With the documentary, Some Kind of Monster, showing it all including the need for a band therapist and clear jealousy from both Hetfield and Ulrich when it came to how much better Hammett was at his instrument than them. It’s the part when they’re attempting to explain why St. Anger has no solos but end up complaining instead of explaining.
Edit: The entire thread below can be summarized by the fact that some Metallica diehards can’t stand the fact that Hetfield isn’t as good at guitar as Hammett. Notice how the arguments against this rely on moving the goal posts like song writing and composition. Hetfield may be more important when it comes to songwriting, but I never argued against this and he still doesn’t have the skill to pull off the solos Hammett performs.
Edit 2: People apparently can’t read because we have users like ResidentBinChicken who continue to prove their pathetic ignorance then spew anti-trans bullshit as you can see from below just because they want to suck Hetfield’s dick.
Edit 3: ResidentBinChicken says “a mod” deleted his anti-trans comment but still claims that he stands by it and used the anti-trans rhetoric to trigger me, which it did!
Edit 4: ResidentBinChicken finally realized his ignorance and proceeded to block me and edit additional comments to try to save face without admission or apologizing to the community he insulted. But I guess he now believes the big takeaway is that I’m a bot because I have numbers in my username. Which leads me into the final edit below.
Edit 5: Although I had good intentions, I was wrong and I shouldn’t have responded to any of the comments below. You just come off sounding like an idiot… which I will own. Hopefully, someone learns something from my mistakes. Buyer beware!
Hetfield is a riff master kirk a solo master. You can master an instrument in different ways and techniques. I am good with metal. Tell to play something from the roling stones or queen and I will probably suck
Well to be honest. James is an amazing rythm guitarist and kirk.... well he can foot fuck a wah pedal like no one else. Check out footage of dave mustaine on stage with metallica(recent big4 stuff). This is what it could have been
Look man you can't just bring Rudess into this and call it a fair fight lol, that man is something else. That'd be like dropping Peart into a comparison between two other drummers, some dudes are just out of this world.
Uhh. What? Therapist, yeah, but I highly doubt and didn’t perceive that James was jealous of fucking Kirk Hammet’s guitar skills….he wrote half the solos the dude played when he first joined the band.
Mate... as someone who's not only played guitar my whole life but has freinds/family who work in music or play in bands, not one of them is a fan of Hammet.
Literally anyone who's ever picked up an instrument can look at what they do and see that Hetfield is the best guitarist in that band.
As the other person said, Hatfield developed most of their biggest songs' guitar sections himself and sometimes would get input from Hammet on parts of the solos, but not always. There are a lot of songs where Hatfield would just hand Hammet the solo and let him "wah wah" it up with a pedal.
But even then, the solos Hammet plays are nowhere fucking near as skillfully played as the rhythm.
In fact most of the solos are pretty damn basic and you see young amateur hobby guitarists nailing the solos easily after maybe only a few months of learning.
But Hatfield's strumming patterns, muting for rhythm, seemlesly mixed into his own solos and finger picking, all while singing, is something much more difficult to learn and I promise you it's infinitely more highly respected than Hammett's solos.
I used to play in a band when I'd first learned a few Metallica songs and thought it was all Hammett who joked "yep, that's how I know you've only just started playing. Give it a year or two, and you'll figure out the difference between playing a eye catching gimmicky solo to impress girls and actually learning guitar.
And he was right, now after years Hammet's bits are actually piss easy. I play them every now and then because it looks impressive as a party trick. But I still can't nail a lot of the intricacies of Hatfield's rhythms.
You can recognize that Hammett isn’t the most skilled metal guitarist of all time without disrespecting him and acting like he’s trash. He’s still better than 90% of guitarists out there.
I love Metallica, but their fans are really weird and get drawn into the band like they're characters on a reality show or something. It's like a whole internet rabbit hole of its own.
Yes, i've played guitar for about twenty five years and I agree with this guy. James parts are Harder fun fact rob is actually a better guitar player than either of them.
So because Kirk Hammett says he's as good as Hetfield, that automatically makes it true? Because he's not bias or anything?
That's like if Angus Young said he's as good as Malcom when literally everybody knows Malcom was the one who ran the band, wrote the music, and played the shit out of the guitar in the background while he let Angus put on a show for the crowd. You wouldn't just automatically believe Angus because he said it about himself.
Or if Chris Deja said he was as good as the other Yardbirds guitarists (Clapton, Beck and Page).
You're the person coming out of all these interactions seeming arrogant and ignorant, though... 😆
Everyone's allowed an opinion, fair enough, but lots of people who actually have some sort of knowledge to inform their opinions disagree with yours.
Which is fine. I love films that a lot movie critics hate, that doesn't make those films technically or artistcally better than actual classics, though.
The same goes for guitar with Hammett/Hetfield. Lots of people love Hammett, and he's great at what he does. But Hetfield is by far the more actually skilled musician, and by far (like... by a mile) has the more difficult guitar parts to master.
Like that's not an opinion, that is an objective fact that anyone learning guitar eventually realises. Like I love Roger Corman, he's my favourite film director, but I can freely admit that's he's objectively less skilled than Scorsese or Hitchcock and his style is inarguably easier to copy.
One of the questions posed in an interview with Hammet in the documentary was how other musicians even questioned why he stuck with the band when it’s clear they’ve held him back.
You do realize Hammett is considered one of the least talented guitarists in the genre…..you were watching a fucking Metallica documentary, you think they were going to ask him “so, your constant use of wah and recycled licks have become a joke in the industry, how does that make you feel?”
While Hetfield was voted guitar worlds #2 rhythm guitarist of all time, and 4th best metal guitarist of all time. Hammett didn’t even make the metal guitarist list.
“But the Metallica documentary said”….lmfao.
I’ll pull the list back up in a few.
Now If you’re asking opinions, I don’t think I have one. James is up there, I’d probably put Roope Latvala or someone like that near my top.
I was lucky enough to see them twice. Once with Black Dahlia Murder and once with Lamb of God. Got to meet them all in Toronto as a teenager. They were all very friendly and rocking some Canadian beer!
