5. The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute after you hear this signal. [beep] A single lap should be completed each time you hear this sound. [ding] Remember to run in a straight line, and run as long before as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. On your mark, get ready, start.
Whats funny, i think everyone already forgot how bad the solo was, and thanks to Bradly, people start to give it an another go, to see, it was that bad. So, maybe your statement is somehow true
Well that would be okay too if it were actually thought out. I mean, most of the soloing on 72 sounds like he dropped by at the studio and handed in a jam tape. "Yeah, make something out of that. I trust you."
I started dying laughing when he started talking about how “difficult” it is to write in the pentatonic scale after saying sweeping is easy. Kirk has no self awareness
Kirk's solo on Outlaw Torn is one of my favorites. It doesn't sound too complicated, but it fits the song perfectly and I've never heard another one like it.
Finally someone appreciate this solo. I freakin love it. I think Load is a damn good album. The songwriting is on point. They grow out of Metal and made what they wanted to do and it was good music. Unfortunately fans hated it so much, they went back to Metal. Since then it doesn't feel natural anymore. It feels forced. Sure there are still good songs oder parts here and there, but I always felt they should've sticked to their Alternative, Blues, Psychedelic Hard Rock. It suited them well. Just my two cents.
I'm 46. Been playing guitar for 30 years, and I absolutely can't stand how close-minded other guitarists my age are. I've learned more cool shit here on RU-vid in the last 10 years from people half my age.
I dunno youtube is pushing me more and more down the vintage road(41 years old) I sold all my metal guitars. I only play old american guitars, and tube amps. Nothing digital. I feel more like a hipster than I did when I was in touch with the current trends
Peoples general music taste is defined during their teenage years and early adulthood. And most very rarely adventure out of that. It requires being open to new things both good and bad. And most people don't wana do that because it requires effort.
I'm 47 and people like Bradley have inspired me to start playing guitar again. I didn't have a guitar at all for almost 12 years until I bought my Jackson Randy Rhoads last year. I know I'll never be a virtuoso but gradually improving to the point of it being more than just a hobby is the ultimate goal. I've picked up a few things from guitarists half my age on youtube too.
@blitzkrieg.09 what a crap argument. I never ran a country, guess I can't complain about the government. I never built a telephone, guess I can't complain about the iPhone. I never invented a music streaming service, guess I can't complain about Spotify. I never conducted surgery, guess I can't complain about medical malpractice.
@duykhanghehe I see it the other way. His technical skills are very good, (or can be very good). He plays (or did play) very quick stuff cleanly. Allegedly he has some knowledge of modal scales, though I kind of doubt that, but he could easily learn the implementation of parallel modes in an afternoon with a good youtube video. He just doesn't bother to live with the song and compose a solo for it. He's lazy or just unappreciative of his position...uninspired. RTL, MOP, AJFA and to a lesser extent The Black Album are the golden era for me. Kirk was hungry and trying to establish himself on a landscape that included Malmsteen, Skolnick, Lynch. He even said somewhere that he included arpeggios in one of his solos because of that landscape.
@Eliza Page just stop, you have Dave all over your ass and you cant even tell the difference between Kirk and Dave in terms of style? Solo of Ride the Lightning from Kirk is different and better than all the solos of Dave in Kill em all album. And are you also telling that Kirk solo in Blackened is from Dave ??
Fade to Black is one of my favourite all time solo, of course studio version or early live versions. I can’t forgive Kirk what he is recently doing with wah pedal on it 🤢
Marty Friedman is a god. Most melodic solos, solos always fit the song, unique phrasing, vibrato second to none. I've played guitar for over 20 years and Friedman solos are the only shredder solos I can continue to listen to time and time again and not get bored.
