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"How I Auditioned for Metallica": Jason Newsted Tells 'That Metal Show'

The bass legend lets <i>TMS</i> in on some little-known aspects of Metallica history.

With the calendar pages getting mighty slim on our November raid of That Metal Show’s video vaults, here’s a double dose from Season 12 of veteran Metallica bassist Jason Newsted sitting in with TMS co-hosts Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine, and Don Jamieson.

In our first clip, Jason reveals the exact songs he played when auditioning for Metallica following the tragic bus accident death of bassist Cliff Burton in 1986.

Jason proved that not only was he a master of four-string mayhem, of course, but that he had long been a devoted student of Metallicology. He also talks about the 11 day whirlwind that took him from his original band of kickass scrappers, Flotsam and Jetsam, to the very forefront of the thrash universe.

Next up, some talk about how Metallica is an “exclusive club.” The total membership, to date, numbers “less than ten persons” and Jason notes the heaviness and sorrow surrounding how he came to join: “My hero had to die in order for me to become a hero.”

Much has been made about the hazing Jason endured upon entering the Metallica arena, as well as how his bass sound is so muted on …And Justice for All. Here, Jason clears up a lot of the static surrounding those two chapters in metal history.

Tomorrow we’ll be serving up our final November bounty of That Metal Show classics with a rip-roaring moment from one of the most over-the-top, outrageous, and outspoken shredders in all of hard rock. Come on back to find out who it is—and to bang your head clean off your shoulders (and possibly onto a mounted frame in his trophy room).