Kirk Hammett has recorded some of the greatest solos in metal guitar. He is Metallica’s lead guitar power-up, and while there are leitmotifs in his work – he is a flamboyant proponent of the wah pedal – there’s all kinds of solos in his discography.
You’ve got the gnarly energy of the Kill ‘Em All era, Metallica’s Megaforce debut exploding out the gate with face-ripper from The Ripper on Hit The Lights. You’ve got the magisterial display of melody and fretboard pyro on Creeping Death, similarly dark magic performed on Master Of Puppets, and there was all kinds of modalities being referenced on …And Justice For All.
Then The Black Album came along and freed up all kinds of avenues for expression. Enter Sandman gets all the attention for the riff but that solo is scorching. But which of Hammett’s solos is his greatest work?
Guitar World recently put that question to him and, with some difficulty, Hammett had an answer, and it was from the Load era.
“I think I’ll say it’s the one from Hero of the Day. Every note counts and fits perfectly,” said Hammett. “I feel like everything is in its right place and the solo lifts the song to another level, which I always try to do – even if I’m not always successful. The track has a different level of intensity afterwards.”
Not for nothing, his solo on One, recorded at the 11th hour, would be a contender in our book. It, too, takes the track to a different level of intensity. …And Justice For All is the sound of Hammett in full force.
The Shortest Straw has to be in the conversation, but if pushed, Master Of Puppet’s downtuned doomer, The Thing That Should Not Be would be take home our Palme d’Or, just for the sheer Lovecraftian horror of it, that electric guitar tone – and it’s concise.
Hammett had other solos in contention. Fuel, from Reload, was one. “The solo in Fuel was done on the green Strat from the I Disappear video,” he said. “I love that guitar so much. I still have it; that thing just feels like an old friend. So I really love how that solo came out.”
Unforgiven III, from 2008’s Death Magnetic, was another. But Hammett admits he can’t play it anymore; the recorded is a little out of time and recreating something that’s out of time is too counterintuitive to get his head around.
Hammett bringing up two Load era solos might be where his head is at right now. A couple of weeks ago, Hammett told the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast that he had 767 riffs stockpiled away and that maybe now was the time to revisit a sound that divided opinion.
Nowadays I run into fans and they love that era – they love Load and Reload
“It’s interesting, ‘cos nowadays I run into fans and they love that era – they love Load and Reload,” said Hammett. “But when those albums first came out, it was, like, ‘Fuck Load!’ Fuck Reload!’ Fuck Metallica!’ But nowadays we play [Reload song] Fuel and people go nuts.”
