1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 2 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: story about Metallica, about one of the greatest bands of 3 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: all time. Call them heavy, call them rock, call them thrash, 4 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: call them whatever you want. There's no getting around the 5 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: fact that Metallica was fucking metal, and so is this story. 6 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: Because it's not only a story about Metallica, it's a 7 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: story about their original bass player, Cliff Burton, and no 8 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: one was more metal than Cliff. This story is so metal. 9 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: It's a gun that shoots knives. It's angrier than a 10 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: pit bull who's drug dealing guitar playing owner forgot to 11 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: feed it. It's more metal than a deranged psychopath high 12 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: on LSD murdering a man in cold blood and quoting 13 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: Metallica lyrics. It's the story of a tragic end that 14 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: took place before the most metal band of all really 15 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: even got started. It is, like I said, a story 16 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: about Metallica, a band that made great music, some of 17 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: the greatest music ever. Unlike that music I played for 18 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show that wasn't great music. 19 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my mellotron called Jerk 20 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: of All Trades MK two I played you that loop 21 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: because I can't afford the rights to Stuck with You 22 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: by Huey Lewis in the news. And why would I 23 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 1: play you that specific slice of hip to be square Cheese? 24 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 25 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: song in America on September twenty seventh, nineteen eighty six, 26 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: And that was the day that Metallica's bus crashed while 27 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 1: on tour in Sweden, flipping over and instantly killing the 28 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:08,839 Speaker 1: band's bass player, Cliff Burn. On this episode Hammers pitbulls, 29 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: a gun that shoots knives, murder, tragedy, metal and Metallica. 30 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Metallica's James Headfield 31 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: is one of, if not the greatest rhythm guitar players 32 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: of all time. He's up there with John Lee Hooker, 33 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: Malcolm Young, Keith Richards. Like those other guys, James Headfield 34 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:12,480 Speaker 1: did not just play. He innovated. He created something new 35 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: when he took the rapid fire downstrokes of punk rock 36 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: guitar and added in shuddering upstrokes. The result was a 37 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: whitlash riff unlike anything anyone had heard before, and don't 38 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 1: get me started on that gnarly tone. To get the 39 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 1: tone you heard on Metallica's early masterpiece Master of Puppets, 40 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: you had to do what James Hetfield did, not one, 41 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: not two, but three layer guitars, all playing the same thing. 42 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: James called that third guitar the Thickener, so fast, so tight, 43 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: and so metal, and just like no one had ever 44 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: played the guitar quite in the same way, No band 45 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: had ever brought that kind of playing, that kind of 46 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: music to the mainstream like Metallica did in nineteen ninety one. 47 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: Their fifth album, self titled, also known as the Black Album, 48 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: was a phenomenon. Upon its release, number one album on 49 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: the chart for four straight weeks. Metallica was no longer 50 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: playing to niche crowds of outcasts, weirdos, and burnouts. They 51 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: were now playing arenas packed with the popular kids, prom kings, 52 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: beauty queens, even Metals longtime nemesis the Jocks. In the past, 53 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: it was mostly dudes out there in the audience, mirror 54 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: reflections of the four guys on stage, Rick Jeans, long hair, 55 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: misfits T shirt with sleeve sawed off, working on a 56 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: butt heavy, full body buzz. Now the crowds were at 57 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: least fifty to fifty dudes and chicks, which is when 58 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 1: you know as a metal band that you've truly made it. 59 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 1: But making it didn't come without compromise. Metallica in nineteen 60 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: ninety one was not the same Metallica from nineteen eighty one. 61 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:58,159 Speaker 1: Their music was simpler, more anthemic, a change that welcomed 62 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: sour grapes from the diehards been there from the beginning, 63 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: You know, the ones, the ones who cried sell out 64 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: as soon as Metallica started not just selling out stadiums 65 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: but selling out stadium tours and being called sellouts, being criticized. 66 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: It wasn't the music that was the problem. The music 67 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: was fucking great, and anyone who told you differently at 68 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: the time did so because they're having a hard time 69 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: grieving the loss of something that was gone forever. Cliff 70 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,040 Speaker 1: would have never let this happen, was a common complaint, referring, 71 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: of course, to Cliff Burton, Metallica's former bass player, who 72 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: died five years prior. Cliff was quickly replaced with Jason Newstead, 73 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: who'd been doing his best to fit in for those 74 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: five years since. Despite relentless hazing from his bandmates, including 75 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: being erased from a record, but more on that later. 