Today would have been Metallica bassist Cliff Burton’s 51st birthday. In remembrance of him, the band’s drummer Lars Ulrich (pictured left) gave a personal and emotional account of him in Revolver’s “Fallen Heroes” issue (available here). He had so many great stories about Burton, we couldn’t fit them in the magazine. So, in reverence, here is everything Ulrich had to say about Burton.
REVOLVER What do you remember about the first time you saw him?
LARS ULRICH I had just never really seen anything quite like it. It was just unique and so original. And there was just this incredible stage presence and this uniqueness to the whole vibe. I had just never seen anything like it. It was new, it was different. And obviously you could tell there was an incredible ability, and there was a stage presence, and all this type of stuff wrapped up in this incredible type of personality. And I think we were a little intimidated by him in the beginning because he was just so unique.
But then as we got to know him a little bit, and I sort of started courting him to try and jump ship [from his band Trauma], then I started realizing he was a pretty chill dude. But he was also pretty firm on the fact that L.A. was not for him. ’Cause me and James were trying to get him to come down to L.A., and he just wasn’t into that. He was really rooted up here [near San Francisco], he really was a kind of a Northern California…almost a hillbilly like. I mean, there’s a lot of different vibes up here, and there’s definitely a kind of unique vibe in Castro Valley and Hayward and stuff. And he was a real, really rooted where it came from. And he was probably, certainly speaking for myself, I was much more of a gypsy. When we traveled and stuff like that, he was the first guy to want to go home. And he was the one who was probably at the strongest of roots of all of us. He had family and kind of a history. Me and James were more loners.
He seems like he was laidback.
He didn’t hurt people. He didn’t cross the line, but he was certainly always up for being part of stirring some shit up. But more like a rascal point of view then someone who was out to hurt people. So it was more fun and games. He would fake fight or whatever, throw some kind of fake punches, but he would never throw any real punches. I don’t think I ever saw Cliff in a fight. I don’t think I ever saw Cliff get into heated exchanges or anything. I mean, he was a pretty chill guy. And it never got nasty or unpleasant.
What are your fondest memories of him?
My fondest memories of Cliff are his total disregard for convention and his total disregard for playing things out the way you expected them. He was up to challenge the normalcy, to challenge the status quo, to just fuck with things musically, attitude-wise—the way he dressed, the way he carried himself, his sense of humor, his relationship with the music that inspired him, the music that he played. It was always very unconventional, and it was very unusual. You could certainly argue that me and James [Hetfield] at that time were more kind of the squarer guys, ’cause we were more like, “Motörhead, Iron Maiden!” Heavy metal T-shirts, and long hair and bang our heads into the wall. Cliff was just so fast in his palette of things that he was into and things that were inspiring him and the things that he was doing. So it was definitely his music, and his attitude, and his approach towards life that really inspired me and James to broaden our horizons, broaden Metallica’s horizons musically. So when I think of Cliff, that’s what I think…that’s just kind of variety and unpredictability, you know.
What are some of the bands he turned you on to?
First of all, he was classically trained and really knew his way around classical music. He actually studied classical music at college. So he’s sitting there talking about Johann Sebastian Bach, talking about some of these kind of cool classical things. And I had heard some of these words thrown around when Richie Blackmore was talking about his influences, but it was not something I had ever been exposed to.
Then he was also really…you know, this whole Southern thing. I mean, obviously I was aware of Skynyrd and had an appreciation for some of their heavier moments. But he was so immersed in Skynyrd and .38 Special and ZZ Top and the Allman Brothers and all of these things that kind of came in the wake of that Black Oak Arkansas. And the Outlaws and all that stuff, there was a whole kind of thing there.
He was also really into a lot of kind of progressive stuff like Yes, and Peter Gabriel, and a lot of f prog rock. And he was a hardcore Rush fanatic. Certainly I had an appreciation of Rush, but not to the level that he did. So there was a whole kind of array of things.
