Metallica have never had the best track record for production.
Despite their phenomenal run in the ’80s, And Justice For All is hard for fans to get behind because of the shaky production.
While you might not hear a bass guitar, Donald Tardy from Obituary will go to bat for the production.
During a recent interview, Tardy mentioned loving the production of the record saying,
“I like the drum production, and some of my friends absolutely hate it. And there is something weird about it; it makes you feel like you just got out of a swimming pool and your ears are a little bit off.”
Tardy wasn’t the only one who thought things sounded off. The mixer behind Justice also had issues with the production saying (1:50),
“I remember we got to the bass. Lars [Ulrich] said ‘I want to drop the bass down in the mix where you barely can hear it. I look over at [James] Hetfield and said ‘is this guy serious?.’ I called my manager and said ‘I love this band, but I don’t like the direction they’re taking this record. Find someone else to do this record.'”
Although the bass was buried, Tardy isn’t looking to start fights over the production job saying,
“You can disagree or agree, or agree to disagree. But I liked it. And it’s funny that some people just thought it was a bad production. It was a different production, but there’s nothing bad about it.”
Despite some questionable production decisions, Tardy isn’t going to argue the quality of the songs saying,
“When there’s conversations with my friends… We all agree the songs are killer. maybe because I loved the record, maybe because I loved the drumming on it, and maybe because it fit the production of the guitars and stuff, I just thought it was killer.”
Obituary's John Tardy Talks Death Metal + Cancel Culture
Watch: The Time Snoop Dogg Butchered a Metallica Classic
