Airing April 18th at 9pm ET, episode 9 of season 14 of VH1 Classic’s centerpiece in original programming, That Metal Show, marks another first for the critically acclaimed talk show. Ever since Kirk Hammett first picked up the electric guitar, he dreamed of jamming one day with Michael Schenker. Well TMS makes it happen and the world’s most recognized heavy metal guitarist, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, jams live on stage with UFO/Scorpions guitar legend, Michael Schenker, during this week’s episode.

Hammett flew in for the sole purpose of appearing alongside his guitar idol on the show hosted by Eddie Trunk, Don Jamieson, and Jim Florentine. As Hammett states in two recent tweets this week on his twitter account, “Today I was in fanboy hero worship mode w/ @MW Schenker Thanks @ThatMetalShow!” and later adding, “Still wrapping my head around yesterday. Jamming w/ my guitar idol Michael Schenker, it was a mind bending, a truly inspirational experience!”. During the interview, both Kirk and Michael discuss their current projects, and Hammett updates us on the status of the next Metallica project.  During the “TMS Top 5” where the hosts discussed their Top 5 Michael Schenker UFO-era Songs, Hammett includes his Top 6 picks as well.

The episode also features the debut of Damon Johnson from Black Star Riders as the guest musician who discusses the new Black Star Riders record and his time playing with Thin Lizzy. Johnson wows the crowd by showcasing his lap steel guitar playing abilities and lives up to the challenge of playing in front of Hammett and Schenker, leaving them impressed with his abilities. Johnson also tweeted about his experience on the show on how he felt watching the guitar legends play, “Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday afternoon…”

This week’s “Rank” segment finds Hammett ranking his favorite Metallica albums in order. Kirk even declares if bassist Cliff Burton had been alive for the …And Justice For All recording Cliff’s bass lines would have been heard throughout the album, a common complaint about that album.

Fans can watch all previous episodes and other exclusive bonus clips at this location and on the new VH1 app, as well as the new That After Show segment, which discusses the intricacies of Michael’s style of playing guitar, and Kirk Hammett tells the story of purchasing the legendary Peter Green Les Paul guitar, which was once owned by Gary Moore of Thin Lizzy fame, and now we know that Kirk keeps this prize by the entrance of his house so it is always close when he gets home.

(Pictures by Colin Douglas Gray)