Kill 'Em All
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Kill 'Em All is the debut album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on July 25, 1983 through Megaforce Records.[1] The album was recorded in only 2 weeks, between May 10 and May 27,[1] on a small budget. Since its release, it has been certified 3x platinum by the RIAA, having sold over 3,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone.[2] Metal Up Your Ass was the working title of the album.
Impact
Released in 1983, the album's release set the band on the path to "world domination," as drummer Lars Ulrich would put it in the following year.[3]
The album is acclaimed for combining the rawness of speed metal and punk with the technicality and sharpness of New Wave of British Heavy Metal influences: Diamond Head, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden. It is one of the most influential thrash metal albums ever.
The Mustaine factor
Metallica's original line-up 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 his replacement
Mustaine was fired in April 1983, just prior to the recording of Kill 'Em All for his drug and alcohol problems, overly-aggressive behavior and clashes with other members of the band. After Mustaine's departure, Metallica recruited Kirk 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 his joining. Mustaine went on to form the band Megadeth, who also achieved multi-million selling success.
Despite their differences, Mustaine's contribution to the early years of Metallica were still acknowledged; he received co-writing credits on four of the songs in Kill 'Em All. Two songs, "The Four Horsemen" and "Jump in the Fire" were co-written by Mustaine and "The Four Horsemen" originally 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 for both songs and retitled "The Mechanix" as "The Four Horsemen". Mustaine then sped up the original version of The Mechanix, renamed it simply "Mechanix" and included it on the first Megadeth album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!. Mustaine's other co-writing credits on Kill 'Em All are for the songs "Phantom Lord" and "Metal Militia"; His co-writing credits on the follow up to Kill Em All, Ride the Lightning, are "The Call of the Ktulu" and the album's title track.
Album title
The band initially planned to title the album Metal Up Your Ass with the cover featuring a toilet bowl with a hand clutching a dagger emerging from it. However, Megaforce urged them to change this,[4] 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.[5] Even though the original title was unused, the band did later release a "Metal Up Your Ass" t-shirt with the proposed artwork. A live bootleg recording of a 1982 performance is in existence, titled "Metal Up Your Ass (Live)", and includes the originally intended cover artwork.
Original pressings of the album came with an inner sleeve that included pictures and lyrics as well as a silver label on the vinyl. Subsequent pressings had a blank white sleeve and standard album label. The 1988 re-release re-introduced the lyrics and photos. The original release can be distinguished by the words "Bang Thy Head That Doesn't Bang" at the bottom of the back cover. This was dropped from the re-release.
Reception and awards
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  [6] |
| Sputnikmusic |   link |
| Punknews.org | [7] |
| Metal Storm |    link |
| MSN Music | link |
| George Starostin | link |
| The Daily Vault | (A) link |
| Rolling Stone | link |
| Q | |
- In 1989, the album was ranked #35 on Rolling Stone'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."
- The album ranked at number 20 in metal-rules.com's best metal albums ever.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hit the Lights" | James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich | 4:17 |
| 2. | "The Four Horsemen" | Hetfield, Ulrich, Dave Mustaine | 7:13 |
| 3. | "Motorbreath" | Hetfield | 3:08 |
| 4. | "Jump in the Fire" | Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine | 4:42 |
| 5. | "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" (Instrumental) | Cliff Burton | 4:15 |
| 6. | "Whiplash" | Hetfield, Ulrich | 4:10 |
| 7. | "Phantom Lord" | Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine | 5:02 |
| 8. | "No Remorse" | Hetfield, Ulrich | 6:26 |
| 9. | "Seek & Destroy" | Hetfield, Ulrich | 6:55 |
| 10. | "Metal Militia" | Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine | 5:10 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Am I Evil?" (Diamond Head cover) | Sean Harris, Brian Tatler | 7:50 |
| 12. | "Blitzkrieg" (Blitzkrieg cover) | Ian Jones, Jim Sirotto, Brian Ross | 3:35 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "The Four Horsemen" (Live) | Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine | 5:31 |
| 12. | "Whiplash" (Live) | Hetfield, Ulrich | 4:19 |
Songs
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Kill 'Em All features the only two songs to ever be written only by one band member of Metallica each; "Motorbreath" (Hetfield) and "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" (Burton). Mustaine credits Hugh Tanner for Motorbreath in a 1984 call-in radio interview.[8]
Hit the Lights
"Hit the Lights" was the first song that Hetfield and Ulrich worked on when forming Metallica. Early versions of the song can be heard on the compilation album Metal Massacre, as well as its subsequent re-issue and the band's first demo, No Life 'Til Leather. The demo's title comes 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. It 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[citation needed] 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 Four Horsemen
"The Four Horsemen" is a reworking of the Mustaine penned "The Mechanix". "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 debut 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. At this time, 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 the song live.
"The Four Horsemen" is a 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 horsemen are actually Conquest, War, Famine and Death. In other popular culture they are known as Pestilence, 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 the song can be watched on the Live Shit: Binge & Purge box set. The song was performed in Seattle on August 29, 1989.
An excerpt of "The Four Horsemen" is used in the queue video for the Zombiegeddon house in Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights XX: Twenty Years of Fear
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. It is the only song in the history of the band that is credited to Hetfield alone, one of two in which Ulrich does not have credit (both on Kill 'Em All, the other is "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth", which was written by Cliff Burton).
