Kill 'Em All

Metallica is a band that is a household name for about 99% of the world’s population. Obviously, that’s an exaggeration but seriously I highly doubt most of today’s people don’t know who this band is. And there really isn’t much to say about this band and album that hasn’t already been said. “Kill ‘Em All” it’s an extremely important, influential, and beloved album in thrash metal. It’s also one of the first thrash metal albums ever. This has everything you would love in a metal band. And it has been with me since childhood. So of course, I have nothing really negative to say about this album. It’s a classic for a reason.

Right from the opening moments of this album, you are brought face to face with extremely hostile thrash metal. “Hit the Lights” is a classic Metallica song and instantly establishes what this album is about to do to you. It’s going to thrash you around and beat your head over with fast-picked riffs, powerful power chords, squealing leads/solos, and some absolutely feral vocals from James Hetfield. Everything about this album screams heavy, thrash, and speed metal. With some slightly punky moments here and there. Overall this album is just right when it comes to thrash. And it’s executed perfectly.

One of my favorite aspects of this band and album is Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield’s guitar work. Especially Kirk’s. His guitar riffs are hostile and aggressive, and my god his way of soloing is amazing. I’ve always loved the way he plays his solos and leads. They mostly consist of extremely high and soaring solos that have a lot of shredding in between. This album isn’t the most complex or technically challenging album. But my god it is constantly thrashy and has good enough energy to make these songs feel feral.

Now on to James' guitar work. He is the master of down-picking for a reason. His riffs are extremely sharp and have a lovely feel of rhythm to them. Take the opening notes of “Jump In the Fire” for example. It’s an extremely straightforward riff yet it’s very catchy. Vocally he’s always been one of my favorite things about the band. His vocals here are the sharpest and highest they would be. He sounds really good and hits a lot of high shrieks as well.

When it comes down to bass it’s obviously top-notch. The legendary Cliff Burton (RIP) has always been a special part of the early Metallica albums. His bass work is gnarly and flows well with the guitars. This album especially has fucking great bass tone, his work is heard perfectly in every moment of this album. And of course his bass work on “(Anesthesia)-Pulling Teeth” is legendary. On this song, he shows off how talented he really is. He shreds the bass and hits a lot of nice bendy notes, it even sounds melodic at times. He is easily one of the best thrash metal bassists ever. Maybe even THE best.

Now on to the drumming. The man himself Lars Ulrich has never been the most technical, tightest, or overly talented player. But I gotta say credit where it’s due, his drumming on the early Metallica albums is great. And fits the music. His drumming here is very fast and well-executed. He’s got a lot of good fills and nasty thrashing sections to go along with it. You can tell he’s got a lot of punk influences with his drumming. The way he plays is very angry and manages to have a good flow with the guitars. It’s not the most aggressive or extremely breakneck in terms of speed. But man without him these songs probably wouldn’t sound as iconic. He uses a good variety of fast, mid-paced, and slow beats. He also uses double bass at points.

With this four-piece being as talented as they were at this time. Their performances and talents pay off. Because EVERY SONG is memorable and amazing. When it comes to songwriting it’s not the most mind-blowing thing ever. But it's not extremely simplistic. Each song is catchy, and hostile, and has a lot of variation. It’s got a lot of balls and rhythm to back up the songs. The energy of this album would make any angsty teen go absolutely ballistic. And for the time of the early 80’s, this is one aggressive and powerful album.

The songs also have a nice feel of tempo changes. You have thrashing bangers like “Phantom Lord”, “Whiplash”, and a personal favorite of mine “Metal Militia”. Which focuses on ripping you to shreds with blazing tempos. Then you have songs like “No Remorse”, “Seek & Destroy”, and “The Four Horsemen”. Which carries more groove and mid-paced rhythm than the other songs. When it comes to picking a favorite it’s nearly impossible. But “Whiplash” and “Metal Militia” are the two songs I would say are my personal favorites from the album.

This album is very well mixed and produced. The guitars have a nice fuzzy raw tone to them, and the bass is sizzling and is heard across the whole record. James Hetfield’s vocals sound loud and upfront, and Lar’s drums sound great as well. For an early 80s metal record, this thing has a good mix to it. Everything is powerful and can be heard in every song.

Metallica came out swinging with their debut album. This album is a masterpiece of early speed and thrash metal. Combining great riffs, feral vocals, and gnarly bass work. And just everything lovely about thrash metal. While some bands would obviously surpass Metallica in terms of songwriting complexity, aggression, and speed. “Kill ‘Em All” is still a fantastic metal album that doesn’t have to be overly complex. This album set the bar for thrash and still to this day is a damn near perfect album in my eyes. If you want to get into metal. This album and the other early Metallica albums are ESSENTIAL. Give it another spin if you haven’t already. A great album all the way through.

Ah, Metallica. The biggest metal band of all time, and for great reason. Their debut album Kill ‘Em All is one of the most iconic and important albums in the genre, helping kickstart the thrash metal movement in the early 1980s and ushering in a new generation of metal-heads that were hungry for something faster and more aggressive than the NWOBHM scene that was leading the charge for heavy metal at the time. Kill ‘Em All was just that: rough around the edges, but full of a youthful exuberance and wild untamed energy that seemingly no band before had mastered. And I’m not discrediting any metal that came before—bands like Iron Maiden, Venom, Judas Priest, Angel Witch, and countless other acts apart of the “British invasion” were releasing heavy metal classics and gems that have stood the test of time just as well as Metallica’s early work. But Kill ‘Em All is just a different breed and although Exciter’s Heavy Metal Maniac was released first, for many this is the true birth of thrash metal.

This energetic debut encapsulates a lot of thrash metal’s core elements and pushes them to the forefront so that they are impossible to ignore—the guitars are razor sharp and sizzling with a raw punk energy. Cliff Burton’s bass is thick and weighty, thundering alongside James Hetfield’s rhythm playing and often stealing the spotlight, even getting a chance to shine alone on ‘(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth’. And you can say what you want about current day Lars Ulrich, but back in the 80s he was a force to be reckoned with, with his angst and attitude laden, tightly wound punk-ish drumming that serves as the backbone for Hetfield’s riffs. And Kirk Hammett may be accused of phoning it in nowadays, but his flamboyant and charmingly imperfect solos feel right at home among the chaos on this spicy debut.

Metallica was a strong four piece unit but I think James Hetfield is the biggest standout performance here, and I think he really is the driving force behind Metallica. Yeah, the infamous Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine might have written a few of these killer riffs, but James was always the rhythm player for Metallica and I don’t think there was any guitarist in the thrash metal scene that could quite rival his down-picking precision and speed. The man was 20 years old and writing bonafide classics like ‘Motorbreath’ and ‘Whiplash’ which are among the best riffs of his career, even after three more albums that are widely considered some of the best metal ever recorded and an extensively successful career following that. Credit to Lars too, co-writer on a lot of these songs which have become nearly as iconic as the band itself within the metal scene. James’s voice is also at its best on Kill ‘Em All—listen to his high pitched screams on ‘Hit the Lights’ or ‘Phantom Lord’ and tell me this guy isn’t a higher, immortal being. I still remember the first time I heard ‘Hit the Lights’ and being blown away, for I had never heard any music that aggressive before in my life, and James sounded like he was shredding his own throat and vocal chords just for the quality of the song. I have to give credit where it’s due, that shit sounded insane to a 15 year old me who had no knowledge of extreme metal and who’s experiences of heavy music outside of classic rock extended to just Black Sabbath and a little bit of Iron Maiden.

Speaking of giving credit where it’s due, let’s talk about Dave Mustaine. First of all, it must have been absolutely heartbreaking for him to find out his best friends in the world had turned their back on him, kicked him from their band with no notice and for some pretty questionable reasons behind it all. An alcoholic getting kicked out of a band full of alcoholics does seem a bit unfair, so I can only imagine how much of a loose cannon Dave must have been to get ousted from a band that was at the most wild they’d ever be. It took him a long time to get over it and I doubt he’ll ever get over it fully, but Dave should be proud of contributing to one of the most important metal albums ever made. He’s credited as co-writer for four tracks off Kill ‘Em All: ‘The Four Horsemen’, ‘Jump in the Fire’, ‘Phantom Lord’, and ‘Metal Militia’. While ‘The Four Horsemen’ was heavily modified from its original version, ‘The Mechanix’ (a later version showing up on Megadeth’s debut), the other tracks seem to hold the spirit of early Dave Mustaine/Megadeth very well. ‘Jump in the Fire’ is a catchy, hook laden thrasher similar to the likes of ‘Seek & Destroy’ or ‘No Remorse’ which rely heavily on their memorable, almost sing-along hooks. ‘Phantom Lord’ and ‘Metal Militia’ are among my favorite early Metallica tracks; the former is a punk inspired speed metal anthem and criminally underrated within this track list. How it’s not a live staple, I’ll never know. The latter is one of those breakneck thrashers rivaled in intensity perhaps only by ‘Hit the Lights’ and a perfect closer to this fiery debut.

With or without Dave Mustaine, I think it’s pretty clear that Metallica were still on the path to greatness. The previously mentioned ‘No Remorse’ and ‘Seek & Destroy’ are B-side mammoth tracks, both between six and seven minutes and boasting that multi-layered songwriting that Metallica would soon master over the course of the decade. It’s some seriously impressive writing for 20 year olds, and anyone who hates on Metallica just because they’re popular have obviously never sat down to listen to their early material which is bursting with raw talent that was quickly being harnessed into something even more special. It’s equally impressive to see them turn ‘The Mechanix’ into the seven minute epic known as ‘The Four Horsemen’, turning Dave’s riff down to a mid-paced groove and extending the track with the memorable bridge that makes for one of the more dynamic songs on the record, even if it’s one of the more tame by default. The way James and Lars seamlessly added their own ambitious flair to Dave’s raw piece of thrashy brilliance has to be commended.

As much as I love Kill ‘Em All, I have to admit that this is not quite the band’s finest hour. I always think it will be when I’m listening to it because in the moment it feels like such a time capsule of the greatest characteristics of thrash, and a sound that can’t be recreated no matter how many bands try. Then you listen to its successor, and realize how much they had left to give. Here and there, there are slight moments that seem to stumble across the runtime, which is forgivingly long due to the consistency and quality of the record. I think the bass solo is cool but it feels like a break in the action more than anything, even if it’s cool on its own. And I love the maturity of ‘The Four Horsemen’, but after you’ve heard the new and improved ‘Mechanix’ on Megadeth’s debut, you wonder why Metallica even slowed it down in the first place. But these are the most obnoxious of nitpicks, for neither really stops this album from near perfection, and being head and shoulders above the vast majority of all other metal music currently in existence for sheer importance and influence.

The seminal release from the largest band in history, or at least today, Metallica's "Kill 'Em All" is a fantastic debut album that nearly flawlessly hits its mark in multiple ways. The musical composition acts like a barbed fish hook—once it grabs you, it doesn't let go, well, most of the time. However, the creation of the music is somewhat debatable. I express this uncertainty because Dave Mustaine, a former member turned rival turned Layne Staley punching bag, claims he wrote most of the music within this album. I'm inclined to believe him, as the physical CD I own now credits him for some of the best songs on the album, and unfortunately, the worst, 'Metal Militia'. It's a snooze fest of a song; after 'Seek & Destroy', just stop the album—you've heard all you need to. Despite Mustaine's large ego, I'm surprised he'd want credit for such an uninspired track.

Of course, the good outweighs the bad a thousandfold with this album. Songs like 'No Remorse' and 'Seek & Destroy' have killer hooks that grab you and don't let go. Meanwhile, 'The Four Horsemen' and 'Phantom Lord' are ever-evolving, never becoming too stale—especially the latter, which has a tasteful slow part halfway through. 'Motorbreath' is there to fill the number three spot on the album, not too bad, although James' vocal performance is lackluster, and the chorus isn't very good. Fortunately, 'Jump in the Fire' and 'Whiplash' make up for it, being simple and fun songs to headbang to.

Not everything is perfect; I have a few minor nitpicks. Some of the guitar solos are a bit gratuitous, and honestly, some songs—mainly '(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth', 'No Remorse', and 'Seek & Destroy'—could have been a minute or a minute and a half shorter. I prefer my thrash metal songs between three and four minutes long. After five or six minutes, you might as well make it a doom metal song.

"Kill 'Em All" is probably one of the best debut albums by an early-eighties thrash band ever. The majority of the songs are good, and even the ones that aren't that inspired or great are still not offensive and make for good background noise. This album serves as the gateway drug into the world of thrash metal for any person, showcasing why Metallica is still well-liked and remembered today, which is surprising considering what comes later.

During the 70s and early 80s, American metal seemed content in being an echo from the Old Continent, as British, and to a lesser extent, Germanic steel, seemed to be the major sources of inspiration, in sound, image, concept and delivery for American bands. That didn’t mean US and Canadian bands (not many impact Latin American metal outfits at that time yet) weren’t good, even great, like Riot, but there wasn’t a true American sound yet. Then, the NWOBHM phenomenon created ripples across the Atlantic that stirred something deep inside the souls of American headbangers; a pressing need for faster, harder sounds. The advent of speed metal led to the birth of USPM with Manowar at the helm, whereas north of the U.S. border Exciter delved in the purest form of speed known at the time. All of this led to inspire some talented youths from Cali to create something the world hadn’t yet seen not heard, something they’d call their own… before successfully shoving it everybody’s throats.

Metallica’s 1983 groundbreaking debut might be considered the first thrash metal album to many. While I didn’t live those days nor that scene in the flesh, I think thrash metal reached its definitive, purest form in 1984, by Metallica and Slayer’s hands. Of course, there’s no denying Kill ‘Em All was the starting point of thrash metal’s direct evolution. Sure, Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe” or Accept’s “Fast as a Shark” contributed greatly in its formative aesthetics, but they weren’t the finished product. One can certainly argue palm-muted rager “Whiplash” IS the finished product. In fact, the ‘thrashyness’ in this debut LP is dialed up from side A to side B, starting with the aforementioned side A closer. Just like fellow Californian thrash pioneers Slayer, whose own debut was released later in ’83, the flavors of the NWOBHM were still very strong in their formula, but in the case of Kill ‘Em All, one can distinctly realize that the further into the record, the heavier and harsher it becomes.

Thrash or no, the quality and memorability of all original ten tracks of this world-transforming LP can’t be denied. James Hetfield potent rhythmic riffing coupled with the then-incendiary Kirk Hammett solos, along the indispensable contributions by the recently departed and highly skilled Dave Mustaine, in both rhythmic and lead guitars, fueled the unstoppable wildfire that burned bright from the West Coast and spread across the globe, putting America at the top of influence and innovation in the metal music world. The energetic rhythmic duo of Cliff Burton and Lars Ulrich, a gifted, technical and universally loved bassist (BASS SOLO, TAKE ONE!) and an equally universally reviled self-made drummer, comprise a creative and unorthodox backbone for the band, anchoring all that six-string potency. Even James' almost pre-pubescent sounding vocals add a distinct, punkish character to the album that contributes to its uniqueness.

As mentioned before, not all of it sounds entirely fresh and original, though. Metallica owes much to NWOBHM legends Diamond Head, as their seminal 1980 Lightning to the Nations provided the main guidelines in the guitar tone, the tempo and heaviness of the riffs, an influence Metallica has never been afraid to point out. “Hit the Lights” almost seems to transform into “The Prince” at around the 2:30 minute mark, while “Seek & Destroy” is the American rendition of “Am I Evil?”, slightly shorter, but slightly meaner. Other NWOBHM greats are summoned here and there. Blitzkrieg’s hard rocking style of Deep Purple-on-steroids is found roaming in “Jump in the Fire”. As for Iron Maiden, their impact also makes a brief but clear appearance in “No Remorse”, around the 3:48 mark. Though definitely not a copy-paste case of plagiarism, the British influence was still pretty strong and it would take Metallica another year and another LP to reach complete maturity and originality.

Youthful, energy-charged and spirited, the Four Horsemen had arrived, and the world was never the same again. Graced with a simple, Burton-designed, iconic cover, as it would become Metallica’s graphic trademark, Kill ‘Em All ignited the motor of America’s thrash metal machinery, an engine that, despite is many fluctuations in influence, quality and output, remains active, 40 years later.

Being the case with every Metallica record, Kill ‘Em All is clouded with discourse around things that matter little; Mustaine wrote half of the songs, it’s the “first” of its kind, it's got all the punk influence, and the list goes on. While all of those statements may hold some level of truth, I don’t really think they’re imperative to setting the thrashers’ debut apart from not only the metal scene as a whole, but their own discography. From Ride The Lightning onward, there’s some level of derivative past the bare-bones characteristics of the genre, but here we basically see James and co. playing speed metal with an extra kick, that happened to land with full impact. In other words, I don’t think this genre-defining sound was intentional; rather, it just stuck because there was a personality already brewing that only realized itself upon its release.

And because of that, nothing else has been conjured up in the same vein, no matter how hard a band might try to replicate it (I would say the same about Slayer’s debut from a different angle). The sheer recklessness of the band’s influences made for a disc that chose speed as its defining factor, and it weaved the songs together nicely before realizing that not everything had to be played fast to fit the style. Opening the album with the hot power-chord burn and cymbal crashes that hardly sound like much of anything couldn’t have been a better way to set the stage, and I don’t think anybody really acknowledges that. Whether you’re at one of the album’s faster songs or the steadier ones, the adolescent energy that started here never lets up. “Hit The Lights” is as basic and to the point as you can get, yet its repetitive nature that descends into a string of solo-duels closing us off has such a chaotic undertone that it keeps you wanting more.

I would argue that this is carried over to everything to some level except “The Four Horsemen,” that being the only track that really feels like it had intentional phases by sticking a concise solo between the bridge and the final verse. The rest are furious sequences that happened to produce some of the best riffing and attitude we’ve heard to date. “Whiplash” truly feels like a filler that the band just pulled out of their ass, using a very simple riff backed by a steady bass-drum combo, and lyrics that could have been improvised. Closer “Metal Militia” does the exact same thing, but with even more fury, and “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)” quite literally could be a bass-warmup/soundcheck.

Yet, we eat every bit of it up. That’s why I’m bothering to point all of this out, because regardless of that, it’s still immaculate. Metallica very clearly had talent out of the gate just from being able to play these noodly solos and come up with rhythms that would boost any angry young man’s blood-pressure. But I don’t think they truly tried writing music from a precise angle until after this record. You could argue that “Seek & Destroy” has some pretty clear direction due to its steadier composition and slight dash of poetic flow, but I really can’t see even that measuring up to “The Four Horsemen.” “Jump In The Fire” and “Motorbreath” come off flat, yet their catchy nature and rhythm trade-offs allow them to stick like glue, with enhancement from the honest and brash atmosphere. “Phantom Lord” and “No Remorse” tamper with the longer structures, but ultimately feel pretty all over the place despite still being bangers themselves.

What it comes down to is that Kill ‘Em All was like scratching a lottery ticket and hitting the jackpot. Plenty of bands were making music like this at the time, but none could turn such a basic idea that yields little structure into something so furiously compelling and equally good regarding quality. I won’t say it was an accident, since there was clear talent since the No Life Til Leather demo, but there was a serious awakening after this record’s groundwork. Calling any of this “musical genius” would be a lie, even though I love everything about it. Not only did it pave a path for the band to more accurately define the thrash metal genre down the road, but as we know, it would inspire an entire movement of bands already working in the same vein to break into their own unique outfits. I like to compare it to the debut Kiss album, or David Lynch’s Eraserhead; it was never supposed to be as good as it was, despite the potential being there, but it certainly was anyway.

