Kill Em

Product Information

Vertigo EU 01 reissue:Great all around version. Not the best from the "Vertigo 01" series but still great sound. It also contains "Bob Ludwing" mastering. Compared it with the "Columbia house" it has worst cut and it is not so lively and atmospheric. 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. 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.

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. 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. Elektra of 88 reissue "DMM": Very bright version and it lags on bass because "DMM" process. Still fine material.Hit The Lights,Metal Militia,Phantom Lord,No Remorse....every song on this LP is strong and stood the test of time even 40 years later.Vocal is raw and undeveloped as is Lars drumming,lots of Dave Mustaine in songs and great bass solo by Cliff. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.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. Rhino 04:Very loud and punchy version. It sound little compressed and noisy to me. Remains fine vinyl 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. 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. 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.

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.) 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. 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.

Reviews

Anyway,brilliant debut,so important in the metal world and the best of Metallica is yet to come in next few years and next three albums. 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? 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.... 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.