Fade to Black

Metallica, 1984. Solo by Kirk Hammett.

Metallica's first power ballad has two solos; the outro is Hammett at his most melodic.

Metallica's first ballad has two solos, and Hammett plays both with his black Flying V on the neck pickup for warmth. He ran it through a wah pedal parked in one position rather than rocked, which gives the leads a filtered, vocal quality. The earlier solo is double-tracked, while the long closing solo was left as a single performance because its slow, open phrasing did not suit doubling. That outro unfolds over a repeating G-A-B pattern, mixing melodic arpeggios with harmonized lines in thirds and fifths, and Hammett has said homesickness shaped its mournful mood. Listen for the parked-wah tone in the outro, a nasal, slightly muffled voice that sounds close to someone singing through closed lips.

Fade to Black by Metallica is ranked #23 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Kirk Hammett and the song was released in 1984. It appears on 23 lists, placing as high as #6 (DigitalDreamDoor).

The story of Fade to Black

Fade to Black was born out of a miserable stretch for the young Metallica. In January 1984 a truck carrying the band's equipment was broken into, and among the stolen gear was James Hetfield's favorite Marshall amplifier, a piece with real sentimental value. The theft forced the cancellation of a Boston show and pushed back European dates. Around the same time the band had been thrown out of their manager's house over property damage and heavy drinking, leaving Hetfield depressed and unsettled.

Hetfield wrote the song at a friend's home in New Jersey while in that low mood. He and Lars Ulrich have admitted they were preoccupied with death during this period, and the lyrics describe someone contemplating suicide and deciding life is no longer worth living. The words 'fade to black' never actually appear in the text. Hetfield later described the track as a big step because it was essentially the band's first ballad, something thrash fans did not expect.

Metallica recorded Ride the Lightning at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen between February 20 and March 14, 1984, co-producing with Flemming Rasmussen. The song opens with a delicate acoustic intro and gradually builds into heavier, faster territory, a template the band later reused on Welcome Home (Sanitarium), One and The Day That Never Comes. Hetfield found tracking the acoustic parts frustrating because every tiny finger squeak was audible and had to be controlled.

The song was pressed as a promotional single on glow-in-the-dark green vinyl in 1984. Its subject drew criticism from people who claimed it encouraged self-harm, yet Hetfield said the band received hundreds of letters from young listeners saying the song had actually helped them through dark times. It has since been certified double platinum in the United States and it has remained a regular part of Metallica's concerts ever since.

The solo

Kirk Hammett plays all of the lead guitar on Fade to Black. According to his own account in Guitar World, he used his black Flying V on the neck pickup for warmth and ran it through a wah pedal left parked in one position rather than rocked, giving the leads a vocal, filtered quality. The earlier solo was double-tracked, while the long closing solo was left as a single performance because its slow, open phrasing did not suit doubling. That outro solo unfolds over a repeating G-A-B chord pattern and mixes melodic arpeggios with harmonized lines in thirds and fifths. Hammett has said he was homesick in Denmark and deliberately thought about depressing things while improvising it, which he credits for its mournful mood.

Legacy

Fade to Black proved thrash metal could handle vulnerability and made the power ballad a recurring feature of Metallica albums. Guitar World ranked its solo the 24th greatest of all time, and Rolling Stone placed it at No. 35 among the 100 greatest heavy metal songs in 2023. It remains a concert staple and is certified double platinum in the US, silver in the UK and platinum in Australia. When Long Beach metal station KNAC went off the air in 1995, this was the last song it played.

Top 10 facts about Fade to Black

Hetfield was partly driven to write the song after thieves stole his favorite Marshall amp from the band's equipment truck.
Wikipedia
The equipment theft happened in January 1984 and forced Metallica to cancel a Boston show and delay a European tour.
Songfacts
Hetfield wrote it at a friend's house in New Jersey after the band had also been evicted from their manager's home.
Guitar World
The title phrase never appears in the lyrics.
Songfacts
Hammett recorded his leads on a black Flying V using the neck pickup, with a wah pedal left in a fixed position.
Guitar World
Hammett improvised the final solo while deliberately dwelling on sad thoughts during a homesick stay in Denmark.
Songfacts
It was issued as a promotional single on phosphorescent green vinyl.
Wikipedia
Metallica played it at the 1992 Montreal show where a pyrotechnic blast badly burned James Hetfield.
Songfacts
Guitar World ranked the song's solo No. 24 among the greatest guitar solos ever.
Wikipedia
It was the final song aired by Long Beach radio station KNAC before it signed off on February 15, 1995.
Songfacts

Live versions

Live Shit: Binge & Purge (Seattle) (1989) August 1989 Seattle show, one of three concerts collected in the 1993 box set.
Live Shit: Binge & Purge (San Diego) (1992) San Diego concert filmed for the box set during the Black Album tour era.
Live Shit: Binge & Purge (Mexico City) (1993) Early-1993 Mexico City performance released on the box set's CDs.
Cunning Stunts (Fort Worth) (1997) Eight-and-a-half-minute version filmed at the Fort Worth Convention Center, May 1997.
Montreal (1992) Infamous show during which Hetfield was burned by pyrotechnics.

Notable covers

Apocalyptica (1998) Finnish cello quartet's instrumental version on Inquisition Symphony.
Sonata Arctica (2002) Power metal take recorded for the tribute album A Tribute to the Four Horsemen.
Disturbed Included on the Music as a Weapon II live compilation.

In our lists

The Most-Taught Solos — #15
See Them Live — #7
The 25 Greatest Metal Guitar Solos — #3
The 25 Greatest Thrash Guitar Solos — #2
The 1980s — #8
Ballad Solos — #4
Most Agreed-Upon — #23
Fans' Picks — #17

Sources

What guitar was used on the Fade to Black solo?

A gibson flying v through a Marshall amp, with wah, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Fade to Black rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#23 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 23 of them.

Who played the guitar solo on Fade to Black?

Kirk Hammett played all the lead guitar, including the long improvised outro solo.

What guitar did Kirk Hammett use on Fade to Black?

He used his black Flying V on the neck pickup, running through a wah pedal left in a fixed position.

What is Fade to Black about?

It depicts someone who feels life is no longer worth living, written while Hetfield was depressed after the band's gear was stolen.

What album is Fade to Black on?

It is on Metallica's second album, Ride the Lightning, recorded in Copenhagen in 1984.

Is Fade to Black Metallica's first ballad?

Yes, Hetfield has called it essentially the band's first ballad, and it set a pattern for later songs like One.