Metallica’s Kirk Hammett calls modern pop music “crap”
Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett delivered a blunt assessment of modern songwriting and pop music in an interview with The Irish Times, given between the band’s two stadium shows in Dublin as part of their M72 tour. Hammett said he’s troubled by how easy technology has made it for people to learn music today.
He admitted he misses the days when musicians had to learn by ear, working out solos from records over and over, arguing that struggle is what forces players to develop their own sound. “Right now, songwriting and pop music is crap, ” Hammett said, spelling out the word for emphasis and apologizing to pop fans. He added that he hopes a new generation of self-taught musicians will eventually raise the bar.
Later in the conversation, Hammett recalled the first concert he ever attended: a Thin Lizzy show in San Francisco when he was 14, calling the band’s members real-life superheroes and saying he’ll never forget that night. The remarks came just days after Hammett drew online controversy for wearing a Taylor Swift-related t-shirt during a Budapest concert, and after he fell off the stage during a Dublin performance.
