They Actually Made a METALLICA Bass TAB Book For Basslines You CAN'T HEAR!

[@Kylora2112]

The isolated bass tracks show how much of a monster bassist Jason Newstead is. Dyers Ever and Blackened are amazing bass work.

[@joe78man]

Never heard Newstead do anything surprising, difficult, he's pretty basic.

[@device1974]

@@joe78man have you listened to the isolated tracks?

[@ripperplaysclon152]

@@joe78man Have you seen the live bass solos?

[@c4gam1ng12]

@@device1974They’re fairly sloppy, especially when you compare them to isolated Megadeth bass tracks. Not that that’s inherently a bad thing; Cliff’s isolated bass tracks were sloppy to a degree as well. But Jason used a pick, which makes it easier to be clean when you play fast. Listen to the isolated bass track for Holy Wars…The Punishment Due. It’s so tight and precise. Much better than any of Jason’s isolated bass tracks.

[@Atlas65]

@@joe78man I really much agree with you. Yes he is pretty basic, when we talk about wha he did Metallica. But to my surprise since I have that opinion on him for a long time, when I heard him play with his old band Floatsom Jetson, or something like that. I was wow, Jason was actually a great bassplayer. He just didn't dare to apply that in Metallica. It´s a shame.

[@andrewpappas9311]

Honestly, some of the bass lines in this may make you work harder than you need to but I still gotta say that some of the parts still sound really cool

[@pedrofreitas4262]

I guess the Surfrock part isnt one...

[@mk_rexx]

I'm guessing the transcriber may have also pulled spme live performances by other bass players because some sound kinda familiar

[@michealpersicko9531]

@@pedrofreitas4262 well metal is just surf rock with distortion

[@Vykk_Draygo]

@@michealpersicko9531 Not really. Metal's roots are closer to blues.

[@thethrashyone]

@@Vykk_Draygo OId metal, sure. Modern metal couldn't be further from blues if it tried.

[@kylebrady969]

There's Isolated tracks from Rock Band and Guitar Hero Metallica for the songs: Blackened (RB1 DLC) AJFA (RB1 DLC) One (GHM) The Shortest Straw (GHM) Dyer's Eve (GHM) And yeah Jason's playing is monstrous. Complex stuff? Maybe not, but the intensity is what makes him a great player to me

[@Jayteaseepiirturi]

TGhe thing is... tab books for Justice have existed way before those games. So how accurate these are is anyone's guess.

[@thethrashyone]

Jason can definitely play some complex stuff if you've ever heard his solo work, or other bands he was in like Flotsam and Jetsam. Something tells me his skill was why James and Lars initially selected him to replace Cliff, but then they probably told him to tone it down for the AJFA recordings. (And then slapped him in the face by turning down his bass tracks for good measure, but that's the part of the story everyone already knows.)

[@theghostofsw6276]

@@Jayteaseepiirturi The tracks on the game are accurate....they're the actual tracks. Shame those are the only one from the album...a complete set would enable a proper mix to be made.

[@tythompson4794]

As a bass player, this is amazing. Love seeing you on bass and covering Jason.

[@thewheelistaken]

OMG you're telling me Blackened was so much simpler on bass than it actually was???? I learned the entire song tabbed out that way just to find out it was easier the ways you showed it 😭 EDIT: Thank you though for actually doing this episode! I didn't realize how much easier certain songs would be thanks to you! So thank you for showing me that there is actually less complex parts on certain parts of the bass tracks, but Blackened especially 😅

[@prometheustv6558]

Which is funny since Jason wrote that riff

[@ScootyPuff_Jr]

Interestingly, the tab is closer to how I would write the bass line, and the way it's explained is how I would expect a guitarist to think it should be played, even if it's the right way.

[@MrMOGHammer]

Even dyers eve on guitar is 1000x easier when played the right way.

[@thrash1337]

What I realized from watching this video is that I love all songs from this album, no exceptions.

