Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett says he's sad that Guns N' Roses' lack of new material makes them a "nostalgia


Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has described the reunited Guns N' Roses as a "nostalgia act."

As Metallica gear up to release their 10th album Hardwired... To Self-Destruct on November 18, Hammett commented on Guns N' Roses ? who are on the road with Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan from their classic lineup for the first time since 1993.

And the fact that GNR have not recorded any new music and have been playing only their classic hits is "sad" to the Metallica guitarist.

Hammett tells the Los Angeles Times: ?Unfortunately, they?ve turned into somewhat of a nostalgia act, which to me is kind of sad.?

Frontman James Hetfield says releasing new music makes Metallica "feel relevant."

He adds: ?I don?t want to think we?re trying to stay young by writing new stuff, but it makes us feel relevant. It makes us feel like we?re still progressing.?

Metallica are the cover stars of the new issue of Metal Hammer magazine. In an exclusive interview in the new issue, Hammett explained how he felt excluded from the writing sessions for Hardwired... To Self-Destruct.

He said: ?For me, being in this band, I always want to contribute. I always have a lot of musical concepts and ideas to bring to the table. Obviously, that was not meant to be this time, and I had to accept that fact."

Metallica will celebrate the launch of the forthcoming record with an intimate show in London's House Of Vans on November 18.

http://teamrock.com/news/2016-11-12/metallicas-kirk-hammett-calls-guns-n-roses-a-nostalgia-act

He's not inherently wrong with what he's saying. It is what it is at this point. But, it's still pretty early in the game. We're talking about 3 guys working together again after 20+ years. It's not exactly the same scenario as Metallica. You have to start somewhere, and hopefully this round of touring is just that, a starting point.

I think his judgement is a bit premature here, and it not's really comparable to what Metallica is doing, as they didn't take a 23 year break like Axl, Slash & Duff did. This has been a highly successful reunion tour for Guns, and is bigger than whatever Metallica is going to do, so we might be seeing a bit of jealousy here. However, if we don't hear anything in regard to music by, let's say, this time next year and they're still just touring, he won't exactly be wrong.  Hopefully we hear something real about the next Guns album sooner than later.

I love metallica, but he seems jealous to me. Its just such a strange comment considering metallica's last album was 8 years and 2 months ago (9/12/08). It will be 8 years soon for gnr. Metallica has an album coming out in less than a week, but gnr has worked on new music. They had a major reunion this year which put things on hold.

I think metallica is very competitive and it bothers them that one of their peers from the 80s is bigger than them right now and getting all the good press.

I agree with what everyone else has said so far.  Guns N Roses (or three members anyway) just got back together.  Their tour was huge, and seemingly passed all the "what might happen" tests.  Now we'll see what happens.  If GNR keeps touring for years without an album, then I'll agree with Hammett.  But for now, he's speaking prematurely.

Metallica?s Kirk Hammett has suggested Guns N? Roses have become a ?nostalgia act? with their recent reunion tour.

GN?R packed stadiums across North America on this summer?s Not In This Lifetime? Tour, but have not released an album since 2008?s ?Chinese Democracy?. That album was in itself the band?s first in 15 years.

?Unfortunately, they?ve turned into somewhat of a nostalgia act, which to me is kind of sad,? Hammett told the LA Times.

Metallica, by contrast, are preparing to release ?Hardwired? To Self-Destruct?, their first album since 2008.

http://www.nme.com/news/metallicas-kirk-hammett-calls-guns-1854086

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I really like Metallica but it seems a bit strange to call GN'R a nostalgia act while they play more songs of their last album (also from 2008) during concerts than Metallica.

Well, in a sense, he's not wrong.  I mean, they were packing in 40,000 to 50,000 people all summer to hear 'Chinese Democracy'.

But by the very nature of the business, an act that age is going to have a heavy nostalgia element.  It's the rare band that reaches that level that doesn't rely on the old material first and foremost, and the fans both want and expect that.

The irony is that Metallica is in no way exempt from being a nostalgia act.  No one's buying tickets to next year's tour chomping at the bit to hear anything from "Hard Wired". It's clear he's seen GNR's numbers and is being peanut butter and jealous.

He isn't wrong, but honestly I don't care.  The shows I saw this summer were fantastic and I think 99% of people in attendance had a great time.  I am confident that these guys aren't aiming to be a nostalgia act for the rest of their careers. 

Metallica has been putting out crap records since 1996.

I'd say he'll be right if there are more tours after this one with no new material.

As it stands, it is nostalgia to a lot of people, to a lot (like me) I don't see it as so, due to the inclusion of CD era material mainly.

