This was suppose to be the Van Halen Thread, but I changed my mind.

Metallica - Kill 'Em All


Track Listing:
1. Hit The Lights
2. The Four Horsemen
3. Motorbreath
4. Jump In The Fire
5. (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth
6. Whiplash
7. Phantom Lord
8. No Remorse
9. Seek & Destory
10. Metal Militia

In 1982, a Danish immigrant named Lars Ulrich wanted to get a spot on Brian Slagel's new compilation Metal Massacre. Short on time, Lars put an ad out in The Recycler for band members that were fans of NWOBHM. Two people answered the ad, and one of them was named James Hetfield (the other was Hugh Tanner, who has no historical significance at all). The two then got together and recorded the track "Hit The Lights." Session man Llyod Grant was brought in to lay the solo down.


After the compilation, James and Lars hired bassist Ron McGovney and lead guitarist Dave Mustaine to complete their early lineup. They then went on to record Ron McGovney's '92 Garage demo, Power Metal, and the famous No Life 'til Leather demo. After recording the later Ron left the band due to Dave's unpredictable behavior. Lars and James then found bassist Cliff Burton in a club, playing what they thought was a guitar. When they asked Cliff to join the band, Cliff said he would if the band relocated to San Fransisco. Since the band hated the hair metal scene in LA, the move was a no-brainer. The band would pioneer waht would become "Bay Area Thrash," a huge force in the world of speed/thrash metal. In 1983, Metallica finally got a record deal with Megaforce records and was asked to come to Rochester to record their debut record. When they got to New York, they asked for a replacement guitarist after firing Dave Mustaine due to alcohol issues. The label then brought in former Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett to fill the void. Work then began on their debut Kill 'Em All.

Kill 'Em All is the finest thrash debut ever. Thrash's break-neck speed and technicality were a breath of fresh air from the poser hair bands of LA. Songs like "Hit The Lights," "Motorbreath," and "Whiplash" let the world know that there was a new form of music in the world, and it had no remorse (no pun intended) for anyone or anything. James and Lars let their influences be their guides when it came to writing these songs. However, much of the Metallica sound was put into place by Dave Mustaine. If you really think about it, ever song written by just Lars and James sounds like a sped up Holocost or Diamond Head song. Dave's songs, like "Phantom Lord" and "Metal Militia", sounded much more like the Metallica songs of the later albums. But that not to say James and Lars couldn't write; it just means Dave was a very important part of the Metallica machine.

The record also included Cliff's bass solo, "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth." Although it has been stated that it really isn't that hard of a solo to play, it showcases Cliff's grasp of music theory and his melodic nature, a quality the band would embrace in their future albums.

Overall, this disc is essential for any metalhead or even rock fans.

My Rating:
10/10

Hail KILL'EM ALL. If it weren't for this record, who knows, I may not have become the metalhead that I am today. (Bows down)

I was in 8th grade when this record (yes folks, record) was released in 1983. Over in the Helloween thread I mentioned a kid in my school called "Slobbo," who was kinda like our Underground Metal Guru. While the rest of us "metal heads" were listening to AC/DC, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, etc. he was bringing all these weird records into school by bands nobody had ever heard of, including this one, saying "this stuff is real metal, not that poser stuff you guys listen to." (Did I mention that Slobbo was kind of an a**hole? Haha.) My friend John borrowed his KILL'EM ALL record (or maybe he paid Slobbo for a taped copy of it, as Slobbo had a pretty lucrative side business doing that; I don't really remember anymore) and the next day at school he was absolutely RAVING to me about it, saying "You gotta hear that band, it's like nothin' you've ever heard before." He bought his own copy of the LP shortly thereafter, which I promptly borrowed from him.

I gotta admit that the band photo on the back of KILL'EM ALL kinda scared me at first. The band members looked truly p*ssed off as they glared at me from that back cover photo. (They looked like they needed a shower, too... haha) Anyway, I gingerly dropped the needle into the groove.... and the sounds that came out of my stereo quickly pinned me to the wall and peeled the skin off of my face. WOW! John was right, I had NEVER heard anything like this before!! It was loud, it was catchy, it was fast, it was f**king INTENSE!!! When the needle finally lifted off at the end of side 2, I believe I said something to the effect of "Motley Who?" -- suddenly a lot of the bands I'd been listening to didn't cut it anymore. I had a new favorite band, and I had my first glimpse of the "metal underground" as well. Needless to say, I obtained my own copy of this masterpiece as soon as I could (which I still have to this day -- original MegaForce pressing with the photo collage and lyrics on the inner sleeve. It has a skip on "Hit The Lights" now so I finally had to break down and upgrade it to CD about ten years ago.)

