No one cares? Kirk Hammett (Metallica)’s harsh opinion on guitar solos

The guitar solo is, for many fans, one of the greatest foundations of rock. It is the moment when the instrument with six (or more) strings takes center stage in a song, practically as if it “takes over” the vocals. Kirk Hammettcuriously, doesn’t see it that way.

The guitarist of Metallica revealed, in an interview with Total Guitar (via Igor Miranda website), Hammett revealed that he understands that guitar solos are not very important to the general public. It is even surprising that he is the owner of the instrument in one of the most important metal bands in history and that he gave this statement to a magazine dedicated precisely to the equipment in question.

“People aren’t going to remember a great guitar solo. I’m sorry to say this to all your readers.”

For Hammett, the general public will more easily remember the melody of a song. The guitar is something noticed by musicians — who, of course, make up a significant portion of a rock band’s audience.

“They will remember a great melody, a great song. I’m not talking about musicians. Yes, those will remember. But non-musicians, which is the majority of the world that listens to songs, won’t remember the guitar solos.”

Kirk Hammett’s Perception

The opinion shared by Kirk Hammett is not new. The Metallica guitarist claims to have thought this way since he was 15 years old.

“People will especially remember that song that takes them to a different place than where they were five minutes before. I started to realize this when I was 15. I was starting to play guitar together with John Marshall (former instrument technician for Metallica and member of Metal Church). We looked at bands like Kiss, Aerosmith or Van Halen. They created their own songs. Then we realized we needed to do the same. Even though the first ones weren’t that good, they already meant something, because they were ours.”

Criticized for solos in Metallica

Interestingly, Kirk Hammett has been criticized several times by Metallica fans due to his solos in more recent works. There are those who consider the guitarist’s approach a bit complacent and repetitive.

When the group released “Lux Æterna”, the first single from their most recent album, 72 Seasonsa YouTuber called Bradley Hall went viral when he re-recorded Hammett’s solo for the song. The title of the video was: “’Lux Æterna’, by Metallica, but with a solo that isn’t bad”.

Kirk, of course, found out about the YouTuber’s initiative. And he responded, in an interview with Total Guitar (via Igor Miranda website), the next:

“Yes, my friends on the street can play a better solo than ‘Lux Æterna’ – but for what? For me, what’s appropriate is playing to the song and playing in the moment. I laughed at these videos the entire time. I could line up six or seven seven-octave arpeggios in sixteenth notes, practice all day and say, ‘Hey, look what I can do.’ But where am I going to put this? It doesn’t work on any Metallica song!”