The Genesis classic that Kirk Hammett thought was “great”
(Source: Far Out / Epiphone)
To be a great guitarist you have to do a lot of things, but one of the most important aspects is having a good ear for the best music on the instrument and being constantly willing to learn new things. This means listening to the sound styles outside of the genre you play in and learning those songs to incorporate different styles into what you do. Metallica is undoubtedly one of the bands that are best at incorporating different styles and sounds into their music.
When you listen to good bands, you can listen to the range of their music across their entire catalog and hear different influences. This means that one album can sound completely different to another, but the tone can still be reminiscent of the same band. Metallica can do that in some ways; however, you can hear those influences on the same album, not different ones. That’s the magic of Kirk Hammett’s guitar playing.
Sure, Metallica is a metal band – there’s no doubt about that – but when you listen to any of their albums, you hear a huge range of influences. That means slower acoustic sections in the songs, bluesy guitar solos and heavy metal riffs – it’s all there and it makes the band so exciting.
This is thanks to Kirk Hammett’s curious attitude towards guitar music. In an interview, he admitted that he is not comfortable just listening to music of his own genre, but is always interested in hearing what other artists are doing and getting to know their songs.
“I’ll sit there and hear a song on the radio and think, ‘Wow, that sounds like it could be played really well on the guitar,'” he said. “And then I go and learn it, you know? And then I realize there are fingerings that I’m not used to. Okay… good example.”
Then Hammett starts playing “Turn it on Again” by Genesis. Genesis are a band with a lot of great guitar music that often gets overlooked. Phil Collins’ drumming was such an important part of the band that it is often associated only with that; but they have a lot more to offer. As Hammett suggests, “Turn it on again” is an example of the great guitar music being played here.
“Great guitar song,” he said. “I look for stuff like that. I look for stuff that’s interesting and different and that I can play well, you know? … They’re interesting for me to play and put my hands in positions that I’m not used to. I’m like, ‘Yeah, man, I love that kind of stuff.'”
By being open to different styles of music, artists ensure that they can incorporate different genres into their sound while still maintaining what makes them unique.
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