Reb beach bagging on hammet

[Grandturk]

While he was taking a solo I heard the audience gasp--he was that good!

People do that when I play, too! Sweet!

[jim777]

i saw winger way back and the best thing about the show was the drum solo i think it was the dude from the dregs? well he kicked fucking ass.

Rod Morgenstein from The Dixie Dregs/Dregs/Steve Morse Band, yeah. In my opinion he was way out of Winger's league, but his wife Michelle was really sick and I think he needed the funds that an MTV type act would bring. You never know, the money from the Winger gig might have actually kept her alive a little longer (she died of cancer in '05 after a 22 year fight) A great musician and a nicer guy. You should hear him on the Steve Morse Band's disk "The Introduction".

I don't have a problem with any of the guys in either band, but Rod is a special musician IMHO.

[VitaminG]

Ive felt exactly like Reb for 20 years! Kirk does suck! Even James has
had to show him how do do riffs! He's a journeyman guitarist at best.
How he took lessons from Satch, and did nothing with them, (can you
say Steve Vai"?) baffles me!

how can you say that? You can hear the influence of those lessons in loads of his solos.

now: "a bar of that practice exercise; a bar of this practice lick; two beats of this practice shape; bend to finish"

in all fairness though, KH is a much better guitarist than me. Faster, more articulate, more hair. My bending & vibrato is better though.

[Grahf]

meh, to me it sounds like he's just kind of joking. all this backlash is hilarious though.

[Trussrod]

I saw Reb perform at a Halloween party hosted by a local radio station years ago. He performed with the house band for one or two numbers. While he was taking a solo I heard the audience gasp--he was that good!

Reb's a virtuoso, Kirk isn't. It's that simple and both prove it every time they pick up a guitar.

[Robert Burns]

If you compare the two purely on ability, Reb wins hands down. Is this even a contest? Writing, technique, theory knowledge, etc... he wins easily and is justified in making the comments he has. If you listen to both player's work, its obvious that Reb still works on his playing and hasn't lost a step. Kirk's playing has gone downhill since Justice. For those of you that talk about songwriting, Kirk wasn't even a part of the Metallica songwriting team until Load/Reload/St. Anger. Prior to that, the big thing Kirk contributed was the main riff to Enter Sandman, and even that had to be honed by Lars and James (watch the classic albums episode featuring the Black Album).

When I was in my teens I though Hammet was great, but I've realized that he's really not. BUT he is a rich, famous guitar player so props to him for hanging in there and living a life I could only dream of having.

As far as Winger is concerned, I didn't really like them when they were "popular", but I do remember digging Seventeen. I though that solo was amazing. I was fortunate to see them a couple of years ago and they were EXCELLENT. Everybody in that band can play their ass off and they do have quite a few catchy songs. I was really impressed.

Though I mainly listen to hard rock/metal, I could care less about image or style when it comes to music... if it sounds good, it is good.

****** Not only are you RIGHT...but your better than Kirk !!

[Robert Burns]

Just to add fuel to the fire, our great British press have listed Kirk Hammet as the 6th best guitarist over the past 30 years....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8611997.stm

Yeah, and they probably have Pete Townsend as #1? LOL:ROTF:

[Robert Burns]

Ive felt exactly like Reb for 20 years! Kirk does suck! Even James has
had to show him how do do riffs! He's a journeyman guitarist at best.
How he took lessons from Satch, and did nothing with them, (can you
say Steve Vai"?) baffles me! Heck Matt on this forum smokes Kirks ass!
Mosh does too! Reb is a multitalented virtouso imo... he can go from
Winger to Dokken..to Chaka Kahn! Kirk would have problems sitting in
with Wheezer! :-)) Reb can play jazz fusion.. Country, blues...shred
and Pop. I put him right up there with Michael Landau ..

[laurens]

The posts in this thread are truly hilarious. It always amazes me how much attention the playing ability of Hammett gets. I personally think that discussions about the technical ability of a player is utterly boring (although this thread turned out quite funny though), to me it is all about the songs themselves and whatever works for that song.

Metal has been a little narrowminded when it comes to the poser thing and prescribed looks, but that video of Metallica was just a good joke. The song Damage Inc. was also about trashing the tourbus of Wham if I remember correctly. Reb failed to see the humor in that and still cries about it so many years later, come on! But let me help you guys out with the debate, here is a recent quote from an interview with Kirk Hammett in April's issue of Total Guitar:

Q: WHat do think it is about you and your playing that TG readers respond to?
A: My devillish good looks? I don't know man. I was playing yesterday and I was thinking, "God, I suck!". I try to be the best guitarist that I possibly can be. I can't figure out to this day why people like my playing.

There you have it. Good old Kirk looks into the mirror and is open about it. You gotta have respect for it.

End of thread!

[darrellm]

Just to add fuel to the fire, our great British press have listed Kirk Hammet as the 6th best guitarist over the past 30 years....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8611997.stm

[Trem]

why is this thread still alive...

[triplehold]

Great comments. It is what it is. You can go to the most remote parts of the world and if you say "Metallica" they will smile and nod appreciatively.

[RacerX]

Zamfir rocks!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gheorghe_Zamfir

Plus, he kinda looks like Dracula (he is from Wallachia, Romania):

http://www.gheorghezamfir.eu/

[nor]

[RacerX]

Hey man, you lay off Zamfir, man!