Jason Newsted left speed metal band Flotsam and Jetsam to join Metallica in the fall of 1986 after the tragic death of bassist Cliff Burton the year prior.
Prior to his exit in 2001, he played on four studio albums — …And Justice For All (1988), Metallica (aka ‘The Black Album,’ 1991), Load (1996) and Reload (1997).
What Were Jason Newsted’s Reasons for Leaving Metallica?
In the documentary film Some Kind of Monster, which candidly chronicles Metallica in crisis as they record what became St. Anger, Newsted attributes his decision to step down from Metallica to the employment of intervening therapist Phil Towle, who was contracted to smooth over tense relations within the band.
Towle is prominently featured in the documentary, helping to guide the members through their emotions, laying out over a decade’s worth of conflict to work toward reaching a point of mutual understanding and respect to better help the creative flow and business.
On top of this, James Hetfield in particular was not fond of Newsted’s pursuit of his side project, Echobrain, which was also being backed by Metallica’s own management, QPrime. Hetfield basically got management to back away, leading to more tension.
“Management wanted me to do Echobrain also, with Metallica. They felt Echobrain was that good. The singer was that good, and it didn’t affect Metallica because it was a totally different kind of thing, and I was in Metallica; that would give it its pedigree already,” Newsted told Scuzz TV in 2013.
In 2001, the bassist cited, “private and personal reasons and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love” among the reasons for his exit.
In Some Kind of Monster, he vents frustration about what ultimately led to his departure, telling the cameras, “When it comes to a time where my main cat James tells me that basically he couldn’t be in a band with me if I took this project to this level.
After 15 years of working together, going on busses, the stories, man… there was no way that this thing that I was doing could affect the monster of Metallica. I just don’t see how it could. So, saying things like that, I couldn’t accept that kind of limited acceptance.”
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