76 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: Jason had talent, Jason had dedication. But just like the 77 00:05:55,800 --> 00:06:01,040 Speaker 1: music wasn't the problem, Jason wasn't the problem either, was 78 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: that he'd stepped into shoes that were never meant to 79 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: be felled. December nineteen eighty four, Finland. The very real 80 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: hammer in Cliff Burton's hand was familiar to anyone with 81 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 1: a copy of Metallica's debut album Kill Them All. But 82 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: unlike that record's cover art, Cliff's hammer was not next 83 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: to a pool of blood. Blood wasn't on Cliff's mind 84 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: right now. Peace was restoring it, keeping it. He stepped 85 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:33,919 Speaker 1: off the tiny stage and into the unruly crowd. He 86 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,679 Speaker 1: lifted the hammer above his head and began to swirl 87 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: it dramatically in the air, and the kids moved aside. 88 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: The mass fighting that had been raging just seconds before 89 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: came to a stop. Cliff pushed through six foot something, 90 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: his frame accented by this hammer of the gods in 91 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: his hand. Because that's who Cliff Burton was, That's who 92 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: Metallica were, at least to these kids in this place. 93 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: There were gods among men. In that place was a 94 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: high school gymnasium by day, but at night, at least 95 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: on this night, it was where the end of semester 96 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: party was being held. Edny, disaffected youth worth assault back 97 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: in the day knew that a circle pit at a 98 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: Metallica show is the best place to ditch all those 99 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: feelings you were too young to process. Metallica pits were 100 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: the best because Metallica had realness, not some airbrushed metal fantasy, 101 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: not Iron Maidens Eddie and I'm not trying to dump 102 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: on Iron Maiden. I love Iron Maiden. Eddie's cool still 103 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: is cool. But Metallica back then were cooler because they 104 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: were more real. Cliff James Hetfield, drummer Lars Alrich and 105 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: lead guitarist Kirk Hammett inspired a nightly tornado of long 106 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: hair mashing into oblivion. But tonight it was different. Tonight 107 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: started with some bullshit Metallica's lighting guy pissing off one 108 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: of the locals, a teenage girl who clocked him in 109 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: the face. The lighting guy responded like he was getting 110 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: a reflex test in the doctor's office, and he hit 111 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: her back. That was fucking stupid and also led to 112 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: this two opposing factions now out in the audience, one 113 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: siding with the girl and the other siding with the band, 114 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: and all that chaos soundtrack by Metallica's intense brand of thrash, 115 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: the kind defined by that incredible first record I mentioned before, 116 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: Kill Them All, and then refined by their sophomore album Ride, 117 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: the lightning metal music that was as sophisticated as the 118 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: guys in Metallica were goofy, which is to say, very 119 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: metal music that had what few of their contemporaries had groove, 120 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: groove that Metallica possessed, because Metallica possessed Cliff Burton. At 121 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:40,959 Speaker 1: twenty two years old, Cliff Burton was the oldest member 122 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 1: of the band, and though we liked the kinds of 123 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: stuff that the rest of the guys liked, Motorhead, Budgy Ufo, 124 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: he was also in a rush rim zz top. He 125 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: ran his Rickenbacker bass through a wall wall pedal and 126 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 1: went balls to the wall like he was not a 127 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: bass player at all, but a lead guitarist. His replacement, 128 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: Jason Newstead, later called him the Jimmy Hendricks of bass. 129 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: But right now, in nineteen eighty four, Cliff Burton didn't 130 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: need any comparison. He was the Cliff Burton of Metallica, 131 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,559 Speaker 1: down to earth, real as could be, with a melodic 132 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: sensibility and a groove that helped propel Metallica's music straight 133 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: into your head, straight into your soul, Metal up your 134 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: ass as it were, that being the original title for 135 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,960 Speaker 1: Metallica's first album, a title rejected by their record label, 136 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: a rejection to which Cliff responded, fuck those fuckers, Let's 137 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: kill them all, and thus the album title kill them All. 138 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 1: And Metallica did kill them all, not literally, of course, 139 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 1: but with their music, music that was a far cry 140 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,320 Speaker 1: from what the rest of America was listening to at 141 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:54,479 Speaker 1: the time, which was Brian Adams, Bruce Springsteen, the Footnoose soundtrack. 