Why Metallica Passed on Les Claypool

Schoolfriend and Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett invited the bassist to audition for the thrash giants after the death of Cliff Burton in a tour bus crash. But Claypool admits he didn't realise how big the band already were � and didn't know their music well enough.

He tells Rolling Stone: "It was extraordinarily loud � I remember Kirk telling us to turn down. We played Master of Puppets and From Whom the Bell Tolls. I didn't know the intro of For Whom the Bell Tolls was on the bass � they were waiting for me to start it and I was just looking at them.