Kill 'Em All is the debut album by Thrash Metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, by Megaforce Records.
Shortly after the band was formed in late 1981, Metallica - then consisting of singer/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, and bassist Ron McGovney - began work on a series of demos they put out throughout 1982. However, tensions among the band members, especially Mustaine and McGovney, lead to the latter quitting the band in late 1982, resulting in the band bringing in bassist Cliff Burton.
Dave Mustaine was fired after a show in 1983, just as they were due to begin recording the final takes for the album, due to drug and alcohol problems and clashes with the other members, so Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett was brought in and some of Mustaine's lyrics were rewritten by James Hetfield. Dave still has a writing credit on several songs due to almost all of them having been re-recorded from the band's early demos.
The album was originally going to be called Metal Up Your Ass, but the label didn't like that title. The band responded by renaming the album Kill 'Em All, after a suggestion by Cliff of what to do with the executives: "Why don't we just kill 'em all?"
Heavily influenced by Speed Metal and New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Kill 'Em All is considered one of the earliest thrash albums, along with Venom's Welcome to Hell, due to it introducing introduced faster percussion, low-register chords, and a shredding guitar style to the genres that influenced it. Metallica would later help thrash become its own thing with their follow-up album, 1984's Ride the Lightning.
Tracklist:
Side One
- "Hit the Lights" (4:15)
- "The Four Horsemen" (7:17)
- "Motorbreath" (3:07)
- "Jump in the Fire" (4:41)
- "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" (4:14)
- "Whiplash" (4:08)
Side Two
- "Phantom Lord" (5:08)
- "No Remorse" (6:26)
- "Seek & Destroy" (6:54)
- "Metal Militia" (5:11)
Principal members:
- James Hetfield - Lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Lars Ulrich - Drums
- Cliff Burton - Bass
- Kirk Hammett - Lead guitar
Come on! Trope in the fire:
- Blood Knight: "Seek & Destroy" is about a group of people looking for people to fight to the death.
- Book Ends: The album begins with the music fading in and ends with it fading out into military sounds.
- Card-Carrying Villain: The protagonist of "Seek & Destroy""There is an evil feeling in our brains
But it's nothing new, you know it drives us insane". - Duel to the Death: The gang in "Seek & Destroy" doesn't just want to kill people."We're looking for you to start up a fight"
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Compared to Metallica's later material, which are more grounded on specific genres, this album has prominent Speed Metal elements alongside its thrash basis.
- This is the only 80's Metallica album not to begin with a melodic guitar intro, instead fading in on fast riff based on a single chord. On the vinyl format, it's also the only one to have its token instrumental track characteristic to the 80's albums on the first side/disc (the latter in the case of ...And Justice for All) instead of the second.
- "Motorbreath" and "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" are the only original Metallica songs not to have a writing credit for Lars Ulrich. The latter is also the only one not to have a writing credit for James Hetfield.
- "Everybody Dies" Ending: the name sake to the former trope name "Kill 'Em All".
- Evil Laugh: James ends the last lyrics of "Seek & Destroy" with a laugh as the gang looks for people to kill.
- Evil Overlord: The Phantom Lord is a warmonger who plans to conquer any land he comes across.
- Fade In: Album opener "Hit the Lights" begins with a riff fading in from silence.
- Fire and Brimstone Hell: "Jump in the Fire" is about condemning people to that hell.
- Heavy Meta: Multiple songs, but "Metal Militia" stands out for being a recruitment song for people to join such a militia.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: The band makes it no secret throughout the album's lyrics that they are tough guys who like leather a lot. Even the first line in "Hit the Lights" (itself the namesake of their No Life 'til Leather demo) mentions it.
- Horsemen of the Apocalypse: "The Four Horsemen""The Horsemen are drawing nearer.
On leather steeds they ride.
They have come to take your life.
On through the dead of night,
With the four Horsemen ride,
Or choose your fate and die!" - Instrumentals: "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" is a bass solo by Cliff Burton featuring Lars Ulrich backing him on drums near the end.
- Leave No Survivors: The album title is not Kill Most of 'Em.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: "No Remorse" is about one that wants war without end.
- Refuge in Audacity: The band originally wanted to call the album Metal Up Your Ass (complete with metal spike coming out of someone's toilet), but the record label wouldn't have any of it. So they changed it to Kill 'Em All, which the company had no problem with, and then made an Ass t-shirt with the original concept art. Ironically enough, the final title was based on a suggestion by Cliff of what to do with the record executives for shooting down the original title.
- Singer Namedrop: "Whiplash""We'll never quit cause we're Metallica"
- The Social Darwinist: "No Remorse" invokes "Only the strong survive".
- Title-Only Chorus: "Hit the Lights" and "Metal Militia"
- Vocal Evolution: James Hetfield's voice is noticeably higher than usual, even compared to Master of Puppets.
