Kill Em

Product Information

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. Phantom Lord is notable for its mellower bridge, and No Remorse for its pre-chorus riff, which I really enjoy. Cannibal Corpse has a cover of this song, and they do a good job. As for Seek and Destroy, it’s a solid piece, but its catchiness is really the only reason it’s played so often in concert.

There were many bands in the same musically aggressive vein of Metallica, even from the same location in the States, who were out to disarm the glam/hair "metal" scene and wipe it off the map.. And this album was the first real blow to the glam scene, and the catalyst that would fuel an army of bands who would eventually develop the thrash metal tag that would contribute greatly to the death of anything glam-related. However, unlike nearly all of the rest of those bands who joined Metallica in glorious musical battle against these drag clowns giving the genre a bad name, Metallica were the first to go the full mile and actually record a studio album and drop the first nuke on glam country, instead of firing demo missiles left and right, which bands like Exodus were guilty of. 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 greatest songs on here fall into 2 categories, the Mustaine Catalog, and the former Leather Charm material penned by James Hetfield.Metallica is an exception to this rule. All of the songs from their first demo made it onto Kill Em All, and this stuff is pretty solid. The riffs are memorable and the solos excellent, the songs are fast and furious; everyone performs well, even Lars. His drumbeats are the typical generic patterns, but he works in some cool fills here and there. You can identify the album just by James’ voice. It has more of a shriek to it, but it’s well-suited to the music. I can actually hear the bass, and I’m not talking about just Anesthesia, I mean most of the album. There isn’t a decrease in quality over time, though you have standout songs. The album length (51 minutes) is just right for the amount of variation heard, and the song lengths themselves are short, the longest song only at seven minutes and Motorbreath at the shortest in their whole discography (barely three minutes). I wish they’d used this idea of shorter songs their whole career. There’s less experimentation with structure than in any of their other eighties works, but Kill Em All doesn’t need that. Its influences are obvious, and if you listen to it, it’s easy to tell that they were listening to lots of NWOBHM and punk when they wrote it. It literally defines thrash metal in a way that Metallica’s other albums don’t. As they went on, they became less and less thrashy, with this album the only pure thrash they’ve put out. Master of Puppets has about two complete thrash songs on it, and this is being generous because each of them have specifically non-thrash intros (Battery and Damage Inc). …And Justice For All should not be considered thrash at all, except for Dyers Eve. The Four Horsemen is another highlight. Since I was introduced to this version before hearing Mechanix, Megadeth’s recording of this song freaks me out. As much as I hate Kill Em All lyrics, at least James isn’t singing about cars as a metaphor for having sex. (Disclaimer: Megadeth is cool and without Dave KEA would be far different.) It’s also the longest song on the album, at only seven minutes. 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.

Columbia House (Club Edition) https://www.discogs.com/Metallica-Kill-Em-All/release/3879844 : The best version of the album. Contains the best mastering by "Bob Ludwing". The version is ultra sharp, bright, aggressive with very separate instuments and very noticiable bass. Also it is the most lively, soudstage version of the album I have listen. Kill Em’ All”, just maybe the most influential thrash metal album of all time? Well some would agree, some would disagree. I think we can all agree that this album is one the most important thrash metal albums of all time. Introducing the masses to this new thing called thrash metal with some help from Overkill and Exodus, but demos aside, Metallica, for me at least, takes the glory when it comes to first full length thrash album ever. The production doesn't feel polished and it works. Compare the guitar tone to Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All. Benefiting from less dimension, Kill Em All sounds like an all American V8 muscle car, screaming down the highway. This is probably the only Metallica album where the bass is of satisfying clarity, providing a chunkiness that doesn't exist on the rest of 80s Metallica releases. Listen to 'Metal Militia' in comparison to 'Dyers Eve'... where did the bass go?!

Statistics

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 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. Vertigo EU 89 reissue "DMM": Great version to listen the album. Contains the best mastering of "Bod Ludwing". Kill 'Em All marks the start for one of the most well-known thrash metal acts of all time. A band which I don't think I have to introduce, since you're here already, anyway. As I was saying, what we have here is a prime cut of pure thrash from a former giant, and it is good. This album has some great lyrics in songs like The Fourhorse Men, Jump in the Fire, Seek & Destroy and Phantom Lord. They all speak of some sort of mayhem or pain and devastation. This sets a frenzied mood in the lyrics for the whole album.