Originally written for ToothAndNailed95.blogspot.com

'Kill 'Em All', or youthful mischievousness made painfully obvious on the album that launched metal's biggest name into the collective imagination. With knowledge of their established trademark sound from later, this is exactly what one would imagine Metallica sounded like when they were kids, which...this is. Undeniably, it's far removed from the mature and unique aesthetics of later Metallica. This is like the riffs that would come out of them without a second thought. Debut album or not, there's a clear lack of sophistication in this, which in an ironic sense, makes its charm. A track like 'Metal militia' could be used in some Farrelly brothers family comedy. Picture this: the main character takes a step out of his trailer-park, yawns, looks up and sees a crazy-eyed rabid racoon and says "...shit" before getting furiously mauled by it and the track starts then. Farrelly comedies are fun, but that's hardly an empowering comment to be made about a metal album, and it certainly fits. However, that is indeed one of the main qualities on this record: it's fun. It's young, wild and daft. A track like 'Jump in the fire' with its repetitive good-time blues riff: genius ? Hardly, but it makes for easy listening.

What sets debut Metallica from 1983 from grown up Metallica apart, is largely the obvious lack of variation here compared to later albums. Those were full of heterogeneous influences pulling in every possible direction, forming a complex and intricate identity, yet with a common glue to all the parts. On this the tracks are quite frankly exactly what one would imagine: homogeneous to a fault, mostly, and tirelessly re-arranging the same set of notes in slightly different patterns over and over. Hetfield's immature high-pitched voice on top of it, campy and absolutely wading in reverb wetness doesn't exactly give this any more credibility. It is basically rock 'n 'roll, is it not. Bluegrass riff tails, eighth open hi-hats over obstinately pentatonic riffs the entire time - and go: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. Now hold these two suspended power chords right here. Back to it now: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. Repeat. Redneck banjo-like guitar solos on the lead every 2 minutes or so.

Sure, the thrash is there too: that gallop riff on 'The four horsemen', amongst a host of high tempo taggah-duddum - taggah-duddum, and the guitar tone is simply lovely. That early 80's Marshall hi-gain quality, apparently modded (and stolen a year later !), with its very stringy, scratchy percussive tone, with plenty of high end but so finely balanced - highly precise, yet not thirsty for gain. Other tracks blend thrash and rock 'n 'roll together: 'Motorbreath'. Then there's your 'Seek and destroy' on this, which is just pretty awful. The silliest, clowniest sounding of all main Metallica riffs screams "young and dumb", followed by a bobble-head middle part and then that terrible, terrible chorus with Hetfield's off-key "Searchiiiiiiin' !" that keeps returning, and you'd hope he'd "find" so he'd shut the hell up already. The very album title itself, 'Kill 'em all', depicts the intentionally half-witted and boorish approach to music that is contained inside; overly simplistic and critically straightforward; in stark contrast with the sharp allure of the 'Ride' or 'Master' albums.

From Burton's scrappy bass solo ('Anesthesia'), the overall redundancy of derivative thrash 'n 'roll, what appears to be (for the most part) the exact same solo from Hammett in every song, sketchy parts with studio discrepancies and song-writing faux-pas... this is Metallica as a juvenile garage band, to the metal deity they would become soon after. As far as how significant this album is: well, you've got to start somewhere, and that doesn't mean that place is necessarily glorious. That they laid the groundwork for themselves and in the process also made their contribution to the development of modern metal is one thing, but the inherent quality of each individual track and the album as a whole, from a strictly musical point of view, is a different assessment altogether. One needs to simply compare this with individual songs from just a year later, from the 'Ride' album. Is there a song here close in stature to the epic 'Ride the lightning', or the cosmic 'Call of Ktulu' ? A song as anthemic as 'For whom the bell tolls', or with the weight of a 'Fade to black' ?

A considerable gulf separates this debut effort from what will follow, but this can be appreciated for what it is: youthful exuberance that once upon a time helped shape the metal you listen to.

Metallica is a band I'm sure most who browse the metal archives know. Formed in 1981, they had a somewhat controversial early history, mainly due to lead guitarist Dave Mustaine's drinking problems, but nonetheless just 1 year after their first demo, they put out their first full length, Kill 'Em All.

As the noisy intro to the opener "Hit The Lights" is played, you get your taste of the proper beginning of Metallica, with a steady thrash riff going from rhythm guitarist James Hetfield, he screams the opening lines. James's vocals on KEA rely heavily on screams and shouts, which can be a bit of a headache to anyone coming into this after, say, AJFA or the Black Album. It's a con for me as James clearly hadn't yet developed a complete vocal style as he did on later albums like the Black Album or Load. It's a bit of an improvement over the No Life 'til Leather demo tape, but studio magic will do that to anyone's vocals.

On lead guitar we have Kirk Hammett, and while Kirk may not be the most well-respected lead guitarist among metalheads, he does quite the sound job on KEA, with my favorite solo of his being on "The Four Horsemen". The tone of his guitar matches the other instruments and he synchronizes quite well with Hetfield's rhythm guitar. The rhythm guitar riff-work provided alot of base for other thrash metal bands (at the time) to follow and improve upon; as I'd say due to Metallica being big into NWOBHM at the time the riffs are closer to British heavy metal rather than what would be seen on later thrash releases. This applies to the solo's as well though there's definitely much more thrash in the solo's then the riffs. I couldn't imagine one of Kirk's solos on this record being in, say, an Iron Maiden album.

One complaint I have about the album is how long it is. It definitely overstays it's welcome at 51 minutes long; with many of the songs surpassing the 5 minute mark. There is really no reason why songs like The Four Horsemen or Metal Militia need to be over 5 minutes, as they could be condensed to a more reasonable 5 minutes or below. One good example of this is the song Seek and Destroy, the penultimate song on the record and one of Metallica's live staples. Seek and Destroy is the second longest song on the record, clocking in at 6:55. While it has a memorable opening and riff, a majority of the song is filled with filler solos and pretty mindless shouty lyrics from James Hetfield. It is a perfect example as to why this album is much too long (and don't get me started on the 18 minute Seek and Destroy on the Live Shit album).

Regarding bassist Cliff Burton he does a good job on all the songs, Pulling Teeth of course being his instrumental masterpiece, which accompanied with Lars Ulrich's drums makes a good break from James and Kirk's thrashy madness. I once heard someone say Cliff plays bass as if he's a lead guitarist and I'd say that's true for this and Metallica's follow-up album Ride The Lightning. As always, it's a shame he died so young, but for what we do have on this record, it fulfills.

In conclusion, Kill 'Em All is the mark of a band still in artistic development, but one that showed incredibly promise for what's to come. Despite that the album itself overstays it's welcome, and is a bit too repetitive to justify it's 51 minute run-time.

-Someone who's rather grateful, and somewhat dead inside.

You can say what you want about Metallica now: washed, boring, bloated. But when these guys were 20 (or 19 for Lars), they kicked more ass than anybody in the world of heavy metal. Their first, Kill Em All, is the record that kickstarted the greatest genre in metal, the album that lit the flame. Sure, Exciter came six months before, but Heavy Metal Maniac pales in comparison to this beauty.

Now for the music, this stuff is rough around the edges, but not in a way that makes the album feel underbaked. It gives it a youthful charm that few albums had once the technical thrash movement began taking place. Even Metallica themselves would lose touch with their unhinged, manic personas that are on full display here. When Hetfield shrieks on "Hit the Lights" or Kirk misses a note or two in the "Seek and Destroy" solo, you don't even notice because the band is playing with so much more energy than anyone else in the world. But this isn't to paint young Metallica as musical slouches either- they had the chops. The "Phantom Lord" riff and drum game of tag is excellent (even if Mustaine wrote it) and the "Whiplash" solo is one of the most underrated in all of Kirk's career. When people criticize him for overuse of the wah pedal, however justified, this album should be excluded. Even when he uses it here, it sounds fresh and exhilarating.

Early in the band's career, Metallica also had a very strong understanding of what hooks made a metal song tick. Even if Mustaine helped, this album has catchy hooks across the whole thing. "The Four Horsemen" does the hook better than Megadeth's "Mechanix," with a steeled tone behind Hetfield's calls. "No Remorse" and "Jump in the Fire" are good examples of this, too, especially with the guitars slicing around James's singing. Perhaps it was because of the band's youth, but even when James is just shrieking his way through a hook, like on "Hit the Lights" or "Metal Militia." There's little experimentation on the song structures here, aside from the riff transitions on "The Four Horsemen" or Cliff's bass solo. The band sticks to what works best in punk-fused metal: playing fast, playing loud, and not trying to sound too sophisticated. There's beauty in simplicity on albums like this, and others early in the genre.

But the real mastermind behind this seminal work is none other than Cliff Burton. It seems the rest of the band caught onto the fact that Burton was the most musically gifted of the bunch, and aptly gave him the spotlight on track four. But his bass is present and prominent throughout- it drives "The Four Horsemen" to being the best song on the album, but it's really the link that strings this entire album together. Every song feels complete, feels charismatic, and feels like Metallica gives a damn about how the instruments sound in the mix. They might wear the Motorhead and Maiden influences a little proudly at times, but the fact is this is THE album that changed heavy metal. Not Paranoid. Not The Number of the Beast. Not even Reign in Blood. It was Kill 'Em All

Trying to name every band that influenced Metallica's earliest sounds must be like kids naming their favorite Pokemons. "Venom! Motorhead! Diamond Head! Discharge! Budgie! Iron Maiden! Saxon! Judas Priest! Black Sabbath! Deep Purple! Rainbow!" The very thought of it is kinda hilarious. But how else would you even approach talking about all the influences that shaped 'Kill 'Em All' into the status it has today? Who's out there claiming himself to be a fan of thrash, death or even black metal and never in their lives have heard Metallica's nasty debut album? Well, whoever that poor man is, one day it might too late to catch up, so sit down and listen to 'Kill 'Em All', and take notes on how to play thrash.

I will repeat this to the end of my life, but thrash for me is defined by its unnatural origins - a birthchild of NWOBHM, speed metal and hardcore punk. This is why I fail to see the appeal of the likes of 'Reign in Blood' or anything most of young acts drop these days, as they throw away all the influences of first two genres, which introduces melodic approach to songwriting. Because despite it's notorious status, 'Kill 'Em All' isn't fast at all time. No, no, we've got stuff like 'The Four Horsemen', which keeps the same medium tempo for 7 minutes, blasting a new riff every minute and a half, or 'Jump in the Fire' which is almost three minutes shorter and prefers to stick to two riffs at most. There's also a first Metallica's instrumental called '(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth', which is mostly Cliff Burton showcasing his skills, as well as 'No Remorse' which becomes fast only at the last minute, and a song that tends to end Metallica's shows (or used to, I don't know anymore...) - 'Seek & Destroy'.

All of these songs (most of at least - more on that later) showcases that thrash doesn't need to be at breakneck speed to be fun. But of course it doesn't mean it can't be, you just have to do it right. Songs like 'Hit the Lights', 'Motorbreath' or 'Whiplash' have been a concert-staple for years, and rightfully so - it's impossible to not have a good time while blasting these 3 songs on full volume. Just like with 'Metal Militia', or my favorite - 'Phantom Lord' with it suddenly slows down. Ah, there it is, clear Dave Mustaine's influence on 'Kill 'Em All'. He's credited as a songwriter for 4 of the songs, but I think his genius is still present throughout entire record.

But, is it a perfect thrash metal record? Well, obviously not. I won't discuss musicianship, since Kirk and Cliff joined halfway through, and Lars was never a good drummer - but his primitive drumming fits here perfectly, at least. And while James' shrieking noises were annoying at first, they grew on me. I mean, if I can stand Sean Killian or Stace McLaren, then why James Hetfield from 1983 should be any different? No, I'll discuss some other things.

Imagine how pissed Saxon must have been when they've heard 'Seek & Destroy', especially its section right before Kirk's solo. Metallica is lucky as fuck that Biff Byford and his band weren't as eager to get their compensation as Lars was with Napster, cause James and co. would be annihilated at the court. And so they'd be if Lynyrd Skynyrd would do the same because of 'The Four Horsemen's particular riff... I mean, granted, it was probably joke at Lars' expense (he had no idea where 'Sweet Home Alabama' riff came from), but I'm still glad Metallica doesn't play that riff live during 'The Four Horsemen' performance, because it serves no purpose to the song whatsoever. Also, am I the only one thinking that Cliff's solo on '(Anesthesia)' is too long? One minute of him showing off and band joining in would be enough. Sometimes, less is more. Not always, but sometimes. Especially since this album already takes about 51 minutes, which is... Well, a lot to take at one listen.

But I can forgive all of that, for 2 reasons. First, those riffs are only short fragments of those songs (although 'Sweet Home Alabama' riff kinda drags on...) and don't form the basis for entire songs. They could be easily cut out and both 'Four Horsemen' and 'Seek and Destroy' would still be as good as they are. And second, this was, after all, the very first thrash metal album. One could argue Exodus was the first thrash metal band, and Venom and Motorhead were the first band to play thrash. But that's not an easy debate and there can be as many arguments on both sides. What matters, is that 'Kill 'Em All' was the first record to be the embodiment of thrash metal - violent, aggressive, fast, frantic, but also melodic, slow and, dare I say, beautiful? Well, in a way, at least.

For the past few days I was mulling over what I should cover next and the very obvious answer I had was picking Metallica’s highly influential debut, “Kill ‘Em All”. For an album that has had so much coverage and multiple different takes from multiple different people; it puts me off a little to come up with something that will stand on its own against the back drop of voices but I hope to try my best. Coming slap dab in the middle of summer 1983, Metallica came out of the gates running with an album that many would call one of the greatest metal albums of all time, some expressing that it is the greatest. Now I do think it’s one of the greatest and it’s influence is widespread but I’m not one to think it is the best, let alone the best thrash metal debut, but I do believe it is a tremendous album and an album that helped pave the way for the genre as a whole.

To begin, if there is a way to describe what “Kill ‘Em All” is, it is in all of its 80s glory a “raw, furious thrasher”. Fueled by NWOBHM and classic metal / rock with a dash of punk aggression, all the contents are mixed together in a caldron of sonic proportions only to great the dish named, thrash metal. Ok yeah I know that there is some contention and debate on “who REALLY put out the first thrash metal album” but what really matters is that this album, along with Slayer’s debut a few months later, was what put thrash on the map. The album is unpolished, distorted, and raw but still retains a charm to it. Matter of fact, as I re-listen to it in full today here in 2020, I notice how well it still sounds and how much it holds up. The guitars are nice and loud, the drums back a punch but not overbearing, the bass is loud enough to be heard but at places I do wish it was higher in the mix, and Hetfields shrieky, angsty vocals is in central focus here, but just like the drums in the production it isn’t over shadowing the instrumentation. So yeah, besides the bass being a tad bit low in places, the overall production is pretty great for a debut and packs a bunch of sound.

For the better part of “Kill ‘Em All”, Metallica’s focus is on NWOBHM influenced riffs but sped up ten times faster. “Hit The Lights” is the perfect representation for my statement, as it has a clear Iron Maiden influence with its galloping rhythm but with the tempo dial turned up a notch. If slowed down a little, I could see “Hit The Lights” ending up on one of Iron Maiden’s early albums honestly. The majority of the album is like a literal speed rollercoaster; speeding down the tracks more than they slowly go up them. Besides “Hit The Lights”; “Whiplash”, “Motorbreath”, “Phantom Lord”, “Metal Militia” all offer that same energy as the riffs and solos spill out in a quick pace but there is some variety here that isn’t all just quick riffing as Metallica does offer some mid-paced performances. “Jump In The Fire”, “No Remorse”, and “Seek & Destroy” all fit that mid-paced bill with influences ranging from Motörhead to Diamond Head sprouting from the seems; giving us the listeners some breathing room. Hell if you were to really slow down “Seek & Destroy”, I could see that as something Black Sabbath could have written. Metallica also adds little moments between songs where a melodic break or a melodic solo happens which I feel adds more to the song than being a straight forward speed thrasher.

A nice outlier from “Kill ‘Em All” is the late Cliff Burton’s bass solo in “(Anesthesia)- Pulling Teeth”. It is very experimental and totally different from everything else on the album that I couldn’t not stop and talk about it individually. I really love that buildup towards the 2 minute mark, then the rest of the instruments kicking in but not overtaking the bass. It’s a stand out in Cliff’s short career and definitely a standout here. Back to the album as a whole, I will say that it isn’t the most technical or complex in nature. The riffing follows a basic path and pattern, not verging much off from the well placed solos and the occasional melodic break or melodic solo that I’ve mentioned. Some think that “Kill ‘Em All’s” simplicity here is a negative but I don’t share those views. It’s easy for someone now to say “well look at all these albums that have come out since then, this is piss easy compared to them” but just look at when this came out, this album was very much different from what was going on and helped set a standard for the upcoming thrash genre. Even then, “Kill ‘Em All” may not be as complex or technically impressive, it sure as hell is a lot more memorable as a whole compared to a plethora of albums. So yeah, just because something is simple doesn’t make it bad, moving on.

Getting to our lineup, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Cliff Burton, and Lars Ulrich all preform fantastically, for the most part. James’s performance here is very much different from how he sings on later albums as he is much more raw here. He’s just full of screeches and shrieks as he more so yells at you than he does sing at you. He does have some more melodic singing like he’d utilize on later albums, such as in “No Remorse” and “Seek & Destroy” but for the most part stays pretty powerful and raw in “Kill ‘Em All”. James is also on rhythm guitar and his skill is excellent here as he keeps up with Kirk’s impeccable leads. Cliff Burton is fantastic here as his bass lines really help shape the songs and give the music a extra dimension. Fun fact, Cliff’s only writing credit here is“(Anesthesia)- Pulling Teeth” as he would join the band shortly before the recording of the debut. Never less, his performance here is a stand out in the genre and he’d only get better with his next release.

Kirk Hammett is a monster on the lead guitar and his early solo work is something that is hard for a lot of musicians to match now. What else makes Kirk’s solos top notch here and in early Metallica albums is how catchy those verses are. You just listen to the onslaught in “Seek & Destroy” or the beginning of “No Remorse” and not tell me that doesn’t want to make you shack head with the rhythm. Then there’s Lars Ulrich who gets the job down remaining consistent throughout. The drumming is not really complicated here on “Kill ‘Em All” nor has Lars ever been a standout drummer for me but he does do a great job on the studio albums, at least the early ones, but the less said about his...live performances, the better.

I guess the last thing I should mention is the elephant in the room; good ol’ Davey Mustainey. It would be disservice not to talk about Dave’s contributions for Metallica as he did greatly help shape their sound early on. You know his distinct style of writing when you hear “Jump In The Fire”, “The Four Horsemen”, “Metal Militia” and “Phantom Lord” as those songs have a little more, technicality to it? More meat and bones to the riffing I suppose? I mean you just listen to that melodic solo and the slow melodic break in “Phantom Lord” and you know that Dave’s sweaty fingers were all over it. In the end, I’m glad that Dave was fired from the band as it gave us some of the best riff writing and solos in the genre over in the Megadeth camp.