@@douglasdbs7139 Yep, combined with the Gypsy Jazz style of picking with a huge downward pickslant, allowing for his unique style of playing arpeggios that combine picking and sweeping, the solos are just insane. Even when I play some Marty solos, it just doesn't sound the same because his fretting hand is much more advanced (which creates the tonality and phrasing) and, like I said, the gypsy jazz picking style which makes his arpeggios just sound so much smoother. Marty's solos are just on a different level. One of the only shredders that you can instantly tell "Aha! that's a Friedman playing"
@Cerberus202 100% There are few solos that I would consider "perfect solos" in the sense that I could not imagine the solo played any other way if even one note or accentuation, or dynamic, or phrasing was changed. RIP has 3 such solos: Lucretia, Tornado of Souls, and Poison was the Cure. Just a god tier album.
Too many shredders make the mistake of only focusing on their picking hand so their fretting hand sucks and the actual solo sounds like sheet. Marty is the one of the only shredders that understands the importance of a practiced fretting hand. Makes all the difference. In my earlier years of guitar, I would just constantly practice picking without any thought to left hand articulation. Only over the past 5 years of playing did that epiphany really hit me.
As far as pentatonics, there are videos of Marty noodling around with the Pentatonic scale and it just sounds so much better than other shredders because he plays the notes in a different order and changes up the timing/phrasing. Absolute master of deconstructing scales and squeezing every ounce of musicality from them.
I've been saying for decades that Kirk is the Benjamin Button of lead guitarists. He was young and excellent, putting days into crafting each of his moments to shine in each track. As he aged, he got worse with the more years of experience he gained. Around 93-94, he started saying and thinking that all of the great players he looked up to just improvised and played solely with feeling. Sadly for him, all of the musicians he is referencing were (for the most part) much more naturally talented and well versed in music theory than he is. Their repertoire was much larger than his. He has his 4 or 5 go to licks and he mostly just cycles through them these days. Of course there are a few exceptions, recently most notably the arpeggiated solo section from Spit Out the Bone. I did enjoy his work on that song. The one saving grace is that from day one, Metallica has been very clear that they write the music that THEY want to hear. They aren't trying to please any particular person or group of people. I honestly feel like that is why they are as successful as they are. I really just care if they can play their songs live these days. I average seeing them about every other year now and I haven't walked away from a show yet where I thought their playing was subpar. Honestly, Kirk could write an absolute ripper of a solo and there will always be people who still say how terrible he is. We are entitled to our own opinion, but Kirk is entitled to not want to hear it or validate it. Freedom of speech works in both directions. The new album was decent. I still need a few more listens to really form my final opinion.
"The one saving grace is that from day one, Metallica has been very clear that they write the music that THEY want to hear." - That might be true, but that can also be used as an excuse for mediocrity.
Nunya Business True, but they said the same thing when Cliff was around in their glory days. If he hadn't passed, I really don't see their career changing all that much besides Justice. That album would have been quite different. Also, I dont think St Anger never would have happened. They would have gotten better as musicians overall, but I think he would have been super down with the 90s era that they went through. He wanted to write things he wanted to hear.
@@concernedliberal4453 I dunno, Lars is pretty uninspiring too. I get it, they're friends and all, but being in a successful band requires sacrifice and the music should come first and friendships second. If James just put his foot down and actually hired competent musicians, maybe Metallica could reclaim their legions of fans, but as it stands, there are only the die-hard fanboys who've stuck by their side.
You nailed it! The guys from Metallica are all business men,the band is pure business to them now,they refer to it as such constantly..the business of Metallica...it's all about the money now not the music..it's actually sad to think about
@@aarondavis4341 I think, like most bands who make it that far, they don't know any other life. They don't want to "retire" because they'd probably drink themselves to death. Their latest three albums have been incredibly bland, it's almost difficult to listen to at this point. Kirk wrote some bangers on the first five albums (a lot of duds too) and he should be commended for that. They all threw the towel in after that (although I enjoy a lot of Load and Reload).