142 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: Metallica music was metal that put posers on hylert, posers 143 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,839 Speaker 1: like those Sons sets, strip clowns with their makeup and 144 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: their spandex. Motley Crue wasn't real. Metallica was real. Cliff 145 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: Burton just wanted to play music, and maybe he earned 146 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:12,559 Speaker 1: enough money to put a deposit on a house with 147 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: a yard big enough for him to shoot off his 148 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 1: homemade gun, the one that didn't shoot bullets but shot knives. 149 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: How metal is that Cliff's attitude was pretty metal as well. 150 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: He did not care what you thought about him. He 151 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: didn't care what you thought about his Canadian tuxedo, his 152 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,320 Speaker 1: bell bottom jeans, his sleeveless flannel, the peach fuzz mustache 153 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: above his upper lip. What he did care about was 154 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: squashing whatever beef was currently taking place out there in 155 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: the crowd. So he kept toirling that hammer over his head, 156 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: the one he brought with him everywhere on tour from 157 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: San Francisco to Europe, the one even customs agents wouldn't confiscate, 158 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: since this is forty years ago, when apparently stashing a 159 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 1: hammer in your luggage failed to raise any red flags. 160 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: Right now, the kids in that school gymnasium in Finland 161 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: were heating that hammer's nonverbal warning in the capable hands 162 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: of the godlike bass player, golden stash and floating locks, 163 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: denim on denim, but the chainmail of an ancient warrior. 164 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: And when the fighting was over, there was one clear winner, 165 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:19,559 Speaker 1: Cliff Burton Metallica. They finished their show like the conquering 166 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: heroes that they were. Just look at James Hetfield gleaming 167 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,199 Speaker 1: over a mic stand that was set low, requiring him 168 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 1: to drop his head to sing into it, his long 169 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: hair hanging down, creating the impression that he was bigger 170 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: than he actually was, just like those three layered guitars 171 00:11:35,520 --> 00:12:09,200 Speaker 1: on the record, Fast tight metal, real movement. From day one, 172 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: That's what it was all about. James Headfield moving away 173 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: from his screwed up family in Downey, California, Christian scientists 174 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:21,559 Speaker 1: who refused medical treatment or medical education, meaning teenage James 175 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: sit alone in the hallway while the other kids sat 176 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 1: through health class. That made him a real misfit real quick. 177 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: His father up and leaving the family just pissed him 178 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: off more. For James, there was no brave face to 179 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: put on. There was only his trademarks stay the fuck 180 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 1: away from me face. Then there was Lars Alrech, moving 181 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 1: out of his native Denmark to attend tennis school in 182 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: Florida and then to California, trading a bohemian lifestyle a 183 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 1: competitive sport for the down and dirty subculture of the 184 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 1: new wave of British heavy metal. Lars was small, but 185 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 1: he was persistent, sneaking into green room after green room, 186 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: repping the US chap or the Motorhead fan Club as 187 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:05,199 Speaker 1: their unofficial president, meeting Lemmy and then meeting the guys 188 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: in Diamond Head that thick maiden patch on his jacket, 189 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: getting attention from the right people, people who wanted to know, Amen, 190 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: you're an angel witch, and then Metallica as a whole, 191 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,319 Speaker 1: literally picking up and moving from Los Angeles to San Francisco, 192 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: the Bay area where Cliff Burton made his home. That's 193 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: how good Cliff was. They went to him. Cliff, like 194 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 1: many others in the California metal scene, was a Metallica fan. 195 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:35,959 Speaker 1: He was also a prodigious player, six hours a day 196 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:40,080 Speaker 1: on base, at least driven in part by tragedy the 197 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: death of his older brother at just sixteen from a 198 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: brain aneurism. Cliff played to honor his brother's memory. Cliff 199 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: had integrity, a quality he passed on to the band 200 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 1: when they ditched LA along with their original bass player 201 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: Ron mcgoverney. Ron had been in the trenches with Metallica 202 00:13:56,440 --> 00:14:00,679 Speaker 1: since their first show. Trenches he shared with James and 203 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: and with the band's original lead guitarist, Dave Mustain. Dave 204 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: didn't have James's stay of the fuck away from Me face, 205 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: He didn't quite have Lars's ego either though he was close. 