After KILL'EM ALL I went on to discover Anthrax, Megadeth, Raven, Slayer, Mercyful Fate, and literally dozens of other below-the-radar bands over the next couple of years. I learned where the cool record stores were that filed such obscurities under the "import" section (which I never understood, as many of the labels these records were on -- Metal Blade, Combat, MegaForce, etc. - were all U.S. based!), wandered through flea markets looking for t-shirts or patches with their logos, scoured metal magazines for even the smallest snippet of info on any of them (big mags like Circus wouldn't touch such stuff with a ten foot dildo at the time), and basically became an all round obsessed metal dork. Metal was my drug, and KILL'EM ALL was my gateway.

Metallica may be more or less irrelevant to my life nowadays but I can't deny that for a lot of years, they provided the soundtrack to my life and I would've gladly taken a bullet for any of the band members. This was where it all started, and as far as I'm concerned, this is one of the albums I want buried with me when I die.

Bang that head that doesn't bang!!! :metal:

"Kill 'em all" is one of the most influential metal albums of all times. And thusly it's iconic status is well deserved. Metallica's debut album was a real punch in the face, when it first came out. No one else sounded this way! Metallica just took the sound of Mötorhead, NWOBHM and mixed it with punk. When played with speed (no, not meaning the drug!!), you get Metallica! The album is a furious metal attack, and is rightly considered a milestone! Metallica were not to stay quite so speedy though. Cliff Burton's bass-solo is AWESOME! The back of the cover includes the classic line: 'Bang That Head That Does Not Bang!'

Killer tracks: Jump In The Fire, Seek & Destroy, (Anasthesia) Pulling Teeth, The Four Horsemen, Whiplash

Aww, I was looking forward to the Van Halen one.


But whatever, Kill Em' All is by far my favorite Metallica album, and one of my favorite metal albums of all time. It's just thrash metal in it's purest form, and possibly the beggining of the genre. The riffs are pummeling and the solos are shredding. I don't really like Motorbreath, but the rest is a kickass thrash album in every way. :metal:

Classic!! Metallica really kick started my love of metal in general. During high school I think there were stretches of several months when I listened to nothing but Metallica and Megadeth. I don't even think I listened to any radio during these times just casettes from these two bands.

For me anyway it's hard to overstate the importance of this album. It really upped the popularity of a style of music that I enjoy to this day. I too think Mustaine was an important part of the development of the Metallica sound. His contribution just can't be overlooked as well.
The whole album is just great and this one along with the three that followed will always remain some of my favorite discs regardless of genre.

I didnt get into Metallica until the Black Album came out. Of course as always with me if I like a band I go out to find every studio album they released. When I finally got Kill Em All I was blown away at how different the band was from the Black Album. They were faster, and thrashier something the band lacked when I got into them. At the time I got this album I was also teaching myself how to play drums. I would play this one over and over again until I would get every song right. I can actually thank Lars for teaching me how to play drums. Its just a shame that over the years he became less of a influence on me and how I play, but Kill Em All was the beginning of me learning how to play fast. I could also play guitar a little bit and I would always play Anesthesia. I would untune the guitar and play around with the amp to make it sound exactly like Cliff Burtons bass.

I love just about every song on this album. I first had this on cassette and it had the 2 bonus tracks Blitzkrieg and Am I Evil? Am I Evil was probably my favorite song on the whole album. When I found out that it was a cover song I quickly became a fan of the band who original wrote it, Diamond Head.

Something else I remember is reading the booklet and seeing Dave Mustaines name credited for some of the songs and I thought wow if Mustaine was in Metallica then I have to check out Megadeth and I saw Anthrax in the Thank You list and also saw Exodus where Kirk Hammett came from and I figured if Metallica knows these bands then I have to know them too and thus began my Metal Obsession.

Great Debut album although I never really liked the cover.

Kill Em All is a CLASSIC metal release!!!!!! This came out when I was in 9th grade!!! I didn;t get this one until 10th grade - I actually got Ride The Lightning first. I played this one to death (along with the other Slayer, Exciter and Anthrax classics of the day!!!). Every song is a classic!!!! It was awesome to see Metallica play The Four Horsemen and Motorbreath live when I say them earlier this year.

This one still gets play on my ipod.

