Kill 'Em All is the debut album by American heavy metal band Metallica. The album was recorded in only two weeks on a small budget. Only 1500 copies were initially printed, however it has now been certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA, having sold over 3 million copies in the U.S. alone.
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.[1]
The album is acclaimed for combining high-speed (especially "Motorbreath," which has a tempo of 168 bpm, and the Cliff Burton bass solo "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" of which the fastest section is played at 200 bpm) and a tribute to the band's early NWOBHM 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. It is one of the first and most influential thrash metal albums.[2]
The Mustaine factor
Metallica's original lineup 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.
Mustaine and Hetfield had personality conflicts, with Mustaine later blaming the rivalry on the fact that "there was too much personality" in the band.[3] These tensions led to a fist-fight that broke out between Mustaine and Hetfield,[4] after Mustaine accused Hetfield of kicking his dog.[5]
Despite their differences, Mustaine's contribution to the early years of Metallica were not completely neglected; he received co-writing credits on four of the songs in 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, replacement lead guitarist Kirk Hammett added a mid-paced, melodic middle section.[citation needed] 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". Mustaine claims he had asked the other members not to use music he had written; Hetfield and Ulrich dispute this.[6]
Mustaine was fired in 1983, just prior to the recording of Kill 'Em All. Hetfield and Ulrich stated that they fired Dave because of his alcohol and drug problems, as well as his overly-aggressive behavior. Mustaine initially denied this, but in Metallica's 2004 movie Some Kind of Monster, Mustaine stated that he wished Metallica had told him to go to AA. After Mustaine's departure, Metallica recruited Hammett, who previously played for Exodus and was a one-time student of Joe Satriani. The band started recording Kill 'Em All with Hammett barely a month after him joining. Mustaine went on to form the band Megadeth, who also achieved multi-million selling success.
Album title
The band initially planned to title the album Metal Up Your Ass, and the cover would have featured a toilet bowl with a hand clutching a dagger emerging from it. However, Megaforce urged them to change this,[7] and they agreed, switching to Kill 'Em All. This time the cover featured the shadow of a hand letting go of a bloodied hammer. Cliff Burton is credited with coming up with the name Kill 'Em All (referring to timid record distributors) as a response to the whole situation.[8] Even though the album title Metal Up Your Ass was unused, the band did later release a Metal Up Your Ass t-shirt with the proposed artwork.
Reception and awards
- In 1989, the album was ranked #35 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the '80s.
- The album would reach #120 on the charts, according to Metallica.com
- The album was deemed the #1 underground album by Hit Parader
- Q magazine (Summer/01, p.127) - 5 stars out of 5 - "Reaffirms their status as the pre-eminent metal band of the modern era....combining the power of classic rock with the raw speed and DIY attitude of punk. Thrash metal had arrived."
Track listing
| Writer(s) |
| 1. |
"Hit the Lights" |
James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Ron McGovney |
4:16 |
| 2. |
"The Four Horsemen" |
Hetfield, Ulrich, Dave Mustaine |
7:11 |
| 3. |
"Motorbreath" |
Hetfield |
3:08 |
| 4. |
"Jump in the Fire" |
Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine |
4:39 |
| 5. |
"(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" (Instrumental) |
Cliff Burton |
4:14 |
| 6. |
"Whiplash" |
Hetfield, Ulrich |
4:10 |
| 7. |
"Phantom Lord" |
Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine |
4:57 |
| 8. |
"No Remorse" |
Hetfield, Ulrich |
6:26 |
| 9. |
"Seek & Destroy" |
Hetfield, Ulrich |
6:53 |
| 10. |
"Metal Militia" |
Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine |
5:10 |
Songs
This album features the only two songs to ever be written only by one band member of Metallica each; Motorbreath (Hetfield) and (Anesthesia)-Pulling Teeth (Burton). It should be noted, however, that neither song was originally intended for Metallica and both were written before the band's formation.