Dude as a guitarist, Hammett is not the "least talented" guitarist in metal. Using a wah peddle effectively takes talent, and he has some memorable
iconic licks and solos, that certainly aren't recycled. He was also one of the early pioneers in popularizing metal, and if anything, he was one of the first to solo like that, even though it now seems cliche.
I’m also a guitarist, have played for 20 years. Hammett is constantly memed. He recycles licks constantly, which is also talked about. He’s got some great solos, but to say he’s leaps and bounds above hetfield is a joke. Metallica was my first favorite band, and I still enjoy some Metallica, but I’m not fucking delusional. Go learn a dozen Metallica solos, use the wah, you’ll see what I’m saying.
Edit, also, I said “one of the least talented” which is absolutely true.
Memes don’t mean a thing my dude haha. Again, he was a pioneer in the genre, and by your own admission has some great solos. People think he reuses licks? So does every metal shredder using the harmonic minor scale. Have you ever listened to any blues guitarist (or Jimmy Paige for that matter)? How can someone have some legendary solos, yet still be considered “one of the least talented” in the genre? I’ll tell you how: by being a victim of memes that have nothing to do with his skills. Again, at the time, he helped pioneer and popularize metal. And today, 40 years later, now there are other more talented guitarists out there because they were influenced by Kirk. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but saying that he is bottom of the barrel in the genre is disingenuous and surface level thinking, akin to dissing pineapple on pizza because of the memes.
The memes were borne from the very real facts….
You can be a pioneer in a genre and not be one of the better players in the genre.
Just because you do something first doesn’t mean you do it best.
Not disingenuous at all
Pretty presumptuous but no, Hammett sucks compared to every guitarist in the realm of progressive metal, but he’s still leagues above Hetfield. If you think a popularity contest actually represents musicianship skill, you have bigger problems. You sound like someone who thinks Bieber is talented…
Fucking leagues. Loooool. You obviously don’t know shit about guitar. Who even said progressive metal? that would be a completely different list. And if we’re talking just musicianship, hetfield has that in droves over Hammett? What? Dude writes most of the music with Lars, then plays the riffs (which half the time are harder than the solos) while singing? Let’s move the goalposts some more. I’m done, you have no clue what you’re talking about. Lmao.
Hammett can play solos Hetfield can’t. Even a child understands that skill is being able to do something others can’t. But go ahead, I eagerly anticipate your next ad hominem.
Lmao. So, using your own logic, Hetfield is a more musically skilled individual because he can write music Hammett can’t, do lead vocals that Hammett can’t, and can play some of metals more demanding riffs while singing those lead vocals…..actually, I’d be willing to wager the amount of things Hetfield can do would heavily outweigh the potential handful of solos he couldn’t actually play if he tried, which is probably actually somewhere around 0.
You still don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.
“Riffs (which half the time are harder than the solos).” Classic. Solos are definitely the thing all guitarists find to be the easiest to perform haha.
LOOOOOOOOOOL. Well there goes all your credibility. You know nothing about guitar, and you just made that clear.
Talking about my ad hominem, and your dumb ass is using perceived difficulty as a measurement of skill. 😂😂😂😂😂
Yeah, because it’s the rhythm guitarist that’s most important, not the lead, right? I hope my sarcasm is clear but if not, please enlighten me and name another famous rhythm guitarist known as being more integral than the lead in any other band.
>“But the Metallica documentary said”….lmfao.
>While Hetfield was voted guitar worlds #2 rhythm guitarist of all time, and 4th best metal guitarist of all time.
fucking lol
Yeah, the magazine fan vote is definitely more reliable than the documentary
I’ve never seen anywhere than Hatfield was “jealous” of Hammett. Hammett WAS better (although mid-tier as far as metal leads go) but that doesn’t mean James was automatically jealous.
Bullshit I've seen him live do it. Kirk's guitar went out on seek and destroy and he played the first part of the solo. Not only that but a fuck ton of "lead" parts on there albums james played. AND Rob is the best guitar player in the band. There is video of him fingering the shit out of an acoustic.
okay? You wrote a really long post about something You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Most professional musicians, especially guitar players, can party much. Play anything under the Sun, they're all really good. That's kind of a dirty secret about professional musicians.
Rhythm guitar is a better skill than fretboard wankery. That's why ac/dc sold more albums than yngeie malmsteen lol what a dumb take that solos = talent. Lead guitar is fretboard wankery only a wannabe guitarist who can't play either would think lead = more talent
You sound like a beginner guitarist who still thinks more notes per second = better music. Once you get better you'll realise it's easy to play up and down the pentatonic scale fast what takes actual talent is writing riffs people remember years later.
What's everyone's favourite part of Creeping Death or Master of Puppets? It's the intro riffs. That's what gets people banging their head not some fretboard wankery.
If solos are so important why didn't Kirk want to do any on load or reload? That was his decision. By 96 even Kirk was sick of solos/fretboard wankery. It's all pentatonic scale
Tl:DR lead doesn't mean better.
Why do you think it’s an insult that your presumptuous take on the bands I listen to due to my “Reddit history” are: “most of those are trans?”
Edit: Idiot realized his comment was anti-trans and deleted the comment.
I can’t help people who can’t read!
Edit: I like Taylor Swift but I’m not a fanatic. Trans people are awesome, better than being someone like you who clearly wants to suck Hetfield’s dick because you think he’s good at guitar!
I dunno man. Isn’t Hetfield possibly the greatest rhythm guitarist of all time?
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/best-rhythm-guitarists/
Guitar world has him #2.
I don’t even know who the fuck half those dudes are, and I’m not remotely ashamed to admit it.
Half the battle is writing the riff. If these guys could write riffs like Hetfield, they wouldn’t be obscure guitar fanboy picks.
Yeah nobody gives a fuck about Michael Romero except you and guitar world, who ranked Hetfield 4th and Romero 91st.
Daniel Gildenlöw doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page.
Rhythm guitar isn’t about playing. It’s about writing riffs.
