Tommy Lee:
Hit that mother fucking record button Mr. Rock!!! Go!
Great to be back in the studio with Bob Rock and the boys! pic.twitter.com/AVn0vaJiZi
— Vince Neil (@thevinceneil) April 18, 2023
Tag: Bob Rock
Metal Hammer: Ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted looks back on the highs and lows of his epic career.
You can read more from this interview @ this location. An excerpt from the conversation has been provided below.
Did you feel like you had an ally in Bob Rock when you were recording the Black Album?
“I don’t think I ever earned his respect like he had for James and Lars – because of what they had achieved, and they were writing the cheques – but I think he was firing on all cylinders. I wanted to get his respect, to show him I knew what I was doing.
I brought in a tenth of my bass collection, ‘Hey, let’s try this one or this one,’ sort of showing off a little, because you get told that this is the way to be a proper musician, where actually it’s the opposite. He knew that one bass was malleable, and we could get every sound out of it. I started messing with multi-string; he supported me in the way of tough love. He already had five or six kids, and none of us had any kids at that point; he was just adding to his brood. We were just kids, man!”
Did any of you guys realize you were sitting on something special back then, when the record was being made?
“I’m going to go back to Sad But True, because that’s my highlight of the whole project, because of the weight. I struggled with Nothing Else Matters; I knew it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up – it was undeniable – but I was kinda scared of it, to be honest, because I still wanted ‘CRUNCH!’ Sandman, I thought, was kinda corny, honestly.
The beautiful thing was that we all sat in the room together and played it out; 70 takes of Nothing Else Matters. After a while, you’re too close to it. ‘How much more delicate can I make it?’ It’s crazy I’ve just realised this: our softest song ever took down the biggest walls to allow our hardest songs ever to penetrate the world. When it was No. 1 in 35 countries in one week, and seven of those countries we hadn’t even been to yet? Dude, that doesn’t happen to a band who go ‘Die! Die!’ most of the time.”
Tell us about the IR8 stuff with Devin Townsend. That’s where the problems with Metallica started, right?
“This was the very origins. I had just established the Chophouse in ’92, and by ’94 we had all the gear. Devin came down at the age of about 22 and was an absolute fucking maniac… dude, an hour-and-a-half of sleep a day for a whole week! And every time he would pick up a guitar you get, ‘Widdle widdle widdle,’ and you’re like, ‘Dude, where in the hell did that come from?! Now play it backwards!’
It was the first real project we took time to track in the Chophouse. It’s just drums and bass, Devin doing some mad guitar solo over the top, I go in and scream the vocal – done. Raw production, but an incredible accomplishment, because I always wanted my own studio. “The guys got wind of it and Lars said, ‘You gotta come up to the house.’
I didn’t really know what it was for, so I take my bass and go up there: ‘What’s up, guys?’ ‘Dude, you know you’re in Metallica now, don’t you? You can’t just be making music and sending out tapes to whatever fucker with whichever fucker. You do understand that, right?’ ‘Oh!’ I didn’t realize at all! I didn’t know about the politics; I was just sharing some metal with my friends! I pretty much broke down on that day in front of Lars and James. I was like, ‘I’m sorry, it won’t happen again!’ And that was the first time.”
You admitted to us that you didn’t feel satisfied by being in Metallica at that time. Do you remember that quote?
“I’m proud of myself! That’s perfect! Absolutely, that is what is still real for me, and I think it was throughout the 90s. After the Black Album tour, we had some money, but it was a totally different direction for me. I liked playing the songs and I could raise myself up for the people to play the songs for them. But Enter Sandman for the 1,000th time… it kinda wears on you.
I wanted to be that person who I knew myself to be on and offstage with Metallica. When they saw me, they knew they were getting everything, every fucking ounce of sweat left on that stage. The reason they were getting that, and the way I was able to do that, was because of the wacky music that I was playing offstage with my friends.”
You can read more from this interview @ this location.
Nikki Sixx:
Vancouver Hotel. Excited to see our old friend and producer Bob Rock tonight………..
This excerpt was taken from a series of interviews producer/engineer Bob Rock did with Tape Op. You can read more @ this location.
On Mötley Crüe’s Dr. Feelgood:
Tape Op: That sound helped usher in a new, mainstream respectability for metal production. What were you hearing differently from the rest of your peers to inspire you?
Bob Rock:
My production, at that point, was more to do with sonics. In the ‘80s, production was about sonics, about the sound. Coming from an engineering/mixing background, I went into Mötley with that in mind. With Dr. Feelgood, I was trying to make everything as big and powerful as I possibly could. There was no preconception as to what I was doing. It was more like, “Okay, let’s get in there!
Tape Op: Your drum sound is legendary. How did you create and capture that to tape?
Back then it was the beginnings of hip-hop, and I think bottom [end] was becoming bigger and bigger. My mic techniques that I had at that point were all ones I’d picked up from working with the different people. Then, in time, I’d adopted my own sound. Everything is derivative so, for instance, when Bob Clearmountain [Tape Op #84] was in the studio working with Bryan Adams, I’d go in at night after session, look at all the mics, and combine that with other people I had worked with through the years. It was a question of learning good mic’ing techniques. It’s pretty much stayed the drum sound – without being mixed – it’s pretty much what I get these days.