No, he's right with the pentatonic fitting the human voice. Nobody except for intellectual stuffs like jazz uses strange sounding scales like the bebop, hungarian, mixoblues etc.. Because nobody feels anything thru it, every solos built on those scales sound strange and inappropriate for the global audience, because that's too intellectual and unnatural for our brain, even if mathematics of music allow those scale structures. The singer Bobby McFerrin made an experience live, he was jumping from right to left in front of his audience, and the crowd had to sing the notes he was playing according to his movements, everybody found the pentatonic, and nobody found something else like an exotic scale. And don't tell me that's because of the occidental culture, because he did this experience all around the world with the same result. Songs are mostly made like this BECAUSE it sounds good for our brain. The truth is modern shredders like Bradley ( and I love him ) are being told that their virtuosity isn't necessary, of course it's painful to hear, because you end up like " Wtf I'm a virtuoso praticing so hard everyday and people only want me to play Wonderwall by Oasis and pentatonic stuff", yes sadly that's it.
I agree 100% that a solo doesnt have to be crazy fast to be good. Take Like A Stone for example, one of the most emoting solos of all time and its what like 10-15 notes? absolutely no shredding.
Kirk seems to be a very humble and down to earth guy. I have no doubt that if you have a friendly chat with him drinking some beers he would probably agree with you in almost everything, but on the context of a magazine interview, he and 99% of other guitar legends out there would be in a defensive mood, is not like he's going to say "yeah I suck"
Not sure why people thought Kirk would say anything else like "Oh yeah those internet guitar players, soo right about my solos being bordering dog shit and should just record the album solos instead" especially on a new album release, it's simply one from hundreds of questions that he answers for interviews. Dude is old, Kirk's reactions is anyone's reaction here if people were to get their solos "fixed" on the internet, granted I also think Kirk's solos in the album is bordering dog shit but people here act surprised he just wants to play the way he wants at 60 after 40+ years.
very true. these publications heavily paraphrase too, so who knows the context of what these were takin from - i bet they set it to a far more abrasive tone than the conversation where he said this stuff.
He should say I get it but as you get older you just don’t want to do those crazy licks anymore and I’m happy with my basic approach. That’s all you have to say and I’d be honest and reasonable.
"The pentatonic scale is the best for mimicking human singing melodies". Yeah, as long as the vocal line is written in pentatonic too. Friggin genius take right there.
Honestly as long as the song has meaning and is crafted well it could be in whatever scale and be good but I do agree it'd be nice if he tried some other things I'll say
I absolutely love kirks early stuff like first master and justice albums are in my opinion really good solo and writing, the new really does feel like he's just "oh yeah thats in key it'll work"
I remember being in the back seat on an one hour trip with my parents listening to 'And justice' thinking with my very newly music aware mind: 'Kirk is the epitome of melodic solo writing'. Then I discovered King Diamond.
Look at the making of Roadrunner Records. It was a collaboration album using many different musicians plucked from many badass metal bands. They were all thrown in the studio together and told to make a badass album. Which they did.
Those were daves solos. Ride was Kirk having to learn daves solos. Hes a little annoyed he never got paid for them taking his work on ride lol but, yeah man, creeping death is sooo freaking good, top to bottom man.
Extreme and Nuno recently released their song Rise. No body is complaining about the solo. Nobody is trying to make it better. Everybody is trying to learn it. Those of us who can't play it, are praising it. Nuno doesn't have to defend his solo like Kirk because he did his homework. It's as simple as that. To me, MetallicA need Bob Rock to infuriate Kirk into playing well. Kirk is a very good guitar player. He just needs to be pushed.
Exactly. Kirk needs someone who's gonna give him a firm, yet kind, push. When he's on his game, he's a *PHENOMENAL* guitarist. Look at his solo record. That album was cool as hell. A little bit wankery, but still, it was really cool. The current producer is holding Kirk back.
A really good point. Nuno just blew us all out of the water with that, and we were happy for the experience. Kirks work on 72... no one is gonna wanna pick up a guitar and try out those new riffs or solos. But I can see some young aspiring guitarist listen to Rise and think, yeah, that's what I wanna do.
The current producer as far as I can tell is Lars, atleast when it comes to Kirks solos. I think getting rid of Bob Rock was a big mistake. Btw Nuno totally stole the opening riff to Rise from Hate Train.
