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FORGOTTEN HISTORY: 5 | History Defined

“The deepest-ever dive into the Metallica star’s eclectic guitar collection”: Kirk Hammett and Gibson Publishing team up for epic coffee-table book

Available in Standard, Deluxe and Custom Editions, this weighty 400-pager is essential for Metallica gear heads and tells the story behind Hammett's most-famous guitars

MusicRadar

“It was that fusion of funk and rock. It gave birth to Michael Jackson doing his incredible stuff!”: Brian May on a killer Queen song that blew away the King of Pop - and Kirk Hammett!

“It was designed to be uniquely a dance track"

MusicRadar

"You can only be what the public thinks you are for so long before it becomes boring": The story of how Metallica got themselves an orchestra – and the album that followed

With Metallica’s S&M reaching the grand old age of 25, we look back at how, and why, the world’s leading metal band teamed up with – shock, horror – the San Francisco Symphony

Metal Hammer

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“I don’t think Metallica wants to say I am an original member”: Why Metallica’s forgotten guitarist believes he isn’t considered the heavy metal legends’ OG guitar player

Lloyd Grant jammed with Lars Ulrich and helped record an early demo of Hit the Lights – but isn’t recognized as an original member of Metallica

Guitar World

“Please tell the bass players of the world to go easy on me. I did my best to represent you well!” Bob Rock made bass history on Metallica’s St. Anger – quite a feat, since he “never really played bass” before

Producer Bob Rock on making St. Anger, the legacy of Cliff Burton and why he used Loverboy’s bass guitar on every track

Guitar World

“Greeny is getting a bit jealous!” Kirk Hammett sent Jack White his signature Gibson Les Paul – and received the White Stripes legend’s wild Fender Triplecaster in return

The Metallica guitarist, who sent White one of his Greeny Les Pauls, seemingly can’t put down the innovative Telecaster revamp

Guitar World

“At one point he brings out his death ray and starts randomly firing it at people. It’s just totally insane!”: Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett’s five favourite cult horror movie villains

Kirk Hammett knows his horror – and these are his ultimate movie villains

Metal Hammer

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“On Load and ReLoad we tried to get a little looser, a little bluesier. Greasy is the word”: Watch James Hetfield lead Metallica in a swampy blues version of Fuel with a Danelectro 58 Longhorn Baritone

In 2009, Hetfield told us that the Fuel era was all about loosening up and on Friday night at the Helping Hands charity gig he made good on it as Metallica reimagined Fuel, slower and lower

MusicRadar

“A good heavy metal song is like a good horror movie, and vice versa. Heavy metal sounds evil and horror movies are evil!“: Inside Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett’s lifelong love of horror

When it comes to horror Metallica’s Kirk Hammett is the man

Metal Hammer

“I went to Lars’ house, and he played me the tape of Hit the Lights. I said, ‘This song sucks. You need more guitar solos’”: They forged a new sound, and in 10 years, they were the biggest band in the world

The story of Metallica's meteoric rise – as told by the people who were there, including Dave Mustaine, Scott Ian, Kerry King, Gary Holt, and, of course, Metallica themselves

Guitar World

“Reveal coming soon”: At long lost, is Gibson finally working on James Hetfield signature guitars?

The Metallica frontman is poised to receive a Gibson Custom Shop creation that pays homage to his famed ‘So What’ 1984 Explorer. Could signature guitars be next?

Guitar World

“It was finally time to see if we could do a second build of this revered Boogie”: The iconic Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ is officially back – 40 years after the holy grail high-gain amp was last produced

Beloved by James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, John Petrucci, Steve Lukather and countless others, the original IIC+ is one of the most coveted amps ever created… and now it has finally been revived

Guitar World

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett’s signature Gibson Flying V is available with $6000 off at Sweetwater... and frankly, Nothing Else Matters any more

Buy the Metallica lead guitarist’s signature model for $8,999 in Sweetwater's Black Friday sale (wah-wah pedal not included)

Metal Hammer

“Cliff was the strongest of the four of us emotionally”: Lars Ulrich on how Metallica recovered from the death of bassist Cliff Burton

And how they chose Cliff’s replacement among 60 candidates

MusicRadar

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“I’m all about Dimebag and Zakk Wylde!”: Tetrarch guitarist Diamond Rowe salutes the giants of metal

Plus: the secret to her aggressive tones

Metal Hammer

“There was a very real chance that James wouldn’t be coming back. And all that time we spent waiting was horrible”: The tumultuous inside story of Metallica’s St Anger album

In 2003, Metal Hammer flew to New York to interview Metallica ahead of St Anger. We found a band who were bruised, battered but defiant

MusicRadar

“Add some gain and it’s got this weird kind of chainsaw distortion that I love... of course I feel in love with it”: Kirk Hammett has a second Les Paul that was previously owned by Gary Moore – and Moore said it sounded even better than Greeny

The Metallica lead guitarist offers Mark Agnesi a tour of his epic guitar collection on GibsonTV, with a coffee table book to follow. But will we ever see his ESP KH-1 with the onboard theremin?

Guitar World

“I gave my friend a call and said, ‘What have you got for me today?’ He goes, ‘Oh, I have a guitar for you…’” How Kirk Hammett ended up in possession of the legendary ‘Greeny’ Les Paul – and why he had no interest in it at first

The Metallica guitarist never intended to buy Peter Green and Gary Moore's iconic single-cut – but changed his mind once he finally got his hands on it

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MusicRadar

“Greeny is my Excalibur!”: Metallica’s Kirk Hammett says he’s still in love with that famous guitar

He calls it “a magic piece of wood”

Louder

"His kid goes to our kid’s school, he's a lovely guy": how Metallica's Robert Trujillo and James singer Tim Booth became unexpected lunch buddies

The James frontman has been hanging out with the Metallica man in LA

Guitar World

“I can’t stop being bewildered by all these people who say, ‘That guy sucks!’ I’ve got news for you – you don’t get to where you’re at if you suck! Okay?” Kirk Hammett on why bad solos are dying – and dealing with armchair guitar critics

Towards the end of 2023, we caught up with Metallica's affable lead guitarist to take stock of one of the greatest years in the Bay Area metal behemoth's history, and to talk guitars, songwriting and gear

Latin Times

From 'metal' to banda: Metallica thrills Mexico with their cover of "La Chona"

Metallica thrills Mexico with their cover of "La Chona", during their first show after seven years without a show there

Metal Hammer

"You had guys who would jump into the crowd and then walk across people’s heads." Inside the year that turned thrash metal into a global phenomenon

From Anthrax's Fistfull Of Metal to Exodus's Bonded By Blood and Metallica's Ride The Lightning, 1984 was the year thrash broke big

MusicRadar

"To my ears, it sounds like me when I was 15 years old": Michael Schenker reveals how he hears his influence on Kirk Hammett's playing in Metallica

"People who copy that particular style will sound a little undeveloped because my vibrato wasn’t right"

Metal Hammer

Fun fact of the day: Metallica use or give away 6,000 guitar picks a night

The metal superstars also haul 64 guitars around on tour and make their way through 25 drumsticks per show

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