My guitars are my umbilical cord. They're directly wired into my head.

I would have to say I'm bored with the standard rock, guitar solos, but I've done it for five albums now, and this time I wanted to go in a completely different direction. I wasn't interested in showing off any more.

For the 'Load' album, I was experimenting so much with tone that I had to keep journals on what equipment I was using. For 'Hero of the Day', I know I used a 1958 Les Paul Standard with a Matchless Chieftain, some Boogie amps and a Vox amp - again, they're all blended.

I'm very fortunate to be doing the thing I do best, which is play guitar. There aren't many other things I could do.

The movie 'Black Cat,' from 1934, is one of my favorite movies.

Metallica is a very complicated, fragile thing. On the outside, it's all metal, but on the inside it's very delicate.

Although I'm a lead guitarist, I'd say that a good 95 percent of my time onstage is spent playing rhythm.