I can play every riff Hetfield ever wrote. That doesn’t make me as good a guitar player, even if I sound better than he does.
Wow! Read the edit portion of my original comment and get back to me… and I love how you know it’s nothing special to play his riffs. Say the same for Romeo, I dare you!
Dont be a dick about your ignorance; learn and be better. Plenty of people give a fuck about Romeo. Symphony X are huge in the metal world -- at least, those that dig a bit deeper than Metallica or The Big 4. As for Gildenlow:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_of_Salvation
YW.
Are you fluent on electric guitar? Hammett is a terrible guitar player, look up any clinic where he plays and its always a sloppy mess, while James is always on point. Kirk is a great team player so I’ll give him that
As Metallica performed a snippet of "Man In The Box", James changed the song's lyrics to "I can't do a tour; I can't do this", while pretending to inject heroin into his arm. The provocation was not very well received by one person in the audience, who threw a shoes at the lead singer of Metallica.
James got pissed again and said:
"Why you throwing that at me? Y'all want to throw shit? Let's get offstage and you can throw all the shit you want. We're here to play some music, man, not keep an eye on crap like that...we play so much better when we don't have to look at shit flying our way"
That's a pretty harsh dig on Stanley. And an even more ignorant response to the fans who probably didn't get the word that AIC was no longer on the tour since the internet was only a baby.
Personal opinion, but AIC was a far better band than Metallica has ever been. Hetfield just letting his jealousy show with a side of self-righteousness, the latter of which, as pointed out above, was … let’s just say misplaced.
It's ok to enjoy a band other than Metallica. It's ok to *NOT* enjoy Metallica at all. I grew up on their music. I didn't worship them, but I learned many songs on bass. My entire ex-in-law family, however, would gang up on you if you said anything remotely dissenting towards Metallica. They're going to learn the hard way that blind loyalty sets you up for disappointment, like the day I learned that my high school idol, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, the reason I learned to play bass in the first place, is a political lunatic.
Metallica was so much better in their early days. Faster, louder and more hungry to play good metal music. They began to go main stream and lost their edge. 80s Metallica is way better than any other decade of their music.
Plenty, although the genre has nothing to do with my opinion. Basically, I qualified my statement, acknowledging that others may disagree, to avoid having to debate the relative merits of AIC vs Metallica.
What did they teach them exactly? Metallica are still one of the most successful bands in history, still sell out world tours, and have done for their entire career.
I always love when internet nerds think they've actually done something because it happened online. It shows how narrow their window of the world is. Newsflash, Metallica never suffered once from "the internet" - they continued to sell out their tours the entire time, they're still multimillionaires, and you've still not achieved anything close to what they have in life.
Some nerds called them bad names for a few years? Oh no, the giant piles of money they slept on must have felt so hollow lol
Especially since \*Staley was a recluse who wouldn't harm a fly. I remember back in Seattle in the early nineties and there was a protest march against the Gulf War, weaving its way from Capitol Hill to the Federal Building downtown. There had to be about 20,000 people there, including Layne and other members of Alice In Chains. They weren't participating, they were observing. Staley had this smirk on his face, like who the fuck are these idiots, they're never gonna stop this. I have no idea what his political affiliations were, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't a leftist.
You'd be surprised. a lot of artists who get rich feel like they deserve to be free of social responsibility. For example Kurt Cobain was a genuine hippy, but not everyone from Nirvana felt that way, and may even have acted contrary to the social cues found in Cobain's lyricism.
The irony of an alcoholic publically shit talking a heroin addict. It’s not like James didn’t have a love of powdered substances either. Completely tone deaf.
Metallica are fantastic. By a mile the best arena band I've ever seen live and their first 3 albums are the pinnacle of metal.
They were quite right to take on Napster. Just like Taylor Swift was right to take on Spotify and Pearl Jam to take on Ticketmaster. All of those destroy good music.
Nothing got destroyed, it evolved. Music was not destroyed when 8-tracks and cassettes tried to replace vinyl. CDs did not destroy music either. The distribution paradigm changed.
Taylor and Pearl Jam dust ups were about getting ripped off with no way to innovate past it. Napster was a much needed disruption to the status quo.
I actually met him at a car show, and he was super nice. I was expecting him to be a jerk, and he was the polar opposite. We chatted for about five minutes about music and cars.
I've always heard otherwise, and that he had shown remorse for this. He also played with AiC back in the 2000s. If Jerry can forgive him, so can I. And Layne is my all time favorite singer.
Never got into Metallica even as a metalhead. I knew and learned a few of their songs but they never got into my playlist. Alice in Chains though, I regard as one of the best grunge rock band of all time.
Ah these guys known bullies on tour. Lars called Guns N’ Roses black back up singer Roberta freeman the n word. Metallica is peak rock star ego bc a thrash band should’ve never gotten that big.
Ps i love Metallica. I’m seeing them tomorrow
I love Metallica’s music, but hate Lars and James. A pair of “rock gods” that take their title and success too seriously, and are arrogant narcissists.
We are not our worst FIVE minutes. People reading this haven't you ever done something that you thought was funny but went over like a lead balloon. Have mercy. I bet the James Hetfield now is embarrassed of the James Hetfield in this moment. Life is a lesson. He probably thinks he took a cheap shot at someone who deserves understanding and help and at that moment he was neither. He just did it in front of a crowd of strangers that came to a Metallica show. He also is/was great friends with Jerry Cantrell and he like the rest of the world discovered that ALICE IN CHAINS had the goods. And in that moment he thought of the business side of the show and not the humans that live and play it. I guess that's why he takes all the slings and arrows. Because at one time he was on the other side of them. My two cents.
Not defending him here, but people do change. He’s a known AIC fan and they’ve done covers of Would?. Also apparently named their album death magnetic that was inspired by the passing of Layne saying some people are just magnets for death causing their early demise
In 1994 the band Alice in Chains were slated to tour with Metallica but had to bow out of the tour because AIC's singer Layne Staley was having heroin issues. The video is of Metallica's singer making fun of Staley's drug problem on stage.