This makes me even more annoyed I mean, I thought he just lost the touch, or needed guidance, but the fact he's defending the solos and willing to die on that hill when he was the same guy who wrote some of the most memorable lead parts in metal blazes me.
He was doing arpeggios, string skipping, economy picking a shit ton like nobodies business in the whole 80's decade. Like......they fit the Metallica songs, cause he listened to the tracks. That being said I don't care for most of James's basic ass riffs he recycles for the the upteenth time on these albums. They both could benefit from not rehashing the better moments from their best albums. If either learned a new mode or scale, shit, it would work wonders.
@@murk4552 I agree. I've said it before, I don't know if it's because of the guitar tone but almost all of the songs sound the same to me. The riffs are just minor/chromatic power chord progressions without much creativeness, but at least James made an effort to create melodic phrasing in some of the songs, like the two Phrygian licks in "If Darkness Had A Son"
Yeah, it's frustrating. Future Metallica records won't have better solos because he is determined to not improve it seems like and the solos might get even worse because he will make them worse out of spite. The only people who can get him to pull his shit together is James and Lars, but they seem to be fine with it for now.
Kirk inspired me to pick up the guitar in the first place. Many years ago. There's stuff in his catalog that I still struggle with. That being said, Kirk is no Guthrie Govan. He NEEDS structure. He NEEDS to compose; at least most of his solos. It really hurts the song when he doesn't. I think he knows he's in the twilight of his career and is just coasting in neutral; which I guess he's deserved as well. 🤷🏾♂️
A lot of truth in this comment. If I was Kirk I would probably just pop out a couple blues Penta licks with a sloppy wah and return to my mansion on a tropical island with a thousand Pocahontas wives to count my trillions in usds also
I read that article and all I could think was, this sounds like a man who is upset people have called him out for not writing a creative solo for decades...like just admit you got lazy Kirt
There was a time when Kirk's solos sounded like they fit the song and you looked forward to them. One, Unforgiven, Fade to Black, Sanitarium. Hell, I think the solo in Ride the Lightning MAKES the song.
@@ernvera I don't believe that for a second mate! It's way too composed for Mustaine. Plus I've never read Mustaine trying to take credit for it. What I've read before is that Cliff "composed" it, but I'm not sure I believe that either.
My father always told me why bands music starts to suck as they age. Because they have a ton of money and aren’t struggling anymore. There’s a lot less emotion in the music because now they have to do it where as before they wanted to do it.
Your father is absolutely right. Once they have the money, mansion and Maserati, they're no longer hungry. So, they figure, "Why bother?" Maybe not all, but most. I like Van Halen's A Different Kind of Truth. They didn't have to put that old school album out, but they did. Yeah, you're right it's the same with comedians too. They use stand up as a steppingstone to movies now. It will soon be 40 years since Eddie Murphy did stand up.
How many music records your father actually OWNS? I have hundreds of them, and there are several bands who keep putting out great records, after decades. My favourite Pink Floyd album is The Division Bell, and it came out 21 years after Dark Side of the Moon, when Waters was off the band for a long time. When all Pink Floyd members, past and present (except for Syd) were already filthy rich. And Gilmour was already bald, fat and married lol. Just an example.
This is true. I also think that a lot of money means there are a lot of distractions. James buys ridiculous amounts of cars (a real credit to the environment, I'm sure), and god knows what else; Kirk spends his money on comic books and horror shows, etc. These guys are not minimalists, that's for sure. I suspect these guys barely ever touch their instruments when they they're not on the road. You can hear the lack of practice in their playing, which leads to a lack of progress. That's why these guys keep falling back on the stuff they've been doing for years. It's tired and boring because you can hear the lack of commitment to their instruments and their music.
Correct.. They really don't HAVE to try and make another Master Of Puppets or Ride The Lightning. They have their die-hard fanboys who will praise them until the world ends, so if 100 fanboys buy their music then they've accomplished everything they wanted to do, so why TRY and make an epic album anymore?
