Pepper could've easily been a member of Metallica. Corrosion of Conformity is underrated and always has been. I saw them live in the early 90's open for Megadeth in San Jose, CA and they were siiiiick!!!
You listen to a song like Man or Ash and you know that in terms of voice Pepper and James blend perfectly. It's almost funny to see the disappointment on James face when he understands Pepper wants no part of it, it's as if he was ready to totally disregard the bass playing skills for a moment just to have him in. Yeah well, he had a guy like that in Jason and treated him like shit.....such a bummer
He was just as experienced and talented as Metallica. He would've been a force to reckon with and it made them nervous. You can see it by James' posture at the end.
rob wrote most of infectious grooves, what are you talking about? i love jason and cliff, but rob has the most skill on the bass. he has the most chops/physical access on the instrument out of the three of them, but all three are amazing. rob is the only guy with the sound, the chops, and who fits outside of jason. respect the fact that he respectfully left. as they said themselves when they were about to hire rob, he makes them play tighter, the way his finger style stays out of the way of the midrange (so that if kirk or james get lost for a second live, they can focus on the drums to get back into the groove without having another midrange instrument to try and listen through in the heat of the moment, as bass with a pick tends to make the bass more midrange-y) and how he knows when to follow the kick drum and when not to. rob is amazing. when kirk and james do a lot of things in the middle strings, like a lot of atlas rise, rob plays the same notes on the lowest strings, to make it a really big and full sound thats also even. stop shitting on a musician who is wayyyyyyyyjyyyyyy above most musicians. rob is the man, man
@@Ryan-kc5pl im a huge fan of all three, I'm not disrespecting jason or cliff in the slightest. i was just saying that rob writes awesome music, rob wrote a lot of (at least) end of the line and all nightmare long, and the bass playing in infections grooves is insane, not many people can play like that.
@@Ryan-kc5pl i think the three of them are equal. cliff was more the classical music guy, jason was more the thrash/death metal guy, and rob is more the funk/jazz guy. they built their physical ability into those areas, but can/could do bits of the other two. jason and cliff are awesome, but the internet shitting on rob has gotta stop.
@@Ryan-kc5pl Yeah too bad Cliff died and never reached full potential, Today Trujillo is better than Cliff at the moment of his death, Jason also was Better, you can´t compare a man that died at age 24 to other dudes that keep playing to this day, Metallica not using their contributions on their song is their problem though.
I know right. Lars is such an animal on the drums with constantly changing time signatures. I mean, I’ve heard the guy jump from playing 29/32 to 3/5 and back again all within one fill
I've been a fan of COC for years and always followed what Pepper was doing, the guy is soooo underrated man... Killer player, an awesome writer and might be an acquired taste, but hes got great vocals. Not to mention that great laid back New Orleans attitude man... but he's got a personality/attitude that a lot of people don't get/like but in the end, that's their problem.
He wrote Helter Skelter. Not that James would accept any songwriter next to him. But, maybe I'm wrong and the world missed one of the greatest songwriting duos of all time. That would have been something Lars would hardly have accepted. Which means Paul would have been busy to play bass and drums. And James would have been forced to play more of Paul's slower Songs too.
@@hw2508 Lol, like it's the only song he's ever written. And if you mean hard song, 120-year younger McCartney would have 10x capability potential of writing better trash album than this 21st century version of Metallica
I like the fact that Pepper is helping the band decide on a bass player without having the "You guys should be picking me" vibe. Almost the exact opposite of Bob Rock at the time
Pepper officially auditioned for the band, so why would he do that if he didn't want in? There's no shame in saying that you want to be a part of a band. Also, Bob Rock was always just a temporary stop gap as bass player, plus he was close friends with Metallica, so there was no reason not to go with him. It's quite an old school relaxed way of thinking tbh. "Hey, you're a mate and you play bass. Fancy stepping in for a bit?" instead of all this stuffy audition stuff.
" im not into this meeting thing" - pepper. Best , realist line. Pretty much didn't get the job because of it. Kirk talking like his opinion matters. Lol
When Pepper brought the subject to Cliff James gone and lost afterwards.. He still misses Cliff a lot. Death is maybe the only subject of our lifetimes that we can not overcome in any physical form.
@@BenjisBoxingChannel What? Those guys were like his patronus LMFAO, remember Pantera used to hang with them when they were Glam and all that, he´s seen worse from his own band
I just find it funny he mentioned the thing as a throwaway comment when he and pepper were doing press for Down with total rock radio in the uk a few years later, Almost like "meh" when pepper was describing how unlike most bass players rex was heavily involved in songwriting and arranging.