So after all of this long winded rambling, what is my final verdict on “Kill ‘Em All”? Well I personally think this a fantastic record and a fantastic debut. The album is memorable from beginning to end as Metallica handles catchiness and aggressive speed in tandem as if they were from different sides of the same coin. Their stance on the metal way of life and the lyrical subject matter is something the thrash genre still writes about, even after almost 40 years since this album released. Sure, there are some stuff that could be fixed or changed, like upping Cliff’s bass in the mix or cutting some time down in “No Remorse” but as a whole, “Kill ‘Em All” just fucking slays. It’s simple (for the most part) in its writing but difficult in its execution and Metallica definitely executes. I may not hold “Kill ‘Em All” as my favorite thrash debut, that title belongs to “Feel The Fire”, but the exceptional skills and memorability at play are something many can’t say they can repeat and with how successful and influential “Kill ‘Em All” became, it deserves every bit of it.

Every metalhead I know is at least familiar with Metallica, and for good reasons. They're the ones who joined the big four (along with Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax) and popularize the thrash metal genre. One of their albums "Master of Puppets" is considered one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time. Yet, a lot of the people who praise MOP tend to ignore their debut album "Kill 'Em All".

Released in 1983, this is the album that placed Metallica on the map. It's where Metallica finally got their true style, as their previous demo "No Life 'til Leather" is where they experimented a bit with a variety of sounds. While much better thrash metal albums would come out years later, their debut album still holds up today.

Each song has its own style of thrash that makes them memorable. "Whiplash" is a fast-paced song with an excellent guitar riff and brutal lyrics about getting attacked by the noise. "The Four Horsemen" is another powerful song about war. It has a bit of a power metal feel to it, and the guitar solo in the middle of the song is outstanding, as Kirk shows off his fast, upbeat guitar skills. And of course, there's "Seek & Destroy". From the lyrics of murder and destruction, to the rough guitars and banging drums, this song is one of the highlights of the album.

The vocals to the album are done by the renowned James Hetfield. His vocals are a mix between a shout of might and power, and a shout of rage and anger. The vocals fit perfectly with the aggressive atmosphere. In "No Remorse", the song's lyrics about not showing remorse when fighting in war are enhanced with the harsh vocals of Hetfield. His vocals in this album would be the start of his many memorable moments in Metallica's later works.

"(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" is the album's only instrument. The first half of the song is a bass solo from the late Cliff Burton. While it's sad to see Burton pass away early in his career, he had one of his best moments on this album. The song in particular shows off a complex, distorted bass that gives you the feeling that you're being put on anesthesia. It is a psychedelic moment of the album that feels powerful in putting the listener into a trance state. However, the second half of the song is where the rest of the band comes in and starts playing. I find the second half of the song to be a bit generic, as it sounds like something Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden would do.

The bonus tracks are cover songs from Diamond Head and Blitzkrieg, named "Am I Evil?" and "Blitzkrieg" respectively. If I had to choose which cover is better, I would go with "Am I Evil?". The song is an improved version from Diamond Head's take, as it includes more darker guitar riffs and the vocals of the song bring more power to the lyrics. However, the band didn't do anything new in "Blitzkrieg" and sounds more like the original song. "Blitzkrieg" is one of the only songs that I would skip through this project.

While this album may not be the greatest of all time when compared to their later works, it is certainly not their worst. The album's rough thrash sound would be the base of their later works from their second album "Ride the Lightning" all the way up to the commercial success of "The Black Album". While their recent projects are a hit or miss, I'd like to go back to this album and bang my head to the good ol' days of one of the greatest metal bands ever.

There are a few albums – specifically debut albums – that work much better because of their simplicity. I’ve written something similar about Iron Maiden’s debut and I feel that Kill ‘Em All fits the mould too. Style, songs, cover art – none of it complicates the basic enjoyment of pure heavy metal. And, yes, I would classify Metallica’s debut as something closer to pure heavy metal than actual thrash metal as we know it today, because this (as the almost indisputable First Thrash Album) was a blank slate that described a kind of thrash metal without rules and restrictions. I like it all the more for that.

I’ve always felt that the ‘80s wave of thrash metal became too specific too quickly and focused its attention rather too narrowly to interest me for a full album from many of the major bands. Sure, someone needed to drag heavy metal into faster, more technical, and more exciting waters, but they didn’t need to do it in such a formulaic fashion, with seemingly every other album opening with acoustic guitars then blasting into 8 five minute songs all featuring a similar kind of riffing. A caricature, I know. By acting as one of the stepping stones to that kind of thrash environment, Kill ‘Em All only does that for a few songs and focuses on better songwriting and more traditional heavy metal catchiness for the rest of the time. Sceptics testify: is ‘Seek & Destroy’ thrash? Unequivocally not in either speed or technique. Could we rope songs like ‘Jump in the Fire’ and ‘The Four Horseman’ into that statement? I think so, and the reason is that they possess much stronger dynamics than most thrash songs you’d care to name.

To break down the style, we can hear the same sort of punkiness that Iron Maiden possessed in their early days, James Hetfield’s scratchy yowl doing similar things to Paul Di’Anno and Lars Ulrich favouring sped-up treatment of traditional snare and kick patterns that had really underpinned most rock music since The Beatles. Even one of the album’s faster songs, ‘Motorbreath’, sees Ulrich tapping the ride cymbal during the guitar solos, which sounds almost tentative for such a supposedly wild style, though admittedly the recording is showing its age now. Personally, I’ve always found ‘Jump in the Fire’ to be the most rock-sounding song, the main riffs all made up of chords played with a catchy stop-start feel and very simple four-on-the-floor drumming to back them, while the guitar leads Kirk Hammett plays are a fluid, energetic version of ‘70s rock soloing that stylistically sits between old school rock ’n’ roll and the shred that was starting to develop. If you can’t hear the rock ’n’ roll influence, have a listen to the first solo of ‘Hit the Lights’ and then grab hold of some Fats Domino or Chuck Berry, bearing in mind the time gap and added aggression. Technical this is not.

As I said though, that’s why I like Kill ‘Em All. Parts of it sound like a jam band getting really into it, which is why Cliff Burton’s bass solo ‘Anesthesia’ fits in so well (plus the fact that it’s extremely listenable as a song, especially after the beat comes in). Metallica were obviously pretty hyped when writing and playing the material, so hearing them trying to go faster is similarly exciting for the listener, such as when those sawing rhythm guitar riffs in ‘Whiplash’ and ‘Metal Militia’ just keep going again and again in a kind of frenzied groove. Crucially, the band change up the technique, dropping into the slower, hooky bridge section of ‘Whiplash’ before the fast solo or deploying the hard rock chorus of ‘Hit the Lights’, thus making sure that the fast parts remain fun. While we’re on the subject of riffs leading the songs, was this really the moment when metal stopped being a subset of vocal- and melody-driven rock music and became all about riffs? It seems about right to me.

Just because the style is fun and catchy doesn’t mean I’m totally in favour of all the songs here. Some of them are admittedly more fun than good, such as ‘Seek & Destroy’, which is overstretched. The progression during the song is diverting and the riffset iconic (plus especially useful for beginners on guitar), but could easily have been trimmed down, just like the strong yet repetitive ‘No Remorse’ and frankly pretty dull ‘Phantom Lord’. A couple more the same length as ‘Motorbreath’ wouldn’t have gone amiss, nor would an overall decrease in time spent on guitar solos; Hammett’s lead style fits better with the more traditional metal here than it would on later albums, though he doesn’t have anything special to offer. Notably, Burton doesn’t take up a great deal of attention on bass, even if the combined punch of the string instruments is the best feature of the overall sound, hence the focus on riffs. As a result, I’m not hit as hard by everything as I should be, while the songs with greater variety in pace and mood stick more easily in my mind.

Very influential albums like this are particularly hard to judge, because the tendency is to overstate their merits in light of their legacy or to criticize the creativity despite its significance as a stepping stone to new styles. On its own merits, therefore, Kill ‘Em All can most suitably be called a decent synthesis of catchy heavy metal with more aggressive thrash components, in which regard the songwriting of tunes like ‘The Four Horsemen’ and ‘No Remorse’ benefits. In my own estimation, this is easily the most fun – if slightly limited – recording Metallica ever put to tape.

When people bought this album and dropped that needle on the record, ( or place the CD in the CD player or cassette in tape player. ) they heard a new form of metal which would later act as a major change to what we knew as heavy metal. That new form was known as thrash metal. Words can't describe how much this album has had an impact on heavy metal. This is what blew the minds of whoever bought and played this album for the first time.

Back when this album dropped, glam rock ruled the charts when it came to rock and metal. Metallica obviously didn't give a shit what was popular at the time. They didn't give a shit about glam rock. This would appeal to those who were into less mainstream bands back before Metallica hit the mainstream in 1991. And I mean people who played this album right when it hit the shelves.

Analyzing the lyrics deeper than the average person who would listen to them, the lyrics talk about their personality and their lifestyle like with Hit The Lights and Motorbreath. These are lyrics of the lifestyle when they are in the band, which is hardcore concerts with people making a lot of noise for them when they come out and play their face-melting songs live. It just goes to show that metal isn't just noise like all these naive people say. If they just listen to the lyrics. It's much more than just heavy distorted guitars and screaming like they refer it to. With No Remorse, the lyrics sound like the band is about to fuck somebody up without feeling regret or sorrow for their actions. The same can go for Seek and Destroy too. As well as the themes of lifestyle and fighting, there's also the theme of rebellion in Metal Militia. This is the fuck authority and embrace metal song. This is basically saying live life in a non-conformity way. Basically saying don't give a shit what society expects of you. And there's also the hard-partying theme in Whiplash. And even religion in The Four Horseman.

Aside from lyrics. The instrumental work is fucking amazing. It's like what James Hetfield said in the song Phantom Lord. " Sound is ripping through your ears, the deafening sound of metal nears. " It's loud, fast, and it all builds the characteristics of what makes the greatest metal bands great aside from the lyrics. This is what kicked heavy metal into shape and this is what made metal what it is today. Hardcore instrumentals and great lyrics. You even get a bass solo from Cliff Burton on Anesthesia. Personally for me. The bass solo brought chills down my spine. This song, among many others persuaded me to pick up the bass guitar and start jamming out in my room. The tempo of the song and the complexity in solos and riffs shows the hard work and the dedication that the band put into this album. You can definitely tell that Kirk and James spent a lot of time playing guitar to get this good. And Cliff Burton even shows off the skill he has in the Anesthesia solo too. And we all got to admit. It takes hard work to play drums in a thrash metal band. As much as you all want to slam Lars Ulrich, you gotta take note of this.

The emotion put into this album is crazy. James Hetfield's delivery is absolutely insane. He makes you feel the mood of actually not giving a shit about society and living life the way you want to fucking live it. He makes you feel you have that freedom of choice to do whatever you want in life and he just gives you the energy to live life to the extreme. The songs like Seek and Destroy and No Remorse just makes you feel strong. Like you are ready to fuck someone up when that time comes when you gotta fight for your life. It just makes you feel free from society. This album actually makes me feel this way sometimes too. When I walk outside playing this, I feel like I'm living life like these rockstars. Others can relate too. You actually feel like you're one of them.

Now that I analyzed the album nearly completely, I now understand the deep impact behind this record now. Back a few years ago, I headbanged to this album a lot. But I didn't completely understand the impact this album had on society. Until I analyzed this album. This album was the album that really encouraged people who didn't feel like fitting in with the big crowds to be themselves. Just live life the way you wanna live it. This album just straight up tells you not to give a shit. Live life the way you wanna live it. Don't give a shit about if people walk by you and frown upon the way you live life. Just fucking do it. That's the moral of this album. I would give a visual analysis of the album cover and talk about how great it is. But the purpose of this review was to talk about the MUSIC right? So that's all I got to say about this album.

I've got some reservations currently in writing this review. For one thing, it's kind of weird to know that you like an album less than every reviewer before you. People think very highly of this album, and why shouldn't they? Hell, I think highly of this album. I've got a tremendous amount of respect for what Kill 'Em All was able to do. It was one of the first thrash albums many people heard, it put Metallica at the forefront of a brand-new subgenre of metal that was attempting to play heavier and faster than the bands they were inspired by, and there's a lot of youthful energy on display here that is quite infectious. This is an important album in metal's history, to say the least, and for that, I give it all the credit in the world.

I just wish that it wasn't so boring.

The first reason for this, I've found, is that the album is simply too long for its own good. It's a little over fifty minutes in length and there's ten songs here, which seems kind of much for a debut album. If there was a little more variety on this record I could see it being viable. I love Master of Puppets, which has two songs less than this album, and yet eclipses Kill 'Em All in length by about three minutes. The difference, in my opinion, is that Master of Puppets is worth the length and this album isn't. All of the songs (with the exception of "Anesthesia") seem to be cut from the same sort of tree - raw, pumping, and rather frantic, without anything really interesting in the lyrics, which puts too much on the back of the music itself... and I really don't think most of the music is worth it.

The second issue for me is that the band's performances on the album aren't exactly stellar. Kirk would get better as a lead player with the next two albums, and Lars would become a better drummer in the years that followed as well. His performance on "Jump in the Fire", in particular, is lacking here. James's vocal performance is one of his worst, featuring way more shrieking than is necessary for the record. Cliff is pretty competent, but his only shining moment is on "Anesthesia", which is a pretty cool bass solo, although not exactly integral to the overall album.

Another issue I have with Kill 'Em All is the fact that the record is a bit front-loaded. The first three songs here - "Hit the Lights", "The Four Horsemen", and "Motorbreath" - are, quite honestly, pretty good for what they're trying to do. The first is a big, metallic opener that's a lot of fun, despite the weak lyrics and not quite perfect performance. The second is a classic Metallica song that remains one of their better tracks overall, comparing quite well to the rest of their discography. The third, meanwhile, remains their shortest song to date, which helps make it stand out, because it's quite a nice little ride overall.

Basically everything else on here ranges from either "okay" to "bland". "Whiplash" and "Phantom Lord" would both benefit from Metallica reining themselves in and focusing on their strengths, rather than trying to be metal for metal's sake. There's a lot of action going on, but they don't quite pull the vibe they're going for off. "Jump in the Fire", meanwhile, is a sort of recapturing of "Hit the Lights" but without the charm.

But perhaps the biggest issue with this album is that some of these songs are just long for long's sake. "The Four Horsemen" is the longest track here, but it's also the best because it has a good balance of riffs running throughout to keep up with the listener. The same can't be said for "No Remorse" and "Metal Militia", the first of which never seems to get out of second gear and yet lasts for over six minutes, and the latter has a needlessly repetitive chorus on top of boring riffs that don't go anywhere. Maybe it's just me, but I've never been a fan of lyrics that shout about how "metal" one is, and that song really takes the cake in this regard. If the music was more interesting I'd be more inclined to overlook the lyrics, but they aren't, and the overall experience is all the worse for it.

The worst song on the record, however, is "Seek & Destroy", which illustrates quite clearly what I dislike most about the album. It's nearly seven minutes long and yet it plods on like it's never getting anywhere, features a needlessly repetitive chorus, and has some pretty fucking bland lyrics to boot. What really bugs me is how much better the song could've been. Just check out the live version from the Seattle '89 concert to see what I mean - that one is fun, gripping, and pretty great as a whole, because it provides an interactive bit between the band and the audience. Whenever I want to listen to this song, I seek out that version.

That's honestly probably Kill 'Em All's biggest flaw overall. In the right setting, these songs can be fun. They all work well live, when you just wanna "rock out" and have some fun. But when I actually sit down and listen to music, I want something that can engage me a bit differently, something that's a bit tighter and more defined than just something I can bang my head to, unless the songs really fucking rock. And I don't get that from this album. Obviously other people do, and like I've said before, it's an important milestone in the genre's history, but it's not something I like enough to come back to that often. Metallica have made far better albums than this, and the few good songs here aren't worth the time spent going through the full thing. It's a bloated and boring affair that ranks as one of the worst records the band has ever put together.

What we have here is a collection of great songs that just happened to be faster and more jagged than anything else released in 1983. Yes we could snidely remark about Show No Mercy, but that was still a few months away. Not to mention that it would be dishonest to deny Metallica's (or at the least Dave Mustaine's) influence on the thrash scene.

It is fun to wonder how this album's reputation would hold up today if Metallica released nothing but it and then all promptly died in a bizarre gardening accident, but we don't live in that world. Love em or hate em, we more or less live in the metal world that Metallica built. As of this writing, Kill em All was recognized for achieving triple platinum in sales in 1999, and it didn't enter the Billboard charts until Metallica toured for Master of Puppets in 1986. But yes, for better or worse, we have, the first official thrash metal/speed thrash/power metal album ever. Yes there was a time when Metallica (and one or two other thrash bands, actually) were referred to as power metal. Read your Ian Christe, kids. Nonetheless, I'd say Kill em All has aged pretty damn well. I've heard some folks say it's aged the best out of all of Metallica's works due to a lack of overplay (strange considering it's the oldest work and that it would be prime for overplay).

You know, for all the shit that Lars gets as a drummer and as a human being, I truly cannot find any fault with his playing on this album (or any Metallica album really). Sure there are some unnecessary fills here and there, but a) what drummer hasn't done that, and b) I can think of at least two more respected by the underground bands who's drummers noticeably fall out of tempo in the middle of the song. This was 1983 on a Megaforce recording budget, I refuse to believe anyone involved in the making of this album had access to anything that could razor edit any instances of Lars loses time.

Then of course we have the guitars, which, while unquestionably savage, tonally, doesn't quite measure up to the Great Wall of Ride The Lightning. Then again, nothing in metal does. James's amp-head getting stolen was the best thing to ever happen to thrash metal (just consider Fade To Black collateral damage). Trying to imagine those songs with Kill Em All's tone is like imagining a smaller breasted Kate Upton. Sure you could, but why? I'm also told Kirk's leads contain a few mistakes, especially considering he's translating them from Dave Mustaine, but this is one of those cases where the mistakes are just part of the charm, and I say that as someone who thinks that Dave is fret for fret a better guitar player than Kirk.

But the biggest reason that this album will forever stand the test of time are of course the songs. For all the yammering about how this brought the world to its needs, every single one of these songs are just that, songs with verses, choruses, melodies and goddammit, metal is the next logical successor to rock & roll. Quit trying to separate the two. The Four Horsemen, despite spilling Lynyrd Skynyrd into the Mechanix, has an absolutely brilliant guitar solo in its breakdown that if I'm not mistaken, was all Kirk's idea, and a real showcase of his talent (though for whatever reason he was never able to replicate it live. Wimp.) Hit The Lights and Metal Militia are two brilliantly vicious bookends that show the real reason Metallica was brought to the dance; pure unadulterated thrash. The former in particular, if this had the same execution as the original Metal Massacre recording or even the No Life Til Leather demo, it wouldn't have had the same effect. Don't go rushing into the studio to record kids. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. You're recording for posterity, not for shopping around, that's what demos are for. But my pick for best track is No Remorse, which is unconventional in all sorts of ways (starting off with a guitar solo, working at a mid-paced tempo for the first two-thirds of the song) yet not for one second will any punter think this is a weak or soft moment on the album. Violence begetting violence musically and lyrically, tis a wonderful thing when done right.

Kill Em All is one of two Metallica albums everyone should own, and arguably it's the one you should buy first. Metallica may go on to commit even more crimes against the mafia who made them, but Humphrey Bogart will always have Paris, and we'll always have Kill Em All.

Well here it is ladies and gentleman, the album that started thrash! Metallica successfully took NWOBHM and fused it with hardcore punk on their 1983 debut. This album is pure speed throughout, it just doesn't let up! Let's take a look at the album...