[@hjonkhjonkamgoose]

Same. This album and RTL are two albums that I dont hate a single song on

[@LordStarscream-]

Fun fact: In the AJFA deluxe box set released a few years ago, they had included rough mixes of the album which is one of the closest times (Guitar Hero versions are also applicable here) Metallica has gotten to releasing the album with its bass

[@solaces]

Maybe with AI we can somehow recreate the missing bass in the album once and for all

[@thewashateriawandererzayne4376]

@@solacesThere are already plenty of people that have uploaded the entire album with Jason’s original bass increased.

[@KyleS.1987]

One for us bass players. Thanks, dude! Nice bass tone, BTW.

[@charlieb8735]

The transcriber is a legend in my book for making a passable attempt at the impossible and making more interesting stuff where he wasn’t sure. Definitely more dubious from an educator’s standpoint to add complications in without the belief they’re there but I wouldn’t say outright bad choices. At least most of this would be functional with the record unlike many other tabs.

[@MrChopsticktech]

I got that book when it first came out. One of the things that blew me away was how loud in the mix Jason was on Garage Days compared to And Justice for All.

[@amandahuginkiss6868]

This. I always think of Garage Days Re-Revisited and yeah the production isn't great but there is audible decent bass. And they talk like they just came off tour, our ears were fried. Horseshit, they did 6 songs on with a mix that honestly sounds rougher but better than Justice. Still have my Cherry Lane Slayer and Metallica books. Sabbath too. You'ld think I would learn to read music after 30 years but nah.

[@Demiglitch]

@@amandahuginkiss6868 Not like you're getting paid to do it.

[@tardisthekidrrss]

I think the reason on why some of the riffs are harder then the original is because they probably watched some metallica live videos and we all know how crazy jason goes on the justice songs 😅

[@jrodtopo]

I still get excited when I listen to the album, and I can hear those few parts when the bass bleeds through.

[@tpslowbie]

Such a shame. Jason did such a good job on this album and got screwed

[@Kylora2112]

The isolated bass tracks are BADASS.

[@rycor9117]

LMAO Did they not pay him..lmao

[@timothyhouse1622]

As pointed out, he still got paid. And in the editing the bass wasn't intentionally left out.

[@lordofhador5843]

​@@timothyhouse1622not so sure about that

[@jeremiahacuna4870]

To him he didn't get screwed. In an interview he said how it turned out is how it was supposed be and I immediately lost some respect for him for saying that

[@AudibleFist]

There was a guy James Mason who has a channel that had five distinct mixes of the album based on intensity. It was super well mixed and I recommend it for any bass heads. The sweet spot for me is either 3 or 4 depending on the song, but everyone is different. Definitely search it out if you can still. It completely circumvents the issues Hetfield had stated previously on adding the bass back in.

[@andykromer3529]

Those octave jumps and other fills in One are actually what Jason plays live, you can hear the bass super well in MTV's ReLOAD, Rehearse, Request in 1998.

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Yes but the tab book is for the album.

[@andykromer3529]

@@TheArtofGuitar of course! I think you should have mentioned the live part in your video, but I'm just being nitpicky. You make great videos!

[@SO-ym3zs]

Thanks for busting out the big guitar and giving us bassists some time. Also: super cool Defender and Robotron marquees in the background!

[@MKDumas1981]

Don't dismiss the octave jumps. Jason was known for those. He had a very disco-bass style to him.

[@dpclerks09]

It's the easiest way to achieve movement/momentum without doing too much. It's an efficient composition technique.

[@JeremyAndersonBoise]

@@dpclerks09bassist detected

[@h0b05c4t]

Honestly, when I heard that bit at 5:08, my first thought was "That kinda sounds like 'if Cliff had played it'". Without hearing it in the context of the song though, it's hard to say if it's "better" than no audible bass or not. 😅

[@MKDumas1981]

It's how I learned it, and I think it sounds better than the simplified version.

[@codyyates1045]

I thought a lot of the tab parts sounded like Cliff parts.

[@j-dizzle2946]

All the octave stuff really gave me cliff vibes yeah

[@corrosivecabal]

I would love to see a series where someone does a cover of a song or album entirely as it's presented in the tab books. All instruments from the same company/person if possible, just to hear how big the differences are.

