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Credit: Far Out \/ Tommy Holl<\/p>\n
There was no other choice for James Hetfield<\/a> other than to become a metal singer back in the day. <\/p>\n Music was his saviour in every sense of the word whenever he made his first records with Metallica, and since his home life wasn\u2019t always the greatest, he could always get transported to a different place when he had the right song to keep him company. But long before he had heard of who Black Sabbath and Diamond Head were, Hetfield was already starting to fall in love with what classic rock had to offer.<\/p>\n Because there was no way that Hetfield\u2019s first calling on the piano was going to work out. He had been taking lessons when he was nine years old, but for someone who was listening to some of the biggest names in rock on the radio, he probably wasn\u2019t going to be creatively satisfied if he was playing the occasional Elton John song<\/a>. And when you hear him attacking the guitar, you can tell that he\u2019s right at home with that instrument.<\/p>\n In fact, a lot of what Hetfield is doing whenever he plays has a lot more to do with percussion than anything else. He has said numerous times that he\u2019s playing drums on guitar half the time that he plays, and when you listen to how erratic Lars Ulrich can sometimes get behind the kit, that makes a lot of sense when looking at Hetfield\u2019s track record. He\u2019s the real time keeper in the group half the time, and a lot of that came from practising steady rhythm until everything sounded perfect.<\/p>\n Rhythm playing might be considered the \u201cless good\u201d version of lead guitar, but when you look at Hetfield\u2019s heroes, it\u2019s not like he was trying to half-ass his way into playing guitar. Keith Richards was responsible for some of the best Rolling Stones songs without having to play lead all the same, and when you\u2019re talking about nasty rock and roll songs, no one could make the guitar scream as Malcolm Young could in AC\/DC.<\/p>\n The Australian legends made a name for themselves playing the loudest rock and roll ever conceived, and they were never going to be satisfied with playing ballads. They wanted to leave their audience delirious whenever they were done playing, and when Hetfield first laid eyes on Angus Young doing his signature duckwalk across the stage, he knew that he needed to do everything he could to have a job like that.<\/p>\n These people looked like they were having the time of their lives, and while Hetfield had his other favourites, Angus was responsible for his musical awakening in lots of ways, saying<\/a>, \u201cI was a big Aerosmith fan. But I had no idea that AC\/DC was that cool. I went with my older brother. I remember him pointing at Angus and saying, \u2018That little guy running around was annoying!\u2019 But I wanted to be that guy!\u201d<\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/strong><\/p>\n Which makes a lot of sense given Hetfield\u2019s stage behaviour. There was no way that he was going to be like Steven Tyler crooning to the audience<\/a> all the time, but Angus\u2019s way of prowling across the stage and doing most of the talking with his guitar made a lot more sense. But what Hetfield did when he had the microphone was something that could never be copied by anyone, hard rocker or otherwise.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t want to become a frontman in the first place, but when you look at the way that he sings today, his way of attacking the guitar and singing is almost superhuman<\/a> to a certain degree. Angus may have been the gold standard for him, but with a bit more attitude and speed thrown into the mix, Hetfield turned himself into the kind of musician that\u2019s almost too fast for his own good. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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