Dave Mustaine later used the main riff to create "FFF" for Megadeth's Cryptic Writings.
"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 several times, most notably by the Canadian punk band D.O.A. on the "Punk Tribute to Metallica"-sampler and in 2004 by Scott Ian and Page Hamilton. It was also covered by progressive metal Anacrusis on some of their early recorded rehearsals and is available for download on their website.
The song "Love Is a Danger Zone 2" in the Pump It Up series of rhythm dance video games is inspired by "Motorbreath."
Jump in the Fire
The lyrics of "Jump in the Fire" were 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 & 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".[9]
(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth
"(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" is a bass solo by Cliff Burton, which fades into the next song, Whiplash. An instrumental track, with some accompaniment on drums by Ulrich, it features Burton's distinctive "lead bass" style of playing, incorporating heavy distortion, use of the wah-wah pedal and tapping. At the beginning of the track, Hetfield says, "Bass solo, take one." likely to inform fans that the song is played on bass guitar. It was also the bass solo that Burton was playing when Hetfield and Ulrich first saw him at a gig: Hetfield stated: "We heard this wild solo going on and thought, 'I don't see any guitar player up there.' We were both counting the strings and I finally turned to Lars and said, 'Dude, that's a bass!' Cliff was up there on stage with his band Trauma with a wah wah pedal and his huge mop of red hair. He didn't care whether people were there. He was looking down at his bass, playing."
Whiplash
"Whiplash" was the first single released 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 concerts, 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 Live Shit: Binge & Purge in San Diego, California. He also sang it without Hetfield on the stage July 7, 2000 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, July 8, 2000 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, KY and July 9, 2000 at Texas Stadium in Irving, TX. Hetfield was icing down a recently injured back while Hammett, Newsted and Ulrich performed.
A number of covers of the song have been performed. In 2005, Motörhead won their first Grammy for the cover of the song on a Metallica tribute album. It was also covered by Billy Milano and Scott Ian and 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 the song, and the iTunes bonus version are almost exactly similar, except at the end of the song, Hetfield addresses the audience differently.
During the Live Shit version of the 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]
The song was also covered by the German thrash metal band Destruction on their 2000 album All Hell Breaks Loose.
Phantom Lord
"Phantom Lord" was 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]
Anthrax recorded a cover of the 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" 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.
The song was covered by death metal band Cannibal Corpse on their 2002 album Gore Obsessed and their 2003 EP Worm Infested.
Seek & Destroy
"Seek & Destroy" 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 and the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League use the song as their entrance theme during home games.
"Seek & Destroy" was covered by Chuck Billy and Jake E. Lee and 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.
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 & Destroy!" The most memorable renditions of the song occurred during the years 1991, 1992 and 1993 for the Wherever We 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 & continually had the audience sing the lines "Seek & 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 Hits 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 CD's 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 10th and final track on the album. 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 English heavy metal band Diamond Head. The 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. The song (as well as "Blitzkrieg") was included on the b-side of Metallica's Creeping Death single and on initial pressings of Elektra's re-release of Kill 'Em All. 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. In Los Angeles on the Damaged Justice Tour, Metallica switched the lineup for "Am I Evil" in five shows: Lars was vocals, James played drums, Kirk played bass and Jason Newsted 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 single from the label Music for Nations in 1984. Both are now easily attainable in the Garage Inc. collection.
Singles
- "Jump in the Fire" was released as a single in the UK in February 1984 to promote a UK tour with Venom. The single 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 12" single in the US, featuring the same tracks as the UK "Jump in the Fire" single 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 has the same instrumental tracks but with a different mix.
Personnel
- James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
- Cliff Burton – bass, backing vocals
- Lars Ulrich – drums
Production
- Paul Curcio – producer
- Jon Zazula – executive producer
- Chris Bubacz – engineer
- Bob Ludwig – mastering
- George Marino – remastering
- Andy Wroblewski – assistant engineer
Chart positions
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Billboard 200 | 120 |
| 1986 | Billboard 200 | 155 |
| 2007 | Finnish Albums Chart[13] | 12 |
| United States
Canada United Kingdom Argentina |
3× Platinum
2× Platinum Platinum Platinum |
References
- ^ a b "1983: Events". Timeline. Metallica. Retrieved December 26, 2009.
- ^ RIIA Certification
- ^ As stated in Metallica: In Their Own Words
- ^ "ENCYCLOPEDIA METALLICA - Complete history". Encycmet.com. 1983-09-03. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
- ^ "Hammer Time", Guitar World, February 2008
- ^ Huey, Steve. "Review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
- ^ "Review". Punknews.org. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
- ^ “”. "Dave Mustaine Interview 1984 - Kirk Hammett Sucks". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Les Edwards Fantasy Art :: Gallery". Lesedwards.com. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
- ^ “”. ""Panterica" (metallica & pantera together) - Whiplash". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Live Shit: Binge and Purge, Disc 3, Track 8
- ^ "Metallica.com". Metallica.com. 1963-08-03. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
- ^ Finnish Album Chart - Search. Retrieved on 2009-07-08.