Said so Hammett.
His band just re-re-re-released the first albums remastered.
They toured the Master of Puppets anniversary in 2006 and the Black album in 2012.
Every band looks back in their catalog,that's no sin. He is right to an extend.
( btw the new Metallica record is killer !)

I spent a lot of this year hearing people talk about Guns N' Roses again.  And for the first time in decades, not just people around here.

If that's because they are a "nostalgia act" now, oh well.  Give me a nostalgia act over a niche product that no one ever brings up, except to mock it.  Give me that every day of the week.

"2016 was good, but it was no 2006 or 2010"

- no one ever

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett says that GUNS N' ROSES has "turned into somewhat of a nostalgia act" because the Axl Rose-fronted outfit hasn't produced or performed any new music in nearly a decade.

The subject came up during an interview with the Los Angeles Times, in which METALLICA's penchant for continually getting involved with new projects ? from movies and one-off collaborations to the band's upcoming "Hardwired? To Self-Destruct" album ? was held up in contrast to other groups from the same era who have focused exclusively on performing older material without flexing their creative muscles.

"Unfortunately," Hammett said, "[GUNS N' ROSES has] turned into somewhat of a nostalgia act, which, to me, is kind of sad."

"I don't want to think we're trying to stay young by writing new stuff, but it makes us feel relevant," added METALLICA frontman James Hetfield. "It makes us feel like we're still progressing."

Hammett's latest comments echoed those he made in 2014 when he was asked by Ecuador's El Comercio if he can ever see the day when METALLICA will just tour and will no longer make new music, The guitarist replied: "I hope not. There's a lot of different aspects to this band that we need to tend to. But I really think that the touring part supports the recording part, and the recording part ? the creativity, the songs ? supports the touring part. Both of those things kind of support each other and need each other for us to move forward. So I think that we would always need to write music, write songs, record them? It might be the exact opposite ? we might just end up recording songs for the rest of our career at one point. Or we might end up just touring. But I, myself, doubt that any of those two things will happen. I'm pretty confident that we will always be creative, because that's how we are as individuals. I mean, that's how I am ? I get bored, pick up my guitar, and next thing you know, I have a fucking riff. I get excited and I show it to the other guys, and next thing you know, we're jamming on it. It's a part of what we do."

The long-awaited follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic", "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct" is due out November 18 and consists of two discs, containing a dozen songs and nearly 80 minutes of music. A U.S. tour in support of the effort is expected to launch next year.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told The Pulse Of Radio that the band no longer wants to devote large chunks of time to any one project. "You know, METALLICA, in order for it to be true and pure and honest, has to be fun," he said. "And so the days of, you know, writing for a year and then recording for a year and then going on the road for three years ? those kind of endlessly long cycles ? they're just behind us. I don't think we have the stamina to do anything for those elongated periods of time any longer."


Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/metallica-kirk-hammett-says-guns-n-roses-has-turned-into-somewhat-of-a-nostalgia-act/#MmMrX1W46X3xYuKZ.99

This. Had he said that back in 2014, I would agree. But now, it's all about reconnecting to the past and for a good reason.

So GNR has been touring for many years now playing the same set lists over and over again....

They have switched leader guitar players every couple of years...

This last summer was great for seeing Axl and Slash And Duff together again.  After the show you got to see, though why would you want to keep seeing the same old over and over again.

Given the choice I would prefer to have new music playing in my car

How do you know that?

They play songs off of the album CD just as much as most other guns albums live.   They play it more than some albums (Lies, UYI1 and less than others UYI2 and AFD).  Perhaps the unwashed masses want to hear the album CD played by Slash duff and mellisa?

Where is our new music!!!!!

Have they come to your hometown twice already though? Shouldn't they be given the chance to tour the WORLD like they're currently doing before we expect (demand) new music?

I mean, I saw them already, so I'm there with you in wanting new music. But I can't fault them for hitting every corner of the earth making money hand over fist.

I've sort of given up on the idea of hearing new music, and come to terms with that. Don't get me wrong- it's 100 per cent what I want, and I'd take a new album over a tour, but I'm fully expecting to hear nothing new from the band again, other than unreleased 'rarities' and stuff.

I really really hope they prove me wrong- but other people must see it's unlikely given their past history? The cynic in me can't see the lineup carrying on past this world tour.

I imagine we'll go back to Axl hiding away, Slash playing solo, Duff doing his thing. And we'll all be on here speculating, as ever!

