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Kirk Hammett (Metallica) birthday - TIMH

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November 18, 2015 at 8:52am
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If you have watched Virginia Tech enter Lane Stadium anytime over the past 15 years then you are familiar with today’s birthday boy, Kirk Hammett. As the lead guitarist in Metallica, Hammett wrote the iconic riff in “Enter Sandman” and is probably the most influential metal guitarist in history. He is also widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar players in not only metal but all of rock and roll.

Hammet was born in San Francisco in 1962 and he attended the same high school as Les Claypool from Primus. It was in high school that Hammett first picked up a guitar and he formed the band Exodus at the age of sixteen. Exodus was an early thrash metal band and part of a burgeoning metal scene in the Bay Area. Exodus would occasionally share a stage with Metallica, who had recently relocated to the Bay Area from Los Angeles.

Metallica found success a bit more quickly than Exodus and Metallica traveled to New York to record their first album, tentatively titled “Metal Up Your Ass”, in 1983. Just prior to the start of the recording process, Metallica fired their guitar player, Dave Mustaine. They contacted Hammett back in California and invited him to join the band. Hammett bid farewell to the band he started and made his own exodus out to New York.

 Hammett meshed quickly with the other members of Metallica – James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Cliff Burton - and the renamed debut album, “Kill ‘Em All”, was well-received in the underground metal scene. It was not, however, what anyone could reasonably call a hit. The album only sold 17,000 copies in its first year and has never cracked the Top 100 chart. It would go on to sell over three million copies and is now recognized as one of the all-time classic metal albums. “Kill ‘Em All” would also be the only Metallica album on which Hammett has no writing credits.

Metallica quickly followed their debut with “Ride the Lightning” in 1984. Hammett co-wrote two of the most popular songs on the record, “Fade to Black” and “Creeping Death”. This album was much more commercially successful than the previous and led to the band getting signed by Elektra Records. Despite virtually no radio play, the album reached the #100 spot on the album chart and would sell over six million copies.

Hammett and the boys were just getting started. Their next album, “Master of Puppets”, came in 1986 and took Metallica from the underground to the masses. This was an era when metal music was largely absent from the radio dial and “Master of Puppets” sold an unheard of 300,000 copies in its first three weeks. It hit #29 on the chart, earned Metallica their first gold record and the track listing reads like a greatest hits album. Hammett co-wrote two monsters on this record, “Master of Puppets” and “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”.

Metallica’s jubilation would soon turn to despair as bassist Cliff Burton would die in a bus accident while on tour in Sweden. The band was preparing to bed down for the night and decided to change things up. They drew cards for first choice of the sleeping bunks and Burton won. He selected the bunk that Hammett had been sleeping in. Early on the morning of September 27, 1986 the band’s tour bus went off the road and turned over. Burton was ejected out a window and the bus came to rest on top of him.

Metallica decided to continue on and they hired Jason Newsted as Burton’s replacement. They released an EP of cover songs, “The 5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited”, in 1987. A proper album followed in 1988, “…And Justice for All”. Hammett is featured on a number of extended solos on “Justice” and gives some of the most precise efforts of his career. Long ignored by radio, Metallica produced their first ever video for the song “One” and were suddenly in your living room via MTV. Hammett and the band were now on the threshold of world domination.

“Metallica”, commonly referred to as the “Black Album”, was released in 1991 and is the final step in the band’s progression from underground metal band to successful metal band to international rock stars. While many of Metallica’s long-time fans were appalled by the change in sound from “Justice” to “Black”, the general public absolutely loved it. “Black” debuted as the #1 album and spent an incredible 5 ½ years on the charts, the ninth longest run in history. Leading off with the riff Hammett wrote, “Enter Sandman” announced Metallica’s coronation to the entire world. The album has sold a staggering 30 million copies and is by far the most successful album by a metal band (though some may argue it is not truly a metal album).

Following the whirlwind success of “Black” and subsequent tours, Metallica took some time off. Hammett used the opportunity to study music at City College in San Francisco. He had previously studied under Joe Satriani but this was his most formal musical education. His exposure to jazz during this time heavily influenced Hammett’s playing on the next two albums, “Load” and “Reload” in 1996 and 1997. Metallica has released two more albums and an EP since then.

Hammett has slowed down a bit but Kirk Hammett at 53 years old is still better than almost any guitar player in their prime. Metallica may not be as immensely popular as they once were but they still remain one of the biggest bands in the world. They have sold over 100 million albums and have collected eight Grammys for their music, with the most recent coming with their last album, “Death Magnetic”, in 2009. More recently, it took them only 24 minutes to sell out AT&T Park in San Francisco for a concert the night before the upcoming Super Bowl. 

Sample of songs co-written by Hammett:

“Fade to Black” off the album “Ride the Lightning” 1984, live in Seattle 1989:

“Disposable Heroes” off the album “Master of Puppets” 1986, live in Germany 1985:

“Dyers Eve” off the album “…And Justice for All” 1989:

“Through the Never” off the album “Metallica” 1991, live in San Diego 1992:

“Bleeding Me” off the album “Load” 1996, live at Woodstock ‘99:

Hammett gives a guitar lesson on riffs from “Master of Puppets”:

 

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