Metallica is my favorite band and Kill 'Em All is my favorite debut album. I just love it. I sometimes describe the album as sounding very adolescent but I don't mean that in bad way at all, but rather that it's played with so much energy and exhuberance that it just sweeps me up and gets me in that thrash metal mood no matter how many times I hear it.

Say what you will about Metallica now,but this was undeniably one of the greatest metal releases ever. It started a whole new genre and gave metal a real kick in the ass. This is a classic in every sense of the word.

'Kill 'Em All' wow that brings back memories, I was 13 when it was first released and like Freddy I still have my original vinyl copy from MegaForce. One of the few vinyl LP's I have held on to despite the fact I have upgraded to CD long ago.

I had already discovered Venom, Raven and Motorhead but I was not really prepared for the impact this album and band would have on me. Thanks to this album I would then go searching for other similar sounding bands and I would soon discover Slayer and Anthrax. But as cool as those bands where they did not make the impression Metallica did, at least to me.

'Hit the Lights' 'Metal Militia' and the classic 'Seek and Destroy', I thought at that time this where heaviest songs ever written. Simply one of the greatest debuts in rock history.

I also think this one of the first times, if not the first time I had heard a bass solo on a studio album. Before Cliff Burton I rarely payed attention to bass players (exception being Geezer and Geddy) and I thought Kirk Hammett had the fastest fingers on earth.

All these years later I still think the albums sounds damn good.

This was actually the fourth Metallica release I picked up, my first was the Creeping Death 12-inch single (I heard it at a friends house and ran out and bought it the next day). Next up I got Ride The Lightning and the Whiplash 12-inch single.

Kill 'em All is easily one of the best debut albums in music history, Metallica had mixed in all those aforementioned ingredients and came up with something truly epic...the best garage band on the face of the earth. The sheer power this album has is staggering...it does literally push you back in your chair. Metallica sounded VIOLENT on this album, they would become a much more sophisticated group...but on Kill 'em All they are content to be a deadly weapon.

Arguments aside on where these songs originally came from, the lineup of classic songs is undeniable...No Remorse, Phantom Lord, Metal Militia, Whiplash, Seek & Destroy, etc. For a very low budget recording the sound is nevertheless awesome...the low budgest adds to the authenticity. As raw as it can get and that's a HUGE compliment.

I had this on vinyl originally, then bought the first CD release (with Am I Evil & Blitzkrieg bonus tracks - which I still own) and last fall bought the new LP reissue.

I remember grabin' the "Metal Massacre" lp on the day they put it on the racks. The version with Black n Blue and Ratt, still have too. Anyways, "hit the lights" caught my ears more than the other stuff and I was fortunate enough to catch some Metallica shows before they bounced up to the Bay Area. Those shows gave me an impression that the red headed lead player was the catalyst of what was going on and when I got "Kill em All", it was sad that he was already gone. After listening to it though, I enjoyed the new player and migrated around to catch them onstage. Lars had improved as a player
and things were happening.

I was kinda brought up the same way as Fat Freddy, I was 15 and into pretty much the hardest music around in '83(or so I thought). I had a friend named Jason who was a hard core punk rocker, not the green-hair-dress-like-new-wave kind; but the smelly, loud, obnoxious, non-stop-energy, pick-a-fight-with-anyone-when-s**t faced drunk type. He had a cassette with 3 tracks from "Kill Em All" and man I loved it. Jason told me about an off-the-wall record store that sold albums like that and I went and bought it. I played it for some of my friends and most liked it. A really good friend of mine named Mike(who has now become a legend in metal knowledge) said "This band gives me a headache, but I think I wanna borrow it anyway", and I created a monster with him!! ah, the memories......

I heard Kill 'Em All for the first time on the same day I heard Metal Health, as a guy who worked a local record store played them both for me at the store. Myself and my friend Fred were the first people I ever knew who were into Metallica.

The best metallica album!!! and the record to co-found thrash metal, my favorate sub-genre. Venom, motorhead, etc were heavy and fast and vicious at the time....but metallica was HEAVY FAST AND VICIOUS TO THE EXTREME!!! I can honestly say James vocals are best here, he was just a kid wanting to sound pissed with every song going fast and fast and faster. My favorate metallica album, no doubt. memorable tracks: metal milita, whiplash, phantom lord, etc.

