Who Had The Better Lead Guitarist

Metallica certainly seems to be the popular choice between the two with their first four albums, while Testament would have one in the latter era albums. Now between the two bands though, who do you think had the better lead guitarist?

I like Kirk's playing no doubt, but Alex's solo work is unmatched by most in the thrash genre. His solos are amazing and played with such passion that Kirk doesn't come close IMO.

Yes, Alex left the band after The Ritual, but I think that's irrelevant to this poll. Not to slight James Murphy, don't get me wrong. He's an awesome player too. I mean his solo on Trail Of Tears is just phenomenal. However, for the purpose of this I'm going to leave it between Kirk and Alex.

Easy - Testament, Alex is an amazing player... he's actually a much better player now than he was prior to leaving Exodus. He not only can play but understands music theory and can play outside of thrash with the best.

Kirk is no slouch either and is a great player, Alex is just better and more knowledgable.

Gotta go with Skolnick. Kirk Hammett is a great player and I like what I've heard from him. Alex just seems to be much better.

God, I wish I had listened to more of Testament's stuff before Alex left, then I could maybe have an opinion on the other side because I do listen to Metallica more than Testament, but I like the latter a smidgen more than the former.

Um...I like The Ritual? *falls over* :/

Testament, because Alex is a beast. I think Kirk probably gets bashed too much (I really like his work on the early stuff). But Alex is in another league.

Icy Grave wrote:

Um...I like The Ritual? *falls over* :/

The Ritual is good, it's just not their best. Electric Crown, So Many Lies, and Return to Serenity in particular are quite good.

Yeah I'll be surprised if anyone here chooses Kirk. Kirk has some nice sounding stuff but he's mostly a tad hack. Alex is a learned virtuoso with a hundred times the technique of Kirk. Kirk sticks to pentatonic noodling with occasional minor flourishes and has a far slower LR speed combo. Plus Alex incorporates more melody than Kirk ever has.

Let me put it this way--as a seasoned guitarist, I can pick up any tab of Metallica and learn the solo in less than an hour. Testament? Ha, yeah right.

Testament easily.

This isn't even debatable.

Temple of Blood wrote:

This isn't even debatable.

yeah, if original poster was referring to Mega Dave (IMHDO) there might be some discussion on the matter.

Kirk is probably average at best in the genre, but at least I remember his solos.

MetallicSeminarian wrote:

Icy Grave wrote:

Um...I like The Ritual? *falls over* :/

The Ritual is good, it's just not their best. Electric Crown, So Many Lies, and Return to Serenity in particular are quite good.

True, indeed, it's not the best of their albums with Alex, but I do enjoy it most out of all of those.

007 wrote:

Gotta go with Skolnick. Kirk Hammett is a great player and I like what I've heard from him. Alex just seems to be much better.

Yep - Kirk gets ragged on a bit, probably because of Metallica's post-black album releases more than his talent level. They both learned from Satriani, but Alex has never stopped learning, even to this day he tries to learn more. Heck, the guy quit Testament to become a better musician! I do think Kirk doesn't always get the credit he deserves.

Love Kirk's playing, but Alex is much better IMO.

Alex is better! In fact, he should give Kirk lessons. Although I do think Kirk was good up to the Justice album, before he got rich, lazy and Wah pedal crazy.

Testament

This isn't even a question, haha. Kirk Hammett likes to hide behind the pedal too much.

What about Eric Peterson vs Kirk Hammett? Since both Alex and Eric play lead in Testament. I read Alex's autobiography recently and he said that a sore point of contention in the early Testament days was that he was the lead and Eric as Rhythm (for Eric anyway)

This shouldn't even be a poll.

Skolnick is top ten in my personal list. He is versatile and exciting.

Hammett and Hetfield may be popular and even on Guitar Hero and what not, but Metallica isn't and never was about skill, but about speed, aggression and infectious songwriting. Nothing wrong with that either. Good music =/= technical skill. Just pointing out the obvious here.

Love both of them, both have a lot to offer but Skolnick is just above and beyond. I do think that early Hammet is very memorable.

I don't play geetar so I don't really know. Kirks solos from the first three are etched into my brain. Testament have always been a band I'll listen to but their stuff never sticks in my head. I'm sure that Alex is the better guitarist because people who know this stuff say so.

Kirk does suck now though

Testament

Alex all the way

thejokeriv wrote:

Easy - Testament, Alex is an amazing player... he's actually a much better player now than he was prior to leaving Exodus. He not only can play but understands music theory and can play outside of thrash with the best.

Kirk is no slouch either and is a great player, Alex is just better and more knowledgable.

X2

Good music and technical skill are two different things - not that one can't incorporate the two, but I'll take an infectious, memorable solo over technical wankery any day of the week.

PS: I'm not talking about Kirk or Alex, just in general