A bass solo that sounds like a guitar intro has been fooling listeners for four decades. The opening of 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' belongs to Cliff Burton, not Kirk Hammett. Burton joined Metallica in 1982 and died in 1986, but those four years redefined what a bassist could do inside a thrash band. He treated the instrument like a lead voice, running it through wah-wah and Big Muff pedals on Kill 'Em All when most metal bassists were buried in the mix.
He treated the instrument like a lead voice, running it through wah-wah and Big Muff pedals on Kill 'Em All when most metal bassists were buried in the mix.
A promise made at 13
Burton was born in Castro Valley, California in 1962. Piano lessons came first, but the bass arrived after his brother died of a brain aneurysm. Burton was 13 and made a promise to become the best bassist alive in his brother's memory. That vow pushed him through early bands like EZ-Street, where he played alongside future Faith No More members Jim Martin and Mike Bordin, and Agents of Misfortune.
A Battle of the Bands tape from 1981 captures what Burton was already carrying around. On that video he plays fragments of songs that would later surface on Metallica records, including the solo from '(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth'. The footage shows a kid treating bass as a weapon of orchestral ambition. By 1982 he was in Trauma, recording 'Such a Shame' for the Metal Massacre II compilation.
The condition that moved a band
James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich caught a Trauma show in Los Angeles and immediately wanted Burton. He agreed to join on one condition: Metallica had to relocate from LA to the San Francisco Bay Area. The band moved to El Cerrito to make it happen. That geographic demand tells you everything about Burton's priorities and the leverage he knew he had.
Kill 'Em All arrived in 1983, and the album's title came from Burton himself. When the band scrapped Metal Up Your Ass, Burton suggested Kill 'Em All. His playing on the record was unlike anything else in thrash, with effect pedals pushing the bass into distorted, vocal territory. On Ride the Lightning he earned writing credits on six of eight songs.
Master of Puppets and the Aria bass
Master of Puppets became the commercial breakthrough, and Burton's favorite song in the Metallica catalog was the title track. The instrumental 'Orion' contains his most celebrated bass arrangement, a multi-section piece that moves like a classical composition. The Aria SB Black n' Gold bass he used on that album became inseparable from the sound, paired with Mesa/Boogie D-180 amplifiers and a Morley Power Wah Boost.
The final show happened in Stockholm on September 26, 1986. Metallica closed with 'Fight Fire with Fire'. Hours later, near Dörarp, Sweden, the tour bus left the road around 7 in the morning. Burton had won the best bunk in the bus by drawing the ace of spades. According to Kirk Hammett, Burton chose Hammett's bunk, and Hammett moved forward before the crash.
The crash and its aftermath
The driver claimed black ice caused the accident, but police and a photographer found no ice on the road. Marks at the scene suggested the driver may have fallen asleep, though he was ultimately cleared. Burton was thrown through a window and died. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at Maxwell Ranch. 'Orion' played at the memorial.
Jason Newsted replaced Burton in Metallica in October 1986. The band used bass recordings Burton had made before his death on 'To Live Is to Die' from ...And Justice for All, a track dedicated to him. Dave Mustaine dedicated the music of 'In My Darkest Hour' to Burton, and Scott Ian of Anthrax dedicated Among the Living. In 2006 a memorial stone was placed at the crash site in Sweden with lyrics from 'To Live Is to Die'.
Burton entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, with his father Ray accepting the honor. His parents directed his posthumous royalties toward music scholarships, and in 2018 Alameda County declared February 10 as Cliff Burton Day. Rolling Stone readers ranked him ninth among the greatest bassists in 2011. In 2013 Aria released a replica of his SB Black n' Gold with approval from his family and Metallica.