Kill 'Em All

Untitled

Kill 'Em All is Metallica's debut album, released on July 25, 1983 on Megaforce Records.

Impact

Released in 1983, the record's release set the band on the path to "world domination", as drummer Lars Ulrich would put it in the following year.

According to some music critics the album is acclaimed for combining high-tempo (discounting the Cliff Burton bass solo "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth") and a tribute to the band's early influences: Diamond Head, Iron Maiden, Motörhead and Venom, all English bands who combined the heaviness and technicality of Black Sabbath with the speed and aggression of punk rock.

The Mustaine factor

When Metallica settled on a lineup originally, the band featured James Hetfield (guitar/vocals), Lars Ulrich (drums), Ron McGovney (bass) and Dave Mustaine (lead guitar). Due to tensions between McGovney and Mustaine, McGovney left the band. Castro Valley-born bassist Cliff Burton was recruited as a replacement.

There was also considerable tension between Mustaine and the rest of the band (particularly Hetfield), which resulted in him being fired in early 1983, just prior to the recording of Kill 'Em All - he went on to form the band Megadeth, who also achieved multi-million selling success. After Mustaine's departure, Metallica recruited Kirk Hammett, Exodus guitarist and one-time student of guitar legend Joe Satriani, and the band started recording the Kill 'Em All with him barely a month after joining to record the album.

Mustaine and Hetfield had personal conflicts, with Mustaine later blaming the rivalry on the fact that "there was too much personality" in the band . These tensions led to a fist-fight that broke out between Mustaine and Hetfield, after Mustaine accused Hetfield of kicking his dog. Hetfield and Ulrich stated that they fired Dave because of his alcohol problem. Mustaine initially denied this, and in Metallica's 2004 movie Some Kind of Monster, Mustaine stated that he wished Metallica told him to go to AA.

Despite their differences, Mustaine's contribution to the early years of Metallica was not neglected as he received four co-writing credits on Kill 'Em All. One song, "The Four Horsemen" was originally written by Mustaine and titled "The Mechanix". It was performed at many early Metallica shows. Following Mustaine's exit, Hammett added a mid-paced, melodic middle section. Hetfield also wrote new lyrics and the band renamed it The Four Horsemen. Mustaine kept the faster paced original version of the song, renamed it simply "Mechanix", and included it on the first Megadeth album, Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!. Mustaine's other writing credits on Kill 'Em All are for the songs "Jump in the Fire", "Phantom Lord" and "Metal Militia".

Controversy

The band received criticism from the Bay Area scene and the underground rock press at the time for their proposed title for their debut album. The band initially planned to call it Metal Up Your Ass, and it would boast a cover featuring a toilet bowl with a hand clutching a dagger emerging from it. The band's label urged them to change this , so they agreed, switching to the marginally less-offensive Kill 'Em All, with a cover featuring the shadow of a hand letting go of a bloodied sledgehammer. Cliff Burton is credited with coming up with the name Kill 'Em All (referring to timid record distributors and the censors) as a response to the whole situation.

Awards and recognitions

In 1989, the album was ranked #35 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80's.

The album would reach #120 on the charts, according to Metallica.com

Track listing

1. "Hit the Lights" (J. Hetfield, L. Ulrich) – 4:17
2. "The Four Horsemen" (J. Hetfield, L. Ulrich, D. Mustaine) – 7:13
3. "Motorbreath" (J. Hetfield) – 3:08
4. "Jump in the Fire" (J. Hetfield, L. Ulrich, D. Mustaine) – 4:41
5. "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" (C. Burton) – 4:14
6. "Whiplash" (J. Hetfield, L. Ulrich) – 4:09
7. "Phantom Lord" (J. Hetfield, L. Ulrich, D. Mustaine) – 5:01
8. "No Remorse" (J. Hetfield, L. Ulrich) – 6:26
9. "Seek & Destroy" (J. Hetfield, L. Ulrich) – 6:55
10. "Metal Militia" (J. Hetfield, L. Ulrich, D. Mustaine) – 5:11
11. "Am I Evil?" (originally recorded by Diamond Head, bonus track on 1989 re-release) – 7:51
12. "Blitzkrieg" (originally recorded by Blitzkrieg, bonus track on 1989 re-release) – 3:34

Singles

"Jump in the Fire" was released as a UK EP in February 1984 to promote a UK tour with Venom. The EP would feature "Phantom Lord" and "Seek & Destroy" as live tracks, although they are actually studio recordings with fake crowd noise dubbed over them.

"Whiplash" was released as a U.S. 12" EP, featuring the same tracks as the UK Jump in the Fire EP but also featuring a special Neckbrace remix of "Whiplash". However, Lars Ulrich stated that there is no difference between the remix of "Whiplash" and the original version.

Miscellaneous Information

The song "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" is a bass solo by Cliff Burton. An instrumental track, with accompaniment on drums by Lars Ulrich, it features Burton's distinctive style of playing, incorporating heavy distortion, use of the wah-wah pedal, and tapping. This is also the bass solo that Cliff was playing when James and Lars first saw him at a gig. When they first entered the club where Cliff was playing, both James and Lars thought the sound was coming from a guitar. When they saw Cliff's red hair thrashing around, and that the sound was coming from a bass, they immediately wanted Cliff in their band.

The 1989 re-issue of the album by Elektra Records added the songs "Blitzkrieg" (a cover of a song by the band of the same name) and "Am I Evil?" (the aforementioned Diamond Head song). Both of these Metallica covers were previously released as Garage Days Revisited on the B-side of the Creeping Death EP from the label Music For Nations in 1984.

It was recorded in only two weeks on a shoestring budget. Originally the band printed 1,500 copies.

Credits

• James Hetfield – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Lars Ulrich – drums
• Cliff Burton – bass guitar (recording and composition)
• Kirk Hammett – lead guitar (recording)
• Dave Mustaine – lead guitar (composition)
• Jon Zazula – executive producer
• Paul Curcio – producer
• Chris Bubacz – engineer
• Andy Wroblewski – assistant engineer
• Bob Ludwig – mastering

Charting positions

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1986	The Billboard 200	#120

External links

• Official site