Am I the only one who thinks the basslines are bad, don't fit the mix and that Metallica did the right thing in burying the bass in the mix?
Sorry, not sorry.
Also, perhaps if you are going to make a record, and there is a bass in your band, you could kindly make sure you aren't overloading your guitar cab's ability to produce low end.
Thank you.
My personal take is that the album sounds how James and Lars wanted it to sound, so much so that they didn't even significantly change the sound when they remastered it. Some people like how it sounds, some people not so much, but that can be said for any album. It's certainly not the only Metallica album that has fans divided.
I personally love the sound. Not specifically because of the low bass or anything like that... I just think it's a killer album.
To be honest, I usually don't care for projects where fans try to second guess the artists and "fix" some problem. The album is what it is. If someone thinks they can do it better than the band, they should spend that energy on making their own music, not second guessing a band's music. Just my opinion.
I remember when I first heard it many years ago it was really jarring to hear how raw it was…the drum sound was extremely dry, very little bass etc. But I soon came to appreciate all of that as something that makes the album unique. On the other end of the spectrum, the sonic “uniqueness” of St Anger made it a chore to listen to (along with the lack of guitar solos and some songs that just felt like they weren’t fully finished products). I found AJFA to be the exact opposite in that regard.
Go listen to the and justice for all demos and alternate mixes from the deluxe remastered version.
Basslines are definitely not “bad”. It doesn’t sound good when plopped on top of the studio recording because they would have never EQed the guitars they way they did if they were gonna have bass guitar that loud in the mix. The guitars are filling the sonic space traditionally taken up by a bass guitar. So when you plop Jason on top you now essentially have two competing bass parts going on at once.
With or without proper bass in the mix AJFA was a massive let down.
The songs are way to long and the vocals are kind of cringe on some tracks.
I mean, I don't expect a band to be in a good headspace for another record when a friend and bandmember just died. But I'm pretty sure this record showed how much cliff influenced the guys and thus the songwriting because that influence and vibe is missing on that record.
To me this record was kind of the end of Metallica. Eventhough the Black Album isn't trash anymore and is too groovy, I prefer it over AJFA any given day.
That album was made under very ufortunate circumstances. Many people tend to forget that they had been on the road for 5-7 solid years, and both James & Lars have admitted that their ears were fried also don't forget they were still grieving, so they were in place where they couldn't make a rational decisions. Hell even Jason has stated that he understood why it were done in such a way.
The mix is the problem in both cases. The basslines are great; the bass is too low (or non existent) on And Justice for All and way too high on Jason. We’ll probably never get a decent official mix though.
A decent mix is not possible. The best possible mix is the one we got. Lots of throwing others under the bus, but the reality is we got the best product possible. It's a great record.
Even the people responsible for the mix of AJFA (and their previous records) were disgruntled by the decision to mute the bass.
Yes you are the only one.
I’m assuming you don’t play bass, because the tone and playing are both excellent. There are plenty of videos that give the bass a proper mix instead of just taking the lines and making them louder.
I do actually. I'm wondering if you've ever tried to mix a record? Or record one? Or if you play bass? Or if you've listened to the bass tracks isolated?
All of the above actually, though I was in the backseat for mixing. To say the lines themselves are bad is just false though, and that take sounds like something that someone who has no experience would say. Jason’s performances in the studio were excellent.
The album benefits greatly by having the bass tracks properly mixed. Blackened, One, Shortest Straw, and Dyers Eve especially are much better with prominent bass.
No. In my humble an uneducated ears (I’m not an audio engineer) they don’t fit but it’s because of mix and sound of the guitars. I’m not a fan of the guitar sounds on this album.
stick to your domsub, Skipper
A remix of AJFA would make them a bazillion dollars and go platinum unto itself. I'm not sure why they resist the idea so much, even though I think the original sounds great. It would be a good business move to do it and fans would like it.
It’s already 8 times platinum. They don’t need the money, and many of us accept it and like it for what it is
You apparently missed the part of my post where I also said I liked it as it was. They don't need the money, but it would certainly be a very high yield for the effort involved AND just because the original is good doesn't mean a reinterpretation wouldn't be both welcomed and popular.
They do work, but on things like and justice for jason, whoever mixed it just put the bass on top and that really doesn't work. With a different guitar tone and bass tone and if they were mixed properly then they would sound great