Love ya Pepper!!! COC 🤘🏼🤟🏼🤘🏼! Thanks for the time you spent with me m my buddy after that BLS show . Y’all so rocked n you unlike Zakk were so personable ! I really appreciate it, been a fan since the early 90’s ! Rock on 🤘🏼
As much as I try to convince myself that Pepper would have elevated St. Anger, I'm glad that he didn't get the chance, and instead gave us the masterpiece that is In The Arms of God.
I think it was already too late for Pepper to add bass on St. Anger at this point. I do think that if Pepper became the chosen one he definitely would have elevated Metallica, not through his bass playing, but as a songwriter and co-vocalist. It might've worked and maybe even added a new dimension to the band but they missed a golden opportunity in my opinion.
Pepper said in some interview that he didnt want his songwriting to be dumbed down if he would have joined metallica.Kirk hammett once said in some magazine one of his favorite songs is "ghosts along the mississippi" by Down. (That's pepper's band you know)
@@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812 Grohl for me but have had Lombardo in there over the years. From a songwriting and singing point of view Grohl hands down and with Grohl's work on Probot I don't think you're losing much when it comes to metal drumming with Grohl.
You can tell from Lars' body language that he didn't want him anywhere near that bass when Pepper cut him off on the "stay till Sunday" question .. Lars' rocking back and forth and arms firmly clasped against his chest.
The perception I got from this documentary is that the band still hadn’t gotten over his death. Even Jason Newsted had the “permanent substitute” tag even after playing with the band for years. I understand that, and hopefully their new bass player (Robert Trujillo) does not have to deal with that drama.
They were never looking to replace Cliff or his style. They just wanted a bass player so they could move on. Jason was an amazing bassist but he was different to Cliff and brought something new to the table instead of just trying to be a clone. Rob is sort of halfway between the two.
They wouldn't find another Cliff now If he showed up in their face...they wouldn't accept any outside Influence in the music anyway because they wanna control everything. Cliff put his musical insight into everything Metallica did but now...NO!!!!...LARS AND COMPANY WRITES EVERYTHING!!!...They want all the money and credit no matter what.
Exactly! The money and cush lifestyle would have been great but as a musician being a member of the Metallica bubble is the kiss of death for a musician looking to create.
Being a member in Metallica, one has to accept that you will stay under the leadership of James and Lars. Kip is a serious composer and has his own mind running Winger. Just like Jon bon jovi. So i don't think he will just take instructions from them. They will never work as a team.
James either wanted Pepper because of his old school punk rock credentials and attitude or was intimidated because if Pepper had issues or was being treated like shit,he could walk and start up 2 bands instantly. I don't know James so can't say but his posturing was definitely wanting to say something but chose to stay silent.
It's clear from this documentary that newsted was never respected or accepted by the other 3. Just think of how they frame the bass conversations throughout the film. A lot of reverance for cliff and they viewed newstwd as just taking up space.
They pretty much say it outright in the movie. There's multiple conversations about how Jason was basically their whipping boy, and through the therapy they realize it was because he was replacing Cliff. It's why they make such a big deal out of Rob getting an equal share of the profits when he joins the band, because they regret treating Jason so shitty that they didn't want to do the same to Rob. Then again, Jason has been out of the band for almost 20 years and can still live off of his royalties (mostly from the black album) so I like to think he got the last laugh on that one.
@@nothingislogical "so I like to think he got the last laugh on that one." If you consider the fact they released St. Anger and Lulu after his departure, then yes, Jason avoided some nasty bullets there. (some people might even argue that Death Magnetic was decent at best). In a way, you might say he fookin left the band at the perfect moment. It's quite sad what happened to Jason, he was quite skilled (just check the audition recordings from the 80s) but never got to shine on the albums. At least he got quite an appeal for the live concerts (something Rob is seriously lacking in my opinion) and people really loved his performances and energy on stage.
While I appreciate the level of professionalism from Pepper, this conversation is also the equivalent of walking into a job interview and telling the person you interview with, "I'm okay if I don't get this job and if I can think of anyone else who I think you should interview, I'll send them your way." You can argue every other aspect like whether or not he was a good fit, etc. until you're blue in the face, and there's plenty of valid arguments to be had, but this conversation is basically Pepper shooting himself in the foot.
