Ensi vuonna 30 vuotta täyttävä Metallican klassikko ”…And Justice For All” on jälleen otsikoissa. Olemattomat bassoraidat ovat olleet keskusteluissa levyn syntymästä saakka. Syypäänä pidetään rumpali Lars Ulrichia, joka olisi ollut vastuussa bassoraidoista lopullisessa miksauksessa. Studioteknikko Steve Thompson kertoi Ultimate – Guitarille vuonna 2015 yksityiskohtia miksaustyöstä. Hänen mukaansa täydellisen äänimaailman tavoittelu tuhosi bassoraidat lopullisesti. Lars oli antanut käskyn vetää bassoraidat täysin alas, vaikka raakamiksaus oli ollut kitaroiden ja bassojen osalta erinomaisen kuuloinen.
Nyt ääneen pääsee levyn tuottaja Flemming Rasmussen, joka on kertonut oman versionsa Alphabetallicalle. Rasmussen mainitsee muun muassa, että ensimmäisissä versioissa bassoa oli riittävästi ja Newstedin soitto oli fantastista.
”What happened was [mixing engineers Steve Thompson and Mike Barbiero] did a mix that they thought sounded really, really good, which had lots of bass in it.
”And the bass – let me just point out – the bass tracks on ’…And Justice for All’ are actually fantastic. Jason plays really well. He probably tried to prove that he was worth, that he was up there with Cliff, which in my opinion he is.
”It’s a different style, but he is as good of bass player as Cliff, just in a different way. And I’ve heard the bass tracks and they were actually amazing. They sound good, he plays well. But, they heard the mix and they went, ’Alright, take the bass down, change this this this and this, and then take the bass down.’ So you can barely hear it. And then once they’ve done that they said, ’Take it another 3dB down.’
”Why they did that – I have no idea! It could be that they were still grieving about Cliff. I have no idea. But imagine my surprise when I heard the album. I was like, ’What the… What?!’ It got really criticized when it came out, and people got more or less blown away because of the dryness of the sound. It just goes BANG, right in your face.
”’…And Justice for All’ was probably the single album in the last 30 years which has been the most influential in terms of sound for the whole generation of the hardcore metal bands. They all wanted to sound like ’…And Justice for All.’ That really clicky, high-endy bass drum, all that stuff…
”Every time I hear the bass drum like that, I go ’I’m really sorry about that. That’s my mistake.’ Well, I didn’t mix it!”
Lähde: Metal Injection, Ultimate – Guitar
Metalliluolan uutistoimitus. Tällä hetkellä uutisia ja tiedotteita julkaisevat Ville Krannila, Pete Alander, Mikko Huuhka ja Joni Renko.
