Metallica's Kirk Hammett Reveals The Only Band That He And James Hetfield Love

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Had Big Ambitions For The Black Album

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett says that the band had big ambitions for the Black Album right from the start.

Hammett said this when interviewed for the new issue of Classic Rock.

The band had “sights set on bigger things” – Hammett

On the album itself, Kirk Hammett said that the band had huge plans for this record, right from the get go.

We didn’t want to go down the same progressive, demanding route”, he said.

“We had our sights set on bigger things. You have to remember that there had been some mega albums around that time – Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Bruce Springsteen… eight million, nine million copies sold. And we wanted that. It’s obvious. We wanted a Back In Black”.
“Just f*****g appeared”

“The Enter Sandman riff was a riff that just fucking appeared”, Hammett claimed. “It was three o’clock in the morning, I was sitting in my bedroom. People say: ‘What were you doing up at three o’clock in the morning?’ Well, I was still in tour mode”.

Kirk continued, “I was playing my guitar, I had nothing else to do. I’d been listening to Soundgarden all day. They were a band that me and James loved. I was just trying to capture that feel. That riff came out of nowhere”.

Hammett also added, “The best parts of that album kind of just wrote themselves,” he continues. “Solos and music and songs felt like they just appeared out of nowhere. It was like the universe handed it to us on a platter. Not like the first four albums”.

“It’s a cultural force in itself”, he declared. “As much as modern culture changes and morphs, there’s something within that album that continues to resonate around the world. And I mean the world, because it’s big everywhere”.
The Black Album

This month marked 30 years since The Black Album came out.

Released in 1991, the album sent Metallica into the super league. It sold 35 million copies worldwide, with 17 million sold in the US. The album debuted at number 1 in the UK, US and Germany.

To mark this milestone, Metallica have been included a special reissuing along with a release of limited edition trainers. More here and here.

On top of this, Metallica also announced that a special eight episode podcast will be launched soon, with band members speaking about the makeing of the Black Album.

“Coming soon… The Metallica Podcast! We’re starting with eight episodes taking a look behind the scenes at “The Black Album”, the band tweeted last week.

Metallica: Enter Sandman (Official Music Video)

Kirk Hammett Reveals The Only Band That He And James Hetfield Love

Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett named the band that he and James Hetfield liked listening to even though they generally have different musical tastes during his interview with Classic Rock.

As you may know, Kirk Hammett had shared his list of favorite bands and songs in one of his previous interviews. The list includes Scorpions, Radiohead, Alice in Chains, and Deep Purple, but the fans know that Hammett’s favorite band is the French metal band Gojira.

On the contrary, his longtime friend and bandmate, James Hetfield, prefers listening to old-school metal bands such as Ghost, Tank, Death Angel, and High on Fire. So, his top ten list is very different from Hammett’s list, which consists of next-generation rock and metal bands.

Even though it can be said that Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield share different music tastes, they both love listening to Soundgarden’s songs. In his interview, Hammett revealed that they were listening to them all the time while working on ‘The Black Album.’

In Hammett’s words, he said:

“I’d been listening to Soundgarden all day. They were a band that I and James loved. I was just trying to capture that feel. That riff came out of nowhere.

The best parts of that album kind of just wrote themselves. Solos and music and songs felt like they just appeared out of nowhere. It was like the universe handed it to us on a platter. Not like the first four albums.”

Consequently, Soundgarden became a band that both Hammett and James Hetfield enjoyed despite the frontman’s interest in old-school metal and the guitarist’s love for new metal and rock bands.

Kirk Hammett was listening to Soundgarden when he created ‘Enter Sandman’ riff

Kirk Hammett has revealed he had been listening to Seattle grunge rockers Soundgarden “all day” when he came up with the infamous riff on ‘Enter Sandman’.

In a recent interview with Classic Rock, Metallica guitarist Hammett discussed the band’s iconic 1991 classic Black Album.
“We didn’t want to go down the same progressive, demanding route. We had our sights set on bigger things,” Hammett explained of the band’s mindset at the time.

“You have to remember that there had been some mega albums around that time – Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Bruce Springsteen – eight million, nine million copies sold. And we wanted that.

“It’s obvious. We wanted a Back in Black.”

Hammett continued: “The ‘Enter Sandman’ riff was a riff that just fucking appeared. It was three o’clock in the morning, I was sitting in my bedroom.

“People say, ‘What were you doing up at three o’clock in the morning?’ Well, I was still in tour mode. I was playing my guitar, I had nothing else to do.

Metallica is an American heavy metal band

The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career.

The band’s fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding “big four” bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Metallica’s current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine (who went on to form Megadeth after being fired from the band) and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton (who died in a bus accident in Sweden in 1986) and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.

Kirk Hammett

Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist and a contributing songwriter for heavy metal band Metallica since 1983.

Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, Hammett was ranked 11th on Rolling Stone’s list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

In 2009, Hammett was ranked number 15 in Joel McIver’s book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.

How much is Kirk Hammett worth?

As of 2021, the net worth of Kirk Hammett is $200 million.

How many guitars does Kirk Hammett own?

Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett spoke in an interview before O2 London show and revealed how many guitars does he own. He said: “I think I own somewhere around 150, but I stopped counting a long time ago. A lot of those guitars are touring guitars that I use almost exclusively for certain songs on tour.

James Hetfield

James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band Metallica.

He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionally performs lead guitar duties and solos, both live and in the studio. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering an advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler.

Metallica has won nine Grammy Awards and released ten studio albums, three live albums, four extended plays and 24 singles.

What religion is James Hetfield?

His parents divorced in 1976 when Hetfield was 13. They were very strict Christian Scientists, and in accordance with their beliefs, they strongly disapproved of medicine or any other medical treatment and remained loyal to their faith, even as Cynthia was dying from cancer.

What happened to James from Metallica?

James Hetfield‘s return to rehab in September 2019 came as a complete surprise to his Metallica bandmates, the other members recently revealed. The band canceled a run of tour dates, telling fans, “As most of you probably know, our brother James has been struggling with addiction on and off for many years.

Did James Hetfield delete his Instagram?

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield recently spoke to The Canadian Press about his decision to abandon his Instagram profile more than three years ago after posting regularly on the photo-sharing social media site for close to twelve months.

What is the meaning behind Enter Sandman?

“Enter Sandman” is considered to be Metallica’s singiture song, and follows the theme of childhood nightmares, with a monster figure named “Sandman”. … So, the guy in the song tells this little kid that and he kinda freaks. He can’t sleep after that and it works the opposite way.

Is Enter Sandman easy to play?

Enter Sandman’s pretty easy, given he has rhythm to begin with. This. If your cousin is starting to play the instrument, make sure that he starts off playing right. 2 tone power chords should be the least of the beginner guitarist’s worries.

Why is Enter Sandman so good?

“Enter Sandman,” overexposed as it might be, is still fantastic. It’s commercial heavy metal at its finest; it’s the King Lear of jock jams. And before we get too bogged down by anything else, “Enter Sandman” is great because of the guitar riff. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett’s riff.