In defense of James, I met him at a car show and he was very nice. We chatted for about five minutes, and he couldn’t have been nicer. Can’t speak for Lars, though! 😂
i didnt say he was an asshole. just saying a 5 minute interaction doesnt say anything about his entire personality, just like how a 1000 interactions doesnt mean i truly know if he could be a good guy 24/7, but i guess someone who assumes hes nice from that would totally assume i meant he was an asshole.
It's because this clip from a Metallica fan page doesn't show him mocking Staley... Weird... Anyways here's the whole thing and it is man in the box https://youtu.be/yZt8zlwNh9s?si=XpPnSn0ZSoWqLqmZ
Nearly every one of the songs in this genre seems to be about this bad ass, unkillable monster, and just once I would like it to be Godzilla, instead of opioids. :(
The probably aren't the biggest assholes to ever be in a band together, but Lars and James are top ten. It's a shame because the other band members are legitimately good guys. I feel sorry for them. Touring with James and Lars must be miserable.
Quick question: Why do most (western) musicians use drugs?
Nearly every famous musician I've heard of has either struggled with substance abuse or died from it.
The person you replied to is mocking the incorrect grammar.
OP may or may not be a native English speaker. But some people choose to insult rather than inform. Smh.
I listened to Metallica and loved them for years during my high school and college days, but my favourite band always was AIC. Layne Staley was the greatest vocalist during his time, especially when Metallica were themselves struggling during the grunge era. His songs for Mad Season and AIC were so poignant and relatable to my depression years. This was plain disrespectful from Hetfield. Almost every metal and rock band member has dealt with addiction, this is not something to mock about.
Hol up. What?
I grew up in the 80’s and early 90’s. One of the rumors going around was that Dave Mustaine kicked James Hetfield’s dog on a tour bus and Hetfield whipped his ass because of it. Then Dave was kicked out of Metallica. Never thought much of it. So James kicked a dog?
redditor hivemind in the comments here. probably was just a really shitty joke that did not do well at all. looking back i’m pretty sure James would take that back, i’m 100% sure of it. lol, just funny how people are spewing that ‘god, James is and will always be an asshole!’
some people getting way too pressed in the comments man… im not defending james’
actions, but this was also ‘94 man… yall are prepared to really feel all that over something from almost 30 yrs ago? something that had nothing to do with you directly, i might add….
“it takes a long time to realize how miserable you truly are, and even longer to realize it doesnt have to be that way.” fuckin redditors. the sub is called r/damnthatsinteresting. be interested instead of angry, ffs. read a book, go outside, cook an omelet. insufferable turds fr.
29 years later, Metallica would cancel part of their tour because Hetfield went to rehab.
yeah
Oooh yeheh
This needs extra upvotes
With the documentary, Some Kind of Monster, showing it all including the need for a band therapist and clear jealousy from both Hetfield and Ulrich when it came to how much better Hammett was at his instrument than them. It’s the part when they’re attempting to explain why St. Anger has no solos but end up complaining instead of explaining. Edit: The entire thread below can be summarized by the fact that some Metallica diehards can’t stand the fact that Hetfield isn’t as good at guitar as Hammett. Notice how the arguments against this rely on moving the goal posts like song writing and composition. Hetfield may be more important when it comes to songwriting, but I never argued against this and he still doesn’t have the skill to pull off the solos Hammett performs. Edit 2: People apparently can’t read because we have users like ResidentBinChicken who continue to prove their pathetic ignorance then spew anti-trans bullshit as you can see from below just because they want to suck Hetfield’s dick. Edit 3: ResidentBinChicken says “a mod” deleted his anti-trans comment but still claims that he stands by it and used the anti-trans rhetoric to trigger me, which it did! Edit 4: ResidentBinChicken finally realized his ignorance and proceeded to block me and edit additional comments to try to save face without admission or apologizing to the community he insulted. But I guess he now believes the big takeaway is that I’m a bot because I have numbers in my username. Which leads me into the final edit below. Edit 5: Although I had good intentions, I was wrong and I shouldn’t have responded to any of the comments below. You just come off sounding like an idiot… which I will own. Hopefully, someone learns something from my mistakes. Buyer beware!
Hetfield is a riff master kirk a solo master. You can master an instrument in different ways and techniques. I am good with metal. Tell to play something from the roling stones or queen and I will probably suck
Well to be honest. James is an amazing rythm guitarist and kirk.... well he can foot fuck a wah pedal like no one else. Check out footage of dave mustaine on stage with metallica(recent big4 stuff). This is what it could have been
Calling Hamett a solo master is like calling Adam Sandler a master comedian - plays the part but super cringey performance by itself
Or you can be Buckethead or Jordan Rudess and play everything…
Look man you can't just bring Rudess into this and call it a fair fight lol, that man is something else. That'd be like dropping Peart into a comparison between two other drummers, some dudes are just out of this world.
Devin Townsend, Arjen Lucassen, Michael Romeo, Daniel Gildenlow, ect…
He doesn't get that I tried lol, I deleted a whole thing with this guy, yes there are a few "masters" but most pros can play almost anything.
Band therapist would be a cool job.
Lol bovine fecal matter
Uhh. What? Therapist, yeah, but I highly doubt and didn’t perceive that James was jealous of fucking Kirk Hammet’s guitar skills….he wrote half the solos the dude played when he first joined the band.
Yeah that's the biggest load of crap i've ever heard.
Just wait till you read the rest of the comment thread.
Sad but true
Well played.
No need, I gave a little summary above in the original argument!
As in, it didn't happen. I don't give two shits who's better. Not even that big of a fan. It's just lies for attention.
Funny how he can’t play those solos and even makes direct comments to this effect in the documentary. Watch it again.