Back then, I used a [Sennheiser MD] 421 in the kick, an [Electro-Voice] RE20, and usually a [Shure SM]57 or [Shure SM]86 on the snare. For overheads I used [Neumann U] 87s or [AKG C] 460 Bs, room mics were condensers, and I’ve always double-mic’d my toms; top and bottom. That’s stayed the same, pretty much to today.
Metallica records are slightly different. With The Black Album there was maybe another 40% of top-end on everything; I think everything became a little tighter, and there was a lot more damping.
A lot of Tommy Lee’s drumming, back then, I think the big shocker there was I had to open up the mics – he was such a loud hitter that he would actually compress the drums. He hit so hard that the drum would almost compress itself, so I remember I would have to back off the mics. It was really a question of trying to tame that energy, as well as getting the right distance on the cymbal mics because of the size of the cymbals.
I think the big thing with the sound of the drums on these albums came in the mixing. In mixing, it was pretty much Tommy pushing me, and me figuring out a way to make it happen.
Tape Op: You broke some new ground in relation to the hybrid way you built out Tommy Lee’s drum sound on Dr. Feelgood. Could you deconstruct that for us?
By using samples in conjunction with the drum kit to get the weight and the size of the drums. Tommy would tap me on the shoulder and say, “Rockhead, could I have a little more bottom?” Of course, we’d add bottom to the kick; the kick would be thumping, and there wouldn’t be any bass [guitar]. Then we’d increase the bass and the definition would be gone. If you listen to the beginning of Dr. Feelgood, what I did was triggered a bass tone with an AMS [digital delay] – like one hit on the bass that’s hammered. And that’s with the kick drum. In mixing the drums on…
I’m a longtime subscriber to Tape Op. It’s the only magazine I read cover to cover. -full in bloom
If you are into recording, then you either already know about Tape Op, or you’ve been missing out. You can subscribe @ this location. It’s FREE!!!!
Metal Hammer: “Metallica are not for wimps”: Bob Rock reveals the secrets of the Black Album and Load. You can read more from this interview @ this location.
Having graduated from engineering and mixing hugely successful albums (Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet, Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation) to producing hugely successful albums (The Cult’s Sonic Temple, Mötley Crüe’s Dr. Feelgood) your career was on a roll before Metallica entered your life: did that make it fairly easy to reject their offer to have you mix their fifth album?
I didn’t really think of it in that way, necessarily. At the time, I was just looking out for the next best job opportunity that might come my way. I knew of Metallica, obviously, but they weren’t a band I was in awe of. I didn’t understand the sonics of …And Justice For All, because when I saw them live they were a heavy, weighty band and that record just doesn’t sound that way. That’s not a criticism, I know that to some people …Justice is the standard of what Metallica should sound like, but that was my observation from an outside perspective at that time, when the idea of working with Metallica wasn’t ever a thought in my head.”
St. Anger marked the end of the creative collaboration between you and Metallica. The turmoil and tensions behind the making of the album were captured with brutal clarity in the Some Kind Of Monster documentary, but how do you view that time now?
It’s hard to even put into words. Ultimately, I was there as a friend, trying to be there to help them stay together. That album needed to be made for Metallica to have a future. I feel like England and Europe embraced that record more than America, but that’s kinda a side story. No one knew what was going to happen, we just stuck at it until it was done, until the band were OK. My friends were struggling, and I was just there to help, to make sure Metallica didn’t end there. I am very proud of all the work we did together, but in some ways, maybe this was the most important work, because without it, there’s no Metallica today.”
Published in Metal Hammer 355
The excerpt below was taken from the full in bloom interview with The Firm / Blue Murder bassist Tony Franklin.
LISTEN TO THE EXCERPT VIA APPLE PODCASTS, OR THE EMBEDDED YOUTUBE CLIP / SOUNDCLOUD WIDGET BELOW.
EXCERPT DESCRIPTION:
Tony talks about working with famed producer / engineer Bob Rock while recording Blue Murder’s 1989 self-titled debut album.
The entire interview can be heard at this location.
Tony Franklin Interview Excerpt via YouTube
Tony Franklin Interview Excerpt via YouTube
Billy Duffy: Metallica and The Cult have a long history so it was cool to chat about this with Speak N’ Destroy… we also talk about Bob Rock, Rick Rubin, Beggars Banquet, Sire and the Sonic Temple 30th Anniversary reissue and tour.
Listen Here
This excerpt was taken from the full in bloom interview with drummer Pete Holmes. Pete is currently the drummer for RATT and Black ‘N Blue. He is also known for his work with Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Ian Gillan & Malice.
PURCHASE/STREAMING OPTIONS -> Amazon – Spotify – iTunes
The Without Love Daze
Pete talks about BLACK ‘N BLUE’s 2nd album, Without Love, produced by BRUCE FAIRBAIRN & engineered by BOB ROCK, includes Bon Jovi story. Listen to the clip below.
Listen to more excerpts from this interview at this location.
INTERVIEW EXCERPT:
__________________________________________________
Drummer
Pete Holmes
RATT
BLACK ‘N BLUE
MICHAEL SCHENKER
ULI JON ROTH
IAN GILLAN
MALICE
Black ‘N Blue “Miss Mystery”
Black ‘N Blue “Hold on to 18”