First. I'd like to say that James Hetfield is a riff machine! Hetfield's riffs are in vein of Diamond Head's Brian Tatler but faster. Hetfield clearly shows his inspiration from the NWOBHM. Hetfield's vocal delivery is also raw and unhinged, he shouts with a raspy edge; unlike his Sean Harris vocal delivery of the demo days.

Lars Ulrich does a fantastic job on drums, his aggressive drumming melds well with Hetfield's rhythm guitar. I never understood the hate for Lars, I have always enjoyed his drumming, especially in the earlier days. Ulrich's drumming sounds especially powerful on Kill Em All, the cymbals are very loud but not too over the top. Overall he does well.

Then there's the band's lead guitarist who was a newcomer at the time, Kirk Hammett. As you all may know, Kirk replaced Dave Mustaine after he was fired for violent behavior. Dave also wrote the solos and even received writing credits on 4 tracks, "The Four Horsemen" (originally titled "The Mechanix"), "Jump in the Fire", "Phantom Lord" and "Metal Militia". However, all due respect to Mustaine, I think that Kirk did a much better job playing the solos. Kirk's execution of the solos is much cleaner and neater, Kirk also plays SUPER fast! When I first listened to Kirk's shredding on Kill Em All, I remember being absolutely blown away by the sheer speed of the solos. My favorite solos on the album are the solos on "Hit the Lights", both solos on "The Four Horsemen", "Whiplash" and "Phantom Lord".

Then of course we have the greatest bass player ever, Mr. Cliff Burton. Cliff's performance is absolutely legendary on this album, while his bass is sometimes buried under the mix, his bass pops out occasionally. A good example of this is exactly before the solo on "The Four Horsemen", his bass is audible during that particular section. Cliff's shining moment on the album is without a doubt "Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)". Cliff downright SHREDS on this track!!! Near the beginning he starts slow and melodic, before he goes crazy and Ulrich kicks in with a drum beat. At the beginning of the track, producer Paul Curcio says these legendary 4 words that would go on to become a famous phrase, "Bass solo - take one". It doesn't surprise me that Cliff did this in one take, he's truly amazing.

Overall, Kill Em All doesn't disappoint, the album is just full blown old school thrashing madness, over the 51 minutes that the album spans, there isn't a single boring moment to be found. It's all killer, absolutely no filler! If you want a classic album to rage to look no further! Bang that head that doesn't bang!


Highlights: THE WHOLE DAMN THING!

Ah, the first Metallica album. Kill 'Em All is probably Metallica's most "traditional" sounding album on terms of style. Even though there wasn't much of a tradition back then in heavy music, you had metal, and you had punk, that was it. Subgenres weren't really a thing in the early 80s even though a seasoned rock fan could easily tell a "real" metal album apart from the shiny glam rock of the time. Metallica started off as one of those bands making faster, rawer metal with just a bit of punkish speed to pay homage to their metal idols like Diamond Head and Motorhead while sticking it to the Motley Crues and Quiet Riots of the world. With just that spark of punky rawness, they made one of the prototypical thrash metal albums and a whole bunch of rousing, riff-loaded songs to fill it.

The speed is the first thing you notice on this album. The riffing is choppy and full of youthful vigor courtesy of future Megadeth founder, Dave Mustaine, and James Hetfield's rough shouted vocals add a catchy factor to it. Metallica let you know they're here to go all "metal up your ass" on you from the opening notes of "Hit the Lights" and they keep this speed up throughout the album. You don't quite hit the level of darkness or blistering speed you'd hear on Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets and the music as a whole feels pretty "rock and roll" rather than 100% pure thrashing fury, but thrash is still the main style here, and it was still in its formative years so it had to start somewhere. While still not on overdrive, there's plenty of catchy aggression to be found on here with "The Four Horsemen", "Whiplash", and "No Remorse" being more jagged, resembling the future thrash sound much more. The riffs capitalize on headbanging with their prime mission being to get you to do just that, bang your head, and man do they succeed.

Metallica also show their youth quite a bit on here. The vocal delivery and song structures are still pretty hook-laden despite going against the grain of metal trends at the time. It's clear they had their sights set on rock stardom from day one. James's singing is probably most emblematic of this the way he sometimes howls and shouts for emphasis even while generally being catchy like on "Jump in the Fire" shouting "COME ON!". All the songs are decent, but they aren't straying far from conventional hard rock songwriting, just going much faster than normal, not that there's anything wrong with that, in fact, it's a songwriting style that sticks well. I just find their later efforts more crushing, varied, and creative. This however, is still a great place to start, especially when that added speed makes the riffs and solos all the more thrilling. Especially with how screaming wild the solos all throughout Kill 'Em All are. They're young alright, but off to a good start here.

Metallica applied their speed to the heavy metal stylings they already knew and loved from their influences on Kill 'Em All and helped lay the blueprint for many other nascent thrash bands across the world. It was close to the sound of bands like Diamond Head with a much rougher sound and choppier, more aggressive riffing and a slight punk influence. Metallica wanted to push things faster, harder, and heavier than before, and for the time, it was something new and was one of the first of the bunch when it comes to thrash. There may have been others, but this was swift and definitive enough to deserve its prominence. If you like your Metallica rockin' and catchy, this is a good place to look as the songs I've mentioned previously throughout this review have gone on to be thrash metal essentials. It's a pretty kickass album.

Whether you absolutely adore them or flat out hate them, Metallica is one of the most important bands in the history of metal, more particularly in thrash metal. You could say they're the Black Sabbath of American thrash metal, although the other 3 bands in the Big 4 would beg to differ, ESPECIALLY Megadeth. This album is a fucking metal CLASSIC, and it's not hard to see why. Almost everyone who is a Metallica fan has at least heard of the debut and of course listened to it. This isn't their best work, though. This album basically brought metal to the masses and blew the doors off their fucking hinges that would later result in a MASSIVE increase of metal bands. No longer was metal "underground" like it was in the 70s, now it was taking over the mainstream in the 80s alongside classic 80s artists like Bon Jovi, Heart, Journey, Foreigner, David Bowie, and perhaps even U2.

First off, the album cover. Pretty simple, and that's all this 1983 beast of an album needs to send its message across and get its overall atmosphere cemented. The cover depicts a hand dropping a mallet hammer that lands in a pool of blood that for some reason, why I personally look at it, it looks like a little angel just sitting and thinking. I'm being serious. Anyone else see that? Anyway, the title itself, Kill 'Em All, was suggested by Cliff Burton himself after the band got worked up over the producers of the studio they talked to tried to change the album in some way. (As if the fact that they recorded it in a shitty studio building wasn't hard enough.) Cliff said, "Fuck the producers. We should just kill 'em all!" Hetfield liked the title and they decided to go with it.

Next up is the instrumentation. I'll admit, it sounds a little amateurish nowadays because of the rough instrumentation and the fact that James Hetfield couldn't properly sing (one of the main reasons I imagine has to do with the 5-year hiatus in between the Black Album and Load, which was where they started going downhill) makes any non-metalhead get a bad impression on even the basics of the genre. Anyway, the guitars are just classic Metallica, and from a critical perspective, they're actually pretty good. The solos are BLINDINGLY fast, thanks to Kirk Hammett, and I dare say this album probably improved the speed metal sound used by Judas Priest and Motörhead years earlier. Personally, the openings of "Jump In the Fire", "Hit the Lights", and even "The Four Horsemen" are some of my absolute FAVORITES and pretty much my favorites on this album in general. However, I think "Phantom Lord" is a bit laughable.

The bass, courtesy of the late Cliff Burton, is really good, too. Cliff gets to show off his bass skills on "Anasthesia (Pulling Teeth)", in which the only "lyrics" are James saying "Bass solo, take one". The instrumental is a good one. Cliff basically holds nothing back with this album, and he continues that on Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets before his untimely death in 1986 in Sweden. The drums are just awesome. I honestly think here, Lars Ulrich is putting his whole body into his drumming, unlike on the 2003 abomination that isn't worth mentioning. (Still, even AFTER watching Some Kind of Monster, that's their worst album, in my opinion.) Drumming on this album is pretty much the definition of "thrash metal", and you can CLEARLY hear why.

Now, we've gotten past the album cover and instrumentation, and the songwriting process is where people get divided. Yes, we all know about Dave Mustaine contributing to some of the songs on the album, and "Mechanix" being renamed "The Four Horsemen" after he was fired from the band, but some of the most CLASSIC metal lyrics are found on this album:

"Scanning the scene in the city tonight
Looking for you to start up a fight
There's an evil feeling in our brains
You know it's nothing new, and it drives us insane"
("Seek & Destroy")

"Adrenaline starts to flow!
You're thrashing all around
Acting like a maniac!
Whiplash!"
("Whiplash")

I could go on, but I won't, or else this will turn from a review into a short story. Songwriting aside, the production is done quite well, and so is the mixing. All I can say is that this is probably one of the most classic metal albums in existence, right up there with Black Sabbath, British Steel, and Ace of Spades, as well as Reign In Blood and Peace Sells...but Who's Buying?!

Overall, this album is a CLASSIC MASTERPIECE and it's only been 34 years since its release in 1983. The number of bands have SKYROCKETED thanks in part to this album and the band in general.

Rating: 9.5/10
Rating: 96/100

Many people see Metallica as being one of the worst metal bands of all time, with major fuckups like Load/ReLoad, St. Anger, and Lulu. Lars Ulrich utterly sucks at drumming and James can't sing, with some stupid plodding riffs throughout the song. This wasn't always true, however. On this album, Metallica was an amazing band with fucking heavy riffs and kickass solos. Hell, even Lars Ulrich doesn't suck here! Get this album before anything else.

Each and every riff here is fucking aggressive, with very few exceptions. Back in 1983, James actually knew how to write riffs. Of course, Dave Mustaine had the best riffs on the album, (Phantom Lord, Metal Militia) but James wrote some kickass riffs. Kirk Hammett's guitar solos are worthy successors to Mustaine's, that they shred like fuck. Cliff Burton was always a great bassist. He even has a fucking bass solo on this album, which has some cool classical shit in it, but when the drums kick in, it picks up and kicks ass. I hate to say this, but even Lars Ulrich was the best drummer when this album was released in, with his legendary drum fills like in "Motorbreath" which beat out bands like Venom and Jaguar in 1983.

The best part of this album is the raw energy that Metallica had during 1983. They were the heaviest band out there, out to fucking kill all the hair metal posers with their fucking thrashing music, hungry for their blood. It's not the shit on their latest album, which shows no energy, and only exists for the sake of longevity. No, this is some fucking raw thrash metal, with its kickass riffs and screaming solos.

The highlights of this album are "Phantom Lord", "Metal Militia", and "Motorbreath". Motorbreath, unlike most Metallica songs, just fucking thrashes from start to finish, with some fucking violent riffs and kickass solos. Motorbreath has some fucking heavy drumming from none other than Lars Ulrich. Phantom Lord's main riff fucking kills all in its path, and basically shits on every Metallica riff after Ride the Lightning! This may be the greatest Metallica song ever, with its amazing riffs, shredding solos, aggressive vocals. Metal Militia has fucking heavy riffs, blood pumping thrashing drumming, and a fast short solo that's the best on this album. Listening to "Whiplash" is like being in a mosh pit with several other headbangers with aggressive drumming and fucking violent riffs. Towards the end of "No Remorse", there is a scream like "ATTAAAAAACK!" which is the fucking battle cry of many bands like Exodus and Slayer attacking the posers in Los Angeles.

This is the best thing Metallica has ever put out. If you don't like this album, you don't like metal.

Well, I was focusing on Megadeth's discography (ironically) up until just now, but I figured I'd go ahead and tackle Metallica's first. Why? Because they have a new album coming out in two months. Of course, I am talking about the much anticipated "Hardwired...to Self-Destruct". November is going to be a massive month for Metallica. Judging by the last two tracks, they are expanding on what they did with "Death Magnetic"; returning to their thrash metal roots, although this time, their even closer to that sound. "Kill 'Em All" is often considered to be the first thrash album, although that can be debated. It's not the best Metallica managed to release thus far throughout their career but it's still absolutely furious, amazing metal. It's Metallica's most straight-forward thrash album and contains no ballads, no acoustic guitars, and some of the most frantic riffing the dudes would ever come up with, thanks to Mr. Mustaine. So let us discuss "Kill 'Em All": the most aggressive album from the world's biggest band.

Around the time this album was released, glam metal was at an all-time high. It was considered cool to dress like a girl, fluff your hair to extreme volumes, and wear make up. Metallica took a stance completely against any of that. They increased the tempo, added darker lyrical content, and absolutely powerful vocals. They took the sonic sounds of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and mixed it with the speed of hardcore punk to create arguably the first proper thrash metal sound. Considering the band members were either 19 or 20 years old when this innovative album came out, it makes me think...what the hell am I doing with my life, just shy of 22?

The guitars on this album are, of course, the focal point. It is a well-known fact that Dave Mustaine, who was kicked from the band before this album's released and replaced by Kirk Hammett, wrote a lot of the riffs to this album. His contributions lie within the tracks "The Four Horsemen" (originally titled "The Mechanix"), "Jump in the Fire", "Phantom Lord", and "Metal Militia". His style is evident within these tracks, and you can tell on the other five songs (not counting the "Anesthesia" bass solo) that his riffing wasn't really there. He had this distinct way of writing speed riffs. On this album, however, he is not here, and Kirk takes his place. The guitar playing here is explosive and captivating. Most of the time, things are fast. Tracks like "Whiplash" and "Hit the Lights" keep things at a blazing pace while songs like "The Four Horsemen", "No Remorse", and the groovy thrasher "Seek & Destroy" have some more mid-paced sections. There isn't a lot of slow stuff here aside from melodic breaks like the solo in "The Four Horsemen" and the melodic passage of "Phantom Lord" but that's fine. At this point, these guys were just pissed off kids wanting to give the finger to the world, and they certainly achieved that. Guitar solos are absolutely everywhere but they don't overstay their welcome.

Of course, we can't review a Metallica album without speaking of Lars Ulrich. Lars' drumming here isn't anything to jizz about but it's consistent and flows well with the rhythm of the music, which is what it's supposed to do in the first place. That's the idea behind drumming. His style is basic and at times fast, showing the punk influence in every song. I think he would showcase his skills a lot more on the next couple of albums but here, he does what he's supposed to do.

Something I really love about early Metallica is the bass. Yep, Cliff Burton was, for sure, a prodigy. I tend to adapt my style from Jason because I use a pick, but Cliff was the original (yeah, I know we had Ron on the demo and before Cliff, but I'm sorry, he wasn't the right dude) bassist and his playing is easily heard and well-showcased here. He was even allowed his own bass solo which is quite rare in heavy metal. "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" is the fifth track on this album, coming after "Jump in the Fire" and before "Whiplash". This song starts out as a melodic and technical bass solo but eventually becomes a mix of the bass solo and drums. It's the album's instrumental, and of the original four Metallica instrumentals, I think it's the weakest. That being said, this doesn't make the song bad. It's an amazing solo that shows just how good a bassist Cliff was. It's an oddity for sure.

Mixing melody, aggression, and screeching teen-angst ridden vocals from James Hetfield, "Kill 'Em All" just may arguably be the first thrash metal album. I say that because Venom released "Welcome to Hell" back in 1981, two years before this album. While it could certainly qualify as a proto-thrash metal album, to my ears, it is more of a speed metal one. There are thrash riffs but hell, thrash metal practically evolved out of speed metal, so this would make sense. I'm on the fence whether to cound this album as thrash's first but it is certainly an essential classic, and kicks your ass!

One way I've tended to look at KEA the last few years is in comparison to Justice. Both albums are on the periphery of two albums that have a general consensus of greatness, and to make a sweeping statement or two they're both considered really really good but perhaps not as really really good as the monoliths that are Lightning and Puppets (I'm not sure that applies strictly on the Archives, but I'm fairly comfortable with that assertion in a wider context). Plus, there's just a few neat opposites- on this album we have angry youths trying something new in rather stark contrast to the older road dogs taking the thing they've created as far as it can go in Justice, with related pros and cons.

Yeah, a bunch of delinquents taking what they knew, making it a bit crazier, and creating/helping to create an entirely new genre. Another reviewer on this site (I think it was Empyreal) did a good job articulating this elsewhere- one of the reasons early, boundary pushing 80's metal is so fascinating is that the members were taking their influences and then just trying to write the craziest stuff possible, as opposed to relying on well established formulas. And yeah, as with a lot of really innovative, far out releases, it's an approach that is generally great but tends to fall apart here and there. You've got the boring, shitty slog that is the bass solo, the occasional goofy nwobhm-ish thing in No Remorse, the disco stomp that's Jump in The Fire- and perhaps that's why KEA falls slightly short of the next two albums. Again, you could contrast this with Justice, where things have been fairly well codified and written in stone by that point and thus the mood is just this consistently dark thing throughout with hardly anything that's recognizably pre-thrash.

The reason why this album gets 90% though is because for the most part, the youthful energy works brilliantly.Certainly it's the rawest Metallica album- still quite hifi if you compare it to the other big 4 debuts- but yeah, it's rough, raw, razor sharp in all of it's biting, trebly menace; a perfect fit for what the band was doing at the time. It's unquestionably the most energetic studio Metallica performance, and considering it's a thrash album you would certainly say that's a good thing! Moments like Whiplash, the ATTTTTAAAAACK part of No Remorse, Metal Militia so on and so forth are just these beautiful things to behold, with a vigour and intensity that most bands to this day still have trouble matching. Whiplash is just one of those moments that is just such joyous, energetic, furious fun that you have to wonder why it was never considered before. Why Priest didn't think of speeding up Exciter a bit more again, why Maiden never got that little bit quicker, why Diamond Head didn't make Am I Evil just that little bit faster and meaner. It just seems totally natural. It's metal as we know it, finally freed itself of its' shackles. Once more, I'm drawn to a Justice comparison, which for all of the great material in the album had put the cuffs firmly back on for the sake of a "composed" feel.

A quick comment on a fairly big part of the album that I haven't mentioned yet- the Four Horseman. It's a bit of oddity, the most epic track here, the most tempo changes by a mile, the longest, the biggest precursor to what was going to happen next with the band. Straight away it's just proof of what was Metallica's unique place in the big 4- Slayer were heavier, Megadeth, more technical, Anthrax were, uh, well they did more bad rap collabs. What we see here is Metallica establishing themselves rather early as the kings of the epic, as the songwriting masters of the quartet of bands, with a pretty lengthy tune that's immense in scope but also pure pleasure the whole way.

The final thing to think about, then- is this album any good still? Just because something's tremendously influential doesn't mean it's still worth listening to, short of academic interest. I'd raise you the entire genre of Opera is incontrovertible proof. Luckily, the answer's yes. The production is dated- but in an appealingly raw fashion, like an old pair of jeans, as opposed to shoulder pads and a perm. And sure, it's hardly the heaviest thing out there anymore, but it's still a very energetic, often intense album, with the capacity to annoy a very large amount of people. That said, as mentioned earlier, it's not perfect and you can certainly see a few moments which with hindsight look a bit weak- Seek and Destroy could potentially be argued as the first groove metal/post thrash song, and without chunky production it's just a relentlessly boring chug fest, Hit the Lights is possibly a bit too solo-y, and the less said about Pulling Teeth the better. Fact of the matter is though is that 7 out of the 10 songs are classics and for good reason- fast, energetic, passionate with excellent riff craft throughout.


