Is Rob Trujillo riding coattails into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?

Was Robert Trujillo given a free pass in 2003 when he became Metallica's new guitarist, replacing the departed Jason Newsted? Trujillo is a very accomplished bassist, having worked with such artists as Suicidal Tendencies, Black Label Society, and Ozzy Osbourne's touring band, but what has he brought to the table?

In 1989, Trujillo joined Southern California's funk/thrash outfit Suicidal Tendencies. A year later, the band released its most acclaimed album Lights...Camera...Revolution!, which was heavily impacted by Trujillo's funk stylings. The album spawned moderate hit songs like "Send Me Your Money" and "You Can't Bring Me Down", the latter was nominated for a Grammy but the band coincidentally lost out to Metallica's "Stone Cold Crazy." Even with the albums perceived success, it was only certified gold and never broke the Billboard Top 100.

Trujillo later went on to work with Ozzy Osbourne as a live bassist and recorded one official studio album with the band, Down to Earth. The album is regarded by most critics as average at best. The album reached #4 in the US Billboard charts before quickly falling out of the top 20. It was the worst selling Ozzy Osbourne album to date and took several years to reach platinum status.

In 2003, Trujillo joined Metallica through an audition process as chronicled in Some Kind of Monster, beating out a field of mainly pick bassists as Jason Newsted was. Trujillo auditioned solely using the fingerstyle bass playing that he primarily uses onstage and in the studio as Cliff Burton did. Later that year, Metallica released St. Anger to vastly disappointed fans.

It would be five years that Robert Trujillo would wait to make his first appearance on a Metallica studio album. On September 12 of 2008, Metallica released Death Magnetic. Ten days later, it was announced that Rob Trujillo would be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009 along with the rest of Metallica.

In addition to the $1 million signing advance, Metallica should have also stated that he will be given a free pass into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on the backs of former bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton, and Jason Newsted. Besides, Rob Trujillo will always be that asshole who was hired by Sharon Osbourne to rerecord the bass tracks on Ozzy Osbourne's 2002 reissues, taking credit away from Bob Daisley.

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Tags:  Metallica, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Rob Trujillo, Cliff Burton, Jason Newsted

Jason Fisher    March 30, 2009