Kirk in a couple of years: "I only use one note on an open string for my solos. Everyone can write something using the whole neck, this way is much more challenging".
Ironically, I improvise a lot of my solos on one string because I find that to be the easiest way for me to visualize scales and it's not exactly challenging, so I can see him doing this
Kirk is a pivotal Heavy Metal genre guitarist, well legend. He may have narrow views on what he thinks makes a good heavy metal solo. But man, he was a pioneer. And leave it at that. If Chuck Berry was still around, don't think he'd be sweep picking or incorporating arpeggios, he had his sound, and he knew it well.
100% truth in that video. Kirk's response sounds like when I was 14 and searched for excuses not to practice. Like Bob Rock said - He didn't do his homework...
Excellent reference and point. Most of these famous guys GOT famous still being a teenager and never heard any criticism after that. They still speak and think like teenagers who happen to also be world famous multi millionaires as adult men. They don’t have to grow up or learn anything new if they don’t want to.
Guys, I think that you take it way too seriously. The thing that he had an interview and said some things that you didn't find right doesn't mean that he is a bad person or that he has changed and isn't humble and gentle anymore or even that he never was. And we all have bad days, you know. Maybe he wasn't in a good mood and what they told him about his guitar playing sounded a little offensive to him.
It isn’t actually. Maybe, if you wanna do it insanely clean like petrucci or sth. But even most pros can’t do it. Technique itself isn’t hard. Just as every other technique requires time to completely master
Sweeping cleanly only comes with practice, the general technique however is pretty easy. Same rules as arpeggiating a chord except you have to line up your left hand for every strike of a string, that's the only difficult part. For me at least, it took about 2 weeks to get it down when I first learned the kinda basic minor sweep practicing daily.
I think any technique is hard depending how much you want to perfect, because there’s always a harder degree you could take it to. I think the difference is sweeping is one of the few techniques that sounds “harder” than it is relative to how much you practice. Decent sweeping sounds hard and great sweeping sounds borderline impossible, when really it’s not any “harder” than fingerpicking or anything else, whereas with fingerpicking you can be an absolute god and to non guitarists it might just sound like basic guitar playing
I agree with everything this guy says but I could never attack my childhood hero like this. The solos in Fade To Black, especially in the intro are some of the most perfect, beautiful lines a guitarist has ever played and that song alone is what inspired me to become obsessed with guitar. If you watch Kirks new interview with the So What editor you will see the guy has been thru alot mentally and it shows, he gets a pass as far as I'm concerned. Those guys have survived way past most bands lifespan, we have no idea the crap they have gone thru.
Hes definitely not even kind of better. Hes very lucky hes got Kiko. I still dont understand how Kiko is still in a band with that twat. I guess the money is great
It reminds me of a 84 Megadeth show where the crowd goes "Kirk Hammett sucks!" And Dave reply "I know" with ever a bit more annoyance in his voice and then play mechanix. *It's here on RU-vid, I don't remotely have the age to have seen it live but, legendary shit nonetheless
I heard him say "He uses his limited abilities most effectively" or something along those lines. Which is as close to a compliment he ever got. That, and "I nailed his girlfriend".
Tfw you write an aggressively mediocre solo then get pissy and throw out the classic “what does technique matter?” when someone replaces it with a better one
Sweep picking is one of the hardest techniques to learn on guitar! 15 years ago when i met Michael angelo batio at small guitar shop in my town he blew my mind when he play “no boundaries” for us. It was some magical shit to me back then. But seeing it up close in the clinic inspired me to buy his lesson CD rom. For me it was about a month to finally be able to do a 3 sting arpeggio. Then another month to get to 5 string sweeps.
As much as I love Kirk, I love making fun of him now. Especially with the new album because every song, he'll repeat the same lick 2-3 times before he goes into the solo. Amazing dude, just getting old:')
@@HeathenDance Well at least James has always been consistent live or not. Kirk's recent live and album solos over the past couple years are the most hit or miss thing in the world. Either sounds pretty decent and accurate, or sounds like a 12 year olds tribute band, and with how bad these recent solos are sounding its gonna start to really show how bad he's been playing solos.
