10 Greatest Ever Metallica Solos

3. To Live Is To Die

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7_hwgD1ugg An ongoing discussion among "'tallica" fans is which is the group's best Instrumental, and for me this is it. It has such a sorrowful and heavyhearted mood to it. It is very heavy and crushing whilst remaining somber. The guitar melodies, throughout, are gorgeous. After the clean, lo-fi guitar part, there are some really effective volume swells and then the sublime solo happens. This time it is delivered by Hetfield, not Hammett. Hammett does have a couple of really cool solo's in the song but, "Papa-Het", steals the show. It is just so full of feeling and says so much, without any need for vocals. The emotion of this song is made more poignant by the spoken word section which is just a few lines that former bassist and all round legend, Cliff Burton, who died in a tour bus crash in 1986 whilst the band were touring 'Master Of Puppets', had written and found afterwards. This was to be his last contribution and, although unspoken, you know this was a musical goodbye to their late friend. The track as a whole is just, stunning and one of the most graceful tracks the band has ever recorded. Anyone not moved by this composition simply needs to question if they have a soul. The band played a segment of this song on their subsequesnt tour for '...And Justice For All' and is captured on the 'Seattle 89' live video/dvd from the 'Live Shit: Binge and Purge' box set, originally released in 1994. In the live setting, it's breathtaking.