Sébastien Gagné I agree. It’s more like having an opportunity at a great job when you’re already working doing what you love. I’ll bet Pepper came in because he’s friends with James and the band, and he said “I’ll throw my hat in the ring, why not?” No expectations or hopes, just “hey, this would be cool.” He already had two bands that tour and record, and have fans. I feel that if Pepper had joined, he would have parted ways with them to continue doing his own thing and this cycle would have started again.
The situation was more like meeting your old high-school mates who offer you a job as regional manager in their multi-national company while you make a solid income as the CEO of two moderately successful smaller companies. Sure, you‘d get shitloads of money if you took the offer, but you‘d also have to step back creatively and give up what you‘ve been building up yourself over 20 years. Remember that the whole issue with Jason started with him doing solo projects and James being completely opposed to that.
Pepper was right on alot of things you could look all over the world for a bass player and you could never find what you are looking for in terms of what you want, but when they interviewed rob, they found a guy that can add charisma and stage presence (just like jason) to the mix, also so what if rob or kirk can't sing , if you look back at the early days , their live shows everyone sounded like shit on the mic. it is hard to sing when you are 3 sheets to the wind
Rob is great and it’s cool to look back and see old footage of Cliff getting funky and playing lead bass, but Metallica now a days is missing the power of having a second singer that can add emphasis to songs and get up there on lead everyone and then. That being said I wonder if even Jason could do that now so maybe those days are simply gone. There really are three different versions of Metallic as defined by the different types of bass player used in that era. But I am glad they didn’t go with the idea of having bass be a hired gig and he would just stand in the background like Bon Jovi did. Nothing suck ass more than a “band” where half the “members” on stage mean less to the others than their guitar tech
Exactly. Jason was awesome but way underrated and under-appreciated. People keep comparing him to Cliff. Why? Jason is his own person, his own talent. We all know the greatness of Cliff Burton, but many let that blind them from seeing greatness in others.
No different then Ozzy after Randy was killed. No one would ever replace Randy and his style but I feel Zakk was second best guitarist for Ozzy and had his own style that worked for the band.
around 2:15 Keenan says that he narrowed it down to 3 or 4 bassists that he think can do the job and two of them are at the audition. Makes me wonder who he's refering to. My guess would be: The two bassists that were there: Trujillo and Chris Wyse. The two that weren't there: Jamez LoMenzo and Rex Brown.
It's weird how in the film they say they want a skilled player, vocalist and songwriter. When they select Rob they tell him they want him to bd a true membwr of the band, that they're all equals, etc. But he is a background guy, ended up being more a touring + session musician, lets James and Lars handle all songwriting. But now in recent interviews James says it was the right choice and there just isn't room for three people having big creative input.
James just went through the toughest part of his life, can't blame him if he's kinda layed back. Kirk is nothing but nice and humble and I like that. Lars is just dorking out, not sure why... So yeah, maybe he is the coolest dude right there and then.
Pepper would have wanted a hand in songwriting etc. Metallica wanted someone who would just play their parts and stir the boat. Probably why Les Claypool didn't get the gig either.
Actually it made me respect them even more and realisw they're just like rest of us. They are considered as gods of metal by their diehard fans and now when they opened up about their personal issues, we get to see the human side of theirs.
@@chriss8718 Everyone makes mistakes,nothing personal big fella. I'm still a fan,they are amazing live to this day. That's an accomplishment especially for their age. Simmer down it's just music .
I love Metallica vids of any kind. There are always 50 guys saying they have not seen the band since The Black Album and how they can make the band better in the comments yet Metallica are the biggest Rock Band in the World and these guys have not heard them ( Allegedly since 1991 ) so how do they know. Jes you guys
@@naughtymaster7994 If sales numbers were a reflection of talent, the vast majority of pop artists could be considered more talented than Metallica. If numbers speak loudest, your volume settings are fucked.
mike mac donald nah, Rob is solid. Jason just ran around like a dork that in all honesty didn’t belong. He tried to play a power move, James and Lars called his bluff and that was that. Funny how so many shit on Metallica for years and years yet, they are constantly scouring RU-vid for Metallica videos...move on dude, I hear Megadeth is playing the county fair circuit this summer.
I remember the day Dale Earnhardt died. Pepper hit the stage and announced it during a CoC show. I totally was proud to share a few beers with him and Jerry Cantrell. It was an experience.. Really great guys.
