One

Metallica, 1988. Solo by Kirk Hammett.

A two-part solo: a melodic first half, then triplet tapping over the machine-gun section. Hammett's best-known work.

Kirk Hammett plays three solos across this long song, and each has its own job. The first borrows melodic ideas from Hetfield's intro noodling and uses a staccato-picked major-chord pattern for a bright, lifting feel. The middle solo gave him the most trouble; he re-recorded it around fifteen times and eventually flew to New York to recut it. The final solo, with its burst of two-handed tapping over the machine-gun double-bass section, came almost instantly, and it is the one most players try to learn. Listen for how the tapping locks onto the triplet rhythm of the drums, so the guitar and kick pedals sound like one machine before Hammett and Hetfield trade harmony lines at the close.

One by Metallica is ranked #20 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Kirk Hammett and the song was released in 1988. It appears on 24 lists, placing as high as #2 (All About The Rock).

The story of One

"One" is based on Dalton Trumbo's 1939 anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun and its 1971 film adaptation, which tell the story of a First World War soldier left without arms, legs, sight, hearing or speech after a landmine explosion, trapped alive inside his own body. Lars Ulrich confirmed the source in a 1989 interview, and Songfacts notes that James Hetfield first learned of the book through his older half-brother. Hetfield has said he approached it less as a political statement than as a study of feeling trapped.

Hetfield and Ulrich wrote the song in late 1987. Hetfield credited Venom's "Buried Alive" for sparking the B-minor-to-G movement in the opening, an idea he had been toying with for some time. The arrangement moves from a clean, ballad-like first half through shifting time signatures into a crushing finale, reflecting the soldier's journey from confusion to despair. Recording the song meant shifting between 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4 time.

The band recorded ...And Justice for All in 1988 at One on One Studios in Los Angeles. Mike Clink was originally in the producer's chair but departed, and longtime collaborator Flemming Rasmussen came in to rescue the sessions. The finished album famously buried Jason Newsted's bass in the mix, something Newsted later accepted as part of how that record captured the era.

Released as a single in January 1989, "One" became Metallica's breakthrough on radio and television. Its video, the band's first, wove in footage from the 1971 film, and the song won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1990. Metallica had performed it on the televised 1989 Grammy ceremony, where the new hard rock/metal award controversially went to Jethro Tull instead.

The solo

Kirk Hammett plays three solos. For the first, he borrowed melodic ideas from Hetfield's noodling in the intro and used a staccato-picked major-chord pattern to give it a bright, lifting quality. The middle solo gave him the most trouble: he told Guitar World he re-recorded it around 15 times and, while the band were mixing and touring, flew from Philadelphia to New York to recut it at the Hit Factory before he was happy. The climactic final solo, which includes a burst of Van Halen-inspired two-handed tapping over the machine-gun double-bass section, came almost instantly. Hammett used his ESP neck-through KH-1 with skull inlays, running an ADA MP-1 preamp blended with Mesa/Boogie amps; the clean tones came almost entirely from the MP-1. The piece closes with Hammett and Hetfield trading and harmonising lead lines.

Legacy

"One" took Metallica into the mainstream without softening their sound. It won the inaugural Grammy for Best Metal Performance, Guitar World readers voted its solo the seventh-greatest ever, and Rolling Stone placed it No. 11 among the greatest heavy metal songs in 2023. Its start-stop double-kick section is often cited as a forerunner of the metalcore breakdown. The video reached No. 1 on MTV's request charts, and the band ended up buying the film rights to avoid paying ongoing royalties for the footage.

Top 10 facts about One

The song is based on Dalton Trumbo's 1939 novel Johnny Got His Gun, about a WWI soldier who loses his limbs, sight, hearing and speech.
Wikipedia
Hetfield has credited Venom's 'Buried Alive' for inspiring the song's opening B-minor-to-G chord movement.
Wikipedia
Kirk Hammett re-recorded the middle solo about 15 times and finally nailed it at New York's Hit Factory after flying in from Philadelphia.
Guitar World
Hammett said the tapping section of the final solo came to him almost immediately because the rhythm section was so exciting to play over.
Guitar World
Hammett recorded with an ESP KH-1 and an ADA MP-1 preamp, blended with Boogie amplifiers.
Guitar World
'One' won the first Grammy Award ever given for Best Metal Performance, at the 1990 ceremony.
Wikipedia
The video, Metallica's first, was shot on 7 December 1988 in Long Beach, California, and directed by Bill Pope and Michael Salomon.
Wikipedia
Metallica bought the rights to the 1971 Johnny Got His Gun film so they would not keep paying royalties for its use in the video.
Wikipedia
The machine-gun double-kick section is considered by some writers to be the first metal breakdown using start-stop double-bass drumming.
Wikipedia
Guitar World ranked Hammett's solo No. 7 in its list of the 100 greatest guitar solos.
Songfacts

Live versions

31st Annual Grammy Awards (1989) Televised performance that introduced the song to a mainstream audience.
S&M (with the San Francisco Symphony) (1999) Orchestral live version conducted by Michael Kamen.
S&M2 (2019) Revisited with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas.
56th Annual Grammy Awards with Lang Lang (2014) Piano-and-metal duet with the Chinese concert pianist.

Notable covers

Korn (2003) Performed on MTV Icon; Metallica liked it enough to allow its release as a bonus track.
Apocalyptica (1998) Cello arrangement by Max Lilja closing the album Inquisition Symphony.
Apocalyptica feat. James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo (2024) New cinematic version on Plays Metallica Vol. 2, with Hetfield reciting the lyrics.

In our lists

The Most-Taught Solos — #14
See Them Live — #6
The Greatest Solo of Every Year — #45
Genre Champions — #31
The 25 Greatest Metal Guitar Solos — #2
The 25 Greatest Thrash Guitar Solos — #1
The 1980s — #5
Tapping — #3
Most Agreed-Upon — #20

Sources

What guitar was used on the One solo?

An esp through a Mesa/Boogie amp, with wah, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does One rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#20 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 24 of them.

What is Metallica's One about?

A WWI soldier left limbless, blind, deaf and mute by a landmine, based on Dalton Trumbo's novel Johnny Got His Gun.

Who played the guitar solos on One?

Kirk Hammett plays the main solos, with James Hetfield joining for the harmonised lead lines at the end.

What guitar did Kirk Hammett use on One?

An ESP KH-1 neck-through guitar with skull inlays, through an ADA MP-1 preamp and Mesa/Boogie amps.

Did One win a Grammy?

Yes, it won the first Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 1990.

What album is One on?

Metallica's 1988 album ...And Justice for All.