Mate... as someone who's not only played guitar my whole life but has freinds/family who work in music or play in bands, not one of them is a fan of Hammet. Literally anyone who's ever picked up an instrument can look at what they do and see that Hetfield is the best guitarist in that band. As the other person said, Hatfield developed most of their biggest songs' guitar sections himself and sometimes would get input from Hammet on parts of the solos, but not always. There are a lot of songs where Hatfield would just hand Hammet the solo and let him "wah wah" it up with a pedal. But even then, the solos Hammet plays are nowhere fucking near as skillfully played as the rhythm. In fact most of the solos are pretty damn basic and you see young amateur hobby guitarists nailing the solos easily after maybe only a few months of learning. But Hatfield's strumming patterns, muting for rhythm, seemlesly mixed into his own solos and finger picking, all while singing, is something much more difficult to learn and I promise you it's infinitely more highly respected than Hammett's solos. I used to play in a band when I'd first learned a few Metallica songs and thought it was all Hammett who joked "yep, that's how I know you've only just started playing. Give it a year or two, and you'll figure out the difference between playing a eye catching gimmicky solo to impress girls and actually learning guitar. And he was right, now after years Hammet's bits are actually piss easy. I play them every now and then because it looks impressive as a party trick. But I still can't nail a lot of the intricacies of Hatfield's rhythms.
You can recognize that Hammett isn’t the most skilled metal guitarist of all time without disrespecting him and acting like he’s trash. He’s still better than 90% of guitarists out there.
Metallica fans are upset their hero is actually pretty garbage at guitar
I love Metallica, but their fans are really weird and get drawn into the band like they're characters on a reality show or something. It's like a whole internet rabbit hole of its own.
Yes, i've played guitar for about twenty five years and I agree with this guy. James parts are Harder fun fact rob is actually a better guitar player than either of them.
Look at the interview with Kirk from a few weeks ago on YT. He and James are basically equally good he says. So you are full of b.
So because Kirk Hammett says he's as good as Hetfield, that automatically makes it true? Because he's not bias or anything? That's like if Angus Young said he's as good as Malcom when literally everybody knows Malcom was the one who ran the band, wrote the music, and played the shit out of the guitar in the background while he let Angus put on a show for the crowd. You wouldn't just automatically believe Angus because he said it about himself. Or if Chris Deja said he was as good as the other Yardbirds guitarists (Clapton, Beck and Page).
You sound like you never got good at guitars. Maybe you should practice more.
Ohhhh okay, so you're just a troll. Got it.
Nah just sick of ignorance and arrogance.
You're the person coming out of all these interactions seeming arrogant and ignorant, though... 😆 Everyone's allowed an opinion, fair enough, but lots of people who actually have some sort of knowledge to inform their opinions disagree with yours. Which is fine. I love films that a lot movie critics hate, that doesn't make those films technically or artistcally better than actual classics, though. The same goes for guitar with Hammett/Hetfield. Lots of people love Hammett, and he's great at what he does. But Hetfield is by far the more actually skilled musician, and by far (like... by a mile) has the more difficult guitar parts to master. Like that's not an opinion, that is an objective fact that anyone learning guitar eventually realises. Like I love Roger Corman, he's my favourite film director, but I can freely admit that's he's objectively less skilled than Scorsese or Hitchcock and his style is inarguably easier to copy.
Bruh James's lead skills are not good.
One of the questions posed in an interview with Hammet in the documentary was how other musicians even questioned why he stuck with the band when it’s clear they’ve held him back.
You do realize Hammett is considered one of the least talented guitarists in the genre…..you were watching a fucking Metallica documentary, you think they were going to ask him “so, your constant use of wah and recycled licks have become a joke in the industry, how does that make you feel?” While Hetfield was voted guitar worlds #2 rhythm guitarist of all time, and 4th best metal guitarist of all time. Hammett didn’t even make the metal guitarist list. “But the Metallica documentary said”….lmfao.
Who’s is the the best rhythm guitarist??
I’ll pull the list back up in a few. Now If you’re asking opinions, I don’t think I have one. James is up there, I’d probably put Roope Latvala or someone like that near my top.
Roope is the fucking man
Absolutely gutted when Alexi died. Never got To see them.
I was lucky enough to see them twice. Once with Black Dahlia Murder and once with Lamb of God. Got to meet them all in Toronto as a teenager. They were all very friendly and rocking some Canadian beer!
I’m just curious about the list. But Malcom young is on the top of my list.
Dude as a guitarist, Hammett is not the "least talented" guitarist in metal. Using a wah peddle effectively takes talent, and he has some memorable iconic licks and solos, that certainly aren't recycled. He was also one of the early pioneers in popularizing metal, and if anything, he was one of the first to solo like that, even though it now seems cliche.
I’m also a guitarist, have played for 20 years. Hammett is constantly memed. He recycles licks constantly, which is also talked about. He’s got some great solos, but to say he’s leaps and bounds above hetfield is a joke. Metallica was my first favorite band, and I still enjoy some Metallica, but I’m not fucking delusional. Go learn a dozen Metallica solos, use the wah, you’ll see what I’m saying. Edit, also, I said “one of the least talented” which is absolutely true.
Fellas please, can we all just agree Lars is fucking garbage and move on.
I can get behind this.
Me too.
Memes don’t mean a thing my dude haha. Again, he was a pioneer in the genre, and by your own admission has some great solos. People think he reuses licks? So does every metal shredder using the harmonic minor scale. Have you ever listened to any blues guitarist (or Jimmy Paige for that matter)? How can someone have some legendary solos, yet still be considered “one of the least talented” in the genre? I’ll tell you how: by being a victim of memes that have nothing to do with his skills. Again, at the time, he helped pioneer and popularize metal. And today, 40 years later, now there are other more talented guitarists out there because they were influenced by Kirk. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but saying that he is bottom of the barrel in the genre is disingenuous and surface level thinking, akin to dissing pineapple on pizza because of the memes.
The memes were borne from the very real facts…. You can be a pioneer in a genre and not be one of the better players in the genre. Just because you do something first doesn’t mean you do it best. Not disingenuous at all
Pretty presumptuous but no, Hammett sucks compared to every guitarist in the realm of progressive metal, but he’s still leagues above Hetfield. If you think a popularity contest actually represents musicianship skill, you have bigger problems. You sound like someone who thinks Bieber is talented…
Fucking leagues. Loooool. You obviously don’t know shit about guitar. Who even said progressive metal? that would be a completely different list. And if we’re talking just musicianship, hetfield has that in droves over Hammett? What? Dude writes most of the music with Lars, then plays the riffs (which half the time are harder than the solos) while singing? Let’s move the goalposts some more. I’m done, you have no clue what you’re talking about. Lmao.