Yep they have played my home city twice.   Edmonton.  In the last 10 years and the set list and music wa ether same   Now they will hit my market and play the exact same music   Again.

Cool. 

Plus I have traveled many times to see this band play

Thing is. 10 years ago.  There was a vine with new music   They played different songs.    Now they don't. 

Even bob Dylan doesn't play knocking on heavens door at every concert!   And it's his song!!!!!

It's brutal man. Why don't they get sick of playing the same songs every night almost in the exact same order.   Get rid of other people's songs. Play your own music and switch it up!

You can't compare today to 10 years ago. So your argument ends there. You are in the vast minority of the ticket buying public this time around that was also buying tickets 10 years ago. Plus, they weren't playing Coma, Double Talkin' Jive, Yesterdays, etc. They were playing IRS, Madagascar, Street of Dreams, etc. They weren't playing stadiums. Honestly, the differences are endless, so I don't know what to tell you if you think it's the same show. Again, I get how YOU'RE enjoyment may be zapped. But there are millions that disagree with you, so I don't think it's going to work out in your favor.

Why cant you compare today to the past?  When does that end and why?

I can compare them, because I am......

I saw Guns 2 years ago and they where playing more original songs by the band then they are now.....   

I Saw them 10 years ago and they were playing new music!  It was great!!!   Great vibe

And now 10 years later, they have dropped a lot of these CD era songs from the playlist. 

Added more covers...

80% of the music they play live now they have played live forever. 

90% of the music they play now, they play ever night.   With the exact same order....

I could see 30 years ago bands could go from town to town and play the exact same songs night in and night out.  Travel was way more expensive.  There was zero access to anything online.

Now, travel is cheap.   Everything is online

What is in it for a fan to go to a show twice?   I can only have so many bathroom breaks, during songs.  I know paradise city will close the show and I have heard that song way to many times, so I guess I can leave early.     Over the past 10 years they have played some of these songs to death.  The only saving factor is the fact the band has had such a huge turn over in guitar players......  Now we get to head Slash back, playing these same old songs, night after night.

New music!!!!!!!!

No covers!!!!

Play more original music!!!!!!!

If this tour made a second pass through your way, I could see Bacon's argument.

But keep in mind, we've seen it already.  Half of the world is still waiting.  I can't see how we tell fans all through Europe and the Far East they shouldn't get to experience what we all got to see last summer before we start talking about what's next.

Again, you're making this about you and not the millions of other fans and ticket buyers. They are buying tickets to see Slash, Axl, and Duff together again. I really shouldn't have to explain that to you. That wasn't happening 10 years ago. Not many people travel long distances to see shows. At least, I'd say a majority see shows that are local for them. So it's not like they've made two treks across the US, South America, etc. at this point. They're playing these cities with this reformed lineup for the first time. That's why I don't think it's sacriligious that they aren't playing new music or CD front to back. That's not what the vast majority wants to hear. It's what you and I might want, but that's just the way it is.

Yeah, totally! Some of us are still waiting to see this show- desperately! Let the tour do the rounds fully, and the dust settle, then see how things sound. If nothing happens for a year or so, then we get another tour with no new material, same songs- then yeah, that's a problem I think in terms of 'nostalgia'.

I'm still of the mindset though that this tour will be the last we see of this line-up of GNR. I just can't see new material happening, sadly. For starters- they have no time! The touring has been pretty much constant. Even if they went straight into the studio at the end of the tour (which is highly unlikely) it would take any normal band a couple of years to write/record a brand new album- let alone this being GNR with their legendarily leisurely approach to recording and releasing!

I often find it quite amazing what some people think on the forums- when people say "oh there will be a new album before Christmas"  or "I hope they add a new song to the set for the next leg of the tour" and all these sorts of things- they're in cloud cuckoo land, or have paid no attention whatsoever to Guns history and past! Standard response is always "yeah but things have changed now, who'd have thought Axl and Slash would be playing together....etc etc". That's ok, but there's a MASSIVE difference between playing a few shows together for a massive payday and a future for the band as a creative unit.

You are making a assumption I am making this about me and what I want.   Of coarse it's how I feel.  But I speak for many people

Shows here in Canada where sold out in arenas 10 years ago 6 years ago   

Shows will be sold out again    I assume a lot of the same fans will be attending.   I know I will be and so will be friends of mine that attended the past shows

Western Canadians love to travel

If guns does a tour similiar to 2010.  6 shows are all within a good road trip driving distance    I am sure I won't be the only one doing this again

Sure would nice to see a huge set list switch up between shows

Like I said we like to travel.

When we where down in Seattle.  Many Canadians where down there st this arena show. 