206 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: But what he did have was a sister who was 207 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,720 Speaker 1: a witch, or so he said. Dave fucked around with 208 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: some occult shit spells. Chance he went after a big dude, 209 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 1: a real tormentor type, not with his fists or even 210 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: the knife he carried with him as protection on account 211 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: of the fact that he slung dope on the side. 212 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: Dave hit this dude with some prints of darkness incantation 213 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 1: and guess what, the guy broke his leg. He never 214 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: walked the same again. That made Dave Mustaine feel pretty good, 215 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: feel powerful. And if you're James Headfield or Lars Alre, 216 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: you didn't want to mess with that kind of power, 217 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 1: just like you didn't want to mess with Dave's dogs 218 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: two pitbulls again drug dealer, And that is unless Dave 219 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: pissed you off enough and you just had to. One 220 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: of those dogs jumped on Ron the bass player's car, 221 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 1: and James Hepfield pushed the dog off before it's nails 222 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 1: did a number on Ron's paint job. Dave then lost 223 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: his shit. He squared up and punched that Field right 224 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: in the mouth. Ron then jumped on Dave's back, throwing 225 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: his arms around Dave's neck. Dave was stronger and he 226 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: easily threw Ron to the ground, where he writhed around 227 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: in pain, while James's irritation with his lead guitarist was 228 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: equaled only by the irritation on his face when Mustaine 229 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: had just punched him. And that was the first time 230 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:23,520 Speaker 1: Dave Mustaine was fired from Metallica. The second time was 231 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: for good after he got drunk and told the guitarist 232 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: in another band that he sucked and that no one 233 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: gave him a flying shit about him. That kind of 234 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: bad attitude in the scene, that kind of bad mojo 235 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: is just bad for business. The next morning, James, Lars 236 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: and Cliff woke Dave up from a deep sleep, put 237 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: a bus ticket in his hand, and told him to 238 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: have a nice life. That is after he enjoyed a 239 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: four day ride on the Greyhound from New York back 240 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: to California. And yes, Dave Mustaine did go on to 241 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 1: form Mega Death, which failed to shatter the glass ceiling 242 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: like his former band. Eventually wrote a fact which probably 243 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: has played a part in his forty year plus ability 244 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: to get over getting fired. But I digress movement it 245 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:10,480 Speaker 1: continued for Metallica first with the inspired hiring lead guitarist 246 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: Kirk Hammett, then just twenty years old and under the 247 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: tutelage of Joe Satriani. Next with their albums, each bigger 248 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:19,680 Speaker 1: and better than the last, Kill Them All, Ride the Lightning, 249 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: and then in nineteen eighty six, Master of Puppets, a 250 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: masterpiece which brought thrash metal to popular culture, giving Metallica 251 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: their first gold record, but it also gave them their 252 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: first real taste of backlash from the metal community. Backlash 253 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: they claimed Metallica were getting soft while other metal bands 254 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 1: like Slayer were getting harder. But James Lars Kirk and 255 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: especially Cliff, they didn't care if their commitment to metal 256 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: music was being questioned, or that legions of once hardcore 257 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 1: fans were now calling them Alcoholica on account of how 258 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: many bottles of beer and vodka they crushed on the regular. 259 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: They greeted all these things with Cliff's trademark declaration, I 260 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: don't get a fuck. That is, until their tour bus 261 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: pulled into Texas. Eighteen year old Troy Cunkle's head was 262 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,920 Speaker 1: spinning the acid, the alcohol, the combination of the two. 263 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: He was loopy, as were his girlfriend and his other 264 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: friends here in the car with him, barreling down a 265 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: Texas highway on their way to a party in Corpus Christie. 266 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 1: One of those friends, Russell Stanley, pulled the twenty two, 267 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:30,960 Speaker 1: stuck it out of the window of the moving vehicle, 268 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: and fired, yeah, I want to make some Monday tonight, 269 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: Come on, Russell. Someone else was saying acid and guns 270 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: don't mix. Russell put the gun away, but the idea 271 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: of our armed robbery was in everyone's heads now. It 272 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:49,440 Speaker 1: bounced around and Troy cuncle's fucked up brain. And when 273 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: they got the Corpus Christi, Troy told the driver to 274 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: pull up alongside a man probably about ten years their senior, 275 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,200 Speaker 1: walking along the road. They asked if he wanted to ride. 276 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,200 Speaker 1: The man didn't know these kids, but appreciated the offer, 277 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: so he got in the car up front, next to 278 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: Troy's girlfriend. Russell Stanley pulled out to twenty two again 279 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: from the back seat. He pressed it into the man's head, 280 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 1: give me your wallet. Troy's eyes lit up as he 281 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,159 Speaker 1: watched his friend threaten a complete stranger. He told Russell 282 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:21,399 Speaker 1: to do it, pulled the trigger, Russell chickened out, Troy 283 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,120 Speaker 1: got impatient, He grabbed the gun from Russell and put 284 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: it back against the man's head and said, we're going 285 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 1: to take you back here and blow your brains out. 286 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,679 Speaker 1: Back here was a skating