Kirk’s new solo record is pretty cool. It has some creative sounds on it with a pretty vast soundscape. It sounds like he actually put his heart into it. I think Metallica is just the 9 to 5 for him but he’d never admit it.
Metallica now is pretty much Lars and James arguing while writing the songs then telling Kirk to play along and/or lay down a solo. I'm pretty sure anyone who wasn't becoming a multimillionaire doing that would have walked out long ago. They are lucky he is so chilled. Remember when Jason had enough of that shit?
Agreed. Kirk was an inspiration for many of us to start playing lead guitar and has produced legendary pieces of music in the past ('easy' solos by today standards maybe -which matters not-, but carefully manufactured, well executed, well placed in the song, and played with the heart). Kirk of all the guys in Metallica! We know better of him, that's the criticism.
Obviously Kirk has not matured with age, he feels that anyone technically better than him is a threat, his ego is still in intensive care! you naughty boy Bradley! you are 100% right mate.
It's like, whenever he says it's harder to write good solos in pentatonic scales... yeah, Kirk, you're right, it is harder, and you just proved it's too hard for you!
Translation: Kirk hammett: "I'm rich and lazy and can't be arssed trying anymore. I'll forever ne remembered for solos like Master, Enter Sandman and One, so my place in metal history is assured. "Besides, all the sound engineers tell me my 1st takes are awesome and can't can't improved upon anyways!"
I defense Kirk. I don't understand why so many people roast this guitar legend. I like his solos on the new album. Listen his solos in Inamorata. Already classic in my book. I think lot of haters just jealus. Sometimes, less is more. I get what Kirk said. And I agree with him. He is a rockstar, guitar legend, he has dollar millions, and millions of fans, and tons of toxic haters, jealus babys. He doesn't give shit about his haters beacuse his value are higher than the haters. He just defend himself, and that's fine. Lars is got ton of hate too, but now lot of people adore his playing on the new album and general. He is a good drummer, and songwriter. And Kirk is 60 years old. Some man at this age can't even walk normally. He put lot of things to table. He deserve respect, not toxic hate. This is my unpopular opinion probably.
@@zoli99ful ooooooor, most people who love old Kirk solos hate on the new Kirk solos because....they're shit... Sometimes a spade is just a spade mate.
Let's not just single out Kirk. How about James? It's like he was abducted and replaced with a goofy clone wearing granny glasses before St.Anger. I refuse to believe the same guy that wrote Disposable Heroes and The Frayed Ends of Sanity was now writing Purify and Invisible Kid only 15 years later 😂 If you showed those songs to 80's James and told him that's what he'd be doing in a little over a decade he'd probably chuck a beer at you.
@@perpetualmotion357 i agree, I think he tends to get a pass just because he still can play and sing. But he’s probably the most responsible for their decline in quality songwriting.
@@godevils1982 Yeah, it's a two way street. James was mostly responsible for their highest level they achieved at their creative peak, and Kirk went a long for the ride and also gave it his all which produced his most memorable stuff. Then when James struggled to come up with anything remotely close to what he used to do, Kirk just so happens to follow that trend and produced bland, unmemorable leads. Music/Metallica used to always be the number 1 thing in James life. That took a backseat once family and a lavish lifestyle entered the picture. He used to drink and play guitar on the road 24/7 (as did Kirk) where their main family was each other for a solid decade. That's when they came up with their best stuff by a wide margin. I think people sometimes forget that the writing process and frame of mind is not what it used to be. Also, the era of still being competitive with their peers or in Kirks case coming up with blazing leads and pushing himself just isn't what it used to be. The days of staying up late drunk in the studio doing take after take until you feel that it's perfect are gone. I noticed on the making of DM that Felderman seems like a total yes man.
