Angel Vivaldi – Hammett Is ‘a Reason Why Guitar Solos Are Dying’

Earlier this month, Loudwire reported on Metallica’s Kirk Hammett discussing why “non-musicians” are less likely to “memorize guitar solos.” Of course, his comments sparked controversy, and now guitarist Angel Vivaldi has fired back, arguing that not only was his hypothesis incorrect, but that Hammett is responsible for why the guitar solo is dying. Part of the responsibility!

As background, Hammett recently told Total Guitar (via Guitar World):

I hate to say this to all of you readers, but non-musicians, who are the majority of the fucking listening world, are not going to memorize guitar solos. They’ll really remember a great melody, and they’ll really remember a great song – especially a song that takes them to a different place than they were five minutes ago.

On December 16, Vivaldi, known for his solo work and collaborations with Carnifex and Scale the Summit, commented on Hammett’s feelings on Metal Injection’s Facebook post. Specifically, he said, “That couldn’t be further from the truth. If the solo was written by a songwriter instead of a lazy guitarist relying on muscle memory, your solo would stay in people’s hearts forever.”

his The response to the comment was mostly supportive, and three days later Vivaldi shared a screenshot, adding:

I wouldn’t be here without Kirk, so all the highest respect to him. However, as soon as someone gives in to the idea that, alas, “there’s no good or memorable music out there anymore”, you just scream “I’m closed-minded and won’t seek out new music in order to truly judge it” world. You can’t say that unless you listen to every new song uploaded to Spotify every day, and at that age, few people are actually looking for new music that they’re writing off.

in the comment area That Vivaldi explained in the post:

I believe it is a conscious choice to stay fresh in consciousness and inspiration by seeking out new and exciting music. Let us vow together to grow old with grace, openness, and wisdom.

I saw a lot of great responses, both those who agreed and those who disagreed with my post. I can certainly understand and appreciate many of the opposing arguments, as well as many wonderful perspectives and ideas! Here I would like to expand on some additional thoughts and reflections on this topic to promote mutual understanding and clarity.

To understand my point, we have to agree on the amount of music being released. Approximately 23,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify every day. Let’s assume that 30% of them fall into the rock category and 5% fall into the solo category. No one would listen to 345 songs to make this blanket accusation. There is just too much music. It’s better to say “I haven’t heard any iconic guitar solos” than “the art of the guitar solo is dying”.

Let’s take a look at why some people (in this case the older generation) have a hard time discovering these solos. They were used to world-conquering bands like Guns N’ Roses, Queen, Led Zeppelin, and others, having exposure that no one could escape. Due to over-saturation, no new band could achieve this level of success and exposure. It will never happen again – fact. As a result, your signature guitar solo will be ignored by most listeners. Additionally, many in that generation have difficulty using technology to their advantage. Between editing playlists and all the custom playlists many listening platforms have for you, there’s really no excuse to remain ignorant. However, it takes work and I completely understand not wanting to put the work into something like this.

Arguments about non-musicians. A good and inspiring solo is what counts as a musician. Kirk himself is responsible for turning non-musicians into guitar shredders (myself included). He himself is a reason for the demise of the guitar solo! He arguably has the biggest platform to inspire more guitarists, but because he “chose a raw, improvisational approach” on 72 Seasons (which IMHO he had no skills to execute), God knows what to do with it. As many as before, his torch now burns very faintly, if at all. There was a time during the “Some Kind of Monster” era when he struggled with the importance of solos. Possibly because his solos didn’t land as well as they had in the past, which helped further dispel his perception of the importance of solos. I can only speculate.

Do you guys remember Lars saying it took Kirk about 6 months to write a good solo for Unforgiven (a year and a half doc)? Of course I know. On 72 Seasons, “He took 20-30 solos, threw them to the band’s drummer and producer, and said, ‘You guys edit them.'” This approach only works if you’re a world-class songwriting musician (David Gilmour). Honestly, this method is great! He has earned the right to do so. But he has no right to say what he did. This only becomes a problem when you say “the soloist is dying” and write off entire generations that collectively carry the torch he decides to abandon.

You know who doesn’t have this mentality? Steve Vai. He doesn’t seem willing to discover new talent that inspires him, nor does he continually challenge himself with “crazy” challenges, like playing 4(?) on guitar on “Teeth of the Hydra” Neck. ” We can debate whether any of these pieces are memorable, but man, this is the best display of performance art I’ve seen in a long time. He had a conscious intention to always transcend himself, and here’s why He will always be an icon who constantly challenges and reinvents himself. When we reach that age, we need to channel more energy.

Jared (Dines)’s annual Shard collaboration is the perfect choice for inspired solos. Could a non-musician endure all this? God, I had a hard time getting to the end myself. But I guarantee you, there will be at least one solo that non-musicians will say “Yo, that one is cool!” Who knows… maybe we’ll get some new musicians out of it.

Read more: There is an apartment building called Metallica (next door to an apartment building called Nirvana)

Vivaldi has since responded to a few people in the post as well, and you can see his post below.

In April of this year, Vivaldi released his latest EP, Far From Words: Part 2the official follow-up to 2014 Stay away from words, part 1.As for Hammett, he recently admitted that “the shadow follows” (from this year’s 72 seasons) a tribute to the 1960s batman tv series.

In other news, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich paid tribute to his father, professional musician and tennis player Torben Ulrich, who passed away on December 20, 2023 at the age of 95.

So, do you agree with Vivaldi? How about Hammett? let us know!