Passed Down Through The Years

A few weeks ago, I saw a documentary called "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills."  It was a pretty frightening documentary about the prosecution of three teenagers for the grisly murders of three small children in West Memphis, Arkansas.  It was made for HBO in 1996, but if you haven't seen it, I recommend it.

One of the central issues in the film and the trial is the fact that the three boys love Metallica and were generally somewhat alienated teenage boys.  They wore a lot of black t-shirts and jeans and one of them sported a black trench coat, although the events in the film pre-date the Columbine Massacre so there was no baggage attached to that item of clothing yet.  The soundtrack to the film features two Metallica songs, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and "Orion."

I confess I have never listened to Metallica.  I remember my cousin Mike wearing a Master of Puppets t-shirt at Thanksgiving in 1987, which caused some consternation among the adults.  After college, I remember the video on MTV for "One," but I was not a big fan of thrash and I remember being pretty annoyed by "Nothing Else Matters" and "Enter Sandman" playing every ten seconds a few years later.

At any rate, I decided to check out Master of Puppets after seeing the film and I've got to say it's a great record, particularly "Battery" and "Disposable Heroes."  So, I've been listening to it quite a bit on my runs.  (This year's planned event is a marathon, Philly or New York, something I've been meaning to scratch of the "To Do" list for years now.)  

Kirk Hammett's guitar playing has some very impressive moments on the record, although I confess that I find most metal solos pretty boring.  Still, he manages to put some fresh ideas into his playing and there was a moment in "Welcome Home (Sanatarium)" that brought huge smile to my face.  It's impossible to know, but I am virtually certain that Hammett is quoting the end of Steve Hackett's guitar solo from "The Knife" on Genesis Live.  The quote happens at 2:25 of the Metallica song.

I recognize the phrase because (a) I always thought it was a very cool lick and (b) I quoted it myself on the Moneyshot song "Bliss" in 2000.  If I'm right, I think it's hilarious that this thing pops up in the most unusual places.  I'd love to ask Kirk Hammett if that's where he got the lick.