Hit the Lights
"Hit the Lights" is the first track on the album. It was the first song that Hetfield and Ulrich worked on when forming Metallica. Early versions of the song can be heard on 1982's Metal Massacre compilation of unsigned metal bands, as well as its subsequent re-issue, and the group's first demo, No Life 'Til Leather. The demo's title happens to come from the first line of the song. Hetfield had brought the majority of the song to Ulrich from his old band, Leather Charm, and the two worked out different arrangements. This was one of only a handful of songs that were performed live with Mustaine as the lead guitarist.
In the instrumental interlude in the latter half of the song, a guitar riff can be heard that Queen originally used in their song Great King Rat, and later, Stone Cold Crazy. Metallica would later cover the latter song.
The lyrical theme of the song is about performing live, traveling on the road and living a "heavy metal" lifestyle.
The song was covered by Black Tide on their debut album Light from Above.
The song is included on the music game Guitar Hero: Metallica.
The Four Horsemen
"The Four Horsemen" is the second track on the album. The original song, called "The Mechanix", had different lyrics, and was written by Mustaine during the time when he was in his previous band Panic. After Mustaine was ejected from Metallica, he included it on Megadeth's first album, Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!, with the title slightly shortened to just "Mechanix", with the original lyrics, and at a much faster tempo. After he left, Hetfield rewrote the lyrics and Hammett added a new, melodic guitar solo in the middle of the song. This section is rarely played when Metallica performs this song live.
"The Four Horsemen" is a definite fan-favorite song of Metallica. The title also served as a source for one of the band's nicknames.
The lyrics, as the title suggests, are about the end of the world and the apocalypse, referring to the biblical text about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. However, many believe the song is about Metallica themselves as the "horsemen."
The lyrics refer to the horsemen as Time, Famine, Pestilence and Death. This is a revision upon an already non-canonical misinterpretation of the Biblical passages. In the Bible, the Four Horseman are actually Conquest, War, Famine, and Death.
During the bridge of the song, bassist Cliff Burton's voice can be heard providing the backing vocals.
The iTunes Bonus Track of this song can be watched on Live Shit: Binge & Purge, the Live Metallica Album Box Set. This song was performed in Seattle on August 29th, 1989.
Motorbreath
"Motorbreath" is about "living life in the fast lane" and "not ending up like others [the] same song and dance." It means to live life to the fullest and enjoy being alive. During early shows former lead guitarist, Mustaine, said that it was their version of a love song.[citation needed] This is the only song in the history of the band that is credited to Hetfield alone, one of two in which Ulrich doesn't have a credit (both on this album, the other is "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth"). At 3:08, it is the shortest original Metallica recording. (Only certain cover songs recorded by the band are shorter.)
"Motorbreath" is featured on the soundtrack to the game MTX: Mototrax. During the film Any Given Sunday the song can be heard playing in the locker room after one of the Miami Sharks' victories.
The song was covered a couple of times, most notably by Canadian punk band D.O.A. on the "Punk Tribute to Metallica"-Sampler and in 2004 by Scott Ian and Page Hamilton.
The song "Love is a Danger Zone 2" in the Pump It Up series of rhythm dance video games is inspired by "Motorbreath."
The song was covered by Anacrusis on some of their early recorded rehearsals and is available for download on their website.
Jump in the Fire
The lyrics of "Jump in the Fire" are written from Satan's point of view. It describes how the Devil watches the people who are killing each other, and so he is sure that they will all go to hell for their actions as they, allegorically, "jump in the fire". The original lyrics, featured on the No Life 'Til Leather demo, dealt with sexuality, and were written by Mustaine. It is known for its guitar outro at 3:46.
The song was released as Metallica's second single, accompanied by fake live performances of "Phantom Lord" and "Seek and Destroy", which were alternate studio recordings with sounds of a crowd overdubbed in.
In 1978, Artist Les Edwards created an oil painting titled "Devil's D-Day" that was featured on Metallica's early single, "Jump in the Fire". [1].
Whiplash
"Whiplash" is the sixth track and first single from Kill 'Em All. It is credited to Hetfield and Ulrich. The song is mostly about the feeling one gets from headbanging. "Bang your head against the stage", "Make it ring, make it bleed, make it really sore" and "You're thrashing all around...acting like a maniac" are examples of this.
