Kirk Lee Hammett is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Prior to joining Metallica, he co-formed the thrash metal band Exodus in 1979. In 2003, Hammett, along with bandmate James Hetfield, was ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's list of Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In 2009, Hammett was ranked number 15 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.
Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 27, 1984, by the independent record label Megaforce Records. The album was recorded in three weeks with producer Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark. The artwork, based on a concept by the band, depicts an electric chair being struck by lightning flowing from the band logo. The title was taken from a passage in Stephen King's novel The Stand, in which a character uses the phrase to refer to execution by electric chair.
Load is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on June 4, 1996, by Elektra Records in the United States and by Vertigo Records internationally. The album showed more of a hard rock side of Metallica than the band's typical thrash metal style, which alienated much of the band's fanbase. It also featured influences from genres such as Southern rock, blues rock, country rock, and alternative rock. Drummer Lars Ulrich said about Load's more exploratory nature, "This album and what we're doing with it – that, to me, is what Metallica are all about: exploring different things. The minute you stop exploring, then just sit down and fucking die." At 79 minutes, Load is Metallica's longest studio album.
Kill 'Em All is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, through the independent label Megaforce Records. After forming in 1981, Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los Angeles. They recorded several demos to gain attention from club owners and eventually relocated to San Francisco to secure the services of bassist Cliff Burton. The group's No Life 'til Leather demo tape (1982) was noticed by Megaforce label head Jon Zazula, who signed them and provided a budget of $15,000 for recording. The album was recorded in May with producer Paul Curcio at the Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. It was originally intended to be titled Metal Up Your Ass, with cover art featuring a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl. Zazula convinced the band to change the name because distributors feared that releasing an album with such an offensive title and artwork would diminish its chances of commercial success.
The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited is the first extended play by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on August 21, 1987, by Elektra Records. It consists of covers of late-'70s and early-'80s new wave of British heavy metal bands and punk rock music rehearsed in Lars Ulrich's soundproofed garage and then recorded in Los Angeles over the course of six days. It is the group's first release following the death of bassist Cliff Burton and the first to feature his successor, Jason Newsted.
"One" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, released as the third and final single from the band's fourth studio album, ...And Justice for All (1988). Written by band members James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, the song portrays a World War I soldier who is severely wounded—arms, legs and jaw blown off by a landmine, blind and unable to speak or move—begging God to take his life. In the music video, attempting to communicate with the hospital staff he jolts in his bed, spelling SOS in Morse code. Production of the song was done by the band alongside Flemming Rasmussen. The song was the band's first to chart in the U.S., reaching number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also a number one hit in Finland.
"Whiplash" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the first single from their debut album, Kill 'Em All, and the band's debut single overall, released on August 8, 1983. The song has been covered a number of times, most notably by Motörhead, whose version won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
"Master of Puppets" is a thrash metal song by American metal band Metallica, released on July 2, 1986, as the only single from the album of the same name. It was also issued as a promo single in the US by Elektra Records.
"Some Kind of Monster" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica from their studio album St. Anger. The song was released as a single on July 13, 2004. "Some Kind of Monster" was Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2005 but lost to Velvet Revolver for the song "Slither".
"Ain't My Bitch" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica from their sixth album, Load (1996). It is the opening track of the album and was released as a promotional single in Mexico. It reached number 15 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
"The God That Failed" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica from their 1991 self-titled album. The song was never released as a single, but was the first of the album's songs to be heard by the public. It is one of Metallica's first original releases to be tuned a half step down.
"The Day That Never Comes" is a song by heavy metal band Metallica, and the lead single from their ninth studio album, Death Magnetic. The song was released to the radio and for digital download on August 21, 2008.
"All Nightmare Long" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, released as the third single from their album Death Magnetic. The single was released on December 15, 2008. The song is in drop D tuning. It was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.
"Enter Sandman" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the opening track and lead single from their self-titled fifth album, released in 1991. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Vocalist and guitarist Hetfield wrote the lyrics, which deal with the concept of a child's nightmares.
Beyond Magnetic is the third extended play by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released to coincide with the band's 30th anniversary shows, in which they released a new song for all four days of the shows. It was originally released as a digital download exclusively on iTunes on December 13, 2011. All four songs featured on Beyond Magnetic were recorded for the group's Death Magnetic sessions but had not been released. Beyond Magnetic was released on CD on January 30, 2012 internationally and on the following day in the United States. As of September 2016, it has sold over 210,000 copies in the U.S.
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct is the tenth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released as a double album on November 18, 2016, by the band's record label Blackened Recordings. It was Metallica's first studio album in eight years following Death Magnetic (2008), marking the longest gap between studio albums in the band's career, and its first studio album released through Blackened. The album was produced by Greg Fidelman, who engineered and mixed Death Magnetic.
72 Seasons is the eleventh studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on April 14, 2023, by their own record label Blackened Recordings. 72 Seasons was produced by Greg Fidelman, who produced the band's previous studio album, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016), and is the band's second studio album to be released through Blackened.
"High Plains Drifter" is the debut single of Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, released April 15, 2022, through Metallica's Blackened Recordings. It is the lead single to Hammett's solo debut release, an EP titled Portals which came out April 23 digitally as well as on CD and an exclusive ocean blue vinyl pressing for Record Store Day. The song's name is taken from the 1973 Clint Eastwood-starring Western of the same name. The song was accompanied by an animated music video released April 22.
"Inamorata" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, first released on their eleventh studio album 72 Seasons as the final track, and as of its release is the longest original song by the band, being 1 minute and 13 seconds longer than the previous record holder, "Suicide and Redemption" from the 2008 album Death Magnetic.
"72 Seasons" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, it was released as the fourth single from the band's eleventh studio album 72 Seasons alongside a music video. The song was first teased a couple of days prior on March 27, 2023 as a 15‑second excerpt, where they continued to release longer clips each day until its release. The music video features the band playing the song while being illuminated by lasers in front of artwork by Canadian artist Kelly Richardson. At the 66th Grammy Awards, "72 Seasons" won the award for Best Metal Performance.
