Does Kirk Hammet just suck recently or am I just seeing it now?

[FyrFytr998]

Kerry accurately reproduces his solos generally
I haven't seen him in a couple of years though

He's slipping just a tad, but it was more of a jest as people usually hate on him, lol. I got love for my boy Gary Holt, but he's good for a Hanneman whiff once a show usually.

 

[ShinkanPo]

Mostly I practice to Paganini's Caprices and mimic Discipline and so forth. I tried listening to Metallica the other day and the only thing that stayed on was Garage, Inc.

I remember back in the day Hearing the Sick and Destroy solo back then I thought oh this is so bad ass and probably the best solo out there.

Arpegio based excercises I think I need to do more of those. I might check some Paganini caprices I have never tried one.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

He's slipping just a tad, but it was more of a jest as people usually hate on him, lol. I got love for my boy Gary Holt, but he's good for a Hanneman whiff once a show usually.

I bought the EP when it came out and was like, wtf? These solos are a mess. Until I heard them live somewhere in LA in early '83.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

I remember back in the day Hearing the Sick and Destroy solo back then I thought oh this is so bad ass and probably the best solo out there.

Arpegio based excercises I think I need to do more of those. I might check some Paganini caprices I have never tried one.

You'll immediately recognize where Yngwie draws a lot of inspiration.

I was amazed as a kid by Yngwie's ability to place wicked vibrato on any note. Clearly a Jimi fanatic.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

He's slipping just a tad, but it was more of a jest as people usually hate on him, lol. I got love for my boy Gary Holt, but he's good for a Hanneman whiff once a show usually.

I recently downloaded a great YouTube concert, the replacement is good.
I was never into a lot of bending and squealing but there was a time I'd have put my name in the ring.
I like Repentless.

 

[Final Rehab]

It's definitely the norm.

He was good for what he was when he was younger, but yeah.

I remember thinking he was the best technical player of all time when I was a kid, I laugh at it now.

That said, just being able to play well isn't the most important thing, it's the music you write. There are tons of players out there that could absolutely blow him out of the water in terms of skill, guys with YouTube pages, professional musicians, I could rattle of a couple dozen better players, but they've never written for or been in one of the biggest bands in the world.

It is what it is, he doesn't have a whole lot of skill, but he can write some tasty solos and riffs.

Another funny thing, Mustaine was replaced by him, he's another guy that, while he's a great composer, when it comes to playing/singing, he's atrocious.

Sometimes the best composer can barely play a damn note or are over-rated, but being able to play and being able to write, they're two different things. You can hire a guy to just play, that takes skill/talent, hardwork, dedication and not everyone can do it, especially live. But writing great music I think can be even rarer.

Personally, Petrucci is a better player aswell as composer, just my humble opinion.

I can say that I've been in absolute awe of not only Petrucci's technical ability but his compositional ability aswell, some of the best riffs, licks, solos and songs in general I've ever heard... with that said, like DT can do a little too often, he takes it WAY overboard.

I'm guessing Yngwie, Meola and Morse had too big an influence on him when it comes too excess.

I love a good, shredding solo, but man... you gotta use it tastefully. Sometimes it's just absolutely pointless.

It's funny really, DT is like, if you took Rush, added Yngwie if he had better compositional ability, added slighlty less high registered singer in James(another Canadian) and gave them a dedicated keyboardist who's just as willing to over-indulge.

Nice posts and I agree with everything you're saying except in regard to Mustaine's guitar playing. He's certainly not much of a vocalist and he's been smart enough to enlist the services of great lead players but I've seen Megadeth live many times and Dave is spot-on every time and can hold his own. He's not a monster player like Petrucci etc. but "atrocious" is too harsh.

Other than that, in regards to Hammet and everything else you posted I think we agree on much more than we disagree.

 

[Crimson Glory]

Nice posts and I agree with everything you're saying except in regard to Mustaine's guitar playing. He's certainly not much of a vocalist and he's been smart enough to enlist the services of great lead players but I've seen Megadeth live many times and Dave is spot-on every time and can hold his own. He's not a monster player like Petrucci etc. but "atrocious" is too harsh.

Other than that, in regards to Hammet and everything else you posted I think we agree on much more than we disagree.

Good that we can agree on most things, but I have to stand by what I said.

I think alot of his solos are pretty bad. And the solos that he wrote back during the Kill 'em All days were some of Metallica's worst.

The only solos by Megadeth I've ever liked were the ones Poland and Friedman played. Mustaine's solos on My Last Words or Holy Wars for example are awful.

He's good at playing rhythm though.

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Gearwise, an HSH Strat through a Fender Twin.

Style-wise I'm a Fripp clone basically much of the time.
Growing up I was entering speed contests all the time. I was obsessed with being the next McLaughlin or Steve Vai from the Zappa period.

