LARS ULRICH Says METALLICA Didn't Take Advantage Of Everything JASON NEWSTED Had To Give

Dave Higgins of Australia's long-running rock station Triple M spoke to METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich last Wednesday night (September 15) in Melbourne just before the band hit Rod Laver Arena's stage for the first of five huge shows and a vast Australian tour. Watch a clip from the chat below.

Regarding the departure of METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted in 2001 and the addition of Jason's replacement, Robert Trujillo, Ulrich said, "When I think back on the Jason years, I look at an incredibly dedicated musician and an incredibly dedicated person to the cause; he was very, very engaged. He probably was never given an outlet to... I don't think we took advantage of... the band did not take advantage of everything that he had to give. That's how it played out, and we weren't in a place at that time where we were better dealing with it. The ironic thing is that his departure kind of brought the band closer, because we realized that he was leaving because we weren't capable of really dealing with each other. Rob is... It just fits. His personality really just gels with the personalities of the rest of us and it just really somehow works in a very organic, unforced way now; we don't force things."

According to MTV, Newsted quit METALLICA in February 2001 for several reasons, including his desire to play more of a creative role. He also felt the band had lost its focus and was spending too much time involved in litigation and political rhetoric. And finally, he needed time off to recover from neck and back injuries he sustained banging his head every night onstage.

In a July 2008 interview with Norway's VG TV, METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield stated about Trujillo's contributions to the band's latest album, "Death Magnetic", "I don't really have to say it, but I will — he's an amazing bass player; very competent. He can play pretty much anything we throw at him. Not only that, but obviously [Robert] playing with his fingers brings a fuller sound. He — and no disrespect to Jason — but Rob has already written more on this album than Jason had in his whole 14 years. A lot of that had to do with us not being willing, and I totally understand that, but just his material seemed to gel better. It feels as though we've known him forever, basically, is what it feels like. And there's still times when I see him in pictures with us, and I go, 'Oh, yeah! He's in our band. Dude, we kick ass even more now.' It's a good feeling."