THE FORMATION
Who isn't familiar with Metallica? A band formed by lead vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, they had been gaining quite the buzz for a fair amount of time prior to the release of their debut album
Kill 'Em All. In fact, they had even managed to gain an opportunity to open for British heavy metal outfit Saxon, as well as securing an appearance on Metal Blade Records' compilation album Metal Massacre where their song
Hit the Lights was featured as the closing track. Even though a misprint on the credits saw them labeled as Mettallica, it mattered not, as their momentum didn't slow one bit. Near the end of '82 the band began planning the release of their first full-length, but because of Metal Blade being unable to support them financially, they were forced to leave and join New York based label Megaforce Records. It wasn't long after signing that they began the writing process for their LP, however just one month before the recording could begin, guitarist Dave Mustaine was kicked out of the band for what the other members deemed to be an uncooperative attitude and more than a fair share of substance abuse issues. Fortunately, the band were able to recruit guitarist Kirk Hammett a short while later, and in May of 1983, the four piece hit the studio.
THE ALBUM, Metallica's highly regarded debut album saw the group fuze together your uncle's favorite New Wave of Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) act with your favorite childhood hardcore punk band and create something you could both use to piss all of your neighbours off. Not only were Metallica the first of the big four to release a full length album, but their project also eclipsed the length of the debuts from their three peers by well over twenty minutes. With ambitious song lengths and plenty of wicked guitar riffs courtesy of Kirk Hammett, Metallica sure took the metal world by storm with this one.
The opener
Hit The Lights sets the tables perfectly, as the track features impressive musicianship and the kind of finger-blazing guitar solo that proved Hammett was capable of much more than just playing punk inspired riffs for fifty plus minutes. While the lyrics throughout the album are akin to exactly what you'd expect a group of juvenile rockers to come up with, it's the delivery from fired-up frontman James Hetfield that force them to stick as he switches between the screams of a madman and the barking of a rabid dog to help propel his words of violence and warfare overtop of the booming drums and groovy bass lines on songs like
Jump in the Fire and
Whiplash, both of which were released as singles from the album.
With that being said, the heart of this album is of course Hammett's guitar play. This is the album that inspired many of your favorite 90's guitarist to pick up the instrument in the first place, and it's also the record that made thrash metal into what it ended up becoming. Still, some of the credit needs to go to the man who formed Megadeth just a short time later, as Dave Mustaine wrote four of the album's tracks, while his replacement Hammett performed them.
Hammett and Hetfield are not the only ones who impress on the album though. The instrumental track
(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth is built purely off of Cliff Burton's bass groove, and is strictly that for the first few minutes before Lars Ulrich joins in on the drums. It's a fantastic showing from Burton, and not something you'd expect to see, but it makes for a great momentary break from the chaos of the other guitar and vocals.
The most well known track from this project is of course,
Seek & Destroy which went on to become one of Metallica's most iconic songs. The riff is instantly recognizable among metal fans both young and old, and even with a near seven minute runtime, you never want it to come to a close. This single track encompasses everything that the band members had done previously on the album. You get another raw vocal showcase from Hetfield, a great solo from Hammett, and a fantastic rhythm job from both Ulrich and Burton. The music on this project truly speaks for itself, and this right here is the release that gave birth to one of the most legendary runs in metal music through Metallica's first four albums. If nothing else, it's a hard one to match.
Thrashterpieces:
Hit the Lights
The Four Horsemen
Motorbreath
Jump in the Fire
Whiplash
Seek & Destroy
During the time that this project first hit stores, a little Californian metal group known as Slayer were performing covers of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs throughout the So-Cal region. That was, until they discovered the sounds of thrash metal. By combining their Satanic imagery with the same loud, in your face style of Kill 'Em All, they became the band your parents warned you about. We'll save that one for next time though.