rink. The driver pulled the 287 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: car around, pulled it out of sight, and Troy kept 288 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 1: the gun where it was, the butt of it digging 289 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: into the man's skin. And then he made good on 290 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: his threat. Blood splattered all over the car and the 291 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: people inside of it. The gunshot rang out in everyone's ears, 292 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: a smoke poured from the hot barrel. They pushed the 293 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:56,879 Speaker 1: man's body out of the car and onto the ground, 294 00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: and Troy's girlfriend fished around and the man's pants for 295 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: wallet thirteen dollars. Troy looked at the dead man laying there, 296 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: his ears still ringing with that gunshot, ringing with the acid, 297 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: ringing with the booze. But was something else too, a song. 298 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:19,879 Speaker 1: Troy looked at what they'd just done, what he'd just done, 299 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: and said, another day, another death, another sorrow, another breath. 300 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:30,960 Speaker 1: The words Troy Uncle spoke after he shot and killed 301 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,199 Speaker 1: twenty nine year old Stephen Horton were not his own words. 302 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,000 Speaker 1: He was quoting the song No Remorse from side to 303 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,920 Speaker 1: of Metallica's Kill Them All album. This fact came out 304 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 1: during his trial, at which Troy Uncle was found guilty 305 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 1: of capital murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection 306 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: to ride the Lightning, as they say, a fact that 307 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: everyone was reminded of when Kuncle's legal team appealed his 308 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:58,360 Speaker 1: conviction and his sentence, an appeal that was happening right 309 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,640 Speaker 1: as Metallica's torbus rolled into Corpus Christy for a show 310 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:07,080 Speaker 1: on their Damage Incorporating tour. James Lars Kirk and Cliff 311 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: were greeted in Texas not by fans, but by news 312 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: cameras and TV crews. The timing could not have been worse. 313 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 1: Metallica found themselves vilified, culpable, complicit, just like Ozzy Osbourne 314 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: and Iron Maiden a year prior. Satanic Panic felt real 315 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 1: to the people pushing that paranoid agenda, even if Cliff 316 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:31,640 Speaker 1: and the others knew it was bullshit. Metallica did write 317 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: about dark stuff, sure, but they weren't promoting violence. They 318 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:39,280 Speaker 1: certainly weren't promoting murder and not suicide. Their music, just 319 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:43,480 Speaker 1: like their ambition, relied on moving forward, pushing through the 320 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 1: bad in order to get to the good positive momentum movement, 321 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: which is what they were doing some three months later, 322 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: when literally all movement came to a sudden, tragic halt 323 00:20:55,760 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: in the early hours of a cold September morning. We'll 324 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 1: be right back after this. We're We're where, September twenty seventh, 325 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty six, Stockholm, Sweden. Just after midnight, Cliff and 326 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: Kirk were bonding, not over comic books and horror movies, 327 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,959 Speaker 1: are tripping on mushrooms. As was typical of the two friends. Tonight, 328 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,040 Speaker 1: they were drawing cards from a full deck. Whoever drew 329 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 1: the highest card get to pick their bunk of the 330 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:35,959 Speaker 1: tour bus for the nearly eight hour drive to their 331 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:39,640 Speaker 1: next show in Copenhagen. Cliff drew the Ace of Spades, 332 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 1: which of course was not only the highest and most 333 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,640 Speaker 1: valued card, but also the name of one of their 334 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:49,439 Speaker 1: beloved Motorheads greatest songs, So Metal. I'll want your bunk, 335 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:52,680 Speaker 1: Cliff set There was one with a window, even though 336 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: the windows were currently covered with pieces of cardboard to 337 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 1: keep the near freezing temperatures outside at Bay Fine, Kirk 338 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 1: will five. I'll sleep better upfront anyway, Cliff, Kirk, James 339 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: and Lars piled into the bus, along with their tour 340 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: manager and the back line crew, and behind them a 341 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: second bus carried the rest of the crew, and behind 342 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,400 Speaker 1: that a third bus with the band's equipment. Everyone was sweaty, 343 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: wreaking a bo and totally wipe from that night's show, 344 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: Eager to sleep it off and wake up in the 345 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,919 Speaker 1: morning to do it all over again. James pounded sivodka, 346 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: Cliff smoked a joint. They climbed onto the thin wooden 347 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: bunks bolted into the bus's walls, and they watched a 348 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 1: video flicker on a tiny TV screen and listened to 349 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: the rumble of the engine as their entourage pulled out 350 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: onto the highway. By two am, most everyone was passed out. 351 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:47,640 Speaker 1: The bus that the band was riding on was an 352 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 1: English model, and this is important. In England, the driver 353 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 1: sits on the right hand side and drives in the 354 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: left hand lane. But in Sweden, where they were and 355 