Often in concert, Hetfield changes the original lyric from "But we'll never stop, we'll never quit, 'cause we're Metallica" to "But you'll never stop, you'll never quit, 'cause you're Metallica" emphasizing that it is the fans who've made Metallica what they are. In live performances, Jason Newsted often sang for part or all of the song, notably in recorded footage in San Diego, California. He also sang it without Hetfield on the stage July 12, 2000, at Mile High Stadium in Denver as well as July 14, 2000 in 3Com Park San Francisco. Hetfield was icing down a recently injured back while Hammett, Newsted and Ulrich performed.[9]
A number of covers of this song have been performed. In 2005, Motörhead won their first Grammy for the cover of this song on a Metallica tribute album. "Whiplash" is also on Tony Hawk's Underground 2 and Guitar Hero: Metallica. It was also covered by Billy Milano, Scott Ian, Phil Soussan, and Vinny Appice for Metallic Assault: A Tribute to Metallica, while Pantera, using the joke name "Pantallica", performed the song live with Newsted on bass, and members Dimebag Darrell (guitar) and Philip Anselmo (vocals) switching instruments.[10]
Metallica's Seattle 1989 performance of this song, and the iTunes bonus version are almost exactly similar, except at the end of the song, James addresses the audience differently.
During the Live Shit version of this song, Hetfield counted off random numbers to start the song. Instead of saying "1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4", he said "1, 2, 4, 3, 2 and a half!".[11]
Also this song was covered by the German thrash metal band Destruction on their 2000 All Hell Breaks Loose album.
Phantom Lord
"Phantom Lord" is the seventh track. It is written about the war cry of a mythical creature. The track was included on the band's first demo, "No Life 'Til Leather". It is the first Metallica song to include clean melodic guitars into its structure.
The lyrics deal with a mythical battle between heavy metal beasts. The band would often dedicate this song to members of the audience who "were bumping heads and getting their heads bumped too" during their early concerts.
Hetfield's third band before Metallica was called Phantom Lord[12]
The band Anthrax recorded a cover of this song as a B-side to their 1998 album, Volume 8: The Threat Is Real. It can be found on the import-single for the song "Inside Out"
No Remorse
"No Remorse" is the eighth track on the album. The song contains a variety of tempo changes and guitar riffs. It is popular in gaming circles for being the inspiration behind the first song of the first Doom game.[citation needed] The song is about not feeling any remorse or regret during battle in war. It also explains that not helping those in need is as good as killing them "Like a loaded gun right at your face".
American death metal band Cannibal Corpse recorded a cover of this song on their 9th studio album Gore Obsessed as a hidden/bonus track.
Seek & Destroy
"Seek & Destroy" is the ninth track on the album. The song has been frequently played in concerts over the years since its live debut in 1982 and has been Metallica's closing song since the Madly in Anger with the World Tour.
During the documentary film about Metallica, Some Kind of Monster, the song is used when footage of the band down the years is shown highlighting the progression in the band's appearance and sound over time. In the book Metallica: This Monster Lives one of the film's directors said how initially they wanted to alter the footage so it flowed smoothly but soon noticed the value of showing the alteration in the band in each piece of footage.
This was also the theme song of former WCW and current TNA wrestler Sting and AAA wrestler Cibernetico. In Sting's case, the song was a live recording from Woodstock 1999 which would be included on the 1999 compilation WCW Mayhem: The Music. New York Mets pitcher John Maine takes the mound to "Seek & Destroy." Also, the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League use the song as their entrance theme during home games.
"Seek & Destroy" was covered by Chuck Billy, Jake E. Lee, Jimmy Bain, and Aynsley Dunbar for the album Metallic Assault: A Tribute to Metallica. The song has also been covered by thrash metal band Testament, Bludvera and Acid Drinkers and instrumentally by Freaklabel as part of a tribute medley. Malaysian death metal band, Sil Khannaz also cover this song on their tribute album, The Best Of Sil Khannaz. Apocalyptica, and previously Pantera, covered it live. Blackened death metal band Screaming Carcass also started out covering the song.
