Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine’s guitar and songwriting DNA are all over Metallica’s debut record, “Kill ‘Em All.” Mustaine is credited as a co-writer on four of the album’s songs — “The Four Horsemen,” “Jump In The Fire,” “Phantom Lord” and “Metal Militia” — and a good deal of his solo guitar work ended up being replicated by guitarist Kirk Hammett after Mustaine was booted from the band.
In a new interview with the Metal Mayhem ROC podcast, however, Hammett revealed that it was another notable guitarist who shaped how he approached the “Kill ‘Em All” recordings — UFO’s Paul Chapman.
“I mean, you know, I’d never seen UFO with Michael Schenker,” Hammett said. “The very first time I’d seen UFO – who’s my favorite band of all time – it was with Paul Chapman. I showed up a little skeptical to that gig, but then I saw Paul play on stage and it blew me away. Then, I just realized it wasn’t fair to compare him to Michael Schenker. They’re two different players. Completely different players.”
Hammett continued: “I was just so into everything that he did with UFO, but I’d never gotten a chance to meet him. I’d met everyone else in UFO – Michael, you know, and all of the other guys – but for some reason, I never got a chance to meet Paul Chapman until that time we were in Florida. I was so excited because I felt like I was finally closing that circle of meeting everyone who was instrumental in shaping UFO’s sound and albums.”
“So, yeah, when I met him, I was so stoked ‘cause I can play a lot of his stuff. I can play a lot of Paul Chapman’s guitar licks. It’s not just Michael Schenker licks that I play; I play a lot of Paul Chapman licks, too, and I guess this is the very first time I’ve ever copped to this. [That’s] especially [true] on ‘Kill ‘Em All.’ There’s, like, Paul Chapman licks all throughout ‘Kill ‘Em All.’ I remember hanging out with him in Florida and I said, ‘What do you do nowadays?” and he goes, “Oh, you know. I play in local bands and I give guitar lessons.’ For a second, I thought, ‘Maybe I should get a guitar lesson from him’ [Laughs]. I’m the biggest [UFO] fan in the world.”
Hammett’s full interview can be viewed below.
