While it's common knowledge that Jason Newsted wasn't treated with the utmost respect during his 14 year tenure with Metallica, the bassist never made a big issue of the sometimes cruel behaviour that he endured during an extended 'hazing' period after joining the Californian metal band in 1986.
Newsted, of course, joined Metallica in the wake of Cliff Burton's death in a harrowing bus accident as the quartet toured Master Of Puppets in Europe, a tragedy which left his friends, then in their early 20s, in a state of confusion and grief over their unexpected loss. When their new bass player was recruited, he was automatically pigeonholed as the "new kid on the block", and soon became a target for abuse that ran the gamut from light-hearted and juvenile through to humiliating and cruel.