When I met Cliff in ’81, I had been through a lot of different musical experiences myself. But at that time, the things that were inspiring me to play music and so on were…I can’t say that Lynyrd Skynyrd was a particularly big inspiration for me to start playing drums. It was much more narrow. Iron Maiden and Deep Purple and Judas Priest and Diamond Head and Angel Witch, and the stories been told a thousand times. And the New Wave of British Heavy Metal stuff, and Cliff was just so wide in his scope. I played him Diamond Head. He liked some of their stuff, he liked some of Iron Maiden’s energy. He liked Witchfinder General, some of that stuff. But he also, he was a little more selective in what he liked, where me and James were more sort of like, Dude, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, it rocks! Where some of it you can argue 20, 30 years later was not as good some of the other stuff. There were hit and misses in there.
But Cliff was sort of into Peter Gabriel, the Police. Some of the stuff, I mean, it wasn’t the enemy because I was aware of the fact that there was musical integrity there. But I can’t tell you I knew much about what the Police were doing other then five songs I’d heard on the radio. But all of the sudden, in between the Diamond Head tapes and the Iron Maiden tapes being played on the tour buses and in the shitty vans, the fuckin’ Police album Zenyattà Mondatta would come on. Or what was that Yes album? 90125 or whatever. Some of that stuff would come on. It would just be nice. He loved to play some early ZZ Top. I just didn’t really know my way around Tres Hombres or the rest of those albums until Cliff started pounding them in our direction.
What do you think of him when you look back at it all now?
He was really cool. It was, obviously other than losing a brother, it would’ve been the more… I would’ve been interested to see what else he could’ve contributed, because it felt like we were just getting started. We just started playing “Orion” again on the last run, in the last two weeks [when Metallica were preparing for the Big Four concert in April]. So playing “Orion,” I think we played it like three times in the last two weeks. You sit there and all of a sudden go, Fuck! What a, just, incredible piece of music. And just so unique. And it would’ve been interesting to see what else would’ve been in that vast well of stuff that he could’ve shared with the rest of us. That will forever be the curiosity element. But I’m so glad that I got a chance to play with him for a couple, three years. And got a chance to know him, and got a chance to drink with him, and all the shenanigans that probably shouldn’t be printed in a nice, family publication like Revolver. But it definitely was a pretty nutty time, and at the time we certainly embraced what life was offering us. And accelerated it to a “mach 10,” as James used to say on stage.
2011 has been a great year for music, as evidenced by the kickass bands and artists we were able to feature on the cover of Revolver this year. Below, you can check out who made the cover of every issue of Revolver that was available over the past 365 days. After you’ve looked at the issues (some of which are still available for purchase here), click here to vote for the Best Revolver Cover of 2011.
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As part of our 2011 wrap-up, we have posted a photo gallery of every Revolver issue that was on newsstands this year (some are still available here). In our poll below, we want you to tell us what the Best Revolver Cover of 2011 was. Feel free to vote as many times as you want. The polls close at midnight EST on New Year’s Eve. Getcha pull!
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A video preview has been made available for the upcoming photo book, Murder in the Front Row: Shots From the Bay Area Thrash Metal Epicenter (Bazillion Points). The book, by Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew, will be released on December 13.
Featured photos include Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett performing with Exodus, as well as Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine rehearsing and performing with Metallica—including the band’s first practice with deceased bassist Cliff Burton. Some of the other photo highlights promise to be Kerry King soundchecking and performing with Megadeth, during that band’s debut series of shows in 1984, and Anthrax’s first-ever Bay Area appearance.
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Today marks the 25th anniversary of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton’s death. He is still fondly remembered by those who knew him, one of whom is Anthrax bassist Frank Bello (pictured left). When Revolver interviewed him for a feature about Anthrax’s Worship Music, which will be included in our November/December issue, we asked him about Burton and what kind of an impact he had on Bello, since Anthrax were on tour with Metallica the night that band’s bus skidded off the road, killing Burton. The band went on to dedicate their 1987 masterpiece, Among the Living, to Burton. Here is what Bello had to say.
“We had our bass-player pact. I watched Cliff every night, because he was so amazing, he was so innovative. And I genuinely liked talking to the man. He was a great hang. Put it this way, Anthrax was opening for Metallica back in Europe on that tour. And after that show, we’d usually be hungry. So you go in catering and you get a bite. You see James or you see Kirk or you see Cliff or Lars just hanging out after the show. I say this with a lump in my throat.
