Published on May 28, 2003
Blah blah blah. You all know the story. Drummer Lars Ulrich puts
an ad in a Los Angeles newpaper for a guitarist, James Hetfield
responds, the two form a band, record a demo tape,
No Life ‘Till Leather, which blazes through the underground
tape trading circuit. They fire lead guitarist Dave Mustaine,
replace him with Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett, and recorded what
is the landmark thrash metal release, pre-dating other thrash metal
classics like Megadeth’s
Rust in Peace and Anthrax’s
Among the Living and hell, even Slayer’s
South of Heaven by many, many years.
Kill ‘Em All fades in with drums and guitars and bass making
what sounds like a lot of noise before James Hetfield begins the
riff to “Hit the Lights.” When you hear this riff, and Hetfield’s
down-your-throat lyrics “We are gonna kick some ass tonight,” you
can’t help but get excited. Each time I hear the thunderous Ulrich
tom-tom runs and the “frantic” guitar solos of Kirk Hammett, I
smile. The 2:36 mark of the first track on the debut Metallica CD
introduces a trademark Metallica-ism. The band drops out except for
a rhythm guitar riff. Classic.
“The Four Horsemen” is another trademark riff with Ulrich
punctuating the rhythm in union with bassist Cliff Burton and his
cymbal. This is the longest song, clocking in at 7:08. This is a
primer for later Metallica songs that would stretch even longer,
taken to the extreme with the
…And Justice for All release.
Of all the songs on this release, “Motorbreath” is the song that
I come to as my favorite. It’s an unlikely choice, especially since
this CD also has “Whiplash,” “Seek and Destroy,” and “Phantom
Lord.” But my choice is still “Motorbreath.” While I don’t relate
to Hetfield’s tale of “Life in the fast lane is just how it seems/
Hard and it is heavy dirty and mean,” I do find a connection with
the third verse:
Those people who tell you not to take chances They are all
missing on what life is about You only live once so take hold of
the chance Don’t end up like others the same song and dance
These lyrics are my personal favorite on this release.
Reviewing this release would not be complete without mentioning
the performance of bassist Cliff Burton. I always get a kick out of
the following quote that appeared in the February 2000 issue of
Metal Maniacs that summarizes the hero status that Cliff
Burton has assumed among Metallica fans. An editorial by Benji
Nelson, from Pittsburgh, PA, includes these hilarious words:
“I’ve noticed a lot of uneducated morons don’t know jack about
heavy music. Metallica are talented, but they have drastically lost
that raw metal edge they had with Cliff Burton. I never liked
Newsted, ’cause there will never be a legitimate replacement for
Cliff. I’ll bet Cliff is turning in his grave. This other band,
that calls itself Metallica, needs to change its name.”
What I find humourous about this quote is that Burton taught
Hetfield music theory and about how to arrange harmonies and
melodies – – if anything, Burton refined the “raw metal edge” and
made the band more musical. This is evident in his solo bass piece
“(Anestheseia) Pulling Teeth.” Long ago, I happened across a copy
of the sheet music for this 3:27. The multiple time signatures are
amazing. The best I can do now, though, is point out
a
tab version of the song. To top it all off, Ulrich enters with
a bombastic yet simple part that elevates the song. Even in 1983,
Ulrich knew a simple backbeat would be heavy.
Kill ‘Em All stands the test of time for me, its raw sound
having won me over after all these years.