Metallica - Ride The Lightning


Track Listing:
1. Fight Fire With Fire
2. Ride The Lightning
3. For Whom The Bell Tolls
4. Fade To Black
5.Trapped Under Ice
6. Escape
7. Creeping Death
8. The Call Of Ktulu

After their groundbreaking debut, Metallica started to come into their own. The band moved away from their sped up Diamond Head approach and started to hone their sound. Ride The Lighting is by far the heaviest Metallica album in terms of production and riffs. Although the band did starte to expand the songs by incorporating many progressive qualities. Ride The Lightning was very much a straight-ahead thrash record. Songs like "Fight Fire With Fire" and 'Trapped Under Ice" are some of their fastest songs recorded. James Hetfield's rythym playing was second to none at this point. Although many kids would rather play like Hammett, Hetfield's riffs, solos, and guitar harmonies go to show that perhaps James is almost a better all-around guitarist than Hammett.

Cliff Burton's songwriting is featured heavily on this album. Every song he help write are all essential Metallica (he didn't write "Trapped Under Ice" and "Escape", the two weakest songs on the album (but still good, though)). With songs like "Creeping Death", and "For Whom The Bell Tolls", it's no wonder Cliff is God to so many. The album also features the last two songs written by Dave Mustaine ("Ride The Lightning" and the instrumental "The Call Of Ktulu"), although Dave would tell you otherwise.

One big difference between Kill 'Em All and Ride The Lightning is Metallica slowing it down. "Fade To Black" was the bands' first attempt at a ballad, and they hit a home run. While some fan's cried "foul!", "Fade To Black" is hailed as one of Metallica's finest songs.

Lastly, this album would start a pattern that Metallica would follow with their next two albums as well. See below:

Track 1:
Clean opening to a blister fast song ('Fight Fire With Fire", "Battery", "Blackened")
Track 2:
Title Track ("Ride The Lightning", "Master Of Puppets", "...And Justice For All")
Track 3:
Slower song with the album's heaviest riff ("For Whom The Bell Tolls", "The Thing That Sould Not Be", "Eye Of The Beholder")
Track 4:
The ballad ("Fade To Black", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "One")
Track 5:
Back to all-out thrash ("Trapped Under Ice", "Disposable Heroes", "The Shortest Straw")
Track 6:
Slower, heavier track ("Escape", "Leper Messiah", "Harvester Of Sorrow")

From here it falls apart a bit, but there is another fast song and at least an eight minute insturmental.

Overall, essential.

My Rating:

10/10

Interesting fact:

A few of the first presses were actually printed with a shade of green instead of blue.

Are you going to cover the Whiplash and Creeping Death singles?

Ride the Lightning is arguably their best album, IMO (I tend to flip-flop between this and Master of Puppets). As good as Kill 'Em All is, what amazes me about Ride the Lightning is how much of leap forward it was for them, as in some ways it almost sounds like a different, more seasoned band. Like there should have been one or two other albums sandwiched between the two but the band just skipped over all that, going from being talented kids with a lot of potential straight to one of the best bands on earth in just two albums.

I can't really pick a favorite track as I like them all (even Escape) but there was a period right after I had gotten into the band during which I thought Creeping Death was the coolest thing I'd ever heard

I got RIDE THE LIGHTNING on cassette for Christmas, 1984. Needless to say I worshipped every last note of that album. It was more mature than KILL'EM ALL but didn't skimp on the ferocity or heaviness one iota. Even the so called "ballad" "Fade To Black" was freakin' heavy duty. This pretty much began my "all Metallica, all the time" phase that would last for roughly the next five years of my life. I also picked up the 12-inch picture disc single of CREEPING DEATH around this time (early '85) because it had two bonus tracks on the B-side ("Am I Evil" and "Blitzkrieg"), which I still treasure to this day.

The funny thing about this album was that when my brother and I discovered KILL'EM ALL the year before (thanks to the infamous "Slobbo"), we started talking up the band to our circle of friends, and none of them were interested. I mean, we couldn't PAY our friends to listen to Metallica. But by the time R.T.L. came out I guess there was enough buzz around the band that people started to get curious about them. I remember my brother coming home from school and asking me if I could let his friend so-and-so borrow my tape so he could make a copy of it, and then a little later ANOTHER friend of his wanted to borrow it, and so on and so on ... eventually there was a little cult of us all wearing RIDE THE LIGHTNING t-shirts to school on any given day. I guess my tape of RIDE THE LIGHTNING ended up becoming quite influential on my brother's circle of friends. Haha.

Ride the Lightning totally rules. As usual, there's only one song I don't like; Fight Fire With Fire. All the rest are classic Metallica!