From the humbling beginnings the complete domination of the San Francisco Bay Area thrash scene to blowing up in ways nobody could have predicted and becoming a household name with a global fanbase of millions, Metallica have done it all. Sadly along the way they would lose one of their best friends and key songwriters in the messianic bassist Cliff Burton, however since those very furtive first days the other three members of the band - James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett - have all stayed the course, embarking on this crazy genre-defining, risk-taking adventure together. Depending on your entry point over the years you may know them as one of The Big Four of thrash metal, 'those guys who wrote Enter Sandman', a group of Hawaiian shirt-wearing cigar-chompers who loved hard rock and blues, or just an ever-present behemoth of metal history. You'd be forgiven for thinking that due to his long-time tenure with the band, Kirk would have pigeonholed himself into a particular style of play over the years like other heavyweights in the genre like Slayer's Kerry King, and although he does have a bucketload of signature riffs and scales, it's only when you look over his entire body of work that a vast scope of influences and styles starts to emerge.
10. That Was Just Your Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l19OATYF-c Following one of the most divisive albums in all of metal with St. Anger, it was over to 2008's Death Magnetic to 'prove' somewhat that the band could deliver a solid outing on the level of either the blues-tinged 90's material, or the thrashier work they'd built their name on. So come Magnetic's launch, fans sat with baited breath as that first song trickled in... the symbolic heartbeat coming out of the darkness showing the band were still going, then a fantastically tight riff that screamed Hetfield within the first few seconds. So far so very, very good. Then that buildup to the solo, everyone going hell for leather underneath as the vocals drop out and a few quick muted-string stabs set the stage for Hammett to come flying in - the resulting smattering of notes being exactly what every fan needed. For guitarists reading; try and forget how the piece itself is played and transport yourself back to that mindset before you studied such things - where you'd hear something and just be totally blown away. Metallica were back, and they weren't just hitting the the ground running, it was a Flash-like sprint right from the first song.