To conclude, a classic album that is worth owning for historical influence , listening pleasure, and the simple but rather rad album artwork. It's not perfect but it's quite great.


-Quick post script, I don't think there's any point dwelling on Mustaine v Hetfield kinda thing in terms of who wrote what and the like, as both bands produced works far greater than this when they were obviously free of any influence on each other. It is of course very awesome that two great songwriters managed to make most of an album together though.

Thanks to this album and the subsequent Show No Mercy by Slayer, released in the same year, basically they forged what is now known as thrash metal, a fast and aggressive genre. Influenced by the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and punk bands, Lars Ulrich decides to create with James Hetfield his own band. After several lineup changes that you surely know, Metallica finally reaches his definitive lineup, an unstoppable quartet with which they would raze the world. After some demos, they finally released their first album. The album spotlights for the speed of the songs, we have to keep in mind that at that time there weren’t almost any bands that played like that, and the best thing is that, despite that speed, all the tracks maintain a lot of melody and they are very catchy, by that I mean the riffs, the choruses, the guitar solos and even that strange bass solo by Cliff called Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth).

It starts with Hit the Lights, a thrash anthem, it has one of my favorites guitar riffs and awesome solos by Hammett. Whiplash is one of my favorites tracks, a very heavy song with a lot of power, and Metal Militia is the angriest and rawest song, the pace of that guitar gallop is just maddening, both of them are real gems of pure speed and aggression. However, we also have slower tracks like Jump in the Fire, which has a very catchy and funny riff written by Mustaine, or the famous Seek & Destroy with that unforgettable riff and chorus, but anyway they don’t lose the aggressiveness. Motorbreath and Phantom Lord remind me a lot of heavy/speed metal bands from the 80's, with very good riffs, even that melodic/clean part from Phantom Lord is great.

Regarding the production, I personally like it very much, a perfectly audible bass and aggressive and dirty guitars just like Hetfield’s voice. Perhaps the drums are the weak point of the production, the drum bass is sometimes difficult to hear, but still it was pretty decent. The album has no ballad as happens in the the following Metallica records, but I don’t think it’s necessary here because the album flows incredibly well because of the combination of aggression and melody which I talked of before. You don’t get bored while you're listening to the album, it’s not monotonous, the songs are very original and worked. They are made with desire to destroy your ears, as Hetfield says: “With all our screaming, we’re gonna rip right through your brain, we got the lethal power, it’s causing you sweet pain”.

I love Kirk Hammett’s solos on this record, very fast and catchy, you just need to hear the solo at the beginning of No Remorse, another great track with one of the best choruses of the album, or the final solo from Hit the Lights. Lars also did a great job on this record, I don't think he's a bad drummer, he just need to practice more today. I have to say that this record wouldn’t have been the same without all Mustaine’s contributions, because he wrote many awesome riffs and even the amazing song, The Four Horsemen, but under the name, The Mechanix. Maybe the lyrics aren't very good in some songs and a little bit immature in some cases, but some of them are pretty good, as for example, Jump in the Fire, it talks about how the devil realizes that the world it's becoming the real hell because of all the wars and murders, and all of us will jump in the hell's fire.

In short, an essential record from Metallica’s best era, I can't really highlight nothing, because I like all of it, it's perfect. It's an album that has become a thrash classic and created one of the best metal sub-genres. Many people probably don’t think like me, but we must always remember this wonderful debut, because without it, metal in general wouldn’t be the same.

Bands usually suck when they start out. I know, debuts and sophomore efforts are usually among the favorites, but I mean before the first album is written. Here’s an example: my favorite non-metal band wrote about fifty songs before they recorded their first album. Even I think that the earliest ones suck.

Metallica is an exception to this rule. All of the songs from their first demo made it onto Kill Em All, and this stuff is pretty solid. The riffs are memorable and the solos excellent, the songs are fast and furious; everyone performs well, even Lars. His drumbeats are the typical generic patterns, but he works in some cool fills here and there. You can identify the album just by James’ voice. It has more of a shriek to it, but it’s well-suited to the music. I can actually hear the bass, and I’m not talking about just Anesthesia, I mean most of the album. There isn’t a decrease in quality over time, though you have standout songs. The album length (51 minutes) is just right for the amount of variation heard, and the song lengths themselves are short, the longest song only at seven minutes and Motorbreath at the shortest in their whole discography (barely three minutes). I wish they’d used this idea of shorter songs their whole career. There’s less experimentation with structure than in any of their other eighties works, but Kill Em All doesn’t need that. Its influences are obvious, and if you listen to it, it’s easy to tell that they were listening to lots of NWOBHM and punk when they wrote it. It literally defines thrash metal in a way that Metallica’s other albums don’t. As they went on, they became less and less thrashy, with this album the only pure thrash they’ve put out. Master of Puppets has about two complete thrash songs on it, and this is being generous because each of them have specifically non-thrash intros (Battery and Damage Inc). …And Justice For All should not be considered thrash at all, except for Dyers Eve.

Anyway, you’re here to read about Kill Em All, not the gradual stylistic shift of Metallica’s music throughout the eighties. I’ve just sung its praises for one really long paragraph, but there’s one thing I hate about this album. It’s the lyrics. Here are some examples: “We are gonna kick some ass tonight,” “leather and metal are our uniforms,” “ATTACK!!!!!!” “You only live once” (James yolo’d before it was cool), and of course, basically all of Whiplash (except the scream at the very end, I love that scream).

However, there is no doubt the actual music is very solid thrash. Hit the Lights, despite having the dumbest lyrics I have ever heard (I am tempted to do a dramatic reading of it someday), is a really fun song with crazy soloing, and before you know it, you’re headbanging and punching your lamps. A definite highlight. But think about this: you’re fifty years old and you’re still performing a vanity song you wrote when you were a stupid kid. Honestly I kind of feel bad for them. But that’s their punishment for not releasing a song that their fans have deemed worthy of being played at all of their shows in, say, the second half of their discography, more than twenty years.

The Four Horsemen is another highlight. Since I was introduced to this version before hearing Mechanix, Megadeth’s recording of this song freaks me out. As much as I hate Kill Em All lyrics, at least James isn’t singing about cars as a metaphor for having sex. (Disclaimer: Megadeth is cool and without Dave KEA would be far different.) It’s also the longest song on the album, at only seven minutes.

Jump in the Fire has one of my favorite main riffs, and it is followed by the famous bass solo, Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth). It is arguably the best solo on the album, but it’s more like a novelty to me. No disrespect to Cliff, but it doesn’t seem to fit on the album, not as a single track. It’s strategically placed near the middle of the album, providing a break from the otherwise relentless thrash, but it might have been better if parts of the solo were interspersed throughout the rest of the songs, or if it was only played live, or something else. All it does is give the album some variation and make you think, “Oh, cool, a bass solo, you don’t hear those every day.”

Phantom Lord is notable for its mellower bridge, and No Remorse for its pre-chorus riff, which I really enjoy. Cannibal Corpse has a cover of this song, and they do a good job. As for Seek and Destroy, it’s a solid piece, but its catchiness is really the only reason it’s played so often in concert.

Overall, a definite classic of the thrash metal genre and of metal as a whole. It flows well, except for Anesthesia, and for a debut, it’s great. The poor quality of the lyrics and the low level of variation can likely be explained by how it is their first album. Later on, there is more maturity, especially lyrically. They do away with vanity songs, and sing about more grown-up things, like being angry at your parents, turning into a wolf, death, cars, and the monsters under your bed. (But really, this album sounds immature, especially when compared to their later works.) If you’re new to thrash metal, this would be a good place to start.

This album is ground-breaking as it has been called the first album of the thrash/speed metal movement. This statement can be debated, but it is a very early thrash/speed metal album indeed. Yes, there had been demos before with this sound, even the band Stress from Brazil claim to have preceded this album with their debut studio album in 1982 titled "Stress". Even if that is true, this album was the match to the fuse for American speed and thrash metal. There is good reason for that statement. Let me go into detail and explain this.

This is a speed metal album with thrashy parts. The speed is what really catches anyone from the start. Next, the crunchy and ripping guitar tones make this almost automatically heavier than any predecessor (excluding maybe Venom and Motorhead). The guitars are also extremely catchy at points with songs like The Fourhorse Men, No Remorse, Whiplash, Etc. No band up until this point had this sort of mix. The solos are both easy to listen to and technical. They are not too special but they defiantly get the job done here.

This album has some great lyrics in songs like The Fourhorse Men, Jump in the Fire, Seek & Destroy and Phantom Lord. They all speak of some sort of mayhem or pain and devastation. This sets a frenzied mood in the lyrics for the whole album.

The vocals add to the heaviness with James Hetfield going from whiny vocals reminiscent of the N.W.O.B.H.M. bands they adore and aspired to be like, to gruff and crude barks in the style of Cronos of Venom and Lemmy from Motorhead. Almost every song on this album has the two different styles displayed within the first 2 verses and chorus of each song. The vocals are very well delivered in general. Most phrasing feel comfortable and catchy.

The bass is handled by none other than Cliff Burton, a monster on the bass. Unfortunately, the bass is lower in the mix than most would prefer. Though Cliff gets his spotlight on the track (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth. Where he plays a full on bass solo. This being a rare occurrence on any album. The bass tone on this album is created with Cliff's extremely warm sounding wah pedal tone. It makes the bass fit perfectly under the guitars on this album. Though this makes the bass hard to distinguish at times sadly.

The drums are the one weak link in this principally perfect chain of instrumentals and vocals. Lars does a very basic job here. He doesn't add much to the band on this album. His drum work is fast but it is mainly regular N.W.O.B.H.M. drums on steroids, nothing really innovative here. He was just getting used to drums at this point, as the next 3 albums by Metallica have excellent drumming through out. There are no really big highlights for Lars on this album. Though he does a pretty good job at catchy drums on Whiplash.

This album overall is short when listened to but it clocks in at approx. 51 minutes. This is a 10-track album that feels like it is only 5 tracks because of how exciting it feels. There is barely a second to breath. Which makes this album a worth listening to a lot more than once. This is a amazingly telling debut. It has elements that Metallica would use a fair bit through out the eighties. It is not too amateurish to make you feel like these are just a bunch of songs written to sound "heavy and fast" for the sake of being so. It is mainly technical and fast with a feeling of a adrenaline rush through out. This album is around 31 years old but it has aged well for a speed/thrash album. I would defiantly recommend it to any metal-head as it is a necessity in thrash and a classic of metal in general.

From my observations of other reviews, and comments, both on the internet and interpersonally, a lot of things can affect how you feel about this band. From when/how you started listening to them, to what other music you like. What your friends think about em and how douchey you heard the band members are. I feel my perspective is much less biased. There has to be some bias somewhere right? Definitely, but I don't know how much or what it's towards, but bias is unavoidable. I will however tackle these reviews carefully; focusing just on the album's themselves. I'll elaborate more on how I myself started listening to them in a later review.

Anyways.... Kill 'Em All was Metallica unhinged, in not so many words. They were basically kids when writing and recording this. Kids who loved NWOBHM, and wanted to push music to the limit. There is no variation here. From the band name, to the album title and cover, to the fact that you can say every song title while bobbing your head, holding up the horns, and furrowing your brow and suddenly you’re wearing acid washed denim, have long hair, and Reagan’s still the prez. This album screams eighties, and that’s a big part of its appeal. It rocks. It REALLY rocks. Every little bit is completely headbangable, and you almost can't help but do it. When Hit the Lights starts with that simple though 100% fitting intro, with all the instruments just kind of blaring and being loud, you can't know what’s coming. And that bouncy, bluesy riff starts playing..... OHHHHHHhhhhhh... it just feels great! Throw a few squealed WOO's and yelps in there and this song has you pumped from the get go. It's got just a brilliant structure, where just a few (albeit amazingly memorable riffs) are arranged in a way that it feels like you’re never hearing the same riff twice in a row. This is actually my personal favorite on the album. The catchy vocal lines and the never-ending stream of solos just can't be topped.

To combat the downright energy of that opener, we go right into The Four Horsemen, the most atmospheric song here. Mechanix is far inferior in nearly every aspect. It's faster, but just listen to this! It will ingrain its way into your memory, never to leave again. The lyrics are much better, unless you’re in middle school, and sex puns are fresh and raunchy. Though this version is not perfect either; there's a reason the band doesn't play the Sweet Home Alabama bridge live....

Let's take a step back and look at the big picture here. The cover image is striking and iconic, the band photo looks like a group who are considering beating you (seriously look at the picture, Cliff looks downright terrifying, Lars is giving the stink eye, James looks like he's part ape, and Kirk... well Kirk looks like a pretty girl. Maybe Lars is giving you a dirty look for eyeing his woman) and the album came out when Hellhammer was considered brutal. This was a big development in metal, with the speed, crunch and unbridled... well metal! This album should come in an iron jewel case, because this album, and the guys who made it were gonna be as heavy as they could, regardless of if anyone else approved. And what you here is the passion. Metallica rose to fame as the common man's metal band. They weren't going with an extreme image, or a false satanic image to gain notoriety. They were just young guys, who wanted to make metal music their way. And the metal they made had some amazing guitar work right from the beginning of their career!

The guitar work is heavy and fast, aging a little bit over the years, but still fun as hell. Great riffs. REALLY great riffs and a whole lot of 'em. I mean just pick a spot on the album, any spot, and the guitar work is like a spectral hand grabbing the back of your neck and shaking you back and forth. Classic, rocking style, not as refined as later works, by this band and others but no doubt still as potent as it weas when it first dropped. The bluesier tone is right at home here, and the bands clear youthful enthusiasm is audible in the multitude of powerful, often rapid riffing on display here. The admittedly few moments where the guitars slow down a bit, (never to a drone, but a good mid-paced gallop) are just as effective, like on Four Horsemen, Seek and Destroy, and bits thrown in across other tracks. And as I mentioned above, there’s a million solos, and they all shred.

But when every solo just comes off as shred, it gets a little repetitious and wears on me after a while. The album is over fifty minutes, and every track has a lot of soloing to it, and frankly, it's hard to discern one solo from the others. No solo really has a significant drop in quality from the others, and when I pick one song off my iPod to listen to I can listen to any song on here, but it wears me down to listen to every song in a row. The exact opposite of the masterworks to follow. Overall however, the guitar work is much better then your average album, and it truly laid the stonework for future thrash bands.

The bass just follows suit here, and as a result I don't really notice. Likely the result of Cliff Burton's late joining, as he would not have time to come up with his own, third-guitar style bass lines like on the next two albums. The much contested (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth is Burton's sole credit here, and it is a bit of a double edged sword. It is a very well done, interesting solo that merits a listen. Or two. But I find myself skipping it on repeated listens. No fault on the solo itself, but it is just a bass solo, and I think it should have had parts of it incorporated into a full song as opposed to being just hung out by itself. Especially since Cliff was getting a part of every live gig to do bass solos....

An energetic percussion section ties the whole thing together. Energetic is the best word to describe it, matching the enthusiasm in the guitars every second of the album (minus the first section of Pulling Teeth of course). Another way to analyze the style Ulrich demonstrates might be 'burst drumming'. Relatively simplistic beats, but with more rapid sections, and sudden thunderous fills. Technical? No. Could Pete Sandoval do this in his sleep? Maybe. But effective? Hell yes. Simple, effective, but most importantly (like everything else here) metal as all hell. Lars probably delivers the most diverse display here. For good reason of course, they wanted the guitars to be relentless. But the symbol work sometimes thrown in little segments has an almost jazzy, light-hearted feel. Hearing that type of subtle hints in songs like Hit the Lights and Phantom Lord, and all the great bursts mentioned above, make his drumming here sound refreshing and innovative even today.

The last issue I have to deduct points for are the lyrics. What we get here is nothing like the more topical, meaningful lyrics that we are treated to on the nest few albums. But the lyrics are fun, and match the youthfulness that this album exudes. And in fact I'm glad this albums the way it is. This is the Metallica album I listen to when I wanna just have fun. But cheesy lines like "No life 'til leather were gonna kick some ass tonight" and the sheer number of times "searching. seek and destroy" (Fun live, but in the studio? tone it down.) is said are not up to snuff. That being said I still spin it a lot. But choosing this over the opuses to follow? Not on my desert island. And if you could only have one Metallica record would this really be the one you choose?

For being metal, fun, metal, fast, metal, enthusiastic, and holy shit is this metal, Metallica's thrash progenitor gets 80 out of 100 or a 4 out of 5.
Highlights:
Hit the Lights
Phantom Lord
No Remorse
Seek and Destroy
The Four Horsemen

Let's face it, I love Metallica. To achieve what they have done is most people's dream: the money, the metal and the longevity. Just to debut so strongly would be enough for me. Kill Em All takes the speed of Motorhead, the guitar attack of Iron Maiden and the fun hot rockin'/fantasy themes of Judas Priest combined with a punk youthfulness, and spawns the diamond of the Big Four of Thrash Metal debuts, hell, it is the ultimate thrash debut.

Kill Em All feels like a collection of greatest hits from every influential heavy metal band that had come before. Increasing the tempo, overloading with riffs and solos, and a pleasant blend of young punk vs Lemmy vocals single-handedly preserves, updates and elaborates on the classic heavy metal formula. 'The Four Horsemen' definately stands out amongst the other tracks, sounding a lot tighter than the otherwise awesome Megadeth equivalent 'Mechanix'. To help tell the tale of, as is clear, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Metallica (reworking a song by ex-member Dave Mustaine) construct a monster: a just over seven minutes long sprawler with enough riffs to keep anyone happy, hell there's even a bizarre but effective send up of 'Sweet Home Alabama' in the bridge. It is a song that benefits from a slower tempo: each instrument is clearly defined, and the lyrics crisp and intelligible, unlike the awkward slurring of Mustaine on 'Mechanix'. The length, subject matter and progressive composition of the song leaves it feeling a little out of place amongst fun-loving tracks such as 'Hit the Lights' and 'Motorbreath', but demonstrates the full potential of the band.

Another highlight is the party-metal track 'Jump In The Fire', where the band invites you to just sit back and let the forces of rock take you away. Try to forget that chorus! I find myself remembering it each morning before washing... 'Jump In The Show-ahh!' I sing to myself... no joke. The rest of the album is equally as joyous, with Metallica reaching out to fans new and old on 'Metal Militia', and tracks like 'No Remorse' and 'Whiplash' demonstrating Metallica's respect of the power of the riff. Perhaps what makes these songs work so well is the combination of excellent verse riffs, a clear and unrushed vocal delivery and catchy but well-earned choruses. So often with early thrash releases can bands fail to spark interest during the verses, only to seem like they're trying too hard to be catchy in the choruses. Each song has memorable sections, and no wasted moments.

Four extremely talented friends have been given a chance to show off their skills. James Hetfield gives his all when singing, more than making up for his voice not yet being particularly tuneful, and his right hand plays some of the most memorable and inspiring riffs the band has produced. Lars Ulrich shines, sounding best when he's playing fast and hard. Kirk Hammet is let rip soloing left and right, suiting the feel of the album perfectly. Cliff Burton's abilities are best demonstrated on the album's interlude 'Pulling Teeth' (a track ignored for the final rating - it isn't actually a song), a silly but impressive noodly bass solo, but he does have his moments on tracks such as 'The Four Horsemen' and 'Hit the Lights'. Together they form one supreme being. A being dressed in leather, sporting long hair and metal chains. But most importantly, a being with a smile on its face. It's so fun to listen to Kill Em All, and not just in a cold-hearted ironic way.