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: also in Denmark where they were going, drivers sit on 356 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: the left hand side of the vehicle and drive on 357 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: the right hand side of the road like we do 358 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: in America. So from the jump, anyone piloting a right 359 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:11,439 Speaker 1: hand drive bus in the right hand lane has a 360 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 1: major handicap, but it didn't seem that way to anyone 361 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: on this night. It was late and the road was clear, 362 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:22,080 Speaker 1: and the weather was chilly, but unremarkable. The driver behind 363 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 1: the wheel did this for a living. There was nothing 364 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,199 Speaker 1: to worry about, so went to thinking. The guys snored 365 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: away and their small wooden bunks while the bus made 366 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 1: its way down European Route E four for hours and hours. 367 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:42,960 Speaker 1: Six thirty am James woke up. First he felt something 368 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 1: hot and wet raining down on his body, and then 369 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,959 Speaker 1: he heard the sound of screeching tires and the coffee 370 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: pot above him had tipped over as the rear of 371 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 1: the bus went careening off the edge of the road 372 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,639 Speaker 1: and to gravel and dirt. The driver tried to compensate 373 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: for the slight bend of ahead by frantically spinning the wheel, 374 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: and for a moment worked correcting their path and pulling 375 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: the bus back to the main dragon. But the back 376 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:07,480 Speaker 1: end wouldn't stop skidding, and the rear wheels went all 377 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,879 Speaker 1: over the place like they were elastic, And then the 378 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,119 Speaker 1: bus jerked over to the edge of the road again 379 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: and this time off the road back onto gravel and dirt, 380 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,440 Speaker 1: and then a huge crushing sound as the bus tipped 381 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,320 Speaker 1: over onto its right side, rolling now over and over, 382 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: the sound of crunching metal, broken glass, steel on asphalt, 383 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: and ears splitting noise to clawed at your brain while 384 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,680 Speaker 1: the whole world kept spinning, kept rolling. Jesus Christ, the 385 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,800 Speaker 1: rolling would it ever stopped? Kirk was thrown from his bunk. 386 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: He hit his head, and then everything simply faded to black. 387 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 1: Kirk came two moments later with his eye blackened and bruised. 388 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,639 Speaker 1: The bus had come to a full stop, but this 389 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:58,880 Speaker 1: was far from over. There were screams, James, Lars, their 390 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:04,119 Speaker 1: tour manager crew. Everybody was making noise, all except Cliff. 391 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: Cliff's voice was oddly absent. A hard lump formed in 392 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,919 Speaker 1: the pit of Kirk's stomach. Something didn't feel right. He 393 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,120 Speaker 1: had to get out now. James was way ahead of him, 394 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:19,520 Speaker 1: making his way out the emergency exit at the back 395 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:21,920 Speaker 1: of the bus while the band's guitar attack. At six 396 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,920 Speaker 1: foot seven, a giant of a man pulled himself into 397 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 1: the frigid early morning air through the roof hatch. Kirk 398 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,679 Speaker 1: followed James up the back and watched his metallic as 399 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 1: lead singer ran down the open highways, screaming, wearing nothing 400 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 1: but his underwear and socks. Lars was ignoring the pain 401 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,920 Speaker 1: in his toe, which, unbeknownst to him, was broken, as 402 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: he flew out of the bus, scared to death that 403 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: the whole thing was about to explode. They're all out 404 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: here now, James, Lar's Kirk, the tour manager, the crew members, wait, 405 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:58,359 Speaker 1: where was Cliff? That's when they saw it, legs protruding 406 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,399 Speaker 1: from under the side of the bus that lay smoldering 407 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 1: on the ground, Cliff's legs. James ran to where his 408 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:07,880 Speaker 1: friend and man mate lay trapped and tried to pull 409 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 1: him free, but it was no use. Besides, it wouldn't matter. 410 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,880 Speaker 1: Cliff's body wasn't moving and there was no sound, no 411 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:19,680 Speaker 1: sign of life. What did you do? Kirk was screaming 412 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 1: at the bus driver, now standing around outside with the 413 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: rest of them in a daze. What did you do? 414 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,959 Speaker 1: The driver tried to explain It was black ice. The 415 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: band was stunned. Black ice, black ice. Look at the pavement, 416 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 1: it was bone dry. Where was this black ice? James 417 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:43,320 Speaker 1: wanted to know. He took off in a sprint to 418 00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:46,879 Speaker 1: find it, retracing their tracks, running down an empty highway 419 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: and Sweden, looking for evidence to validate the bus driver's story, 420 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:54,479 Speaker 1: but he found nothing. There had been no rain that evening, 421 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: no snow. James felt rage bubble up from his gut. 422 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: This fucking guy, this bus driver, what a lying piece 423 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: of shit. There was no black ice. He must have 424 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:10,920 