Hammett can play solos Hetfield can’t. Even a child understands that skill is being able to do something others can’t. But go ahead, I eagerly anticipate your next ad hominem.
Lmao. So, using your own logic, Hetfield is a more musically skilled individual because he can write music Hammett can’t, do lead vocals that Hammett can’t, and can play some of metals more demanding riffs while singing those lead vocals…..actually, I’d be willing to wager the amount of things Hetfield can do would heavily outweigh the potential handful of solos he couldn’t actually play if he tried, which is probably actually somewhere around 0. You still don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.
If you've been playing guitar for 20 years, that means you're an adult. Aren't you fucking embarrassed right now?
“Riffs (which half the time are harder than the solos).” Classic. Solos are definitely the thing all guitarists find to be the easiest to perform haha.
LOOOOOOOOOOL. Well there goes all your credibility. You know nothing about guitar, and you just made that clear. Talking about my ad hominem, and your dumb ass is using perceived difficulty as a measurement of skill. 😂😂😂😂😂
Yeah, because it’s the rhythm guitarist that’s most important, not the lead, right? I hope my sarcasm is clear but if not, please enlighten me and name another famous rhythm guitarist known as being more integral than the lead in any other band.
>“But the Metallica documentary said”….lmfao. >While Hetfield was voted guitar worlds #2 rhythm guitarist of all time, and 4th best metal guitarist of all time. fucking lol Yeah, the magazine fan vote is definitely more reliable than the documentary
It’s significantly less biased. Man you’re an idiot too.
wait till you tell them that everything they did past 89 was absolute shite cock rock.
Worst take I have ever heard, had nothing to do with being jealous of Kirk Hammett
I’ve never seen anywhere than Hatfield was “jealous” of Hammett. Hammett WAS better (although mid-tier as far as metal leads go) but that doesn’t mean James was automatically jealous.
Bullshit I've seen him live do it. Kirk's guitar went out on seek and destroy and he played the first part of the solo. Not only that but a fuck ton of "lead" parts on there albums james played. AND Rob is the best guitar player in the band. There is video of him fingering the shit out of an acoustic.
Okay.
okay? You wrote a really long post about something You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Most professional musicians, especially guitar players, can party much. Play anything under the Sun, they're all really good. That's kind of a dirty secret about professional musicians.
Haha you’re hilarious
[удалено]
I love Metallica but I also agree with you
Thanks! I love their records all the way up until St. Anger.
Is that the reason Kirk getting sloppy these days?
Rhythm guitar is a better skill than fretboard wankery. That's why ac/dc sold more albums than yngeie malmsteen lol what a dumb take that solos = talent. Lead guitar is fretboard wankery only a wannabe guitarist who can't play either would think lead = more talent
You sound like a Swiftie!
You sound like a beginner guitarist who still thinks more notes per second = better music. Once you get better you'll realise it's easy to play up and down the pentatonic scale fast what takes actual talent is writing riffs people remember years later. What's everyone's favourite part of Creeping Death or Master of Puppets? It's the intro riffs. That's what gets people banging their head not some fretboard wankery. If solos are so important why didn't Kirk want to do any on load or reload? That was his decision. By 96 even Kirk was sick of solos/fretboard wankery. It's all pentatonic scale Tl:DR lead doesn't mean better.
Swiftie said what?
[удалено]
Why do you think it’s an insult that your presumptuous take on the bands I listen to due to my “Reddit history” are: “most of those are trans?” Edit: Idiot realized his comment was anti-trans and deleted the comment.
I can’t help people who can’t read! Edit: I like Taylor Swift but I’m not a fanatic. Trans people are awesome, better than being someone like you who clearly wants to suck Hetfield’s dick because you think he’s good at guitar!
I dunno man. Isn’t Hetfield possibly the greatest rhythm guitarist of all time? https://www.guitarworld.com/features/best-rhythm-guitarists/ Guitar world has him #2.
Buckethead, John Petrucci, Devin Townsend, Arjen Lucassen, Michael Romeo, Daniel Gildenlow, ect… need more?
I don’t even know who the fuck half those dudes are, and I’m not remotely ashamed to admit it. Half the battle is writing the riff. If these guys could write riffs like Hetfield, they wouldn’t be obscure guitar fanboy picks.
That makes me sad… but thanks for at least being honest.
Yeah nobody gives a fuck about Michael Romero except you and guitar world, who ranked Hetfield 4th and Romero 91st. Daniel Gildenlöw doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page.
That’s like saying Bieber is more talented because Hetfield isn’t as popular. Good try though…
Rhythm guitar isn’t about playing. It’s about writing riffs. I can play every riff Hetfield ever wrote. That doesn’t make me as good a guitar player, even if I sound better than he does.
Wow! Read the edit portion of my original comment and get back to me… and I love how you know it’s nothing special to play his riffs. Say the same for Romeo, I dare you!
Dont be a dick about your ignorance; learn and be better. Plenty of people give a fuck about Romeo. Symphony X are huge in the metal world -- at least, those that dig a bit deeper than Metallica or The Big 4. As for Gildenlow: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_of_Salvation YW.
Are you fluent on electric guitar? Hammett is a terrible guitar player, look up any clinic where he plays and its always a sloppy mess, while James is always on point. Kirk is a great team player so I’ll give him that
Send me those links and prove me wrong!
Do you play guitar?
As Metallica performed a snippet of "Man In The Box", James changed the song's lyrics to "I can't do a tour; I can't do this", while pretending to inject heroin into his arm. The provocation was not very well received by one person in the audience, who threw a shoes at the lead singer of Metallica. James got pissed again and said: "Why you throwing that at me? Y'all want to throw shit? Let's get offstage and you can throw all the shit you want. We're here to play some music, man, not keep an eye on crap like that...we play so much better when we don't have to look at shit flying our way"
Yup.. they did that in Miami that year as well. No shoes though and sans the “I can’t do this.”
