{"id":22578,"date":"2025-03-23T19:34:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-23T19:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/23\/kirk-hammett-has-a-solo-lp-coming-and-767-new-riffs-for-metallica\/"},"modified":"2025-03-23T19:34:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-23T19:34:13","slug":"kirk-hammett-has-a-solo-lp-coming-and-767-new-riffs-for-metallica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/23\/kirk-hammett-has-a-solo-lp-coming-and-767-new-riffs-for-metallica\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirk Hammett Has a Solo LP Coming \u2014 and 767 New Riffs for Metallica"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/kirk-hammett\/\" id=\"auto-tag_kirk-hammett\" data-tag=\"kirk-hammett\">Kirk Hammett<\/a> is hard at work on his first-ever full length solo album, and unlike his debut <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/metallica-kirk-hammett-portals-interview-1340550\/\">solo EP<\/a>, 2022\u2019s <em>Portals<\/em>, it will likely feature guest vocalists, he reveals in the new episode of our <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/rolling-stone-music-now\/\" id=\"auto-tag_rolling-stone-music-now\" data-tag=\"rolling-stone-music-now\">Rolling Stone Music Now<\/a><\/em> podcast. He also has a massive collection of brand-new riffs for the next <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/metallica\/\" id=\"auto-tag_metallica\" data-tag=\"metallica\">Metallica<\/a> album, which he expects the band to start work on within a year, shortly after the end of their current tour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.megaphone.fm\/WWO5373226980\" frameborder=\"no\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>Hammett has a new book out, <em>The Collection: Kirk Hammett<\/em>, which shows off his stunning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/metallica-kirk-hammet-book-guitar-collection-1235299681\/\">collection<\/a> of vintage guitars, and to mark its release, he sat down for a career-spanning new interview. To hear the whole episode, go <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/link.chtbl.com\/iw8-QbwN\">here<\/a> for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/rolling-stone-music-now\/id1078431985\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> or <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0jCfnXfdYhwIM2I4x7SxZx\">Spotify<\/a>, or just press play above. Here are some highlights from the discussion:<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>He doesn\u2019t know how many guitars he owns<\/strong>: \u201cI made it a point a long time ago not to count,\u201d he says. \u201cThe number bums me out, \u2019cause I can\u2019t play \u2019em all. And so over the years, I\u2019ve been trying to bring that number down because it drives me crazy knowing that there\u2019s guitars sitting in cases that never get played. I have a core collection of about 40 to 50 guitars I try to play all the time. And those are my most favorite guitars. And most of them are in the book.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>He\u2019s amassed a staggering number of new riffs<\/strong> <strong>for the next Metallica album:<\/strong> \u201cI have 767 new ones for the next album,\u201d he says. It is such a nightmare going through this stuff, too. And I\u2019m the one responsible for all of it and I can\u2019t do it\u2026. I don\u2019t foresee us starting the next album for at least another year because we\u2019re still finishing the <em>72 Seasons<\/em> tour. Once we fully finish this and go to all the outlying places like Asia and Australia and New Zealand, I think we\u2019re gonna take a little bit of a break, not too much of one, and then we\u2019re gonna get right back into it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>A solo album is in the works<\/strong>. \u201cI\u2019m just actively getting ideas together for my [first] solo album,\u201d he says.  \u201cI guess the best way to describe it is it\u2019s gonna be a fusion of all sorts of styles\u2026.  All of a sudden I\u2019m writing classical progressions, and all of a sudden I\u2019m writing more heavy stuff and all of a sudden I\u2019m writing like a funk thing\u2026. There will be vocals because the songs that I wrote scream for vocals this time around. So I\u2019m like, okay, who\u2019s gonna be doing the vocals? I don\u2019t know. I hope <em>I\u2019m<\/em> not\u2014I already have too much to do on stage\u2026 I have an instrumental piece that to me sounds like it\u2019s 2000 years old called \u2018The Mysterion.\u2019 It\u2019s based on all this stuff that I\u2019ve been reading, the ancient Greek texts, and it\u2019s amazing to me because I wouldn\u2019t have had this instrumental if I didn\u2019t start reading these ancient texts.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>He\u2019s intrigued by the suggestion that Metallica could re-explore their Nineties sound<\/strong>. \u201cWho knows? We might just say, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s go back to the Nineties again. It\u2019s not a bad idea! We haven\u2019t said that to each other yet. And it\u2019s interesting because when<em> Load<\/em> and <em>Reload<\/em> came out, there was a lot of backlash. But nowadays I run into fans and they love that era. We play \u2018Fuel\u2019 and people go nuts. We play \u2018Until It Sleeps\u2019 and people know every word. It\u2019s kind of like how when I was a teenager, I listened to all the Zeppelin albums except <em>Zeppelin III <\/em>because it was more acoustic and I just wanted the high-energy aggressive stuff. But over time I really came to embrace <em>Zeppelin III a<\/em>nd how wonderful it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>He has fond memories of partying with the late Marianne Faithfull<\/strong>, <strong>who sang on \u201cThe Memory Remains.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cLars and I, we loved Marianne and we would hang out with her,\u201d he says. \u201cOne time Lars and I went out to dinner with her and Anita Pallenberg, Keith Richards\u2019 first wife. And boy, what a dinner that was. And the stories we heard. Anita and Marianne really liked hanging with Lars and I, because we kept up with them. Every drink, every line, everything. We did a lot of drugs that night.  