Speaker 1: fallen asleep at the wheel. And now Cliff was dead. 425 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 1: James wanted to kill him right here, right now, and 426 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: this fucker's sorry excuse for life. But he didn't because 427 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:23,959 Speaker 1: deep down he didn't know what really happened. No one did. 428 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: But here's what we do. No Swedish authorities arrived at 429 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: the scene of the crash and immediately arrested the driver, 430 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: as was protocol. Local newspapers reported that, much to James 431 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 1: Headfield's suspicion, the driver was suspected of having fallen asleep 432 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:44,360 Speaker 1: at the wheel. James further claimed that he smelled alcohol 433 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: in the guy's breath the morning of the accident. That 434 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:51,080 Speaker 1: particular accusation was never proven, and no official charges were 435 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:53,919 Speaker 1: ever brought against the driver. Before long, he was a 436 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:58,240 Speaker 1: free man. According to one biography of Metallica, no one 437 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:00,600 Speaker 1: on the bus that night can even remember the driver name. 438 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: It's rumored that he changed his name after the accident 439 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: and continued to drive tour buses for bands across Europe. 440 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,280 Speaker 1: What happened to Cliff was much more black and white. 441 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: During the crash, he was thrown against the window near 442 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:17,199 Speaker 1: his bunk, which shattered his body. Was halfway inside the 443 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:19,840 Speaker 1: bus and halfway out, but when the bus flipped over 444 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:22,639 Speaker 1: and landed on him. The official autopsy report was that 445 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,879 Speaker 1: he died from compression of his chest cavity with correlating 446 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:30,120 Speaker 1: damage to his lungs. Translation, he was crushed to death. 447 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: Cliff Burton was twenty four that day, September twenty seventh, 448 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty six, the day of the accident. Metallica show 449 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 1: in Copenhagen was canceled, as were all their upcoming shows. 450 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,479 Speaker 1: They spent the night at a hotel near the crash site, 451 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: but not before James Headfield was loaded up with pain 452 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 1: meds at a local hospital. Then those meds may have 453 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: made the physical pain go away, but the real pain, 454 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 1: the pain of losing Cliff, that was untreatable. James went 455 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: back to his hotel room and destroyed everything in sight, 456 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,120 Speaker 1: and then he stumbled out onto the streets, no direction, 457 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:12,640 Speaker 1: yelling at the top of his lungs, just like he'd 458 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: yelled earlier that day, inside and outside the tour bus. 459 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 1: Only now his screams were in a reaction to chaos. 460 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 1: There were a homing beacon in the wilderness, a cry 461 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: that echoed throughout the quiet streets of a small Swedish town, 462 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: a cry that the locals listened to for hours on end. 463 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 1: This crazy American out of his mind, repeating over and 464 00:29:33,560 --> 00:30:04,720 Speaker 1: over again, Cliff Cliff, where are you for? Jason Newstead. 465 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: It was a dream come true to join Metallica as 466 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 1: their new bass player, despite the tragic circumstances. They'd buried 467 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: Cliff Burton just three weeks prior. But even in the 468 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: face of tragedy, it was all about movement, always had 469 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: been and always would be. Jason could do movement. He 470 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: already knew all the songs. He was a Metallica super fan, 471 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: just like Cliff was once a fan. But a fandom 472 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,200 Speaker 1: was cool back then, back in Cliff's time. It was 473 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:38,400 Speaker 1: not cool now, James lars Kirk, they hated fanboy Jason. 474 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 1: They wanted to beat it out of him, make him 475 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: just as hard and cynical as they all were now 476 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: a brotherhood bound by unresolved grief, sadness, and anger. Because 477 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: when it came to emotions, real emotions, you didn't talk 478 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: about that stuff, not if you were Metallica, not in 479 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty six, talking therapy, that kind of monster that 480 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: came later. Instead, they channeled their emotions into how they 481 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,360 Speaker 1: treated their newest member. They banged on Jason's hotel room 482 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:11,120 Speaker 1: at four in the morning, called him a pussy, and 483 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: when he let them in, they threw him on his 484 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 1: bed and piled shit on top of them, the television, 485 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: the chairs, even the desk. They threw his clothes, his shoes, 486 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 1: his cassette tapes out the window, and they stuck him 487 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: with expensive bar taps. The worst defense, however, would be 488 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: when Metallica recorded and Justice for All, their first album 489 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 1: with Jason and first without Cliff. James and Lars brought 490 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,240 Speaker 1: Jason's base so far down in the mix that you 491 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: couldn't even hear it. They erased him from the record. 