I don't think people understand how badly the St. Anger era broke Metallica. Kirk was the only one in the band not working through issues. He was experimenting musically, and even said explicitly that he doesn't want to do his same old run-of-the-mill guitar solos on the record. You know what happened? He was removed from the record. Not one single guitar solo. So yeah, now he understands his role in the band. If he wants to be on the record, he better give Lars what he wants, and what Lars wants are pentatonic wah wah solos.
Wasn't there an article recently where kirk said that he prewrote a ton solos and just sent them to Lars to pick what went in the song? I could have sworn he said he didn't even know what parts they chose for it. I don't know shit about writing music but it just sounds like nothing was written to suit the song
Personally I’m critical of Kirk’s playing recently. I think the strongest indictment of his playing is the fact that James really plays much more compelling solos, even without doing any of the fancy technical things that he’s railing against here.
It's the same as in art. Once you've built a name, then you don't have to work anymore, just throw and splat the paint on the canvas and people will still buy it... they're buying the signature.
Growing up I was a HUGE KH fan, his solos were LEGENDARY! All the way up to Load even, just chefs kiss. But somewhere after that he just decided to mail it in, and never looked back. Really sad.
I liked his solos on Garage Inc. as well. A big part of the problem with Kirk's solos since DM is that he might record a bunch of different improvised takes and then he just lets Lars splice them together in the control room. What you end up hearing is as much a product of what Lars likes hearing as much as anything else.
The Ride The Lightning arpeggios are incredible, if you play them out as a strummed progression you can hear the hidden influence the Beatles had on him
It's an interesting take, really. I think when it comes to working with musicians in a band, playing what works for the music in a given situation just makes the most sense. Be it a fast solo for a fast song, a slow solo for a slow song, and anything in-between. That being said, the ability and desire to do a cover and showcase how you would individually interpret the song and solo is a completely valid and fun way of doing music. That is just my two cents.
Yup. Me and a buddy ditched work in 96 or so to buy Load on its debut. We tried it out once, turned it off and went back to work. That's like ditching school and actually going back because something sucked so bad. I do get a kick out of the interview language, it sounds so much like the petty tabloid BS in the music press of the late 80s. Great video! 🤘🤘
I remember hearing in an interview that Kirk basically “improvises” his solos now rather than composing them. There’s a reason everyone will remember solos like “The Unforgiven” or “Fade to Black,” rather than solos like “lux aeterna.” I wish Kirk put more care into his solo work rather than coming up with similar licks that we’ve heard over and over again.
There's that famous scene from a Year and a Half where Bob Rock pushes Kirk to write the Unforgiven solo. Love him or hate him, Bob Rock made The Black Album the masterpiece it is today
In Kirk’s solo EP Portals, he actually composed some great guitar parts with very memorable melodies. I thought that would mean an improvement on his Metallica solos but they really haven’t been more lazy and boring then in 72 seasons
Yeah, but maybe that's where he is now. He isn't goint to leave Metallica because of how he is (he consider them his family and he doesn't like confrontation), but I think that maybe his mind has leave Metallica. That's why he put out that EP. That's where his mind is, composing different stuff. In Metallica is just improv now.
Lol !! Kirk's Portals has memorable melodies??? really?? Its a random mess stitched together with an atmospheric ambient vibe to it. Mediocre all the way. If it was accompanied to some great movie as a soundtrack - it would have been interesting ... but as an EP - rubbish ! I bet nobody - not even Kirk's biggest fans have listened to it more than 3x. (i'm being generous here)
If his EP was really so great - can you explain to me why there isn't even 1 single cover song of his EP .... not even 1 person cared to cover it. Meanwhile Metallica's 72 seasons solos have been covered by hundreds of youtubers and its barely a few weeks out!