So now I hope they just don't think they can now bring the same act up here and play the same old songs and all these covers

For a lot of us here in western Canada. We have heard and seen this lots

Not to mention the countless trips to Vegas to see the band play these songs.


So for you.  Or people around you in your area perhaps you would like this act to continue

For myself and people I talk to here have traveled with and gone to shows with we want it freshens up   

No more covers

More original music!

New music!

Well, as you can see they're hitting different cities the 2nd time around. Exposing the maximum amount of fans to see them live. I think you're in the minority traveling to multiple shows. They're not coming anywhere close to me next year, at least not yet. I'd have to make a pretty big effort to go see them.

There simply isn't much motivation for them to make a new album right now. They're making millions of dollars every night they play. Until that well runs dry, why would they stop?

There would be way more money to make by play on there own music and not covers. 

Release new music. Play new music sell new music 

Sales equals more money. 

Even 1 dollar is more than they get playing other people's music.   

Yep.

And I can't really pity people that decided to travel for multiple shows, only to find out they are similar.

We all have the internet.  We can all access the setlist.fm site.

There are no surprises in 2016.  Just lazy people.

I totally agree

You know what you get with this band now.  There is nothing unexpected.   

Myself if I am away on vacation at the time a show is going on I will see it.  I wont go out of my way to travel to see the same routine.   Already been there, done that

Well, I think you know what you are getting this tour.  We can all guess, right now, what the setlist will be for the 2017.  Only going to be off a song or two.

And while I would never travel to see any band, I would generally share your view that seeing this tour a second time will be the same show.  However, if they were coming around here in 2017, I probably would go.  Because it's my alltme favorite band, and I have no guarantee there will even be a next tour.

I tend to think there will be.  Or, more accurately, there will be unless Axl decides to hang it up.  The days of trying to sell this band without Slash & Duff are gone forever now.  It's back to "up close and personal" with that sort of line-up. 

And does that phony line-up even fill small venues?  I, like many others, put up with that because it was that, or literally nothing.  If you wanted to see Axl, you deluded yourself that a pack of randos was Guns N' Roses.  Axl touring without Slash & Duff at this point is a conscious decision, now that he's shown he can do it just fine.  I'm not rolling with some fill-in cover band after this.

So these shows are less than 1 hr away from the previous market shows

With around 1 year in between them

You as a fan wouldn't expect a new show?

I sure do

Not on the same tour being marketed with the same stage show under the same name, no.

Cool. For your sake I hope this lasts another couple years

That's debatable. Assuming there isn't an album ready to drop at a moment's notice, and I'm quite certain there isn't. It would take time to create new music and get it out to the public. We've seen that scenario play out before and it's not exactly swift. So that time used to create new music instead of touring would literally be millions of dollars lost. It's not like they're being charged to play 4 covers a night.

Tons of bands and this one in the past and this one with current members

Writes music on the road, while touring!!!!   

Why does everything need to cost millions in production and time.......   

Write a song, record a song, release a song!

We're not talking about tons of bands. We're talking about THIS band. When, in the history of this band have they written, recorded, and released a song in record time? Why would you expect that to change now? There is literally no point in them releasing new music right now in a financial sense. Money talks, and they love what it's saying right now.

I am talking about this band and members in this band and past members

I never said record time either, but how much time is really needed?

How long did AFD take to write and record?

How long did Lies take to write and record?

How long did the UYI's take to write and record?

How long did TSI take to record?

We are talking 5 albums in what 6 years?

I am sure they can find time to write and record a song right now

In March 1986 they signed an advance with Geffen. 9 months later they released Live Like A Suicide, so 4 songs. Then 8 months later they released AFD.  Then about a year and a half later they released Lies, so 4 more songs. Lies was an EP remember in between full length albums. Something to hold fans over in a sense. So there was really more of a 4 year gap between AFD and UYI I & II. Now granted, 2 albums made up for the time in between. But we're talking about a band who was just starting out and hungry for world domination. And TSI was full of covers, which you hate, so why even include that?

Axl and Slash didn't speak for 20 years. It's amazing they're civil enough to play on the same stage again. To think that they're going to reunite, go on this massive reunion tour, and come out with a new album is expecting too much as far as I'm concerned. Because again, the motivation for them to do so isn't very high. They're selling out stadiums without lifting a finger as far as promotion goes. That's where the money is in this business these days. Once people stop buying tickets in droves maybe they'll have to change their approach and get back to the basics. But that time is nowhere close right now. Just because you have seen them live already and you're ready for them to move onto phase 2, doesn't mean that's what needs to happen right now. They're busy catering to fans at all corners of the world and everywhere in between. It's what many in these hallowed halls have been wishing for for the better parts of two decades. Let's just take a deep breath and let them follow through on their plan and let fans in other areas enjoy what we already have witnessed.