Now I'm all about technical accuracy, because I'm trying to rebuild my epileptic playing hands.

a twin? thats suprising. thats like the cleanest amp ever, which is why country players used them . I highly prefer my blackface deluxe and super reverb for the breakup. but even those arent really right for metal or hard rock. Then again I don't use any pedals.

 

[Crimson Glory]

Like, are we asking if he's Kerry King live bad?

Kerry is just a different level.

Atleast Kirk plays reasonably well on the records, Kerry is just bad in every way.

Again, this was all back when I was a 14 year old kid, but Kerry, Hammet, Hanneman, Mustaine, Page, etc were all God's too me, and they still are in what they've written(well, Page stole about half of his material), but when it comes to analyzing their lead playing, just their technique they're all either very basic, sloppy or both.

 

[ShinkanPo]

Kerry is just a different level.

Atleast Kirk plays reasonably well on the records, Kerry is just bad in every way.

Again, this was all back when I was a 14 year old kid, but Kerry, Hammet, Hanneman, Mustaine, Page, etc were all God's too me, and they still are in what they've written(well, Page stole about half of his material), but when it comes to analyzing their lead playing, just their technique they're all either very basic, sloppy or both.

I havent annalized much Slayers lead parts but I do agree that they are kinda basic.

Now speaking about Kirk Hammet of Metallica kKirk did say in an interview that he strugled puting guitar solos for and Justice for All songs. He said that James' rhythm parts over the solos were kinda difficult to solo over because rhytmic paterns and time signitures are not conducive to a more flowing solo. Its like he is soloing over riffs figures for verse parts or chorus.

This had me thinking could a another guitarist like letsay employ a more of a beast of a solo over James riffs or will he creat his own more free flowing riff for the solo part.

I think this is why other guitarists were able to pull of legendary solos take Randy Rhoad's Crazy train for example the whole song sounds groovy sepecially the verse parts which employs a groove thats kinda employs a quarter and sixteenth sixteenth note patern.

But the rhythm over the solo part has a different chord progression and if remember correctly employs whole notes to give that more flowing feel and enable randy to employ some melodic licks, and utilize the chord progression to creat a harmonic vibe by ending some licks on minor thirds instead the rootnote.

 

[ssBaldy]

Getting ready for the Metallica show Sunday I have been watching youtubes of other concerts in the tour. On most of the songs which feature a guitar solo it seems like he is just mailing it in and missing notes ALOT of them. I never thought he was the same caliber of a Page, Hendrix, or even Slash but damn. Maybe I am just seeign the wrong shows and he had a few bad nights ....... anyone know is this the norm? Does he just suck now or did he suck all along and I was too wasted in the other shows to notice?

Get a couple beers and enjoy the show, the drive and the energy. Then get sober and go to a Joe Satriani show for guitar skill display.

 

[HHJ]

It's definitely the norm.

He was good for what he was when he was younger, but yeah.

I remember thinking he was the best technical player of all time when I was a kid, I laugh at it now.

That said, just being able to play well isn't the most important thing, it's the music you write. There are tons of players out there that could absolutely blow him out of the water in terms of skill, guys with YouTube pages, professional musicians, I could rattle of a couple dozen better players, but they've never written for or been in one of the biggest bands in the world.

It is what it is, he doesn't have a whole lot of skill, but he can write some tasty solos and riffs.

Another funny thing, Mustaine was replaced by him, he's another guy that, while he's a great composer, when it comes to playing/singing, he's atrocious.

Sometimes the best composer can barely play a damn note or are over-rated, but being able to play and being able to write, they're two different things. You can hire a guy to just play, that takes skill/talent, hardwork, dedication and not everyone can do it, especially live. But writing great music I think can be even rarer.

This.

 

[HHJ]

Hettfield had said recently that none of them are brilliant players on their own,but together they can make shit happen.

 

[HelloJapan]

Needs more...

 

[ShinkanPo]

Needs more...

They said that the reason Kirk choose that skeletal foot design because Kirk said that he will always step on the Wah Wah until he is dead and his foot turned into a skeleton!!

 

[weed]

people will shit on me, but IDGAF.

his solos are horrible. it's not because I'm a Megadeth fan, because Mustaine's solos are fucking horrible too.

it's called accepting reality. there's no perfect band in my opinion. every band has its flaw(s).

 

[weed]

It's definitely the norm.

He was good for what he was when he was younger, but yeah.

I remember thinking he was the best technical player of all time when I was a kid, I laugh at it now.

That said, just being able to play well isn't the most important thing, it's the music you write. There are tons of players out there that could absolutely blow him out of the water in terms of skill, guys with YouTube pages, professional musicians, I could rattle of a couple dozen better players, but they've never written for or been in one of the biggest bands in the world.

It is what it is, he doesn't have a whole lot of skill, but he can write some tasty solos and riffs.

