David Ellefson + Frank Bello Reflect on Final Memories of Metallica’s Cliff Burton
Altitudes & Attitude, consisting of Megadeth's David Ellefson and Anthrax's Frank Bello, sat down with Ryan J. Downey mid-January for a conversation at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. The two thrash icons spoke about the first time they met each other, Bello's experience working with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, their lasting memories of Metallica's late bassist Cliff Burton and more. Loudwire compiled a list of five things we learned from the interview, which can be viewed above.
Megadeth, Anthrax and Metallica are three-quarters of the Big Four, and the members of the bands had seemingly good relationships with each other. Bello gets a bit tongue-tied during the conversation when he reflects on his last memory of Burton while Anthrax was on tour with Metallica. Every night after the bands would finish their performances, they would visit each others' buses and say maybe they'd see each other later. "That night, I said to him, 'Hey maybe I'll see you later,' and the last thing I remember Cliff saying as he left the room was yeah, maybe I will. And then the rest is history," recalls Bello.
Ellefson recalls Burton telling him that not as much of his own writing was used on the Master of Puppets album as was on Ride the Lightning. Bello adds, "When I think of Cliff I just think, innovative. The guy took the bass and went that way and tried everything, and I love that about him...God rest his soul, we love you Cliff."
Burton was killed in a bus accident in Sweden on Sept. 27, 1986.
Altitudes & Attitude released their debut full length album Get It Out on Jan. 18. You can listen to the whole interview in the video below, and see their tour dates here.
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