[@sfermigier]

I did actually buy the book 30 years ago or so. I asked my bass teacher "how can they transcribe the bass part, I can't hear anything". To which he replied "they probably use gigantic monitors and crank up the bass using EQ". Yeah, right.

[@ThiruelAztherok]

If you take any AJFA track and band pass the bass frequencies ~40 to 100 HZ, where bass guitar normally lives in an album, there is basically nothing there XD. The only thing living there is the kick drum

[@MrMOGHammer]

@@ThiruelAztherokand we know why

[@heavystalin2419]

@@ThiruelAztherok "...the kick drum" Hmmmmm... mmMMMmMMMMmmm...

[@thehunter7422]

Ill never get tired of this series. Also perfect timing for the bass tab vid ( especially with another Metallica vid lol ) cause i just got my first Bass guitar couple weeks back and Metallica is practically like 80 percent all of what I've been playing/trying to learn lol. They got quite a few sick bass lines that I've never heard as clear before till recently. Especially on the And Justice for All album, makes me.respect and love Jason even more trying to play these cause quite a bit of these riffs he did are pretty fun and go hard when Jammin along with it lol.

[@kevinstong6395]

Thank you for the video. I have that tab book and tried learning the songs from it back in the early nineties.

[@sixzerotwo]

I remember this tab book. Its the reason I gave up trying to learn other bands music and made me spend more time writting my own

[@oliverhayirli1709]

The bad tab series are one of the best things in all of KZbin 🔥😄✌️

[@kurzackd]

2:23 -- it's also maddening because Newsted has writing credits on the song. In fact, *THE MAIN RIFF WAS HIS* , as far as I'm aware. (he isn't credited on *ANY* other song on the album btw...) .

[@Telecasterland]

The guy writing the book rocks. He was so creative.

[@tweettweetjones1262]

It's good to play with conviction and confidence. If you doubt yourself, your mind will wander and you tend to make errors.

[@charlesrocks]

The walk down at 5:15 that the book references actually sounds badass.

[@stephenshoihet2590]

As a bass player, this is great! Really loved you going over the interesting details, thanks 🙂 Yousician has lots of metallica stuff but i can never get into the bass parts.... maybe because i've never really heard them in the songs 😆. Nice shirt too 🙂

[@christianj.zamora8318]

Back in the mid-to-late 90's I was in possession of a copy of this exact tab book and I couldn't, for the life of me, wrap my head around the bass tab playing along with the record (err, CD). I was somewhat new to the bass and I questioned my musical abilities more so than I do now. None of the bass lines according to the book made sense to me. It was unbelievably frustrating. So, I just doubled the guitars when we played AJFA covers, and would add what I could figure out from watching videos of Jason playing.

[@russellbelew2604]

I would love to hear a tab-accurate version of Blackened. Between the bass and the guitar tabs it would be... an experience. 😂

[@TheArtofGuitar]

For now. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHuvo62vm7iBq5o

[@russellbelew2604]

@@TheArtofGuitar I can't believe I missed that video! Showcases just how bad the tab book really is (especially with those missing palm mutes). Upon reflection, maybe adding in the terrible bass would be too much... Maybe... 🤣

[@rebecca1971007]

Thank you for the video. Honestly, it inspired me, to pick up and learn Bass!

[@thecount2094]

I love ur metallica videos. I love learning to play their songs correctly

[@joelpicsel]

Best comedy is when you don't expect to laugh. This is such an unintentional funny video. Just bursted laughing on the surfing part.

[@ripperplaysclon152]

Fun fact: Jason wrote the Blackened main riff.

[@Fender178]

I remember that and also I remembered that someone remastered the entire And Justice For all album and put the bass back into it and they sent a copy to Jason Newstead as well.

[@jcburn1973]

I bought this book back in the early 90s wanting to learn the bass lines. I wasn't aware at the time of the fact that Newsted had been essentially mixed out of the album.... I do remember reading through some of the tabs, playing along thinking "I can't hear that! "

[@pascTV]

4:42 If you listen to Live Shit, that’s pretty much what he plays there. Was surprised to hear that, but it sounds really cool. EDIT: He actually plays that part a bit later in that middle section.