So you answered if for me

This previous band had a great history of turning out music.    Into they split up

Then the spitting members had a even greater release method. 

Guns had a great history of releasing music until the classic line up broke up

I wouldn't say it was a GREAT history. I was nearly as big a fan of Pearl Jam back in the day and they'd put out an album every few years. Guns came out with AFD, which was a monster, then Lies a short time later. Then at that time it felt like 3 long years for the UYI's to come out. You like to compare them to other bands, so I'll do the same here. Their musical output was not great compared to Pearl Jam. They released their first 7 albums in 11 years, and none of them were covers albums.

Now in the end, I far prefer GNR's quality over PJ's quantity, but if you strictly want to look at numbers we can play that game.

Yep

I would call it a great history of releasing music

and it was. 

From the late 80s to early 90s the market was full of guns n roses.

If you don't think it was, then that's fine.

From mid 1988 until late 1992, GNR was the biggest rock band in the world.  Only plausible argument against, is U2.

Pearl Jam, and I love me some Pearl Jam, was never on that level.  Even in their white hot early prime, they didn't have either the crossover appeal, nor separation from their peers. 

Back then, even if you weren't a fan, everyone knew GNR and their music.  Couldn't say that about Pearl Jam, even in 1992-94.

Along similar lines, Pearl Jam had contemporaries like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains...among others.  Arguments could be made as to who was better.  GNR didn't have that.  They were clearly the best of their time.  The Michael Jordan of rock bands of that era.

She me people have to get out of the.  Well i remember them being big in the united states mind set.   

Sure pearl jam was all over MTV in the early 90s.   

However bands like guns n roses and u2 where all over the world.   

In a world comparison.  Pearl jam were a regional act.    Where as guns was a global act

I don't think their workrate/ output from their heyday is really relevant to what might happen in the present or future.  They were young then, full of piss and vinegar, and needed to release music to establish themselves - hell, even just to make their daily bread.  None of those things apply now.

As for Hammett, he's probably right, but it doesn't really bother me.  Very few bands of that vintage are primarily interesting for (or primarily interested in) what they can still do.  The only major band I can think of that really put their money where their mouth was when it came to promoting a new record was Iron Maiden with A Matter Of Life And Death - and even that was only one tour, almost a decade ago now.  They've done nostalgia tours as well.  Maybe Celtic Frost as well, but that was at a much lower commercial level.

Guns N' Roses don't really need to put out new music.  They don't need the money, they don't need to secure a place in the rock pantheon.  I'd like new music, sure, but it's not as if I don't have plenty of other things to listen to if they don't release anything.  And if they are going to be a nostalgia/ touring act, I'm sure most of us would rather have that with the current lineup than with the Axl + Some Dudes incarnations that preceded it.

I would rather hav Axl and some dudes playing and releasing new music over the same old songs every night

The bands you just compared guns too have a huge back catalogue of music.  Guns doesn't.

The band blew up way too soon and doesn't have enough material to be a full time oldies act

That argument doesn't hold water... They play for 3 hours every night. Baconman might not like the set, but the vast majority of their ticket buyers is just fine with it. They have been touring on this same catalog since 2002 with fair success (and huge success for the last year due to the lineup change).

Would I love new music from Axl, Slash, and Duff... absolutely, but they would also do just fine without it.

As I am typing this though, Metallica is performing their latest song live on Kimmel... would be nice to see from 'our' band.

They havnt played 3 hrs once this tour.  But I am not saying that.  I am think guns since 2002 has put on a good concert.  Crap some shows in the mid 2000s went over 3hrs. 

But its 80% of the same music now that they have been playing live

If you take out the 7 cover songs they play every night with jams it really cuts into the playing time

crap the band has released 80 songs.  20 of them are covers.  That is not a lot of original material to draw from to become a full time touring band

Its cool that you are not bothered by it

Cool that you can hear SCOM over and over and over again.   Myself personally I cant.   I want something new

Like Metallica aren't. Okay Kirk, keep pretending anyone wants to hear your new songs.

You can't honestly say he is wrong

It's a great tour and to think they have managed to climb  back to the top just by reuniting and touring flawlessly...what would happen if they actually
recorded new music

Would be the biggest band on the planet again and retake their rightful path as the next Zeppelin / Stones of planet Earth