Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Contemplates a Solo Album
I went to the doctor recently, and he gave me some bad news: I am deficient in both vitamin D, from a lack of sunlight, and wah, from lack of listening to guitarists who use the wah. The lack of vitamin D, eh, whatever, if I die a pasty, grumpy fuck, c’est la vie. But the lack of wah is clearly a serious issue! Consequently, for the past few weeks, I’ve pretty much had Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child,” Joe Satriani’s “Surfing with the Alien,” and every Metallica album on repeat, but to be honest, they’re starting to get played out.
Luckily, Kirk Hammett, guitarist for Metallica and lobbyist for Big Wah, is contemplating making a solo album! Says the thrash legends’ gentlest spirit in a new interview with Metal Hammer:
“I have so much material sitting around that’s obviously not Metallica stuff, and that pile gets bigger and bigger. One of these days when it feels right… I still feel I have so much to give Metallica. When that feels more complete, maybe I’ll think about doing that other stuff. It would not look like a metal album at all. It’ll be something so weird and far-ranging in styles, but cohesive at the same time. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of us did some solo, independent, autonomous sort of thing. I think it’s healthy, and if anything, when you come back to the band you’d come back with more enthusiasm. It’d feel like going on a little camping trip, and it’s always good to come back home to a nice warm bed!”
So both myself and other Wah-Deficients like me just have to hang in there until Kirk feels like he has nothing left to give to Metallica and we’ll be off to the races! Of course, that day might come a lot sooner if Metallica made albums more frequently, and Kirk didn’t leave all his demos in a cab, and someone had said “Hey fellas maybe this Lou Reed album is a bad idea,” but still. I think we can look forward to Metallica’s Kirk Hammett’s The Kirk Hammett Project Featuring Kirk Hammett from Metallica circa 2030, 2035, tops.
On a side note… Say what you want about Phil Towle — he’s not a licensed therapist, he’s creepy, his New Age hand-holding is agitating, he has horrible taste in sweaters, etc. — but you gotta give the guy some credit: once upon a time, being a member of Metallica and contemplating participation in anything that wasn’t Metallica was grounds for firing. Now Hammett is saying that he thinks all the members of Metallica might someday take on side-projects. Jason Newsted must be tearing his hair out.