[@napesdrk1174]

I get a warm and fuzzy when I see Mike doing bad TAB. My brother and I got the guitar book as soon as it was printed and being from NY we would goto my grandmother's in South Carolina during spring break, being from NY it was not spring yet, we would drive and every state it got warmer and more spring like till all in bloom in South Carolina what a long drive. But my Dad,mom brother and I all in once a year for 5 years. This book reminds me of this.

[@HannahCope88]

Yesss! Some bass content. Love it. Would be awesome to see more. That bass you have is simply beautiful. Love the Game boy, I grew up playing one, it was my dads, it only had Tetris on it but I freakin loved it!. Congrats on 810k Subscribers!

[@jackshittle]

FINALLY!! I've been hoping that you would do something with bass tab books and what better one to start off with, thank you! Back in 1992 I was in the Navy and brought my bass & amp to Puerto Rico for a 6 month deployment and I'd sit in my room with the AJFA bass tab book trying to learn these songs. That was back when I thought these books were the actual real deal - thinking that Jason had to go over every song and approve it as the real thing lol. I hope you do the rest of the Metallica bass tab book catalog, cheers!

[@wohlhabendermanager]

Thank you so much for this video. AJFA is my first metal album ever. Heard it the first time at the ripe old age of 12 years. Of course, not knowing anything about metal, or music in general, I thought the album sounded just so cool, and I didn't learn any better until I made some new friends at school who were also into metal, but were listening to other bands like Blind Guardian, Pestilence and stuff like that, haha.

[@hdervish2497]

I appreciate these videos so much. When I was a kid working out of tab books, I just thought I was too stupid to get it.

[@youthanasia8767]

I love how your game boy looks exactly like mine missing the front plastic plate and slightly more yellow

[@michaeldebecker1472]

I purchased that book as beginner bass player... I was so frustrated not to hear shit of it in the record. Jason is such a great bassist, and his bass licks on AJFA are above awesome!

[@irushforth]

The title track's isolated bassline is available on KZbin.

[@Kylora2112]

Yup. Blackened and AJFA are from Rock Band; Shortest Straw, One, and Dyers Eve are from Guitar Hero (both have the same master isolated tracks). Harvester of Sorrow, Eye of the Beholder, Frayed Ends of Sanity, and To Live Is To Die are all extracted via software or recreations (I don't think Metallica has made their stems available).

[@rkmoss04]

Yep. This is me. I bought this book when it came out.

[@slayabouts]

During production, Lars and James’ parts were mixed in a way that conflicted with where the bass was in the mix. They wanted a garage sound with a little less bass like on their previous records, but supposedly Lars told the mixing engineer “I want you to bring down the bass where you can barely audibly hear it in the mix.” And when they did, Lars said “Now drop it another 5 db”.

[@davidzedner4286]

I bought that book when I first started playing (1989) and I would look at it and while I listened to the album; I couldn’t believe what I was seeing in the tablature and (not) hearing on the recordings. As a very naive 15 year old beginner, I always thought that the transcribers had some gadget to isolate the bass.

[@frentzen100]

I think those fills and "complex" stuff sounds better than the "simple" versions. And Jason played them in this way too at live shows. But yeah, the book is for the album. Live stuff is different.

[@starlighter93]

What I've learned from this video is that the songs I wrote as a guitarist, a lot of times I made the bass lines too complicated. I just thought it would be too boring to play the bass if I kept it simple. :D

[@philipbeasley72]

Some of the bass lines out of the tab book are actually good. Too bad it's not part of the album.

[@Sklen34]

14:19 Tbh you could play that sometimes as a variation of the main riff Jason kinda does this to the verse riff sometimes on the isolated track

[@mattjns]

I gotta say I LIKE that AJFA bass intro a lot!

