Angel Vivaldi Accuses Metallica’s Kirk Hammett of Being “A Reason Why Guitar Solos Are Dying”

Guitar virtuoso Angel Vivaldi recently had some less-than-kind words for Metallica’s lead guitarist Kirk Hammett. After Hammett made claims about non-musicians and their capacity to remember guitar solos, Vivaldi claimed Hammett was part of the reason why solos are dying.

The back-and-forth started earlier this month when Guitar World shared a quote that Hammett gave Total Guitar, in which he stated, “I hate to say it, but non-musicians—who are the majority of the listening world—are not going to remember guitar solos.” He went on to say that no matter how good a solo is, most won’t remember them.

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Then, Metal Injection shared an article about the quote to Facebook. Vivaldi commented, “Couldn’t be further from the truth. If the solo is written by a songwriter and not a lazy guitarist relying on muscle memory, your solo will stay with people forever.”

Vivaldi Clarifies His Comments

A few days later, Vivaldi shared a screenshot of the Metal Injection post and his comment. In the post and its comments, he expanded on his thoughts. “If not for Kirk, I wouldn’t be here, so utmost respect for him,” he began. “However, the second someone succumbs to this type of thinking, ala ‘There’s no good music or memorable music these days’ you’re just screaming, ‘I’m close-minded and don’t seek new music in order to actually judge it,’ to the world.”

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Vivaldi went further in the comments. “Regarding the non-musician argument. Good and inspiring solos are what MAKE musicians. Kirk himself held a torch of responsibility when it came to flipping non-musicians into guitar shredders, myself included,” he wrote. “He himself is a reason why guitar solos are dying!”

Vivaldi pointed to how Hammett went for a “raw, improvisational approach” when writing solos for 72 Seasons. He went on to say that he used to take months to perfect solos for Metallica’s songs. However, for the most recent album, he “churned out 20-30 solos, tossed them to the band’s drummer and producer and said, ‘You guys edit them.’”

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“Honestly, this approach is perfectly fine,” Vivaldi added. “He’s earned the right to do that. But, he doesn’t have the right to say what he did. It only becomes a problem when you say ‘solos are dying’ and writing off entire generations who are jointly carrying the torch he decided to drop.”

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

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