10 Greatest Guitarists From The '80s - The Guys Who Rewrote The Book

10. Kirk Hammett

Kirk Hammett has been a major influence on the generation of shredders who followed him. Having been taught by the legendary Joe Satriani, it was a no-brainer that Hammett would turn out to be his own unique guitar monster. Metallica took a unique approach to recording for many years, where James Hetfield would handle all the rhythm guitar parts and Hammett would deliver the killer solos.

Hammett's original style was very metal oriented, as the years have passed he has added much more of a blues feel into his playing, citing the late Stevie Ray Vaughan as being a particularly big influence on his approach to soloing.

For many fans, the peak of Hammett's work was on the seminal Metallica album, 'Master Of Puppets'. That was the breakthrough release that really spotlighted his killer axe-slinging chops, although Hammett has said in later years that in some ways he'd like to go back and re-do his parts, not least as he prefers his tone now. Fans would beg to differ, however. There is a special magic about the early Hammett that can't be duplicated.