[@kurzackd]

2:16 -- neither. *He's just TROLLING with it all* with his subtle humorous comments in the book's introduction !! :D

[@mikehamelin7520]

watching these videos makes it a lot more clear to me why I could never play any of this. now I'm 40 and can't be bothered to try and learn it. so much wasted time and energy. I brought these books to so many people trying to figure them out.

[@cwjalexx]

...and justice for all was one of the first CDs I ever bought as a kid and I always wondered why the bass was so quiet. I had just started playing the guitar and remember taking a look at the bass tabs while listening to the album and trying so hard to hear it. this was a long time ago, but my memory was that I couldn't hear it. it wasn't just that it was quiet, i literally could not hear it at all...and this was with the tabs in front of me so I had a rough idea of what i was supposed to hear.

[@Bastion71]

Great work! you nailed it. Some great parts in those songs. Alas...

[@stevenlee1075]

That’s why I literally only listen to the isolated tracks (for the available songs). Even some songs like Eye of The Beholder and To Live is to Die have pretty audible bass

[@skeeter197140]

Finally! One for us!!

[@cbr9914]

this is the first music book i ever owned. the kill em all edition had all sorts of cheeky bass fills that aren't on the album

[@xboxgod7725]

There is a bass track for ...And Justice for All. It's playable as dlc in 'Rock Band' & Harmonix mixed it to include the bass track

[@Cxdyy]

Fun fact: The engineer got quite pissed and wanted someone else to mix the album because of lars. Lars wanted one specific drum sound that sounded bad or something? (can’t remember it that well) and then Lars told him to lower the bass volume til it’s barely audible, then later when they met the engineer again lars asked something along the lines of “What happened to the bass?” thus creating “Adjust It For Lars”

[@Summit-kq1wx]

Love your bass tone bro it's bussing

[@TheRumbleMunky]

I remember not being happy with this book. I'd watch Jason's hands in whatever vid I could get and make sense of them to the book. Lol... That was my first experience that a tab book just MIGHT not be on..

[@SomeCanine]

This is probably the one time I can understand them making bass mistakes on a bass tab

[@norris5754]

10:50 reminds me of Money by Pink Floyd for some reason.

[@Skeletroy]

PLEASE do like a minute of a surf rock version of Blackened. I need that in my life.

[@alanguitars]

Jason should re-release AJFA with the bass turned up and guitars turned down.

[@MKDumas1981]

Especially since he's back to playing bass guitar.

[@dexholland5324]

Lol love these tab book videos haha

[@Rolli6669]

And can you do the best tab books too? Back in the day I used to think the Slayer books were pretty good. I am actually curious how good they were now.

[@emilholmgrenconcerts]

Of course there's an AJFA title track bass track from Guitar Hero! The songs are; "Blackened", "... And Justice For All", "One", "The Shortest Straw" and "Dyers Eve".

[@TheArtofGuitar]

I checked the Guitar Hero track list and didn’t see it. Heard it’s Rock Band tho.

[@emilholmgrenconcerts]

@@TheArtofGuitar It's among the isolated tracks from Guitar Hero: Metallica, for sure. Even did my own mix with bass and everything. I can email you the isolated track, if you like.

[@streetfightingman4240]

These tab books were all we had back in the 90s though eh! I remember having a "easy guitar" GN'R Use Your Illusion 1 and it was littered with mistakes. Oh and I can see you're a fellow Stalloniaaaaan, with good old kerp, ya no? *sniff*

[@Wiggimus]

Honestly, it's really cool that your Game Boy still works 😊

[@MrTjsweet1]

Hey Mike, digging the bad tabs, and I'd like to recommend the Hal Leonard 'The Best of KISS' (separate guitar and bass tab books) from the early 90's. I know there's a few discrepancies as far as tuning notes for some songs, and the dreaded "two guitars tabbed on one staff" piece in 'Detroit Rock City'...An alternative could be the H.L.' Black Sabbath We Sold Our Soul...' book. Looking forward to future content!

