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Kirk Hammett of Metallica Reveals Soundgarden Influence on “Enter Sandman”

When you dig into the timeline–The Black Album was written and recorded in late 1990 and early 1991–the influence starts to make sense. You see, Soundgarden‘s major-label debut, Louder Than…

Kirk Hammett at Glasto

GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND – JUNE 28: Kirk Hammett of Metallica performs on the Pyramid stage during Day 2 of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm on June 28, 2014 in Glastonbury, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

When you dig into the timeline--The Black Album was written and recorded in late 1990 and early 1991--the influence starts to make sense.

You see, Soundgarden's major-label debut, Louder Than Love, was released in September of 1989. Today, we categorize Soundgarden as a grunge band. But "grunge" wasn't quite a thing yet in 1989 and 1990. When they signed to A&M Records, they were thought of as a metal band. And they sounded like one, too. So it stands to reason that they'd be on Kirk Hammett's radar.

He said as much in a recent Guitar World piece. He was listening to Louder Than Love in a hotel room in the wee hours of the morning, noodling around on his guitar, and came up with the foundation of the "Enter Sandman." Lars helped him tweak it, and one of rock's all-time greatest riffs was born. Kirk said: "I want to write the next "Smoke on the Water."" In a way, he did.

Let's toss this one in, too. For good measure.

adam12Writer
Adam 12 is the Program Director of Boston's ROCK 92.9, heard weekdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. He's been flexing his encyclopedic rock knowledge in New England for over 2 decades, both on-air and online, at WBCN, WFNX, Boston.com, and indie617. At ROCK 92.9, he keeps you in the know on the big stories from the Boston music scene and writes about great places to eat, drink (beer), and to spend time outdoors in and around Boston.