METALLICA's ROBERT TRUJILLO Breaks Down The Differences Between CLIFF BURTON's And JASON NEWSTED's Playing Styles

During an appearance on the April 24 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo spoke about the two bassists that preceded him in the band, Jason Newsted and the late, great Cliff Burton. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's interesting because between Jason and Cliff, they're very different players, and I think that's great. I love the fact that we're all different, we all have our thing that we bring to the band. And, obviously, with Cliff, he was such an incredible musician. I mean, he was really a composer when it came to the instrument, in the same way that sort of a Jaco Pastorius or Stanley Clarke would've been a composer. They're thinking about the song, but they're also thinking about the voice of the instrument within the song and how to present it. And sometimes that's utilizing distortion or overdrive or the wah pedal and being melodic with it. And I love that; that's what I love about [Cliff]. And then you've got Jason who was really keeping it and holding it down, keeping it solid — a lot more simple, but in a good way. Definitely not in a pedestrian way; I would never say that. I think it's just really solid."

He continued: "What I've learned over the years from everyone that I've ever worked with, whether it's METALLICA or playing in Ozzy's [Osbourne] band and recording with Ozzy and working with Jerry Cantrell [ALICE IN CHAINS], which I've done on and off over the years, I just learned from every situation. Jerry, for instance, is an incredible bass player. He would never cop to it, but this guy, as a composer, I'm saying, where he positions the notes within a song and the dynamic sort of value of that note in the simplicity is incredible. If you listen to a song like [ALICE IN CHAINS'] 'Rooster', you can hear the bass that has a personality within the song and it resonates and it's got space. But he's really great at taking the bass and using it in a simple form, but also having its presence be known in a very dynamic way, which lends itself to the song. That's why you always hear bass in ALICE songs or Jerry's music. I recorded with Jerry recently, and it's just always a blessing and an incredible experience. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it's special because he's such an amazing composer. And I just feel blessed with any situation I've been able to record in and be a part of. The songwriting is just always at the highest level, and working with [METALLICA bandmates] Lars [Ulrich], James [Hetfield] and Kirk [Hammett], for 21 years, has been an incredible experience because they're composers. And that's special, when you can be in a band and work with people that love the art of songwriting."

Trujillo, who was born on October 23, 1964 in Santa Monica, California, tasted success as the bassist in punk-funk pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and Ozzy Osbourne's band. But in 2003, he successfully auditioned to replace Jason Newsted in METALLICA, a process chronicled in the warts-and-all documentary "Some Kind of Monster".

METALLICA's much-loved former bassist Cliff Burton died in 1986 when the band's tour bus crashed travelling through Sweden on the "Damage Inc. Tour" in support of "Master Of Puppets".

Trujillo told Exclaim! in a 2016 interview that he feels no pressure when compared to his low-end predecessors.

"Whether it's Jason or myself or Cliff, we're all different types of players coming from a different place, but delivering what is best for the band," he said. "That's all I ever do, just try and do the best I can and cater to the song, cater to the music."

Hetfield praised Trujillo during a 2017 interview with the 94.5 The Buzz radio station, saying: "Who else could [have come in and done the job]? I mean, there were a few people we auditioned, I know. It might have worked out with other people, but it's hard to find people that are, say, your age; kind of your upbringing, musically, obviously; ability-wise; they've been on the road. It's not like you're bringing some kid out for his first time, and it's, 'Oh my God!' He's going through all the stuff that you did twenty-five years ago. He's got kids. He's married. It just jelled, and it's still jelling. And his personality is probably one of the best contributions, I think, to the band, 'cause he's so chill, he's so up for anything, he's always in there rehearsing. So he does fit in."