Jason Newsted Returns to the Public Eye

When Jason Newsted quit Metallica in 2001, he was like America after 9/11: he had the entire world on his side. And, like America after 9/11, he pretty much blew that goodwill via a series of highly misguided efforts (playing with Ozzy, Papa Wheelie, etc.). Despite making one pretty cool album with Voivod, it wasn’t long before everyone remembered that even if Newsted had the good sense to leave Metallica, he did not have the good sense to leave Metallica before the atrocious Load albums, and by the laws of Hannah Arendt, was therefore just as culpable for atrocities like “Unforgiven II” and “I Disappear” as anyone else was.

Now Newsted has launched Newstedheavymetal.com, which will be “OFFICIAL online presence,” and just a scant fifteen or twenty years after the rest of the world.

All snarkiness aside, the below intro video, which was posted on the site, features a brief snippet of new music, and it actually sounds incredibly promising. I would love nothing more than for Newsted to come back and kick some major ass in ways his former bandmates are apparently not capable. Fingers crossed…

http://youtu.be/O_2l9lLbxnQ