...And Justice For All flat-out sucks. So why has nobody come up with the obvious license to print more money and released a properly remixed version of this landmark album?
Are they too worried about pleasing the fans by giving them an opportunity to hear the album the way it should have been heard in the first place? Hetfield and Ulrich are the same guys who, according to rumor, essentially hazed new bassist Jason Newsted by fucking up the bass sound in the final mix.
Keep in mind this was the same band who had fired original producer Mike Clink (who was fresh off the worldwide success of Guns 'n Roses' Appetite For Destruction) because he wasn't getting the sound right, begging Flemming Rasmussen (who'd produced their previous two albums) to help them salvage the sessions and then, after all that time and trouble, throwing a wrench into the spokes by instructing mixer Steve Thompson to essentially sabotage the mix.
In a 2013 interview with Loudwire, Newsted himself stated the obvious regarding the album's then-25th anniversary:
"It stands up over time...maybe not the mix...but the songs do."
"It stands up over time...maybe not the mix...but the songs do."
Yet, for all the album's accolades and multi-platinum sales, one would think someone within the Metallica or Elektra Records camps would green-light a proper remix of the band's landmark album for the following reasons:
1. Money. Come on, whether you already own the album or not, you're gonna wanna buy this album just to crank it to eleven on the stereo system in your eight-shades-of-primer Camaro Z28.
1. Money. Come on, whether you already own the album or not, you're gonna wanna buy this album just to crank it to eleven on the stereo system in your eight-shades-of-primer Camaro Z28.
2. It returns talk of Metallica to their prime era rather than the bloated dysfunctional carcass that is Metallica 2015. That's good for the brand, good for the band, and, most of all, great for the fans.
In addition to releasing a properly mixed version of ...And Justice For All on vinyl and CD, they should also release the individual stems for every song and let the fans mix them to their own liking. That this practice has not yet become commonplace just shows you how asleep-at-the-wheel the majors ae when it comes to finding new revue streams?
Would you not pay serious cash to be able to mix your favorite albums to your liking? Of course you would.
Would you not pay serious cash to be able to mix your favorite albums to your liking? Of course you would.
And, as luck would have it, one of my musical heroes, Phil Solem of Great Buildings and Rembrandts fame, has been a driving force behind MultiTracks Music, a mobile app that puts the power of the mixing console in the listener's hands, allowing them to create their own mixes on-the-fly.
Suddenly the idea of re-buying that first Boston album AGAIN doesn't seem so bad now that you'll have the ability to play with the stems and mix some of your favorite tunes.
Suddenly the idea of re-buying that first Boston album AGAIN doesn't seem so bad now that you'll have the ability to play with the stems and mix some of your favorite tunes.
What this does for music - restore the value of musicianship and songcraft t the consumer - a proper mix of ...And Justice For All will do for Metallica.
You heard it here first!