JASON NEWSTED

When Jason Newsted was recruited to replace the late Cliff Burton as Metallica's four-stringer, he faced the most thankless task in rock 'n' roll - filling the boots of a dead hero. Cliff was not only a great player, he was granted status by fans who loved his grin that ran as wide as the stage he was standing on, his mad flares, his wild headbanging.

Newsted is a quieter character with a cooler look. The best thing he ever did was not try to be Cliff Burton. By now Newsted has been Metallica's bass player for longer than Burton was, and his acceptance, he feels, is complete.

When Newsted joined Metallica he walked into a very emotionally charged situation. The band rehearsed him and then went straight out on the road, first to Japan and then back to America, for a tour that included a show in Burton's home town of San Francisco. There was no chance for Newsted to establish himself by appearing on a new album before he was in front of Metallica's public.

Now Newsted is an integral part of the Metallica sound. As he says, the live arena was where he first made his mark, quickly forging a hard-driving rhythm partnership with Lars Ulrich. It was on musical terms that Newsted could first establish his credentials as a worthy replacement for Burton. Metallica had been on a steep learning curve since the naive days of "Kill 'Em All." Newsted was able to steady the ship and allow the band the freedom of a rock-solid base on which to refine their sound. He's aneat, tight player, with an unfussy style that comes with an appreciation of the great blues players and the spaces in thier music that they created