I’ve been listening through a lot of Metallica lately and my favorite solo is still unchanged. Dyers Eve. What a totally badass perfectly constructed solo for a perfectly structured song. Few solos actually get me pumped but this is one of them.
Starts at 3:20
I’m curious though, what are other’s favorites?
I’m not really looking to argue whether he is good or over rated etc… Im a guitar player and already know Kirk Hammett is known for tasteful but pretty basically constructed guitar solos. I’m more interested in which ones you like.
[keep in mind that I’m an old folkie guy, who isn’t usually blown away by anything metal] [but…]
Okay, that whole song revised my categorization of Metallica. Or, should I say, made me realize they don’t fit any one category. That song is almost Prog. Can’t be reduced to “Thrash Metal” or “Speed Metal”.
And that solo has really mature music theory behind it, especially the modal scales around the four minute mark… almost a little like Eric Johnson or Steve Howe or David Gilmour.
I’d argue that Metallica was a Prog metal band before people really recognised such a thing. Certainly Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning and to a lesser Extent, And Justice for All.
The defining traits of a prog band would be: technical expertise with instrumental solos, long songs and songs whose lyrics mean something. Metallica had those all.