The production doesn't feel polished and it works. Compare the guitar tone to Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All. Benefiting from less dimension, Kill Em All sounds like an all American V8 muscle car, screaming down the highway. This is probably the only Metallica album where the bass is of satisfying clarity, providing a chunkiness that doesn't exist on the rest of 80s Metallica releases. Listen to 'Metal Militia' in comparison to 'Dyers Eve'... where did the bass go?!

All in all, there aren't many fair criticisms that can be thrown at it, besides maybe the inclusion of the bass solo, which is more like a cool bonus track than anything else. Some people think the album is dumb or stupid, but then you have to disregard most metal that came before it for similar reasons. Just have fun with it, Metallica sure did.

Ah, Kill 'Em All. If you like deep, thought-provoking, awe-inspiring metal, then let me direct you to Black Sabbath's Master of Reality. But if you want a to kick back with a cold beverage and enjoy a ridiculously fun romp, then Kill 'Em All was made for you. Kill 'Em All is the first album by Metallica. In case you've been living under a rock your whole life, let a surface-dweller educate you. Metallica is part of the Big Four of thrash metal, the other three being Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer. Metallica's first four albums (five depending on who you ask) are considered to be heavy metal must-haves. While Kill 'Em All is the weakest of Metallica's first four efforts without question, it's a great album that will warrant many listens for Metallica fans like myself.

Production is pretty fuzzy, but this album was recorded on a budget of approximately $12 that Lars probably stole from his mom's purse so I couldn't expect it to be a masterpiece. The only thing I really listen for as far as production on an album is simple contrast. I want to hear every instrument, and I want them to mesh together. Kill 'Em All has delivers in spades. Every instrument, every cooperating sound, flows perfectly together and no one aspect outshines the rest of the band, and the fact that you can actually hear Cliff Burton's bass is definitely a plus.

Kill 'Em All may not be the deepest Metallica album, but the instrumentation is very solid. Kirk plays some of his best and most memorable solos here, Hetfield's riffs are mind-blowingly fast, Lars's drumming is at its best (ie he actually sounds like he knows how to use a fill) and of course Cliff Burton was and is one of metal's greatest bassists. His solo (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth is one of Kill 'Em All's highlights and really draws you in in a haunting way. James's voice isn't particularly special here, he doesn't have a lot of subtlety in his delivery, but this album doesn't have many subtle moments so that's a bit understandable. He can still hit the highs and shriek like the best hardcore punk frontmen, and it fits the breakneck speed of Kill 'Em All exceptionally well.

So, what deep, harrowing topics does the songwriting on Kill 'Em All cover? life in the fast lane, and...more life in the fast lane, mostly. Just about every song is about how great it is to live fast, or how great it is to be Metallica, or just how great thrash metal is. And in the end, isn't that the noblest of causes?

I'll just put it out there: This is a very consistent album. The only track that's really different from the rest is Pulling Teeth. However, if an album has a formula, and the formula is good, that just leaves room for more standouts. It's nigh-impossible for me to pick a favorite track. I love the Four Horsemen with its apocalyptic musings, the midtempo chug of Seek and Destroy, but my favorite track, if I absolutely had to pick one, is probably Whiplash. This is the greatest example of why Kill 'Em All is so much fun to listen to-it's Metallica singing about thrash metal, how much they love thrash metal, and how much fun it is listening to thrash metal. I just like the idea of that.

So as we've admitted already, nothing here is going to challenge you in anything other than Guitar Hero. But that's a real breath of fresh air, in a way, isn't it? Isn't it great to hear an album that knows where it's at? It's not trying to change your life, or rock your worldview. Hell, The Four Horsemen is the deepest track by far, and even it doesn't take itself overly seriously. No, Kill 'Em All is just having a good time, and it wants you to have a good time with it. I don't think that's too much to ask. This is a band that usually takes itself very seriously, recording an album that doesn't take itself too seriously. I'd love to see more of that from other thrash bands. This isn't nearly as heavy as Master of Puppets, And Justice For All, or especially Ride the Lightning, it's just great, speedy, punk-influenced metal. This album, along with Judas Priest's Painkiller, is simply the epitome of a good time, plain and simple. If you like pure raw, all-killer-no-filler thrash metal, this is for you.

The year was 1983, and the stage was set for a phenomenon. An up and coming band had just fired their guitarist Dave Mustaine and called upon the services of former Exodus man Kirk Hammett for the recording of their ten song debut. The band was Metallica, taking their influences from the brash style of Venom and Judas Priest, they were to push the boundaries of what was acceptable in heavy music of its day to the absolute limit, creating a raw, powerful debut album that is generally considered to be the absolute birth of thrash metal.

Kill Em All was a fast album, more aggressive than anything that had been released to date, garnering the band a fair amount of attention in the Bay Area scene, building them a nice following. The album was something entirely fresh for its day, with songs such as Hit The Lights showing exactly how fast and heavy music could be played, without ever sacrificing its musical integrity. Hit The Lights was the original thrash metal song, a blueprint for everything else that was to follow, opening with the sound of the band jamming, before diving headfirst into a fast series of riffs that demolish everything in their path. Whilst not quite as mature musically nor lyrically as the albums that would follow, this was more than an adequate song, standing the test of time as one of the bands best songs, with the immortal sound of James Hetfield's tortured shriek of "hit the lights".

Hit The Lights is not the only great song found on Kill Em All, with reworked song The Four Horsemen (originally entitled The Mechanix during the time Dave Mustaine was part of the band) standing tall, along with Metal Militia and pure speed-metal brilliance Whiplash. Phantom Lord, however, proves to be the meatiest track on the album, being another Mustaine-written song, but a great track with some powerful riffs, particularly the first riff in the song. The guitar lines across the majority of this album are really well written and played, despite the speed they are played at and the age of those responsible for them. Whiplash has an incredibly fast riff that thunders along at a marvelous pace, whilst Motorbreath has some riffs that hint at a punk influence going into the writing.

The vocals on this release are completely chaotic, with Hetfield using a rather juvenile screech throughout much of the release, which isn't the best of vocal deliveries, but suits the unrefined nature of this album really well. The best vocal song on this album is found on Seek And Destroy, the most well known song from the album, being one of the only songs in which Hetfield sings in a normal tone for the majority of it, only occasionally letting out the shriek found on the rest of the album. The bass is audible throughout the album, which is rare for a Metallica album, and sounds decent enough. The extended bass solo, Anasthesia Pulling Teeth is a well written piece that showcases Cliff Burton at his finest.

However, there is also a very ugly side to this album, with the production being right at the forefront of it. This was recorded on a tiny budget of $1,500 and it definitely shows, with a huge amount of reverb on the vocals being more than audible, and the album having a very unprofessional sound to it, particularly on the recording quality of the guitars. This is a really poor production job, and whilst not being as bad as some early thrash acts, it certainly hinders the album. The other weakness of this album is the lack of memorability found on this record. Many of the songs are not catchy enough, and feel too long, without enough high quality riffs to carry them across their lengths. When the album works, it is fine, but the weaknesses on this album are unavoidable.

This is a solid enough release, but is marred by the production found on here and the crippling lack of many moments that stick in the listeners head. Purchase this for historical value and the The Four Horsemen, Whiplash, Phantom Lord and Hit The Lights definitely, but do not expect the finest album of all time.

Originally written for Sputnik

While most of the stuff I review tends to be popular to some extent, I've still never tackled the metal band. I mean, I've touched on Iron Maiden twice, but one of those was written when I was fifteen and it's really atrocious, and the other one I crapped out in half an hour and haven't read since I submit it initially five years ago. But Iron Maiden is really only the co-biggest metal band ever, and we all know who the big dogs in this game are. The most realistic estimate I've seen of Maiden's worldwide sales are something around 80 million albums, which is a monstrously huge number, especially for a heavy metal band. And with that in mind, Metallica has roughly 100 million with a shorter career and less albums. In terms of fans, influence, and continued relevance, I'd give the edge to Maiden as the biggest metal band of all time, but the numbers are certainly on Metallica's side.

And because they're the biggest, they're also the most visible and most controversial. Everybody has an opinion on the great dramas of Metallica's career, like how Dave Mustaine is the only good thing that ever happened to them (saying their early era was only good because of his influence is like saying The Courtyard of the Old Residency, Munich is only good because Hitler painted it), or how the commercialization would have never happened if Cliff Burton hadn't tragically died in that bus crash (he was a huge REM fan and wrote many of the melodic parts on Master of Puppets, he would have had no problem with, and in fact probably would have encouraged, a new direction), or how Lars is a wretched fame whore and money snatching gremlin who is a smooth talker but a crappy drummer (well... that one's true). The point is that no metal fan's development went by unblemished by the unmistakable scent of Metallica. They're just ubiquitous and profoundly influential on the development of heavy metal as a whole, and unless you entered the scene via Brenoritvrezorkre and Enbilulugugal, you've heard the first four or five albums at least once.

And with that, I need to do something strange and direct you to an Achewood strip. The scene is set when Teodor walks in on Ray playing with a toy truck:

Téodor: What's with the little toy dumptruck, Ray? You have a kid over?
Ray: This's mine dude! Don't be buggin'!
Téodor: From when you were a kid?
Ray: Kid kid kid! What's with all this kid imagery? Did you just see a kid? I play with this truck!
Téodor: Is this some kind of new hip-hop thing, like sucking on a pacifier was a few years ago?
Ray: Look dude, if you can't have fun playin' with a toy truck, then it's time to reevaluate your life. You've become jaded.

You now have my official opinion on early Metallica. This is how it is for me, and I know I'm not in the minority here. If you can't go back to the days of your youth, put yourself back in that frame of mind, and appreciate the entry-level metal acts the same way you used to, you've become jaded. I get it, your taste evolves, you grow away from what you once loved, but if you can't even spin Kill 'em All and wreck your neck to "The Four Horsemen" or "Metal Militia" on an even nostalgic level, then you need to reevaluate your life. What you've got here is some of the most aggressive and innovative metal of the first third of the 80s, and even disregarding the historical significance of this album, it still holds up today as a showcase of melodic fury, the fast paced rage of youth, and the purest form of early thrash, when it was still just a mix of heavy metal and punk.

You see, at this point in time, Kill 'em All was essentially in a league of its own. There were demos of Overkill and Exodus floating around in the bits of time surrounding the release of this album, yeah, but the only other full length album to come out in 1983 that can really be considered a thrash metal album by any stretch was Slayer's phenomenal debut, Show No Mercy, and that was released six months after Metallica's debut. Thrash at this time wasn't really a distinct entity yet, the sound we'd come to have solidified on later albums like Reign in Blood, Eternal Devastation, Bonded by Blood, Beneath the Remains, and other genre defining classics is nowhere to be found on Kill 'em All, but the groundwork is there. There's no denying that the triplet break of "The Four Horsemen", or any given section of "Whiplash" and "Metal Militia" are anything other than some of the earliest thrash metal ever put to tape. That fast, hard hitting grittiness of Discharge mixed with the riffing supremacy of Diamond Head and layered with the attitude of Motorhead; that is how thrash started, and it's a mindset that 97% of these newer "retro" bands need to get back to. Before there was a template to ape, Metallica just set forth by blending the stuff they liked. So what we're presented with is a little bit Saxon, little bit Ramones. Little bit Mercyful Fate, little bit Misfits. Little bit Venom, little bit Thin Lizzy. That alone makes this one of the purest tributes to that beloved style of music we all love. Kill 'em All was basically a love letter to all of Metallica's early influences, and in their aim to pay homage to their idols while simultaneously pushing the envelope, they kind of accidentally invented an entirely new style and stumbled into history. Even if they'd broken up or died after the release of this, I'm sure the benefit of hindsight, especially now with the internet, would have granted this album the notoriety it deserves.

And that's another thing people, especially younger folks, need to understand. They weren't superstars in 1983. Megaforce sure as hell wasn't Sony or EMG or anything like that, it really wasn't until after the two subsequent albums that they really reached the levels of success we normally attribute to them, and it was even more impressive back then, with how obnoxious and abrasive they were in comparison to everything else American audiences had access to. This is really just me scratching an itch more than anything, but the amount of historical revisionists who go on about obvious ballyhoo like that just drive me up the wall. Mustaine fanatics who get all butthurt about how they took all the success from Megadeth need to realize that they had just as much time to break out, the fact that Megadeth was always Metallica Jr. sure didn't help their perpetual shadow dancing, but that's another rant for another day.

But the main point here is the music itself, and as I've said dozens of times already, it's a stupendous blend of early rebellious music. Tracks like "Motorbreath" really showcase the punk edge and rock 'n roll attitude gleaned from Motorhead (the title likely wasn't a coincidence), while "Hit the Lights" could be seen as a double-time reimagining of "Highway Star" or "Heavy Metal Thunder". Pretty much everything here has something to enjoy, and nearly every song can be picked apart to discern all of the band's influences at the time. But with all that said, I have to say the band's age really does show, mainly in James's vocal performance and lyrics. The former is a positive quality, as there's such an inimitable charm to him shouting his adorable little peach fuzzed lungs out, giving it nothing less than 100%. His squawky yelp is very earnest and resonates well with the spirit of youthful backlash against the establishment. While on the other hand, the lyrics here are pretty inconsistent, and usually pretty bad. "The Four Horsemen", apart from making the odd mistake of replacing "War" with "Time", is pretty solid in this respect, whereas "Seek and Destroy", "Metal Militia", "Phantom Lord" and others just fall completely flat from a lyrical standpoint. Part of me wants to not hold this against them since lord knows I'm embarrassed about the lyrics I wrote when I was 17, but the fact of the matter is that they're here and they've been immortalized, as silly and stupid as they may be.

There are other kinks that really needed to be ironed out as well, like the painfully dull "Anesthesia". Really, of all the cues you could have taken from Battle Hymns, you didn't take the irreverent attitude, hard rocking riffs, or big choruses, you chose the torturous extended bass solo? Literally the only thing about Manowar's first album that I don't like and one of their most irritating trademarks throughout their career has always been that damn stupid, sloppy distorted bass solo that they always shoehorn in. Thankfully Metallica kept it contained to just this first album, so the overall damage was reined in. The track has taken on a life of its own after Burton's death and is often pointed to as evidence of his prowess, when really it's a pretty simple ditty that sounds like it was recorded impromptu in one take. Cliff's strength lied in his melodic sensibilities ("Orion" was his baby, and the strange, noodly parts from later albums were his main contribution), not his boring bass jam. I also can't help but dislike "Seek and Destroy". I know it's become a concert staple but it just sounds so corny forced that I can't get behind it. It works in a live setting, but here it sounds to me like a dirtier and heavier version of the glam rock bands that Metallica was rebelling against at the time. The main riff lacks urgency and just kind of piddles along lazily. And if I'm being excessively nitpicky (which I am), the first half of "No Remorse" feels kind of awkward and not entirely thought out. The second half is strong as hell, with that primitive thrash sensibility shining through a truly venomous vocal performance, it just takes a while to get there.

With all that said, I have to admit I'm just being extra tough on this since it's such a major album. It's legendary for both noobs and seasoned vets, so it really deserves to spend some extra time under the microscope. Those small quibbles aside, Kill 'em All is a stellar record for pretty much any other reason you can think of. Lars's drumming is technically mediocre, but his one-dimensional style works for what they're doing here. They weren't attempting any long epics like "Call of Ktulu" or "Orion" yet, they were still just a band of kids, full of piss and vinegar and unleashing their frustration in the only way they knew how. His signature style lends itself to the more punk rock attitude that's so prevalent on this album, and I wouldn't have it any other way. But for my money, above even the great early trad metal riffs being played at blazing speeds, the absolute highlight is Kirk Hammet's soloing. Man this album is just loaded with leads and solos at every possible opportunity, there isn't a single dead spot on the album. And every time he lets loose, he lets loose the goddamn kracken. Slow, emotional solos? Fuck that with dynamite, the goal here is to go as over the top as possible, and holy lord do they succeed. That outro solo to "Jump in the Fire" could well be the best one ever put to tape by the band, and the solo break in "Phantom Lord" (structured eerily similar to the famous section in "Hangar 18" seven years later, just let that swirl around in your heads for a bit, Megadeth loyalists) is fucking furious. Pretty much any song can be pointed to as an example of the blistering leadwork that helped define the band in the early days. Very fast, very melodic, very simple pentatonic flailing that sticks in your head and is instantly recognizable.

Kill 'em All is just goddamn impressive, both for the time and today. The hour long runtime (I'm assuming most of you are familiar with the CD version that I also grew up with, which features covers of Diamond Head's "Am I Evil?" and Blitzkrieg's "Blitzkrieg", both of which are awesome) never drags and pretty much every song remains a classic. Everything here is fun to sing along with, fun to air guitar, and just fun to headbang like a caveman to. It's not a perfect album, to quote a much more recognized and influential writer than myself: "Even the first wheel was kinda squareish", but for what it is there isn't much else I could ask out of it. Metallica clearly gave it their all on their first whack at a full length, and it shows. It's primitive but it's clean, and the vibrant production helps the album shine brightly. The fact that I and so many other people whose noses aren't turned up so high that they could drown in a rainstorm consider this timeless isn't an accident. I'm not saying elitist snobbery is the only reason one could not enjoy this album, but chances are that you enjoyed this when you were young and first discovering heavy metal, and the fact that you've since collected every Vomit Sodomy tape and seen Njiqahdda play in a moldy basement in front of six people (including you and their parents) shouldn't stain your enjoyment of it now. Go back and listen to this now, remember how you felt upon first hearing early Metallica for the first time. You'll likely find that you can still find room in the shriveled black stalactite that was once your heart for a little bit of warmth and adoration for a timeless classic.


Originally written WITH A VISUAL AID for http://lairofthebastard.blogspot.com/

Although the likes of Venom, Mercyful Fate and Motorhead came before them, forging what became known as speed metal, it wasn’t until Kill ‘Em All arrived in July 1983 that thrash metal was born. Thrash was a genre of music that by 1988 I was fully immersed in. Always ridiculed by the mainstream press, album covers often featured paintings of skulls, flames, demons and every now and then a shark on a surfboard. Lyrical themes run the gauntlet from serious subjects such as nuclear war, but more often than not were based on horror movies and novels. Perfect fodder for your average teenage boy perhaps, but one step ahead of the pack at all times were Metallica.

Originally this record was to be called Metal Up Your Ass, the front cover depicting an arm holding a dagger coming out of a toilet bowl. Thankfully Megaforce balked at this concept and requested they chose something slightly less, I would say, embarrassing and “easier to sell” title and cover. Bass player Cliff Burton, unhappy with being told what to do, chose the title Kill ’Em All and aimed it solely at the weak record company execs he felt were afraid to tell it like it was. In the long run though Megaforce did them a massive favour. Gone was the comic feel of the cover and in its place was a blood-soaked mallet fresh from a far more earthy and realistic kill. In fact, the only time Metallica fell into the teen horror thrash trap was when they released the Jump In The Fire single, taken from this album and on the front cover was placed part of a painting from leading fantasy artist Les Edwards, the image taken from the first in his series of The Devils Of D-Day artworks, showing a snarling demon. Whilst not completely at odds with the lyrical themes in the song, it showed the only time Metallica aligned themselves so blatantly with the stereotypical metal fraternity, especially in those early days. For the most part they were treading an uncharted path. I didn’t get to hear this record until after Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets were released, but if I had gotten myself a copy in 1983, I hope that on hearing the final track here, Metal Militia, that I would have instantly fallen in love with this new thrash metal sound, the fastest, heaviest and most- annoying-to-your-parents sound imaginable.

Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine does hold four joint writing credits on Kill ‘Em All, although he had been kicked out and replaced by the time of its recording and release. It was all down to alcohol if singer James Hetfield is to be believed and Hetfield kicking Dave’s dogs if you take Mustaine’s side. When watching his tears on the remarkable Some Kind Of Monster documentary made some twenty years after his departure, whatever the truth, it does show how rejection from what became the most successful metal band that there has ever been can do to a man. And lets face it, Megadeth became a huge multi-platinum selling group themselves, having a career that until recent years any band in the genre would be envious of. Yet Megadeth were always in Metallica’s shadow.

Kirk Hammett, Dave’s successor, fresh from completing guitar duties on fellow thrashers Exodus’ demo, was more than an aliquant replacement. His lead guitar work would inspire future generations of guitarists and bands who needed to add distinct melody to the speed. Check out the furious solo during Whiplash or the off the cuff intro for No Remorse for proof. The solos throughout are clear and the production sound is surprisingly bright, unlike a lot of rock albums released around this time that suffered from a muddy, distinctly '80s thud. Only Cliff Burton’s solo piece, (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth, whilst an excellent showcase for his skills as a bass player, doesn’t hold up too great with repeat listens. Future Metallica albums broke up the frantic pace with bombastic instrumentals or epic ballads. Pulling Teeth serves only as a breather to me. It was to be thirteen years until another filler appeared on one of their records, but with a tight budget that debut albums almost always receive and deadlines approaching, this one less than awesome moment is the only slight on an otherwise groundbreaking lp. The majority of the songs here, in fact you could say the majority of riffs compiled here, have become metal standards that defy age, and although trends come and go in the scene that was spawned from them, they have become for millions of people (and I include myself among these), the bar in which to judge all that came after. Kill ’Em All is an essential part of any rock or metal fan’s collection.

In September 2008, Metallica played London’s O2 Arena and finished the set with Jump In The Fire and Seek And Destroy. A few months later in Philadelphia, Whiplash was included into the set list. These songs not only have stood the test of time, but even today are making an impact on a whole new generation of metalheads. It is clear to any listener that Kill ‘Em All doesn’t reach the heights of the following four Metallica albums, but as a debut, breaking out from the underground in uncharted waters, this is a monumental document of what potential, not only Metallica, but the whole of thrash, and let’s not beat around the bush here, the whole of the metal scene, would have to offer in the future.

It's the early 80's. Heavy metal is stronger than ever, and an aura of sleaziness and brutality hangs in the air. Guys like Judas Priest, Maiden and Accept were chugging along strong. But a new breed of metal was in development. Faster, meaner, more vicious. They called it thrash. And in it's infancy it was the rawest, fastest heavy metal the world had been exposed to at the time. Arguably at the forefront of this movement was the great Bay Area thrash attack, including supermen Exodus, Slayer and our stars here today, Metallica.

What ever happened to this Metallica? This Metallica was uninhibited, spitfire-ferocious thrash that was ready to ram 50 minutes of metal up your sorry mortal ass and then take 100 more names. Now they play sloppy elevator music while Lou Reed rants about dogs humping and sucking off colored guys. But for just today, let's live it up in the past, shall we?

The Metallica here oft considered to be the classic lineup. First off is Mr James Hetfield on vocals and the rhythm guitar. His voice is the great, classic thrash style; highly aggressive with lots of youthful, somewhat raspy shouts and semi-growls. His actual singing and chanting is pretty solid too, while his guitar work, while a bit hesitant and held back at times, is still well done. The guy is in love with his fucking solos. Good ol' Kirk Hammett is on lead guitar, and he's probably the strongest here. The guy's a real riffmaster and he just sounds good, heading right into the music without very little flubs. The late great Cliff Burton takes up bass, and when you can actually hear him, he's solid as hell. He can shred the bass, coming up with his own killer riffs while adding punch to the songs' multiple cool solos. Rounding it out is some Danish guy on drums. I don't want be another one to jump on the "I Hate Lars Ulrich" bandwagon, but on a technical level, the guy ain't that great. He's very uneven and at times downright sloppy. He has a couple fast fills here and there, but he only really works well drumming by himself. When it comes to drumming along with a speedy Hetfield solo, he obviously can't keep up, so it's just this vague "tap tap tap" that somehow gets higher billing over Burton's bass. It works a little on this album, but overall Ulrich is, and always will be, Metallica's weak link.

The songs all, mostly, kick fucking ass, ranging from bloodthirsty speeders and thrashy epics to an instrumental and even some power metal-inspired moments. Classic "Jump In The Fire", which was, along with three other songs, co-penned by one-time member Dave Mustaine, is rife with semi-technical aggression, memorable riffage and some of Hetfield's best vox on the album. A personal favorite is "Phantom Lord", with it's all too brief synth intro, sharp guitar work including a handbangable main riff and it's interesting solo with some time changes. Then there's the epic "Four Horsemen" with its killer galloping riffage, a number of scorching solos, and some of Hetfield's meanest vox. Let's not forget "Seek And Destroy", the least thrashy song on here, but don't hold that against it. It has probably one of the best choruses due to its inherit simplicity and cooless. Some lesser moments include opener "Hit The Lights" (which certainly doesn't suck but it's just kinda so-so) and the boring instrumental "Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)", which exists as little more than to show off Burton's great bass skills.

Overall, while there are some problems in the performance of the band and that a few of the songs don't stick out as much as they should, this is still a hell of a worthwhile addition to your metal collection. Forget what the band has become and instead try to focus on what they once were: true heavy fucking metal.

This album begins with a lightning fast picked E-Tuned guitars (Hetfield & Hammett) which sets the pace for what the CD is going to be like. Well in this era of heavy metal Metallica was considered not only to be thrash metal, but speed metal as well. Finely produced by Paul Curcio and Jon Zazula, this entire release is something easy to get into if you're a fan of these genres of music. Metallica circa 1983-1988 I'd say put out uncompromising metal which during the 80's was considered pretty extreme.

As to what road they went during the 90's to present day does not reflect anything at all like "Kill 'Em All". It was blatantly obvious with the release of "The Black Album" they simply abdicated their thrash metal roots and completely sold out. But focusing on this album, the rhythms and leads are innovative, Hammett simply shredding on lead and Cliff Burton (RIP) puts out his talent on bass with "Anesthesia - Pulling Teeth". You could actually hear the bass guitar not only on that track, but all of them entirely. Fuzzy bass tone.

There really aren't many thrash acts during the 80's that were more innovative in songwriting quality than Metallica. Although I do consider Slayer, Exodus, Testament and Anthrax were also some damn good thrash bands as well. But Metallica reigned superior over these other bands. Musically "Kill 'Em All" has guitar riffs that are simply unique, awesome, distorted as all hell and memorable tracks from beginning till the end of the album.

I would consider this album to be one of my most played out records that I've heard, but I still am not sick of these songs. It's a shame that a band that displayed so much potential which is evident on this release all the way up till "...And Justice for All". I think that if Cliff Burton was still around they probably wouldn't have taken their thrash roots away and become a total waste musically. Maybe some would argue this but I believe that he would've at least kept them within their thrash/speed metal origin.

The lyrical aspect of this release has nothing really to do with Satanism, just filled however with hatred towards humanity without any compromise in that respect. Hetfield's vocals go well with the music especially the high-end screams. I don't consider this release their best of the 80's I'd say "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets" and "...And Justice for All" were their absolute best releases. However, this was a beginning for the band and showed their awesome potential at such a young age.

Metallica used to scoff at the idea of making videos. However, after "One" came out they began to make more music videos to make more money obviously. That's why I'm reiterating the point that if Cliff was still around they wouldn't have become "Metallisux" as coined by most old fans of the group. But "Kill 'Em All" is pretty much everything good that I look for in a thrash/speed metal release. If you don't have it already in your archives then I urge you to pick it up ASAP!!!

“Kill Em’ All”, just maybe the most influential thrash metal album of all time? Well some would agree, some would disagree. I think we can all agree that this album is one the most important thrash metal albums of all time. Introducing the masses to this new thing called thrash metal with some help from Overkill and Exodus, but demos aside, Metallica, for me at least, takes the glory when it comes to first full length thrash album ever.

“Hit the Lights” is a great opener, cymbal and guitar nonsense, a really simple but awesome riff, lots of speed and about 15 different solos equals an amazing song. “The Four Horsemen” once again has some pretty simple riffs but wow this song is good. Kind of NWOBHM sounding. This album has the most thrash ever put on a Metallica album. “Hit the Lights”, “Motorbreath”, “Whiplash”, “Phantom Lord”, “Metal Militia”, and “No Remorse” all have some insane speed in them. “No Remorse” probably has my favorite thrash part of all time. You’ll know what I’m talking about. “Jump in the Fire” is another slower song that has some of James’ best vocals. “Motorbreath” has an awesome drum intro and has some very punk influenced riffs and is full speed ahead the whole song. “Anesthesia” Pulling Teeth” is just a bass solo. Don’t get me wrong, Cliff is my idol, but I just don’t see the point. As far as bass solos go, it’s an amazing solo but I don’t really wanna listen to a bass solo. “Metal Militia” is definitely the fastest song on here. This song should be the thrash metal anthem.

Production on here is awesome. Raw, aggressive, thrash metal sound. Those crunchy guitars made famous from this album sound amazing. The drums sound really good. The bass is audible the whole time and the bass sounds really good. Kirk pulls off some awesome solos, and there are a lot of them on here.

This is easily my favorite Metallica album for two reasons. The music of course and this is the album that I fell that the members were most passionate about music. This is when I’m sure none of them expected to go huge and way before money ever touched them. James’ vocals are on a completely different level on this album. Lars played with the most feeling on here and he did a really good job. Simple? Yes, but amazing? Also, yes. I guess I can’t finish this review without thanking Dave Mustaine for being a co-writer in a few songs. I’m glad they kicked him out though, because now I get to listen to Metallica and Megadeth!

Overall, an amazing album. The first full length thrash metal album and it kills. Buy this right now if you don’t already own it.

Best tracks – “Metal Militia”, “Motorbreath”, and “The Four Horsemen”

Many people say that thrash metal was born with this album. Many people claim that this album has an important role for the history of metal music. Many people argue that this album was the first step of a famous legend. All of those things are true but when it comes to review Metallica's debut album, I would like to leave the nostalgic feelings away and concentrate on the music. That's where I must admit that this album is rather one dimensional and has a few fillers in here. Don’t get me wrong, I like this record that is full of energy and emotions and I don’t question its status at all. Many people may now contradict me by saying that thrash metal must sound exactly like this. But the debut albums of "Overkill" or "Voivod" prove that bands can already innovate within their first albums and sound rather diversified. The only time Metallica try out something else is during the memorable bass solo "(Anasthesia) Pulling teeth" which may be one of the greatest bass guitar solos ever recorded in the metal genre. It's simply experimental, diversified and technically of a pretty high standard and one of my favourite tracks in here. This courage, this open minded creativity, this last little kick of genius is what is a little bit missing in here.

The other nine songs are mostly straight forward thrash metal tracks with sharp riffs, aggressive but melodic vocal lines, fast guitar solos, a pumping bass guitar and a tight drumming. The sound is raw and aggressive and fits perfectly to the songs and the album title itself. The band employs the technical qualities of the heavy metal genre and mixes them with the fast paced energy of the punk wave and unites two genres that were very distinguished at the time and didn't seem to match together. The birth of thrash metal was a first step of the approach of the two genres and their fans. The great opener "Hit the lights" hits right my nerve and is a perfect definition of the Bay Area thrash metal genre. A little bit more elaborated tracks like the great grower "No remorse" or the catchy band hymn "Seek and destroy" work even better and are still a great definition of its genre almost thirty years after the initial release. The killer track "Whiplash" is also one of my favourite tracks on the record and varies a little bit more than some too generic songs its riffs, drum loops and melody lines. The song gives you no time to breathe and delivers everything the band stood for back in time. The guitar solo is simply outstanding and proves us that Kirk Hammett was the ideal choice for Metallica and delivers already here a better job than the overrated and arrogant egoist and former guitar player of Metallica Dave Mustaine would ever do. Sorry for the attitude and I apologize to all the "Megadeth" maniacs, but that's something where I just felt the need to write it down. Anyway, all those songs can without a doubt be called some classics.

But next to many catchy and great songs, there are also a few fillers on here that can't hold the high level. "Motorbreath" is a short and sweet track but has nothing outstanding to survive. The single "Jump into the fire" was not the best choice to spread the name about this young band and the new genre and is a rather overrated track. It's difficult to criticize this bunch of motivated and energized teenagers for some repetition but that might be the only weak point of this album and where there is a thin line between a very good album and an outstanding or even perfect record. That's in the end why my rating is really just slightly below the highest degrees of amazing and absolutely outstanding metal music.

Nevertheless, any metal fan should have this great thrash metal record in its collection even if Metallica created even better albums in the next few years in my opinion. This album is a raw definition of the birth of thrash metal with some great and unforgettable classics. But only a few years after, the concurrency and Metallica itself showed us that the summit of thrash metal has not yet been reached yet. They showed us that there was far more to discover than just this respectable beginning of an era. By the way, this album is a grower and gets really addicting and catchy with its simplistic but effective attitude. Anyway, anybody that would like to metal up its ass in an old school way has the perfect record for this right here.

In 1983, Metallica was just a modest and unknown band, in love with the aggression of Motorhead and with the speed and complexity of many of the british heavy metal acts, most notably Iron Maiden and Diamond Head. This marriage of styles originated this album, which emerged from an american scene still dominated by glam rock bands. Although this album is hailed as one of the first thrash metal albums ever released, it still doesn't sound like pure thrash metal in my opinion, as all the songs aren't JUST made of speedy guitar work and basic song structures. In fact, there are lots of progressive elements here and there, like tempo changes and breakdowns. The Four Horsemen, Seek and Destroy and the underrated Phantom Lord are examples of that, as they all have amazing middle sections. Don't get me wrong though, this album is one of the first thrash metal albums, but it isn't THAT aggressive, especially if we compare it with the early works of other thrash acts like Overkill and (obviously) Slayer. The tunes here are all pretty fast but the riffs kind of retain a somewhat happy and triumphant vibe, something absent on, for example, Show No Mercy.

Obviously, the most important thing of this album is the guitar work. The riffs are the meat of Kill'em All, and there's a lot of good ones here. Almost every tune has a memorable main riff or an interesting solo, which is great. Phantom Lord is an authentic thrash monster, with its NWOBHM-influenced main riff; Motorbreath follows the same path and Whiplash also contains some of the most aggressive and inspired riff ever crafted by this american act. Obviously the riff progressions are very primitive and basic, but at this time they were just an amateur band so that's perfectly understadable. Still, some songs here contain some progressive elements, which is rather surprising. Take Four Horsemen, for instance. After the usual fast first section, we reach a tremendous breakdown, with a nice solo and clean guitar lines. This is what makes Metallica different; while the majority of the other acts were just focusing on the aggression and power of their music, Metallica tried something more elaborate and, dare I say?, intelligent with songs as the already mentioned Four Horsemen.

On other hand, the lyrics here are hilarious. While not speaking about Satan and darkness and killing goats, their lyrical subjects were, hm, just laughable, really. Behold.

"With all out screaming
We are gonna rip right through brain
We got the lethal power
It is causing you sweet pain on sweet pain
When we start to rock
We never want to stop again"

"Thunder and lighting the gods
Take revenge
Senseless destruction
Victims of fury are covardly now
Running for safety
Stabbing the harlot to pay for her sins
Leaving the virgin
Suicide running as if it were free
Ripping and tearing"

Two very poetic examples, indeed. Fortunately, Hetfield improved a lot as a lyricist later on. Ah, and speaking about Hetfield, while his rhythm guitar is obviously excellent, his vocal performance is terrible. He wasn't a singer in the first place, and we all know that Metallica wanted John Bush, from Armored Saint, to be their vocalist. Bush didn't want to join Metallica though, so James had to sing. Technically, he's, as I've already said, terrible, but he has lots of attitude and enthusiasm. On Hit the Lights, for example, he sounds like a maniac, which really fits with the whole atmosphere of the track. During most of the times though, he sounds like a NWOBHM wannabe singer, which isn't good. That said, there are still worser vocalists out there.

So, highlights? First of all, Four Horsemen. Phantom Lord too. No Remorse is also excellent and truly underrated, it's a shame no one speaks about that track. Nice first section, filled with a couple of rather long guitar solos, leading us to the final part, dominated by a simple but very intense riff. There's an incredible live version of this tune out there, when Metallica played the song in 2003, in a small venue, I can't really remember where. It's worth watching, excellent live performance. Curiously, No Remorse was the result of the mixture between two tunes from Hetfield's former band, Leather Charm. Hit the Lights is also a very competent opener and finally Whiplash closes the list of highlights, one of the most aggressive Metallica songs, really. Energic and powerful, this song has it all. The other tunes are all pretty average, my least favourite probably is Jump in the Fire, a very boring tune with some uninspired riffing and drumming.

The production is rather weak, but what would you expect? So, a fine thrash metal record, all in all, but Metallica improved and released much better albums after this one. Still, a must have for thrash fans, as Kill'em All was one of the pieces that really shaped and created the genre.

Best Moments of the CD:
-the middle part of Four Horsemen.

Now that I’ve finally found a little time to get around to reviewing (and re-reviewing) the bulk of my thrash metal collection, it’s only a matter of picking a good place to start. And what better place than well-known territory? Kill ‘Em All, one of the earliest thrash LP’s, is the debut record of an obscure 80’s metal band by the name of Metallica, a band that would gain massive fame from the genre before abandoning it altogether for wishy-washy modern rock like that on Load/Re-load. But you already knew that.

The Metallica playing on Kill ‘Em All were nothing like the Metallica playing on Re-load. This was a band that held a strong claim over the elementary form of thrash metal not because they had sold the most albums, but because they were a part of the scene in spirit as well as name. The Metallica on here was a raging, pissed-off, riff-happy heavy metal unit poised to slaughter all who would challenge their dominance. And yet few if any modern thrash metal bands admit to being influenced by them. This I find completely absurd, as nearly every one of them has taken something from Metallica’s legacy (Fueled by Fire derive their whole fucking sound from them). Well, given the current state of the scene, maybe they should be taken a hint or two from albums like this.

Kill ‘Em All embodies everything that was good about thrash in the 80’s. First and most importantly, Kill ‘Em All showcases variety. Speed metal ragers like “Whiplash” and “Hit the Lights” coexist peacefully with mid-paced classics “Seek and Destroy” and “No Remorse.” Some tracks are short and punchy (‘Motorbreath”) while others are longer and more developed (“The Four Horsemen”). Never mind how many songs Mustaine penned, they were recorded by Metallica and they deserve credit for bringing this music to life. Secondly, there’s a general well-roundedness to the band’s performance. James’ screechy vocals, Kirk’s wild solos, Lars’ frantic drumming, Cliff’s stellar bass lines: all of these mesh together like a well-oiled machine to produce the best possible extension of Diamond Head-style NWOBHM. Compare this to today’s bands that shun clean riffs, mid-paced songs, melody, and variety and Kill ‘Em All holds up just as well as it ever did. It’s also longer than your typical thrash album, coming in at close to 50 minutes where most bands today barely surpass 30. Basically, it’s classic fucking thrash metal. Rabid drumming, guitars like razor blades, awesome, completely non-substantial lyrics, and a strong bass presence that many of their peers lacked are all reasons that this album continues to kick ass to date.

