Cliff Burton is/was a huge part of my life and yet I never even met the man. As with hundred’s of others his bass guitar playing inspired me to pick up the four string and learn how to play it. Not only did he inspire me to play it, but he inspired me to REALLY play it… you know do things in music with it that you weren’t supposed to because it was ONLY the bass guitar. I fortunately was privileged to see Cliff perform live on Metallica’s Master Of Puppets tour (as the opened for Ozzy) and my eyes were glued on this mass of hair flailing around on a skinny man in bell bottoms and a jean jacket. The day I heard of his death my world was rocked as my hero, my inspiration and my friend that I never met was taken from this earth prematurely. I often wonder what Metallica would sound like today had Cliff still been alive. Would he have put up with the “Load”, “Re-Load” years? Would he still be in the band or would he have formed something more fitting to him? Would he put up with the shenanigans of James and Lars? Unfortunately all I can do it wonder and come to my own personal conclusions.
Joel McIver is an author of 12 books, a writer for Total Guitar, Metal Hammer and other music magazines. In 2004 McIver wrote a book entitled Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica and it sold over 30,000 copies world wide. I am personally thankful to McIver as he provided a wonderful biography of the life of one of my heroes that is insightful, candid and well written. The author has crafted this biography by interviewing band members, Cliff’s friends, family and girlfriend. With some biographies I feel the authors get a lot of their information by speculation, gossip, hearsay and outrageous sources but that is not the case with McIver. I think he has written a book that is genuine, heartfelt and honoring to this bass guitar icon. Joel introduces us to the man behind the guitar. He talks about how passionate he was as a person and a musician. He paints Cliff in a light that shows that he wasn’t just the quiet, pot smoking, Jack Daniel drinking, hippy “wannabe” bassist for Metallica. He was also the backbone behind who they were. He brought class to the band and ultimately taught James and Lars the importance of music theory and composition. He shows that Cliff was indeed a great guy who was pivotal to the success and sound of Metallica.
Thank you Joel McIver for taking it upon yourself to write a book about a man who seems to have gotten lost in the murky waters of famous musicians who have passed to the other side. Thank you for re-introducing us to the man, the myth and the legend known as Cliff Burton. Last of all thank you for giving him the credit that he so deserves. If you are a Metallica fan you NEED to read this book it will give you insight as to why and how the band Metallica came to be who they are. Two big thumbs up!
Reviewed by Jeff Holton
