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The Latest Breaking News from Kirk Hammett

"When you can simplify what it is you want to say it's easier for more people to connect to": How Metallica stripped away the complexity to take their music to the masses

With a little help from astrophysics, Ice-T and Heart, Metallica came up with Enter Sandman, their best-known song and a heavy metal classic

Metal Hammer

"We are here to play. We don't let our friends down": Watch pro-shot 4K footage of the night Joey Jordison saved Metallica when Lars Ulrich went AWOL

Original broadcast footage of For Whom The Bell Tolls, Wherever I May Roam and Enter Sandman from Metallica's historic Download 2004 set has surfaced online

Metal Hammer

“We need guitar music that makes those people feel something”: Marty Friedman wishes “slow and painful death” upon the traditional guitar solo and has some ideas on what should replace it

The former Megadeth lead guitarist is the latest high-profile player to declare war on solos, arguing eight bars of “stupid licks” are not moving the audience anymore

MusicRadar

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“What Ace Frehley and Joe Perry do isn’t precise, there’s some sloppiness, but they know how to create a wide sound... it’s unlike anyone else”: Low-end veteran Chris Wyse on his Metallica audition and his love of the Gibson Ripper L-9 and Tech 21 SansAmp

With the ability to create seemingly unending deep pockets, Wyse has landed gigs with Ozzy Osbourne, Ace Frehley, Tal Bachman, The Cult, and, most recently, the Hollywood Vampires

Guitar World

“Artfully aged by the Murphy Lab to match the look and feel of Kirk’s original”: Gibson’s Custom Shop takes on Kirk Hammett’s mod-heavy, “blacked-out” 1989 Les Paul Custom – and it’s safe to say it’s nothing like Greeny...

The Metallica guitar god debuts his latest signature Les Paul – and it’s a little different to his other recent custom shop build...

Guitar World

NAMM 2024: “A fitting tribute to a metal guitar master and one of his favourite instruments”: Gibson unveils meticulous Murphy Lab replica of Kirk Hammett’s 1989 Les Paul Custom

Heavily modded, equipped with black hardware, uncovered T-type humbuckers and a piezo, Hammett's “blacked-out” Custom is one of the coolest guitars in Metallica history

MusicRadar

“He just showed up and didn’t sit with us or anything”: The inside story of Jason Newsted’s final Metallica show

Bassist Jason Newsted left Metallica on January 17, 2001. Six weeks earlier, he’d played his last show with the thrash metal titans, where he very literally waved goodbye.

Metal Hammer

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“The most accurate recreations of the legendary Patent Applied For humbucker pickups ever made”: Gibson has brought back its “holy grail” ‘59 PAF set – but it’s going to cost you $999

The 1959 Humbucker Collector’s Edition Series 1 was created using Gibson archive schematics and an army of modern engineering processes that analysed original examples from the late ’50s

Guitar World

“It was a huge risk – to this day I’m wondering if I pulled it off or not. But it was how I felt inside. I didn’t want picture-perfect solos”: Kirk Hammett reflects on his all-improv lead approach – and explains why he doesn’t sweat onstage mistakes

Kirk Hammett looks back on a landmark year in Metallica, reveals how Joe Bonamassa helped him snag one of the rarest Les Pauls ever made, and explains what caused him to mess up the intro to Nothing Else Matters – and why it doesn’t matter

Guitar World

The history of Metallica as told in 10 groundbreaking gigs

From San Francisco clubs to stadiums worldwide, these are the shows that marked the ascent of metal’s biggest band

Metal Hammer

“Joe Bonamassa texted me and said, ‘I know you love that black Les Paul. It’s at Carter Vintage right now. Call them ASAP!’”: Kirk Hammett says he only got his ultra-rare Factory Black ’59 Les Paul thanks to the help of his collector friend

The Metallica guitarist also reveals he had “30 guitars stolen” in a previous attempt to buy the unicorn electric guitar

Guitar World

News of the (guitar) world: the biggest, baddest, weirdest and saddest guitar news of 2023

We track the year’s biggest six-string stories – from landmark gear developments to devastating departures and 2023’s most headline-grabbing players

Guitar World

“Big jets moving, bombers, people in battle, distress, crying – the Vietnam War added a lot of darkness to his playing”: Kirk Hammett on how Jimi Hendrix’s guitar style helped birth metal and psychedelia

The Metallica man and Hendrix fan argues that the guitar icon's influence on metal is under-appreciated

Guitar World

Inside the new issue of Total Guitar: The best of 2023!