“The last thing I remember with Cliff, every night, after catering—it freaks me out a little bit, I still have his face in my head—the last thing we said to each other every night: ‘Hey, maybe I’ll see you later.’ He goes, ‘Maybe I will.’ We did that that night, and as he’s getting up from the table, because his bus was going, I say, ‘Hey, maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, maybe I will.’ And then he left. And that was the last thing he ever said to me. I still have his face. God rest his soul. I love him. That’s the last thing he said to me. That’s the last vision I have. ‘Maybe I will.’ With a joking passion, but man, that’s the last thing I have of him. God rest his soul. You know the history after that.
“It was just a really tough time. Nobody ever sees something like that coming. It was so rough. I remember getting to the hotel after that and everybody crying. It was so surreal. So sad. Only the good die young.
“Cliff had a lot more to give. Not only as a songwriter but as a bass player. Every time I watch Cliff ’Em All, it makes me want to play because it’s surreal. You think back, What would it have been like if Cliff was around? And I do. Because I’m a bass-player fan. He was one of my favorite bass players to watch because I thought he was so innovative. I was always watching what he was doing next. Man, with that wah pedal. And I would ask him, just to pick his head a little, what he used. What his influences were. It was great to pick his head as a bass player. So knowing Cliff was amazing. I’m glad I had that time. I really am. I’m very lucky.
“This metal community is really small, and he was one of us. I’ll go home and listen to Metallica tonight, Ride the Lightning, and celebrate with a glass of wine. His bass tone alone and what he did for that music was so good. I’m lucky to have been around him.”
]]>With the Big Four show coming up at Yankee Stadium tomorrow, new details have emerged about the photo collection Murder in the Front Row: Shots From the Bay Area Thrash Metal Epicenter (Bazillion Points), which chronicles the early days of thrash metal.
The book, by Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew, will feature photos of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett performing with Exodus, as well as Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine rehearsing and performing with Metallica—including the band’s very first practice with deceased bassist Cliff Burton. Some of the other photo highlights promise to be Kerry King soundchecking and performing with Megadeth, during that band’s debut series of shows in 1984, and Anthrax’s modest first-ever Bay Area appearance.
Over 400 photos will be featured in the book, which will be available this December.
]]>As we bid farewell to a year full of tragedy, the new issue of Revolver magazine—available on newsstands everywhere on December 21—remembers many of hard rock and metal’s most dearly departed. The cover features a stunning painting by legendary comic-book artist J.G. Jones, acclaimed for his work on Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, as well as for co-creating the series Wanted, which was adapted into a 2008 movie starring Angelina Jolie. Jones depicts Ronnie James Dio, Slipknot’s Paul Gray, Avenged Sevenfold’s the Rev, Type O Negative’s Peter Steele, Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell, Metallica’s Cliff Burton, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, Ozzy Osbourne’s Randy Rhoads, Queen’s Freddie Mercury, and Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley rocking together in heaven. The cover painting also appears as a free poster with the issue.
Inside the issue, Revolver remembers the cover artists and many of hard rock and metal’s other fallen heroes via exclusive interviews, including the first with Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Shawn “Clown” Crahan, Chris Fehn, and Joey Jordison—and Paul Gray’s wife, Brenna—since Paul’s death, and the first with the surviving members of Type O Negative since Peter Steele’s passing. Also interviewed are Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, Alice in Chains’ Mike Inez, Black Label Society’s Zakk Wylde, Ramones’ Marky Ramone, Melvins’ Buzz Osborne, rapper Ice-T, and more.
As a tie-in to the issue and a special tribute to Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell, Revolver has produced a highly limited-edition commemorative coin in his honor. The coin comes free with the magazine when purchased at Barnes & Noble. Otherwise, it is available with the issue and an antiqued metal coin holder at: www.revolvermag.com/store, where a portion of the sale proceeds will go to the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. To donate, go to www.ronniejamesdio.com.
The issue also features Revolver’s Top 20 Albums of the Year list and stories on Escape the Fate, the Damned Things, Volbeat, Social Distortion, A Day to Remember, and more!