[@weicco]

I remember playing Master of Puppets (with guitar) for years wrong. It always sounded somewhat off but with enough distortion I didn't mind. Then I found out what was the problem. (well, the real problem is I can't play by ear) In tabs the riff went: E-F#-C, E-F#-C#, E-F#-D When it actually goes: E-F-B, E-F-C, E-F-C# But if you play it the wrong way, I reckon it is much better or at least happier! :)

[@stuffipost137]

I'm not sure which impresses me more. The fact there are tabs for AJFA, or that he still has an original Game Boy!

[@exorcist2000]

Great video!!!. Quick question.. have you EVER attempted to play along with Metallica's entire live set from Canada 1986 (w/Jason).. ????. That is my favorite Metallica live performance ever.. So fast angry and aggressive.. i would love to know if you could keep up James and Kirk... 👍🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@jeffgerdau9436]

This was the book I had! I bought it thinking I'd learn so much....

[@GrayD_Fox]

It was turned down because Everyone else had bass turned up, and Jason kept playing what James was playing. And it’s not like they Murderfaced him during concerts.

[@benstanfill363]

I have the same bass (or maybe a cheaper model, mine was $300) and I can not record it to save my life. I used to use a pod farm preset that was great but since I don't use line 6 anymore I'm struggling to make a good bass tone with it. Yours sounds great.

[@ianobrien3248]

Rambo's eyes over that Precision Bass is really weird perfection.

[@andreasdeutinger7319]

i have this book and i learned a lot from it.

[@XXIII_89]

Finally ive been waiting all day dying to know what the bad tabs were gonna be!!

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Was gonna release it last night after the T.Swift concert but we got stormed on leaving the venue and I had to go home and dry off.

[@device1974]

I wonder if the transcribers were given early rough mixes where the bass was actually slightly audible. I've heard some of those and the bass is there, not nearly as much as we all wanted, but it's there. There is also the trick of speeding the tape up, which moves all the bass frequencies up to a more easily discernable range for your ear. I did that many times when I was a teenager in the 80s and once you train your ear to ignore all the high frequency noise of the guitars, it's actually pretty easy to pick out a lot of bass parts that were buried. Then there have been karaoke machines since the 80s that would remove the center channel of a stereo recording, it's not hard to reverse that process and isolate the center channel. I feel like transcribers back in the day would've had access to all that and known how to use it. Yes, I understand that if you speed up the final mixes it doesn't do much good (it does allow you to hear that there's something there), but try it with the rough mixes and you can actually hear what he's doing.

[@AnAllAroundPlayerMaker]

Interesting

[@jpob5]

FYI the Work In Progress versions of the songs which came on the box set have the bass at a regular volume.

[@maledictionwolf]

1:31 - 2:20 if they had some studio equipment or access to it, they might have been able to run the music through a low-pass filter before the speaker to hear it better. It'd take out a good chunk of the vocals and guitars, and parts of the drums.

[@boywonderrr71]

Its amazing how they got those basslines with no bass on AJFA

[@ZeGarrepito]

I had this book back in the day.

[@evandale7335]

13:35 fun fact: the official drum book says the exact same thing, from what I could tell when I was learning from it it seemed a lot more accurate than the official guitar books though

[@althuran9721]

I’ve been contemplating getting the ride the lightning bass tab book but now this has me thinking. Maybe do that one next by any chance? 🤔

[@Andromeda-7767]

Hey Mike the bad tab videos are great I wonder if there are any outside of the rock and metal genre that would be interesting as well just a thought 🤘

[@christophertrogdon2308]

One pretty much introduced me to Metallica too. I heard it and bought the single then later the album .

[@kennethnevins]

That shirt is awesome!

[@JeremyAndersonBoise]

I owned this book for many years.

[@Demiglitch]

I love the One "machine gun" section with two strings.

[@Owen_plays_music1049]

12:20 This is how Lemmy would play it lol

[@concretel10n]

Your bass sounds pretty sick dude.

[@katho8472]

I think I once wrote with Steve. He said he met with Jason to write stuff down, but he couldn't remember too much. Right^^

[@fortisch]

3:32 it's just so funny to me, how you jab at the mix.