Also in issue 379! Interviews: Kirk Hammett, Nuno Bettencourt, Cory Wong, Yvette Young, Nita Strauss and more. Reviews: New gear from Epiphone, Fender, Guild, Jackson and more. Learn songs by Led Zeppelin, Phoebe Bridgers and Blink-182

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for Master of Puppets”: Mark Tremonti on how Metallica's classic record changed his life – and how James Hetfield's right hand shaped his picking style

The metal trailblazers had an immeasurable impact on the Alter Bridge axeman – here, he discusses what makes Hetfield and Kirk Hammett such a potent duo

Metal Hammer

Metallica snuck the Batman theme song into one of their riffs, Kirk Hammett admits

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has said that 2023 song Shadows Follow contains a nod to the ’60s Batman theme

Guitar World

“We called that riff ‘The Batman Riff’”: Kirk Hammett admits Metallica lifted the Batman theme on 72 Seasons

Thought that riff in Shadows Follow sounded awfully similar to a certain classic superhero theme? Turns out Metallica knew exactly what they were doing

MusicRadar

Do guitar solos matter? Kirk Hammett says non-musicians won’t remember your solos – but “they are gonna helluva remember a great melody and they’re really gonna remember a great song”

As Metallica's lead guitarist, Hammett has written and performed some of metal's most iconic guitar solos but maintains that the majority of people will forget them

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Guitar World

“I hate to say it, but non-musicians – who are the majority of the listening world – are not going to remember guitar solos”: Kirk Hammett says it doesn’t matter how good or flashy a solo is – most people are going to forget them anyway

According to the Metallica maestro, the average music listener doesn't share a guitar player's enthusiasm for a ripping solo

Guitar World

Epiphone Kirk Hammett 'Greeny' 1959 Les Paul Standard review – it may be $1.5k, but this is the best-quality Epiphone we've ever played… and better than some Gibson USA builds

It's one of the most talked about builds of 2023, but how does the latest Greeny model fare when it's put under the microscope?

Metal Hammer

Does anyone else remember the time Metallica’s Kirk Hammett played Bleed onstage with Meshuggah?

Metallica’s guitarist once joined tech-metal heavyweights Meshuggah to shred the solo of Bleed – watch the footage here

Guitar World

“It’s called Roman because of the Roman numerals I etched into the back”: James Hetfield owns five ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard ’Bursts – and he’s carved a massive ‘12’ into one of them

The Metallica man’s new guitar book Messengers showcases perhaps the ultimate example of zero-f**ks-given guitar ownership

MusicRadar

Why does the Epiphone Greeny Les Paul cost $1,500?

Opinion: Are Epiphone prices really out of control, and is our perception of what constitutes a guitar's value skewed?

Guitar World

“It found its right home. Collecting is about what you love and what you are gonna do with it”: Joe Bonamassa confirms he passed up the chance to buy the iconic ‘Greeny’ Les Paul before it ended up with Kirk Hammett

Bonamassa was approached with the prospect of purchasing the prized LP back in 2013 – the same year he played it live at the Royal Albert Hall

MusicRadar

“No man was cooler than Geordie, one of the very best and most influential guitarists ever”: Martin ‘Youth’ Glover leads tributes to late Killing Joke Guitarist Geordie Walker

Kirk Hammett, Duff McKagan and Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe are among those to pay their respects to Kevin ‘Geordie’ Walker, who died on 26 November, aged 64

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