I don't like the bashing on Kirk Hammett

[Jimi75]

Hey folks,

There's a lot of bashing going on these days on Kirk Hammett from Metallica. A lot of poeple make fun of him, the way he plays, the way he looks. I have to side with Kirk here, as he is one of the guys that made me play guitar. Obviously, Kirk Hammet is not the most accurate player and he uses the Wah pedal maybe too often, but Kirk is one of the founders of a totally new movement in the metal music. He has composed at least 2 solos of which at least one solo appears regularly on "best solo of all time" lists. Sorry, but I do not understand the bashing, I can not laugh at it. Kirk is a very kind an honorable person who lobbies for a bunch of beneficial projects, you will never ever hear Kirk Hammett talking bad about another musiscian, no matter how bad the other musician plays. I think one should acknowledge his body of work, his guitar work and what he did in general for the musical scene. Sometimes I despair of the odd attitude some poeple have.

Thanks for listening :-)

J75

[oldguy]

No, it's not right Jimi, but unfortunately, in the real world, it happens.
Even when Robert puts his videos up to help people learn, he gets complaints. Musicians have to get thick-skinned about criticism and ignore the comments. And friends and fans can defend them, like you've done for Kirk here.
Good job, Jimi, let people know how you feel. It won't stop the belittling comments, but you'll know you did what you felt was right.
I'd say Kirk Hammett's doing something right, 'cause he's sure not just playing for free beer and tips in some joint, huh?:D

[R_of_G]

I don't mind the criticism of his playing, though so much of music criticism is inaccurate or just plain ignorant. I don't personally like his playing all that much, but I respect it. He does a whole lot of things I can't do and he's influenced loads of others who do enjoy his music. What more could people want from him?

But, Jimi mentioned people making fun of the way he looks. That's just plain stupid on the part of those people. Who cares what he looks like? Either you like his playing or you don't but his appearance shouldn't enter into the equation.

[Cottonwood King]

I agree. I don't like too much music bashing in general, especially because most of the people that bash are those who haven't done anything significant or original themselves!

Personally, I don't even like Metallica, but I respect them so much for what they have done for music as a whole, and metal especially. You can't do too much bashing for guys that paved the way for thousands of other bands.

Give respect where it's due.

[marnold]

Hammett has always been one of people's favorite whipping boys, although I've never entirely understood why. Are all these folks big Dave Mustaine fans? Somehow I doubt it. You can play better than he can? Great, get a recording contract and back it up.

[ragnarpk]

its partially because everyone thinks he's gay.

just sayin.

but i love the guy and his playing. he's pretty damn awesome.

[ted s]

I think Kirk's got the $hit !, wish I could play half as good on his bad day.

[sunvalleylaw]

I don't really like bashing on anyone. It says more to me about the person doing the bashing than it does about the subject person. If I catch myself being critical, especially not so someone's face when it needs to be talked about for some reason, I don't like it either. Discussion about tastes in music and playing is different. That can be done respectfully. But to bash, just dumb and to be ignored. Kinda like most of the comments on youtube.

OK, I'll stop bashing the bashers now. ;)

[Robert]

Yeah, I think it's so low to bash other players, regardless of who it is. Some famous players get more crap than others, but I don't know why.

People who spend effort on bashing others are probably negative, insecure people who get a kick out of it, especially when people react on the bashing... if we get trolls like that here and we just ignore them, they leave. It has happened in the past. Some places like HC though... outta control!

[bigG]

I'll just add an "agreed" with all posts before mine. :D Everyone's covered the subject pretty well and thoroughly...