Thrash Talk #4 - Kill Em All (Metallica)

Well It's been a while since I did one of these so I guess today we'll be talking about Metallica's debut album, Kill Em All. After that will be Ride The Lightning, then Master of Puppets, then And Justice For All.

Kill Em All was probably their thrashiest album, even though songs like Dyers Eve and Fight Fire with Fire were faster than the fastest songs in this album. This album had a lot of classics, and no fillers. 9 of the tracks were great, and one was decent. The one decent track, Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) was just a Cliff Burton bass solo with the second half of the song being accompanied by some mediocre Lars Ulrich drumming. Unlike the other instrumentals, this song was much shorter and did not contain any guitar playing, making this my least favorite of their five instrumentals.

Dave Mustaine wrote some of the better songs in the album. The Four Horsemen was a great song, not the best, but it was a great song. However, what I didn't like about the song was unlike Mechanix, it was much slower, and didn't have the great riff at the beginning of the song in Megadeth's Killing is my Business. Jump in the Fire isn't too bad, but I would say its one of the weaker songs in the album. It isn't as fast as Phantom Lord or Metal Militia, but was still a good track. The other two songs I just mentioned are two of my favorites, and are both underrated. They both had great instrumental sections, and pretty good lyrics for the album.

Hit the Lights is also a pretty good track. Although not as good as other albums, it serves as their greatest opening track, introducing listeners from the 80s to the music of Metallica for the very first time. Kirk Hammett's solos at the end were pretty great, and the song along with the rest of the album would create the first thrash metal album to be released in the United States. Motorbreath is also a great song, even though along with the newly released Hardwired it's the shortest Metallica song to be made. Whiplash is one of the better tracks in the album, and No Remorse had some of the best solos in the album, and I heard Cannibal Corpse did a cover of this song just as good. The most famous track in the album is Seek and Destroy, and I think it deserves it's praise for being such a great track. It's known for the chorus which yells out "SEEK AND DESTROY!!!" several times, and the best part was when the tempo rises and great solos start playing. This would make it one of the most played songs live along with Creeping Death and Master of Puppets.

Despite the album containing good songs and greatly influencing the thrash metal genre, it would still be the weakest of the four 80s Metallica albums. It does deserve more attention, but I wouldn't say it's better than Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, or And Justice For All. However, it did sound better than And Justice For All in terms of production, and it's fun to listen to.

The Verdict: 90/100
Best Songs: Phantom Lord and Seek and Destroy

Next up, Ride the Lightning.

Comments

Greatest debut album ever - visitor (1/11/2017)

I wouldn't say it's the best. Holy Diver by DIo, Melissa by Mercyful Fate, and Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath are all better. - visitor (1/14/2017)