The album might appear a bit basic nowadays, considering the multitude of directions that thrash has gone since, but you’d be hard pressed to find an extreme metal guitarist that doesn’t know how to play “The Four Horsemen” or a bassist who can’t at least partially recreate Cliff Burton’s way-out-of-left-field, distorted, extended, bass solo “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth).” Material on this album, like the other early Metallica records, is part of the standard metal guitar repertoire along with the early works of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. And hell, even though I’ve heard it dozens of times, I still spin this album regularly. Mandatory purchase.

Notable Tracks: “Hit the Lights,” “No Remorse,” “Metal Militia”

This was probably the first thrash album I ever bought - I got the Black Album as I started to move away from mainstream rock, and then was advised to go right back to the start. After a few spins, I was only ever destined for a life as a metalhead.

The thing that really strikes you about this album, is the youthful enthusiasm of it all. Unemcumbered by alcoholism, drug addiction, family and all the rest of it, Kill 'Em All scorches by in a dazzling blur of speed. Hetfield's voice is still a screech, rather than the gruff but clean tone of recent years, the songs are barely developed, full of abrupt speed changes, and the solos are in plentiful supply - at least three in 'The Four Horsemen' alone.

Kill' Em All is above all a thrash album that celebrates the glory of metal, for metal's sake. The lyrics show virtually none of the socio-political bent that would surface on later records, instead revelling simply in the general brilliance of the embryonic thrash movement.

The tone of the whole album is set by the killer first riff to 'Hit The Lights', to this day one of the greatest riffs of all time, and the song itself is a thing of sheer visceral beauty, climaxing with a spiralling solo.

The rest of Kill 'Em All is simply riff after riff, and the amazing quality of the material is highlighted by the presence to this day of such classic as 'The Four Horsemen', 'Whiplash' and 'Seek And Destroy' in the live set. In fact, last time I saw Metallica, a full 21 years after the release of their debut, cuts from Kill 'Em All outnumbered those from all of the post-Black Album records put together.

Highlights abound: 'Whiplash' in its entirety, so joyously simplistic as to be almost bone-headed, especially the lyrics (They're not funny though. They may look a little cheesy now, but let's be honest. For all of the pseudo-academic bullshit written about extreme music, this review included, "thrashing all around, acting like a maniac" is what being a metalhead is all about. Period. Don't over-intellectualise this shit, just get drunk and headbang.) The first signs of the progression and dynamics that will define the classic Metallica period in 'Phantom Lord', 'Motorbreath', about the punkest they ever got, and the Judas Priest-on-speedisms of 'Metal Militia.' The solos throughout are brilliantly played by Kirk Hammett, although credit for the remarkably clever melodic construction must go to Dave Mustaine. Pick up any bootleg of Mustaine playing live with Metallica, and realise Hammett plays all of his solos note for note. I don't want to overstate Mustaine's input in Metallica, there are some idiots out there who claim he single-handedly wrote all of their best stuff, but the contribution is still significant. Their influences are recognisable - Maiden, Venom, Motorhead, almost every obscure NWOBHM band of all time - but on Kill 'Em All, Metallica transcend all of them by just playing harder and faster than anyone who came before.

That's not to say it's a perfect record. The drumming is shit throughout. Check the hideously out of time fills on 'No Remorse' for proof. Some of the riffing is a little too major-key at times, probably due to the Maiden influence, and 'Jump In The Fire' I've always found a little on the pedestrian side. There is also not enough bass on the record. While Cliff Burton's solo instrumental '(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth' is an interesting curio, and exhibits his serious talent, it is only on the next two albums that his genius really comes to the fore. Minor quibbles really though, in the light of the riches that Kill 'Em All provides. When you're having the greatest sex ever, does it matter if the weather outside is a bit on the drizzly side?

Kill 'Em All is certainly not the greatest album of all time. It's not even the greatest Metallica album of all time, they bettered it at least twice. However, it's importance to the genre of metal is arguably the greatest of all their albums, and as a pure statement of intent, it's rarely been bettered by any debut. Kneel before it's might, for the seed of greatness to come was sown in this fucking superb record.

Back in the early 80s there was a sort of war going on between various styles of metal, all of which are attributed to the NWOBHM. The war came down to what were the various bands of the scene going to specialize in. Were they going to go the all speed and energy route of Motorhead, were they going to take the mixed skills approach of Judas Priest or Riot, the musical intrigue of Iron Maiden and Angel Witch, or the lust and debachery of some of the other acts at the time who influenced the hair scene.

It was during this time that the genre known as Thrash metal was born, and it was all 100% unapologetically Motorhead influenced, although many of the bands in it took their more active bass cue from Sabbath, and the guitar solo sections from Deep Purple. From start to finish, Kill Em' All is a manifesto of sorts for this exact style of playing.

Unlike Metallica's later and current material, there are actually songs on here that don't break the 5 minute mark, which is a definate plus. Too many bands nowadays seem to think that a song isn't good until it's over 12 minutes long, has a thousand changes in it, and consists of guitar solos that regularly break the 2 minute mark. There is such a thing as overdoing it, and thankfully at this time period Metallica understood that.

The greatest songs on here fall into 2 categories, the Mustaine Catalog, and the former Leather Charm material penned by James Hetfield.

Of the latter, "Motorbreath" is lyrically stronger and has the live fast and stay true to yourself attitude that defines early Thrash. "Hit the Lights" has the edge in terms of riffs, particularly that amazing intro riff that kicks off after the freetime intro. The solos on this one are riveting, and perfectly suited for the venting style that Kirk Hammet always exhibits. Although Mustaine is 5 times the guitar player he is, he gets the job done nicely on here.

Dave Mustaine is responsible for 4 tracks on this album, which is quite alot considering he had been kicked out of the band at this point. It is understandable that he's been pissed off about what happened, seeing that Metallica basically got their asses off the ground by stealing his work. Of the material on here, "Four Horsemen" is obviously the most memorable, but the songs on here that would more define Metallica's early career would be "Metal Militia" and "Phantom Lord", both of which have riffs that be either paraphrased or actually copied (MoP's Disposable Heroes an example of the latter). "Jump in the Fire" is also quite excellent and displays the one time ever that Metallic would play a song in a non-open key, and thus makes the album sound a bit more varied and enjoyable to the more fine tuned ear than the play in E until you die and occasionally switch to F# approach that dominated the post RTL era.

The rest of the music on here is decent enough, but not quite as powerful as the stuff already mentioned. "Seek and Destroyed" features some great lead work by Kirk and has a very memorable opening riff, as well as some extremely hard to hear but interesting bass leads by Cliff Burton. "No Remorse" is loaded with riffs, but is a little bit too long and the tempo drags at times. "Whiplash" is a decent thrash tune, but the main riff sounds a tiny bit muddy. Mustaine's opening riff to Youthanasia's "Reckoning Day" is an example of a better version of this kind of rhythmic figure.

The outlier on this album is obviously Cliff's bass solo, dubbed "Anesthesia" (Pulling Teeth". Technically it's quite a display, but unfortunately it's too long for it's own good and there are only 2 sections that really provide a dynamic contrast, and that is helped along by the drums entering. Joey Demaio did a much better job a year before this album with his rendition of the William Tell Overture, which was probably technically more difficult than this song is as well, though obviously it wasn't original.

In conclusion, this album lives on what defined early thrash, speed and attitude. This unfortunately is not found on any other album by this band save "Ride the Lightning" and, at times, "And Justice for all". This is the uncorrupted, uncompromised, true face of Thrash metal. Bang your fucking head till your ears bleed and enjoy!

(note to admin: This is a resubmission, since I feel the original review i wrote was juvenile, innacurate and a poor description of the album itself. Please delete the original one I wrote.)

In 1983, when this was unleashed upon the world, Metallica had already built up a huge reputation around the bay area. Word of mouth about the band was buzzing around various cities on the west coast as well. From the onset, it was hinted at that this band would become huge eventually.

One listen of this album shows that Metallica were listening to a lot of Venom and Motorhead at the time of this release. It had the punk attitude and aggression that was simultaneous with both bands, but there was a slightly more metallic crunch to them, as Venom had poor production qualities that overshadowed the effect of the guitar skills and Motorhead was more like fast rock n roll that many metalheads loved.

Highlights of the album include The Four Horsemen for its galloping rhythm and complex song structure. No Remorse was also great because of its crunching heavy beginning and its high speed thrash section near the end, and Metal Milita had some of the best riffs Metallica had written.

Not all of the album is great though. Hit the Lights is a bit repetitive, even though the great riffs make up for it, and Seek and Destroy can get quite boring, as it hardly goes anywhere other than the faster section in the middle. I dont mean to jump on the "metallica bashing" bandwagon, but I think it was Dave Mustaine who made Kill em All a truly great classic, as he wrote some of the better songs.

Overall, though this is an album that shouldn't be overlooked because of Metallica's new reputation as money grubbing corporate sellouts. Yes, it is thrash metal, and yes it is the template for the bay area thrash to follow (Testament, Death Angel etc. owe something to this album).

"Kill 'Em All" is generally called the first thrash metal record, and while I would argue that it isn't(Motorhead, Raven, and Venom were doing speed earlier), it's damned important, and the next one would tie up all the disparate elements and give us the first true thrash record. But I'm reviewing "Kill 'Em All" and it deserves our attention.

This album used to scare the crap out of me because it had so many tempo changes. People call Metallica's music simple today, and compared to say Dream Theater it is, but in 1983 NOBODY wrote like this. From the punky opener "Hit the Lights", to the rambling, rumbling, and ripping "Four Horsemen"(the interlude, the galloping end section...this is proto-"Master of Puppets"!), to the insane bass work out, it became apparent Metallica was not just your everyday band. Look at Motorhead or even Accept and you'll see that they wrote fast, but simple. Metallica took Diamond Head's complex structures and kicked it in the ass with Motorhead velocity and created metal magic at a higher level. Slayer's "Show No Mercy", often bandied about as "Kill 'Em All"'s equal in innovation had NOTHING on this album, and it wasn't until "Haunting the Chapel" and bah gawd "Hell Awaits" that they'd hit their stride.

"Seek and Destroy", despite it's derivative riff("Dead Reckoning" anyone?) was proof positive Metallica could write commercial music, though rock radio would never play anything with production this tinny, and "Whiplash", well "Whiplash" was arguably the precursor to the more bolted down aggression to come. Oh, and did I mention it rocked at dangerous levels?

Stand-Outs: “The Four Horsemen”, “Whiplash”, “No Remose”

Kill 'Em All marks the start for one of the most well-known thrash metal acts of all time. A band which I don't think I have to introduce, since you're here already, anyway. As I was saying, what we have here is a prime cut of pure thrash from a former giant, and it is good.

Hit The Lights...PURE FUCKING THRASH, just like everything else on the album! This cuts out all the bullshit and comes straight for you right off the bat with nothing but thrash, thrash, thrash, from start to finish! The riffs are distorted, monstrous, unholy beasts, Hammett's leads are very nice (though perhaps a tad overrated) and the bass looms over it all, offering a lovely backing for the shredding in the foreground.

Highlights: Everything! Well, maybe not EVERYTHING. I love Cliff and everything, but the bass solo is pretty suck. So is Phantom Lord, thoughit isn't bad enough to skip. Everything else, though, is mighty metal all the way through.

You are not a metalhead if you don't own this. I'm not even kidding. This is one of the finest offerings from a once great band, and a metal classic through and through.

Even back when Maiden and Metallica was pretty much all that I listened to, and I thought ”Master Of Puppets” was the best song ever, I found this album to be strictly mediocre. It’s got killer guitar work, I must admit. Fast, furious and fucking thrashy. Thank you Dave Mustaine. And Lars sounds better than on many other Metallica albums, not that that’s saying all that much. Cliff has got a boring as fuck bass solo on Kill’em All, but is otherwise quite hard to hear. James sounds like shit most of the time, and that is really the main flaw of Kill’em All.

James was never the greatest singer, that’s for sure, but he sure does sound a billion times better on RtL and MoP. On top of that, the lyrics are pretty fucking stupid most of the time.

HIT THE LIGHTS!!!
HIT THE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTS!!!
HIT THE LIGHTS!!!

Shut up James, please. Unfortunately, the only track this happens on is the boring as fuck before mentioned bass solo. No interesting instrumentals to at least give a break from James’ crappy wailing. Luckily, the solos on here are all great, definitely some of the best Metallica ever had. Thank you Dave Mustaine.

“The Four Horsemen” and “Seek And The Destroy” are the best songs on here. On Four Horsemen James actually sounds descent. And Seek And Destroy is nicely catchy. The other songs are somewhat worth listening to, if only for the magnificent leads. Again, thank you Dave Mustaine.

If you very much like Metallica, and it seems that most metalheads do, this album is probably worth buying. Thank you Dave Mustaine. As long as you don’t go and expect classics such as “Fade To Black”. Even if you actually like James vocals (or can at least tolerate them more than me), this album does get somewhat repetitive at times. Oh yeah, and thank you Dave Mustaine, for saving this album from being total shit.

1983 was a pretty good year. Maiden’s released the great ”Piece of Mind”, and Metallica released their debut. And Slayer. But that one wasn’t any good, so nevermind. Metallica consisted at the time of the same people as now, except for Cliff Burton, the deceased bassist. “Kill’em All” was a revolution within the metal genre, and helped invent what is now known as thrash metal. It has aged quite well, too.

First of all, the production is raw and nasty and kinda cool, but not good. You can hear the limited budget they had at the time. Still, as far as raw production goes, this is one of the better ones. The first track that opens this mighty fine debut album is ‘Hit the Lights’. A fast and raw song filled with attitude, it’s a good introduction to the album. Hetfield sounds very different than from later years. He really screams and shouts your ears out on this one, whereas he would start to sing not many years later. Hammett’s solo on the first song is also representative for the rest of the album. Fast, furious and wild. Man, he sure can play the lead. But it’s on the second track, ‘The Four Horsemen’, that you realize just how good this band is. It’s the epic of the album, clocking in at over seven minutes, and it goes through several motions. Of course, it’s thrashy, but in the middle of the song, there’s a calmer section, which is totally kickass, with a dual lead-guitar solo. The riffs are aplenty, and they all kill. Too bad they always cut the soft section of the song when playing live. Near the end, there’s an unearthly solo again, I mean you gotta hear it to believe it. Hammett at his best. ‘Motorbreath’ is another brilliant song, but quite different from the previous track. This is Metallica’s shortest song, “just” 3:08 long, and it’s really punkish. It begins with some very cool drumming from Ulrich, and then it’s on. Fast, thrashy, headbanging quality. I gotta stop praising this so much!

‘Jump in the Fire’ is a very good song, but one that many fans think is average. Well, sometimes it’s kinda boring, but it’s still great. About the only “satanic” song Metallica have, thank God. The lyrics aren’t too good, but the main riff really is. Both of them. The weird thing is the fine line between aggressive and cathcyness in Hetfield’s riffs. They are very memorable, but also angry and filled with attitude. Amazing. On to the next track. ‘(Anesthesia)-Pulling Teeth’ is bas(s)ically a bass solo, played of course the legend Cliff Burton. It’s easily the worst track, but it’s still cool and original. Ulrich also joins in the last third of the song or something. Cool, just not quality-wise impressive. Then, after this weird interlude, it’s time for some headbanging again, and ‘Whiplash’ provides it without doubt. This is thrash at its finest. Really fast, raw, and just killer! Hetfield’s doing a really great job here (as always…). Four verses just fly by, and it ends just before you develop a chronic neck injury. Track seven, ‘Phantom Lord’ is another great track. There seem to be some kind of sound effect at the beginning, but it could be some trickery with the amps as well. Again, thrashy and fast, with a great verse, and an almost as good chorus. Shockingly, the mid-section is almost ballady in its calmness (!), but it was just a taste of the diverse and accomplished songwriting Metallica would give us later on.

‘No Remorse’ is yet another great thrashy song. I know I call almost every song thrashy, so you may believe it all sounds the same, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. Every song has its own style, and as thrash albums go, this is perhaps the most varied of the lot. Compared to later Metallica classics, though, it’s kinda samey. Where was I? Oh, yes, ‘No Remorse’. Well, it holds a high quality, but it’s not the best song on the album. That’s ‘The Four Horsemen’, by the way. Then we have the live favorite (for Metallica themselves, anyway, as they always played it until the late 90’s) ‘Seek & Destroy’. This is a more slow-moving song, and quite lenghty, but its quality is undeniable. A long intro, and it chugs along nicely. The opening riff is one of the best I’ve ever heard, and, well, every other riff in the song is great, too. Learn this song on your guitar, if you have one! The mid-section of the song is very fast, and creates a nice variety. All in all, it’s the second most complex song after the brilliant ‘The Four Horsemen’. The last song, ‘Metal Militia’, is a perfect closer. Just as fast and thrashy as anything else you might’ve heard. Lyrically, the chorus is very cool: “Oh, through the mist and the madness, we’re trying to get the message to you! Metal Militia!” Well, actually, it’s more the way Hetfield sings it. VERY cool. The song ends with a the sound of troops marching off to …wherever. Apart from the wicked instrumental ‘(Anesthesia)…’, this is the song where Burton impresses me the most. His bass work here is so damn great to listen to. At least the little it’s possible to hear. Yes, this is where the negative about this album comes:

The bass should’ve been more upfront in the sound, as it’s very hard to really hear what the eccentric genious is doing. This is a problem on most Metallica records. It’s obvious that Hetfield’s not a fan of bass, to say the least. Another bad thing is Hetfield’s voice. Although it’s cool, it could’ve been better. He really developed a good shouting/growling voice through the rest of the 80’s, but here it’s apparent that he doesn’t yet know how he should sing (if that’s an appropriate word). Apart from these two things, and the production, there really isn’t anything else to criticize. “Kill’em All” is a great debut from the now world-famous band, and it should belong in every metalhead’s collection. There are plenty of great riffs, lots of great, fast solos, and the drumming is great as well. The perfect start of a most interesting career for Metallica.

As much as I hate to admit this, there was a time when Metallica did not completely blow goat balls. This is their first album, and it does completely kick ass. There is really only one throwaway track, the gratuitous bass solo Anaesthesia/Pulling Teeth. Sure, Cliff was good, but that doesn't make the song any interesting.

The rest of this album is very good - ranging from frantic speed/thrash ("Metal Militia") to more controlled bludgeoning power-metal sound ("The Four Horsemen", "Seek and Destroy"). The opener, "Hit the Lights" (a Tanner/Hetfield Leather Charm song, along with Motorbreath) is probably the best song on here, and "Whiplash" the most ironic (see Destruction's treatment of the song for how it should REALLY be interpreted).

There are also two cover songs on certain versions of this album: Am I Evil, and Blizkrieg, from the 1984 Creeping Death single. Well worth picking up this version, because those two songs rule. Metallica actually do a good job, and Kirk does not biff the Am I Evil solo (he does completely butcher it most of the time when they do it live, though... ever wonder why they only play half of it live??).

Another note: the production is pretty decent, but there are versions of Seek and Destroy and Phantom Lord floating out there that sound even more vicious than the album versions. The Jump in the Fire 12" single had those two, with fake crowd noise added, as the B side - there is a non-noised version out there too, and those are totally worth finding.