Live performance
The song has become a fan favorite and has been played at virtually every Metallica concert since the band's inception. It is sometimes played as a closing number for their live performances, with Hetfield often asking the audience to sing along with him; he shouts "Searching," and they shout "Seek and destroy!" The most memorable renditions of the song occurred during the years 1991, 1992 and 1993 for the Wherever I May Roam Tour. Here, "Seek & Destroy" was played with Newsted singing vocals; however, at the end of the song, the band would commence in a jam for nearly 7 minutes until Hetfield took the microphone and continually had the audience sing the lines "Seek and destroy!" He also went to the edge of the barriers holding off the crowd and got them to sing the lines individually. The song length went from an average of 7 minutes to an average of 16 to 20 minutes for the elongated concert version of the Black Album tour. During the Shit in the Sheds tour of 1994, the song would be introduced as a new song that Jason wrote, and would include an extended jam, that would include one of the main riffs of "The Outlaw Torn". Since 2004 it became a regular closing song at the end of the band's set. However, instead of it being played in E standard tuning, it is played in D standard tuning. It was also played in E flat tuning during the years 1995 - 2002.
When played live, Hetfield (in the past also Newsted) often changes the beginning lyrics "in the city tonight" by replacing "the city" with the name of the town in which they are performing.
A performance of the song with Burton on bass in 1985, is available on the DVD Cliff 'Em All. Newer live versions can also be found in the Live Shit: Binge & Purge box set (with Newsted singing the lead vocals on the Mexico City CDs and the San Diego DVD) and the Cunning Stunts DVD when played in the Kill/Ride Medley.
Themes and inspiration
The song is about feeling the urge to kill. It can be inferred from the lyrics that it's not senseless killing but as revenge to someone that very much deserved it. During the Kill Em 'All for One tour, Hetfield would jokingly say that it was about hunting. It is said to be heavily influenced by the Diamond Head song "Dead Reckoning." The first three mini solos are derived from the song "Princess of the Night" by Saxon. Metallica added the final solo. Since the song's debut on Kill 'Em All, Hammett has apologized for the unusual pitch of the string bend which occurs at 3:47 to 3:48, during the solo, is in fact a mistake or "bum note."
Metal Militia
"Metal Militia" is the tenth and final track on Kill 'Em All. It is one of their fastest songs and the namesake for the band as well as a series of Metallica tribute albums. The song describes Metallica as the Metal Militia taking on the world with their heavy metal. As the militia, Metallica is trying to get the message out.
Am I Evil?
On the 11th track (initially not on the album, but available as a bonus track on the re-issue), Metallica covered the song "Am I Evil?" by British heavy metal band Diamond Head. This song first appeared on Diamond Head's Lightning to the Nations album. Metallica has made the song recognizable to metal fans today when playing it live many times. This song (as well as "Blitzkrieg") was included on the B-Side of Metallica's Creeping Death EP and on initial pressings of Elektra's re-release of the Kill 'Em All album. The song appeared again in 1998 on Metallica's Garage Inc. anthology of covers, as well as on Disc 3 of the Live Shit: Binge & Purge boxed set. At an LA concert in the early 1990s, Metallica switched the lineup for "Am I Evil" in five shows: Lars was vocals, James played drums, Kirk played bass and Jason played guitar.
Blitzkrieg
The 1988 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. Both are now easily attainable domestically in the Garage, Inc. collection.
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[citation needed].
- "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[citation needed], except of course that it is a different mix of the song, it has added reverb which is very noticeable. It's the same track instrument tracks but with a different mix.
Personnel
- Metallica
- Production
Chart positions
Album
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1986 |
Billboard 200 |
155 |
| 1988 |
Billboard 200 |
120 |
| 2007 |
Finnish Albums Chart[13] |
12 |
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Argentina
|
3× Platinum
2× Platinum
Platinum
Platinum
|
References
External links
