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In the spring of 1983, Hammett received
a phone call from the boys in Metallica — which included singer/guitarist
James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, and bassist Cliff Burton
— asking if he'd be interested in trying out for the band (their
original guitarist, Dave Mustaine, was about to be booted due
to erratic behavior). The group arranged for Hammett to fly out
to their new home base of New York, where he passed the test after
a single run-through of their early classic anthem, "Seek & Destroy,"
with Burton comparing Hammett's playing to such Euro-metal guitarists
as Michael Schenker and Ritchie Blackmore — two of the band's
fav players. The new lineup instantly began work on their debut
album, Kill 'Em All, issued the same year — since Hammett joined
just a short while earlier, he didn't have a chance to put his
own stamp on the material, opting instead to stick to the riffs
and approach that Mustaine had already laid down. This would change
on the band's next two releases, 1984's Ride the Lightning and
1986's Master of Puppets, as Hammett developed his own style on
what many consider to be among metal's all-time great albums.
Metallica was fast becoming one of metal's premier bands, yet
Burton's tragic death mid-tour in September of 1986 almost ended
the group. With former Flotsam & Jetsam bassist Jason Newsted
taking Burton's place, Metallica soldiered on, issuing two mega-hit
albums, 1988's And Justice for All and 1991's self-titled release,
and establishing themselves as one of rock's biggest acts.
Further sold-out tours and hit releases continued throughout the
'90s — 1996's Load, 1997's Reload, 1998's Garage Inc, and 1999's
S&M — as the group reinvented their former image from long-haired
heavy metallists to snappily-dressed, short-haired GQ men (Hammett
in particular even wore eyeliner and nail polish around this time,
something that would have warranted automatic termination from
the band a decade earlier!). Throughout the '90s, Kirk's guitar
playing also shifted focus from his early metal roots to a more
earthy (almost bluesy) Jimi Hendrix-esque style, as Hammett's
own "signature series" line of six-strings were manufactured through
the ESP guitar company.
This bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
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