492 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 1: I'm serious, go listen to it. It's tight, it's badass, 493 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: it's awesome, but it's pretty much got no fucking base 494 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:49,600 Speaker 1: on it whatsoever. Jason put up with it all because well, 495 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: he was in Metallica. If being a Metallica mean getting 496 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,840 Speaker 1: haze like a frat pledged, then so be it. And 497 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,480 Speaker 1: like all things good and bad, it passed. They moved on. 498 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:04,000 Speaker 1: What else was there to do? Metallica could never be 499 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:07,320 Speaker 1: who they were when Cliff was alive. That era was gone, 500 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: but Cliff's realness was not. Metallica had that with them 501 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:13,920 Speaker 1: for the long haul, and in the spirit of Cliff 502 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: that had to look around and ask themselves what was 503 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 1: real now in the current situation They found themselves in. 504 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 1: Real was their latest songs, Sad but True, the Unforgiven, 505 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,720 Speaker 1: Wherever I May Roam. Real was making a record with 506 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: that dude, Bob Rock, a producer more polished and far 507 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 1: more focused on hits than anyone they'd worked with before. 508 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:37,960 Speaker 1: Real was the same work ethic they'd always possessed, but 509 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:42,400 Speaker 1: now working even harder and trying to simplify to streamline, 510 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,840 Speaker 1: aiming to be as big as led Zeppelin, but becoming 511 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:51,080 Speaker 1: even bigger. That drive, that ambition, you got to respect 512 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:56,120 Speaker 1: the movement. Yes, the Black Album earned them renewed backlash 513 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,600 Speaker 1: from the metal community, but it was nothing they hadn't 514 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 1: seen before. So You could go ahead and listen to 515 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 1: the Black album and say Metallica sucks and Metallica sold out, 516 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: But the reality is, when Metallica made that record, that 517 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:12,640 Speaker 1: was the exact record they wanted to make, Metallica was 518 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:16,160 Speaker 1: incapable of selling out because every record, every decision, every 519 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 1: change has been real with real integrity behind it, integrity 520 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: taught to them by the late great Cliff Burton, who 521 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 1: always reminded James, Lars and Kirk that it didn't matter 522 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: what the haters or the posers of the ass Suck 523 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 1: Fairweather fans said about you. You know what you say 524 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:39,040 Speaker 1: to those people, I don't give a fuck. That's metal, 525 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:47,440 Speaker 1: That's Metallica. Anything else is a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan 526 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:50,200 Speaker 1: and this his disgrace. 527 00:33:50,320 --> 00:34:10,560 Speaker 2: Land Hey, thanks for listening to this episode, which dealt 528 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:12,439 Speaker 2: with the loss of the incredible musician. 529 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,319 Speaker 1: Cliff Burton and has inspired this week's Question of the 530 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,440 Speaker 1: Week discos. I want to know which musician speaks to 531 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: you so much, impacts you so immensely, connects with you 532 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:24,759 Speaker 1: so deeply that you cannot live without them? Who is it? 533 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:27,200 Speaker 1: Is it? Lady Gaga? Is it? Dave Grohl? Is it 534 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 1: Taylor Swift, is it someone else? Hit me up with 535 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:33,279 Speaker 1: your answers at Disgrace Slam Pod on Instagram, x, Facebook, 536 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:35,880 Speaker 1: and TikTok, or leave me a voicemail or semi a 537 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:38,600 Speaker 1: text at six one seven nine oh six sixty six 538 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,680 Speaker 1: three eight. Your answers will be played and read on 539 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: the next after party bonus episode coming out next in 540 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:46,120 Speaker 1: your feeds now. If you want to support the show, 541 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:48,920 Speaker 1: leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. I pick 542 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,080 Speaker 1: a couple lucky reviewers every week and hooked them up 543 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:54,000 Speaker 1: with free merch. Winners are also announced in this week's 544 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:55,880 Speaker 1: after party bonus episode, so you're not gonna want to 545 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:58,560 Speaker 1: miss that all right. Until then, let's get into some credits. 546 00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:03,520 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 547 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,960 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 548 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,400 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 549 00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:13,799 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 550 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:16,520 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and 551 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:18,879 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 552 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:23,560 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com. Slash Membership members can listen 553 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:27,359 Speaker 1: to every episode of disgracelan ad free, Plus you'll get 554 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:32,200 Speaker 1: one brand new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, 555 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:36,160 Speaker 1: special audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. 556 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:41,120 Speaker 1: Visit disgracelampod dot com slash membership for details, Rate and 557 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:43,720 Speaker 1: review the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, 558 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:47,719 Speaker 1: and Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot 559 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:55,840 Speaker 1: com slash at disgracelampod, Rock Arolla. He then