Kill Em

Product Information

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: 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".

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. 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. Elektra of 88 reissue "DMM": Very bright version and it lags on bass because "DMM" process. Still fine material. 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....

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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. 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. 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. 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? 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.

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.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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.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.