Another funny thing, Mustaine was replaced by him, he's another guy that, while he's a great composer, when it comes to playing/singing, he's atrocious.

Sometimes the best composer can barely play a damn note or are over-rated, but being able to play and being able to write, they're two different things. You can hire a guy to just play, that takes skill/talent, hardwork, dedication and not everyone can do it, especially live. But writing great music I think can be even rarer.

I agree with Mustaine's playing being atrocious when it comes to his solos, but the man is a poet & knows how to write songs. his voice may be annoying at times, but he knows how to sing & is creative with it (ie. Foreclosure of a Dream, Addicted to Chaos).

imagine singing the way he does, on top of riffs he's playing. you can hear him struggle at times, but he makes it work in my opinion.

 

[Lonesome Crow]

99% of Metallica tunes are in Em. I always figured that Hammett was just bored out of his mind playing in the same key signature ad nauseam for decades on end. Hetfield's fault, really. Bitch thinks he only sounds good in Em. Actually, it's also Hammett, Ulrich and Newsted/Trujillo's fault for not slapping Hetfield upside the head and telling him no one listens to their music because they think the vocals are outstanding. If fucking Ozzy Osbourne has no problems singing in A, Dm, Bm, or C then James has no excuse.

I havent annalized much Slayers lead parts but I do agree that they are kinda basic.

Now speaking about Kirk Hammet of Metallica kKirk did say in an interview that he strugled puting guitar solos for and Justice for All songs. He said that James' rhythm parts over the solos were kinda difficult to solo over because rhytmic paterns and time signitures are not conducive to a more flowing solo. Its like he is soloing over riffs figures for verse parts or chorus.

This had me thinking could a another guitarist like letsay employ a more of a beast of a solo over James riffs or will he creat his own more free flowing riff for the solo part.

I think this is why other guitarists were able to pull of legendary solos take Randy Rhoad's Crazy train for example the whole song sounds groovy sepecially the verse parts which employs a groove thats kinda employs a quarter and sixteenth sixteenth note patern.

But the rhythm over the solo part has a different chord progression and if remember correctly employs whole notes to give that more flowing feel and enable randy to employ some melodic licks, and utilize the chord progression to creat a harmonic vibe by ending some licks on minor thirds instead the rootnote.

"Crazy Train" is an interesting example. Randy was having a little bit of fun and taking the piss out of NWOBHM. That "gallop" rhythm that was part and parcel to the NWOBHM (think Maiden's "The Trooper" for reference) is actually a foxtrot rhythm -- which is only odd until you remember that it was introduced to young English headbangers by the very German Michael Schenker in UFO's "Doctor, Doctor". A foxtrot rhythm is an eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes. In "Crazy Train" Randy switched it up: it's a sixteenth followed by two eighth notes on the open A string before the A chord and E/G# before reverting to straight sixteenth notes between the D/F# and A.

Also, @ShinkanPo, if I'm not mistaken the "harmonic vibe" you are referring to is created by playing the Major 3rd of a note over its minor chord, i.e. playing a C# over an Am chord instead of the C. This conceit comes from the harmonic minor and phrygian dominant modes (also initially popularized by those wacky German guitar players Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth).

 

[ShinkanPo]

99% of Metallica tunes are in Em. I always figured that Hammett was just bored out of his mind playing in the same key signature ad nauseam for decades on end. Hetfield's fault, really. Bitch thinks he only sounds good in Em. Actually, it's also Hammett, Ulrich and Newsted/Trujillo's fault for not slapping Hetfield upside the head and telling him no one listens to their music because they think the vocals are outstanding. If fucking Ozzy Osbourne has no problems singing in A, Dm, Bm, or C then James has no excuse.



"Crazy Train" is an interesting example. Randy was having a little bit of fun and taking the piss out of NWOBHM. That "gallop" rhythm that was part and parcel to the NWOBHM (think Maiden's "The Trooper" for reference) is actually a foxtrot rhythm -- which is only odd until you remember that it was introduced to young English headbangers by the very German Michael Schenker in UFO's "Doctor, Doctor". A foxtrot rhythm is an eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes. In "Crazy Train" Randy switched it up: it's a sixteenth followed by two eighth notes on the open A string before the A chord and E/G# before reverting to straight sixteenth notes between the D/F# and A.

Also, @ShinkanPo, if I'm not mistaken the "harmonic vibe" you are referring to is created by playing the Major 3rd of a note over its minor chord, i.e. playing a C# over an Am chord instead of the C. This conceit comes from the harmonic minor and phrygian dominant modes (also initially popularized by those wacky German guitar players Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth).

Awesome annalysis.. would certainly look into it again I am not very good with rhythm fundamentals and forms so I appreciate your inputs

 

[hillelslovak87]

I dont care. Kill Em All is the best metal album ever, even if Day Moostaine Lee Guitar wrote a bunch of the shit and they stole it.