In a recent interview with Masters of Shred, Joel Hoekstra shared his thoughts on how Metallica mastered shredding.
He explained, “Selling platinum records and having the culture change was probably like, ‘Is this going to survive should it survive?’ The validity of it,” while discussing shredding in the context of a 1993 issue of Guitar World magazine.
Hoekstra added, “What’s funny is that it seems like, you can see clearly Metallica, like the ‘The Black Album’ and Pantera and stuff like that, there was no bagging on the shredding when it was happening in the really heavy stuff. That was like perfectly acceptable.”
“They’re praising ‘Diamond’ Darrell in the magazine. So I guess it’s more steered at mainstream rock and roll. Let’s go ahead and push a lot of that fast playing off into the heavy stuff and we’re okay with that,” he continued.
Reflecting on the origins of shredding, Joel mentioned in an earlier interview, “I suppose really the godfather of that whole shred movement [was] when Yngwie [Malmsteen] came out. I started guitar right when it was Eddie Van Halen transitioning over to Yngwie, so everybody was kind of just learning to shred and get their chops together.”
He further discussed his role in guitar playing, saying, “I think that my role has been a little bit different in that I’ve had to make a living playing guitar in a lot of different environments that haven’t always been about how fast I could play or what my chops were like.”
Shredding in rock and metal refers to a fast, virtuoso guitar-playing style that features rapid note sequences, complex techniques, and technical skill. It is commonly used in solos and instrumental parts.
Shred guitar legends include Randy Rhoads, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert, and Tony MacAlpine.