Marianne was amazing, man. She never slowed down.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Working with Lou Reed on <em>Lulu <\/em>was a profound experience<\/strong>: \u201cThat album means so much to me for a number of reasons,\u201d Hammett says. \u201cThe lyrics are amazing. It\u2019s poetry from track to track. I\u2019m a huge Lou Reed fan. To be able to hang out with him and work with him musically meant so much. And the track \u2018Junior Dad\u2019 \u2014 I can\u2019t listen to it, man. Brings me to tears. I remember when Lou said, \u2018I have a song for you and I want this to be on the album.\u2019 And he played it for James and I. And by the end of the song, I looked at James, and James looked at me and we both had tears in our eyes. Then Lou Reed came in and saw us both crying in the kitchen. He\u2019s smiling and he said, \u2018I got you, didn\u2019t I?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Reed wasn\u2019t a fan of guitar solos<\/strong>: \u201cI remember I started doing some wah-wah stuff and he just went up to the mic and said, \u2018No,&#8217;\u201d Hammett recalls.  \u201cI was like, \u2018What?\u2019 And he goes, \u2018No guitar solos.\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018Okay.\u2019 And then I remember at one point I went to a Phrygian dominant, you know, it\u2019s kind of eastern sounding scale. And he went up to the mic and said, \u2018No belly dancing music.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>At 62, Hammett is still creatively fired up<\/strong>: \u201cI\u2019m 62 years old, and a lot of artists, when they\u2019re 62 years old, they\u2019re winding things down. I feel like I\u2019m still climbing the summit. Haven\u2019t reached the top of the mountain yet. Haven\u2019t reached the capstone of the pyramid. Still going up, man. I still feel like I\u2019m improving and I still have a lot of creative momentum and energy in me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>His creative process is purely spontaneous now<\/strong>. \u201cThe stuff I don\u2019t think about is usually the best stuff because it just comes to me,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if it just comes to me in a natural way, then there\u2019s an organic sort of feel to it. And so that\u2019s how I come up with everything these days. I just sit there with my guitar and see what happens. I refuse to work hard on anything. And when I mean by working hard, just analyzing it and trying to go, \u2018Oh, if I change this note and this has to work with this.\u2019 It feels like I\u2019m doing algebra afterwards. I don\u2019t want it. I failed algebra two years in a row. I\u2019m not gonna wanna do algebra when it comes to music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>He believes Metallica can continue indefinitely as long as they stay healthy<\/strong>: \u201cA lot of it has to do with personal health,\u201d he says. \u201cI think we\u2019re all pretty healthy and pretty fit. And sometimes I freaking forget how old I am \u2019cause I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m 62 years old. I feel like I\u2019m still somewhere in my thirties and, you know, I go out and surf, I bike, I run, I walk and I do all sorts of crazy stuff physically. I\u2019m still able to do everything. I do yoga every day, I meditate every day. I don\u2019t feel like I am winding down. If anything, things are ramping up around me. And I know that I\u2019m not the only band member that feels this way. Lars is in really great shape, too. As long as we have our health and our mind, I think we can just keep on going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>He has thoughts on Polyphia guitarist Tim Henson<\/strong> <strong>labeling traditional lead-guitar technique \u201cboomer bends.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cI love that,\u201d he says. \u201cBut you know, is he gonna like, call Eddie Van Halen a boomer guitar player there? I really like [Henson\u2019s] style. It\u2019s really unique, and in terms of technique, it\u2019s amazing. But then, it\u2019s the age-old question, how relatable is it? It\u2019s good to listen to like three or four times. Can you really relate? Sometimes people just wanna listen to music and not feel challenged. Sometimes people just want to feel raw emotion. Is he hitting on raw emotion? No. It\u2019s so complicated. It\u2019s a very distinct emotion that he\u2019s shooting for and therefore, how accessible is it on a larger scale? Well, it\u2019s only accessible to people who like that or can understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDownload and subscribe to <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2018s weekly podcast, <em>Rolling Stone Music Now<\/em> hosted by Brian Hiatt, on <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/rolling-stone-music-now\/id1078431985\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> or<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0jCfnXfdYhwIM2I4x7SxZx\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"> Spotify<\/a> (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out six years\u2019 worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, SZA, Questlove, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone\u2019s critics and reporters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<span id=\"docs-internal-guid-b93d95c7-7fff-8dfe-799f-3132f8031031\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;font-family: Arial, sans-serif;background-color: transparent;vertical-align: baseline\">:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/kirk-hammett-book-solo-album-metallica-podcast-interview-1235301767\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kirk Hammett is hard at work on his first-ever full length solo album, and unlike his debut solo EP, 2022\u2019s Portals, it will likely&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":22579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}