Newsted and the success of Metallica’s ‘Black Album’

Jason Newsted looks back on the success of Metallica‘s Black Album and his six-month spending spree. Newsted said Metallica went through a time of adjustment from their financial success. He eventually calmed down and realised he was acting in a way that wasn’t him.

Newsted recalls during a four-part interview with Metallica fan club So What! “All of us experienced some kind of swelly head at different levels for different amounts of time through this three-year span,” He added it was “inevitable” because they were “only flesh and bone.”

He said “I went shopping with Kirk [Hammett] in Paris, and he took me to a couple of nice, nice stores, and I threw down a lot of money for some nice clothes and shoes and stuff,” he explained. “I’d never done that before, and I thought I was the shit!”

Metallica Merchandise

Jason reflected that he “did get caught in a moment. I think I’ve been really, really frugal with my earnings, and so that’s why I still have them. But I did have a couple of moments there.” He said it lasted around “five to six months” and that he was “walking on air” in that time. “Everywhere that you went, in the 55 countries that we played in, they’re waiting for you when you [get] there. What are you supposed to do?”

He added it changed when he “came back home on the one break to be with my girl again.” I just realised that that’s not who I am. I pretended I was gonna get this fancy car and all that shit. I’m like, ‘Dude, you know that you’d rather have a ’65 Mopar, ’68 Mopar, than you would that fucking Lamborghini bullshit anyway.’ But those guys were driving Porsches and fancy cars and stuff, and I’m like, ‘I can afford that, too!’”

Jason Newsted: The So What! Interview