Metal Anarchy

During a recent interview with Total Guitar, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett opened up about the sense of boredom that arises when having to perform the same solos over and over again. The guitarist says he prefers to play songs where he has a chance to improvise.

Hammett said the following:

“What I’m going to say people are probably gonna hate, but it drives me nuts having to play that fucking guitar solo in Master of Puppets every time. People love that guitar solo and they come to see that. That’s fine. For that part of our career, all those solos are locked in. I don’t view them as solos anymore; they’re parts. I’m freaking bored of it, but it’s exciting for people to hear.”

He added:

“You know, I’m not bored of the solo; I just get bored of playing the same thing all the time. I’m inviting all sorts of criticism and opinions but I don’t fucking care. It’s like the solo on Fade To Black. I play the first eight bars and then I go on a tangent for like 20, 24 bars and then come back in the last four bars and play parts that everyone knows. That’s one of my most favorite parts of playing that song live because I don’t know what the fuck I’m gonna play.”

Hammett also confirmed that there will be more room for improvisation on the material from the band’s new album “72 Seasons” (out April 14):

“With this album I went in intentionally to improvise 20, 30 solos, give them all to [drummer] Lars [Ulrich] and [producer] Greg [Fidelman], and go, ‘You guys edit them!’ I know I’m gonna play something completely different live. That’s my thing these days and if people don’t like it, that’s just tough. But I can offer something a lot different than what people hear on the album, and I can offer something different every time you see Metallica.”

Despite this, he did admit that there are risks associated with improvising:

“Usually, I surprise myself; sometimes I die a fucking death. It’s horrible to die on stage in front of 50,000 people, but it only lasts an instant and then it’s gone. Then I can go on to other pastures and make up for what I didn’t do.”