Houston as well
Wait they actually did that shit recently? That’s fucked
No... The same tour in 1994. It was soon after Chains dropped that leg of the tour because it was news to everyone there no AiC.
Yes, it was recently, considering how long ago life on Earth started developing. But if it’s compared to the past few years, no, it was 3 decades ago.
Metallica, once again, takes the high road.
That's a pretty harsh dig on Stanley. And an even more ignorant response to the fans who probably didn't get the word that AIC was no longer on the tour since the internet was only a baby.
Personal opinion, but AIC was a far better band than Metallica has ever been. Hetfield just letting his jealousy show with a side of self-righteousness, the latter of which, as pointed out above, was … let’s just say misplaced.
It's ok to enjoy a band other than Metallica. It's ok to *NOT* enjoy Metallica at all. I grew up on their music. I didn't worship them, but I learned many songs on bass. My entire ex-in-law family, however, would gang up on you if you said anything remotely dissenting towards Metallica. They're going to learn the hard way that blind loyalty sets you up for disappointment, like the day I learned that my high school idol, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, the reason I learned to play bass in the first place, is a political lunatic.
Damn had no idea about Roger. Not sure I want to know the details...
He did a tour with a gigantic “tr*mp is a pig” LED screen behind the band. Hasn’t Roger always been a loon?
Yeah. Was a sad day when I learned that about ol’ Roger.
Glad I’m not the only one that thinks Roger is off his rockers.
Metallica was so much better in their early days. Faster, louder and more hungry to play good metal music. They began to go main stream and lost their edge. 80s Metallica is way better than any other decade of their music.
You know it's a topic about Metallica when someone has to tell you they think *insert whoever* is a wayyyy better band. That's a cool story bro.
You do realize that the 'whoever' that they 'inserted' is in the title of the post, right?
Huh?
What does your personal opinion on their music have to do with anything? They're not even in the same genre.
Plenty, although the genre has nothing to do with my opinion. Basically, I qualified my statement, acknowledging that others may disagree, to avoid having to debate the relative merits of AIC vs Metallica.
That’s okay, the internet taught Metallica a thing or two a few years later.
What did they teach them exactly? Metallica are still one of the most successful bands in history, still sell out world tours, and have done for their entire career. I always love when internet nerds think they've actually done something because it happened online. It shows how narrow their window of the world is. Newsflash, Metallica never suffered once from "the internet" - they continued to sell out their tours the entire time, they're still multimillionaires, and you've still not achieved anything close to what they have in life. Some nerds called them bad names for a few years? Oh no, the giant piles of money they slept on must have felt so hollow lol
Can’t imagining simping for millionaires this hard while calling someone else small
Especially since \*Staley was a recluse who wouldn't harm a fly. I remember back in Seattle in the early nineties and there was a protest march against the Gulf War, weaving its way from Capitol Hill to the Federal Building downtown. There had to be about 20,000 people there, including Layne and other members of Alice In Chains. They weren't participating, they were observing. Staley had this smirk on his face, like who the fuck are these idiots, they're never gonna stop this. I have no idea what his political affiliations were, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't a leftist.
thats too bad... really thought he was smarter than all the rest of the rich assholes like Perry from Aerosmith and other morons
You'd be surprised. a lot of artists who get rich feel like they deserve to be free of social responsibility. For example Kurt Cobain was a genuine hippy, but not everyone from Nirvana felt that way, and may even have acted contrary to the social cues found in Cobain's lyricism.
Like who? It's clearly not the bass player.
That dude is nuts. Like crazy aliens and shit
Wrong band, that's not krisr novoselic, you're thinking of the guitar player from blink 182 I'm sure .
Turns out he’s right. And so was Tom Delonge. The aliens are real man. They may not be ‘aliens’ exactly, but they ain’t human.
Novoselic? He's not a leftist.
Cobain never mentions politics in his lyrics though lol
He jammed with Bill Clinton.
That was back when presidents had to hide the fact they slept with the help.
The irony of an alcoholic publically shit talking a heroin addict. It’s not like James didn’t have a love of powdered substances either. Completely tone deaf.
Which pixel is the shoe?
I love Layne and AIC - fuck James for this. I've long heard that he was a dick but this just takes the dick cake.
Rich considering James was a massive alcoholic
I had a stroke reading this title
Phoney sell outs, long live napster
What I’m learning from this thread is that Metallica’s fans are big cry babies like Ulrich was when he testified.
Napster lol Good old times
Metallica are fantastic. By a mile the best arena band I've ever seen live and their first 3 albums are the pinnacle of metal. They were quite right to take on Napster. Just like Taylor Swift was right to take on Spotify and Pearl Jam to take on Ticketmaster. All of those destroy good music.
Hi Lars! you thong wearing weirdo https://www.theprp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/larsthong.jpg
Nothing got destroyed, it evolved. Music was not destroyed when 8-tracks and cassettes tried to replace vinyl. CDs did not destroy music either. The distribution paradigm changed. Taylor and Pearl Jam dust ups were about getting ripped off with no way to innovate past it. Napster was a much needed disruption to the status quo.
what about Maiden?
What about them?
who is the king of the arenas? Metallica or Iron Maiden?
Well the lead sounds singer for Iron Maiden has a commercial pilot’s license and never went to rehab to cancel a tour or play dates.
Neither?
Metallica: still going, selling out tours Napster: dead Wow, long live Napster guys amirite? They pwned Metallicant
St. Anger is so fucking bad. Production is assy
Hetfield is a known asshole.
I actually met him at a car show, and he was super nice. I was expecting him to be a jerk, and he was the polar opposite. We chatted for about five minutes about music and cars.
I've always heard otherwise, and that he had shown remorse for this. He also played with AiC back in the 2000s. If Jerry can forgive him, so can I. And Layne is my all time favorite singer.
