Toby Morse One Life One Chance podcast , bassist Robert Trujillo discussed which thrash metal album he considers to be the "definitive" one, as well as sharing some stories about his beginnings in Metallica .
For Trujillo, the album Ride the Lightning (1984) takes the top spot: “That was the album I used to practice. The other was Reign in Blood by Slayer , and sometimes I also had some Anthrax . But Ride the Lightning was really the definitive album for me. What Metallica had that was incredible – and I, unfortunately, didn't get to see – was Cliff ( Burton ) playing.”
Although he didn't have the opportunity to become friends with Burton, Trujillo commented that his predecessor in the band, Jason Newsted , was a member he was close to: “I talked to Jason even before I joined the group. I was closer to him than to the other guys in the band at that time. Like, he wore Infectious Grooves .”
Challenges when joining Metallica
In the podcast, the bassist revealed that he faced a heavy workload when he joined the band, since he never received a definitive answer about the setlists for the shows. None of the members knew what would be played in future performances.
“I was only thinking about the work. I couldn’t think about the money, nothing. It was just: ‘I have to learn to sing better, I have a lot more responsibility, I have a catalog of material that spans twenty years.’ And then, there was this new album, St. Anger , which they had already recorded, and which they had never even played live together. Bob ( Rock , producer) played bass on it. I needed to learn those tracks, in addition to the catalog.”
Trujillo elaborated on the chaotic atmosphere he faced: “I was also confused because I didn’t know what songs would be in the setlist in the near future, because they never told me. So I would ask Lars (Ulrich) , and then Kirk (Hammett) , and James (Hetfield) . The setlists were all different, because nobody knew exactly what they would play.”
“Lars would say, ‘I think I want to play ‘Phantom Lord’ tonight,’ and it was already two o’clock. So, I had a lot of chord charts and what I call ‘cheat sheets.’ I needed to survive with them. Nowadays, I don’t like that very much. I want to feel the music, so I always try to prepare well in advance,” Trujillo concluded.
The full interview can be listened to here:
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