Just Because You Know Umpteen Billion Scales,

I Didn't Want To Fall Into The Trap Of Competing With All These Other Great Guitar Players. I Just Want To Sidestep The Whole Thing And Get Out Of The Race.

After Months Of Playing Air Guitar To 'free Bird', What Really Got Me Into Guitar Was Watching A Documentary About Jimi Hendrix And Picking Up The Woodstock Soundtrack. Listening To His Version Of 'star Spangled Banner' And 'purple Haze.' My Brother Played Acoustic Guitar And, Idolising Him, I Thought, 'i'm Going To Get A Guitar.'

Metallica Is Like The Phoenix Rising From The Ashes. We Set Everything On Fire, And This Is What Has Risen From It - St. Anger Being The Fire And Death Magnetic Being The Phoenix.

Musically, There's A Movement Called The Flatted Fifth That's Really Evil-sounding. It Was Outlawed By The Catholic Church During The Middle Ages. That Movement Is What Gives You A Real Evil Sound That Conjures Up Dark, Fantastic Images. It's Like An Audio Horror Movie. It Personifies What A Horror Movie Is About.

For The 'load' Album, I Was Experimenting So Much With Tone That I Had To Keep Journals On What Equipment I Was Using. For 'hero Of The Day', I Know I Used A 1958 Les Paul Standard With A Matchless Chieftain, Some Boogie Amps And A Vox Amp - Again, They're All Blended.