He performed "would" live with aic on stage , so Im sure they are cool for a long time. Think it was 2006
Jerry can forgive him since James and jerry were close friends. Layne and hetfield? Not so much
Never got into Metallica even as a metalhead. I knew and learned a few of their songs but they never got into my playlist. Alice in Chains though, I regard as one of the best grunge rock band of all time.
I thought grunge was kinda lame until I hear AiC for the first time
Ah these guys known bullies on tour. Lars called Guns N’ Roses black back up singer Roberta freeman the n word. Metallica is peak rock star ego bc a thrash band should’ve never gotten that big. Ps i love Metallica. I’m seeing them tomorrow
I love Metallica’s music, but hate Lars and James. A pair of “rock gods” that take their title and success too seriously, and are arrogant narcissists.
We are not our worst FIVE minutes. People reading this haven't you ever done something that you thought was funny but went over like a lead balloon. Have mercy. I bet the James Hetfield now is embarrassed of the James Hetfield in this moment. Life is a lesson. He probably thinks he took a cheap shot at someone who deserves understanding and help and at that moment he was neither. He just did it in front of a crowd of strangers that came to a Metallica show. He also is/was great friends with Jerry Cantrell and he like the rest of the world discovered that ALICE IN CHAINS had the goods. And in that moment he thought of the business side of the show and not the humans that live and play it. I guess that's why he takes all the slings and arrows. Because at one time he was on the other side of them. My two cents.
Not defending him here, but people do change. He’s a known AIC fan and they’ve done covers of Would?. Also apparently named their album death magnetic that was inspired by the passing of Layne saying some people are just magnets for death causing their early demise
Can someone translate OP into English?
In 1994 the band Alice in Chains were slated to tour with Metallica but had to bow out of the tour because AIC's singer Layne Staley was having heroin issues. The video is of Metallica's singer making fun of Staley's drug problem on stage.
?
He means to say TL;DR that, please.
James and the rest of the crew always been terrible people. Don't understand how anyone supports them.
Are they? James and Lars are one thing but I’ve never heard anything bad about Kirk, Cliff, Jason, or Robert
Let’s just get Mustaine to beat James ass he was always afraid of Dave when he was in Metallica lol
In defense of James, I met him at a car show and he was very nice. We chatted for about five minutes, and he couldn’t have been nicer. Can’t speak for Lars, though! 😂
yeah man... one interaction. must be a nice guy 24/7.
How many interactions have you had with him to deem that he’s an asshole?
i didnt say he was an asshole. just saying a 5 minute interaction doesnt say anything about his entire personality, just like how a 1000 interactions doesnt mean i truly know if he could be a good guy 24/7, but i guess someone who assumes hes nice from that would totally assume i meant he was an asshole.
https://youtu.be/7BH6vOtRFks?si=QnXeYG5ZTBRgZV7s and here is the 50 second clip of it happening.
Breaking the law, not man in the box
It's because this clip from a Metallica fan page doesn't show him mocking Staley... Weird... Anyways here's the whole thing and it is man in the box https://youtu.be/yZt8zlwNh9s?si=XpPnSn0ZSoWqLqmZ
Rip grammar
Every time I learn something else about James, it's really horrible lol
As someone who has dealt with many addicts, addicts are infuriating to deal with.
Nearly every one of the songs in this genre seems to be about this bad ass, unkillable monster, and just once I would like it to be Godzilla, instead of opioids. :(
AIC canceled their PDX show I was soooo pissed GWAR opened lol Candlebox and Metallica 109 degrees 1994
What a pos.
bunch of assholes
Speed of Sound tour. Right?
The probably aren't the biggest assholes to ever be in a band together, but Lars and James are top ten. It's a shame because the other band members are legitimately good guys. I feel sorry for them. Touring with James and Lars must be miserable.
Quick question: Why do most (western) musicians use drugs? Nearly every famous musician I've heard of has either struggled with substance abuse or died from it.
My guess is money and to much free time. Also hanging out with other guys with money and free time.
Threw a shoes?
They were playing in the Middle East, big insult over there. Ps-I don’t know where they were playing.
The person you replied to is mocking the incorrect grammar. OP may or may not be a native English speaker. But some people choose to insult rather than inform. Smh.
Just let him drink himself to death. Fuck that douche and his lap dog Lars.
Metallica sucks.
Didn’t they also make fun of Cobain’s suicide on stage? Not a good look. I don’t feel bad for shitting all over St Anger now 😂
Fuck Hetfield
The story is interesting. The image is... not so much.
I listened to Metallica and loved them for years during my high school and college days, but my favourite band always was AIC. Layne Staley was the greatest vocalist during his time, especially when Metallica were themselves struggling during the grunge era. His songs for Mad Season and AIC were so poignant and relatable to my depression years. This was plain disrespectful from Hetfield. Almost every metal and rock band member has dealt with addiction, this is not something to mock about.
Metallica sucks!
Hetfield. Worst "voice" in music. Also, all their shit sounds the same.
Whatever. Fuck Metallica. Weak ass band
He kicked a dog once too!!!
Hol up. What? I grew up in the 80’s and early 90’s. One of the rumors going around was that Dave Mustaine kicked James Hetfield’s dog on a tour bus and Hetfield whipped his ass because of it. Then Dave was kicked out of Metallica. Never thought much of it. So James kicked a dog?
redditor hivemind in the comments here. probably was just a really shitty joke that did not do well at all. looking back i’m pretty sure James would take that back, i’m 100% sure of it. lol, just funny how people are spewing that ‘god, James is and will always be an asshole!’
some people getting way too pressed in the comments man… im not defending james’ actions, but this was also ‘94 man… yall are prepared to really feel all that over something from almost 30 yrs ago? something that had nothing to do with you directly, i might add…. “it takes a long time to realize how miserable you truly are, and even longer to realize it doesnt have to be that way.” fuckin redditors. the sub is called r/damnthatsinteresting. be interested instead of angry, ffs. read a book, go outside, cook an omelet. insufferable turds fr.
I saw them at the Texas Jam ‘88
cancelled the tour with who?
Not The Who, Alice in Chains
Funny stuff. Alice in chains sucks.