@@neegee82 Portals is a random mess stitched together? Then what are his solos in 72 seasons? They literally all sound the same. A bunch of wah and the same pentatonic licks he’s been using for decades. No melodies whatsoever. There are a couple decent ones but aside from that hardly any of them are memorable. Maybe the fact that Metallica is the biggest metal band of all time has something to do with people covering their new songs. Or maybe it’s because Portals isn’t just solo guitar and are actual compositions with other instruments. It’s obvious he actually worked on Portals but for 72 Seasons he just improvised a few times until he decided it was good enough
@@maxlu9373 well.. it boils down to our individual tastes, but i get your arguments..... lets shake hands - a middle way - that BOTH Portals & 72 Solos are EQUALY shite! ?? :) can we agree?
Kirk: "It sounds like an exercise. I don't want to listen to an exercise every time I hear a song." At the same time, he played a "solo" that sounded exactly like someone throwing in a bunch of random excercises that had nothing to do with the song.
For me, the most memorable Metallica solos are four Horsemen, disposable heroes, and unforgiven 1. I don't listen to any of those songs often, but the solos are still ear worms... They stick in my head.
I agree with your assessment. Kirk doesn't need to become a modern metal shredder using cutting edge techniques, he just needs to quit being lazy and start putting more thought into his phrasing and composition again.
It's strange to see him saying these things. In Hardwired, he did the Spit out Bone solo and that solo is fantastic, just like his old solos. There is the sweeping part, the melodic part, the pentatonic part and they are remarkable. It is just a question of dedicating more time to get the best result. There is nothing wrong in trying to feel the song and make a solo from it, but you can do it and sound not like improvising all the time (sorry about any mistake im my writing, no english speaker here)
I have played guitar for over 30 years now. I have learned some of the most complex solos by top guitar players. I have been obsessed with shredding and with being the fastest and the heaviest. Now, after endless picked, hammered, and pulled off notes, I can safely say that the opinion of "guitar nerds" is pretty irrelevant. I include myself in the guitar nerd herd, but I have finally realized that tehcnical players will always be the silent minority. The real bread makers for any band are the regular fans that don't know squat about playing instruments (except for maybe the intro to nothing else matters) and those people make up 99% of the fan base of a band like metallica. Their untrained ears do not see any faults in Kirks soloing, and perhaps that is because there are no faults. A guitar nerd can tell that kirk has an out of tune vibrato, but I remember hearing kirks solos before I started to play guitar seriously and I enjoyed them without judgement. Everything can be turned into a snobfest. Even the way you hold your knife and fork to eat can be done "properly" or "improperly" according to some stupid made up rule, but you still enjoy your food even if you hold the utensils the "wrong" way. The exact same thing happens with music.
I’m a “regular fan with untrained ears” and I find the new album to be very boring and bland. There isn’t anything exciting about the guitar playing that gets me to want to listen to any of it a second time.
Playing guitar for a few years now and its honestly ruined some music for me. I mean, I downright cringe when I hear bad guitar playing. I already disliked most pop songs for example, but playing this instrument has honestly just made that genre unbearable.
Kirk’s being the snob. Literally clowning on people objectively better than him because he’s an insecure old man. You’re also using Ad Populum, lol. Using the opinion of the uneducated masses is never a good idea.
Yes, u absolutely nailed it with this video. I've listened to the whole album and i literally could not separate the solos from eachother. It is a very "Hammety" style to it. But man, every solo do sound like a "one taker" without afterthought. I would still rate the whole album as mid, but Kirk did not do put much time and effort to his solo sections.
To be fair, i think that Kirk's performance on 72 Seasons was his best in many years. He might not write exciting solos like in his better years, but simplicity can be good when it's on point with the music. In some of Metallica's latest albums, Kirk's leads were somewhat distracting, but they fit well in 72S.
Our ancestors had to go through unbelievable poverty in a feudal society 700 years ago so that we can all argue over a guitar solo that just sounds fun
I'm definitely not a huge fan of Kirk's solos but I do feel bad for him getting crapped on over the internet. Why tear people down over stuff like that, especially in something as personal as their artistic expression? Just let the guy be, and make your own music that sounds better to you, man.
@@mauroienna9145 Why wouldn't he be? It's pretty stupid to shit on ppl for the music they make lmao like, don't listen to it and make your own music if you're so upset
