It all starts here. This album. The one that put thrash metal on the map, and perhaps was the jet fuel the entire heavy metal genre needed to survive for the ages. As I noted on Accept's Restless and Wild, they lit the match. Metallica took that fire to the torch and scorched the earth with it.
For me personally I was looking for a sound. I didn't know what it was, but I needed a place to burn some pent up energy, both mind and body. By 1983, I was a huge fan of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon, the aforementioned Accept album and a few others. Iron Maiden was the closest to what I was seeking, but they weren't ever really that heavy to be honest. But they had the right idea compositionally with 'Phantom of the Opera', 'Hallowed Be Thy Name', 'To Tame a Land', and many others. According to RYM, Kill 'em All was released on July 25, 1983. That ties to my memory as well. It wasn't until August that I purchased my copy (which I still own) after reading about it in Kerrang. The timing is important because it was only a couple of weeks before I entered college. One of those identity defining moments at a key time in life.
I remember hearing the album for the first time and my reaction to it. 'Hit the Lights' was a perfect opener. A lot of albums back then had a perfect opener. But would it sustain? Then came 'Four Horseman'. And there it was - that was the sound I was looking for! The riffs, the production, the meter changes, everything about it was so perfect. ...And it never let up from there. The album was relentless in its pursuit of heaviness with a bit of brainpower. Some of their best tracks can be found here (including the two openers), especially 'No Remorse', 'Whiplash', 'Jump in the Fire', and 'Seek & Destroy'.
They were to improve dramatically on their next two albums in the areas of songwriting, technique (including vocals), lyrics, and production heaviness. And yet Kill 'em All was already miles ahead of any perceived competition.
As I stated - it was an album that shaped an identity. As noted here a few times, I attended Texas Tech. That school is in Lubbock, in the middle of hardcore West Texas. Country music ruled supreme and many young cowboys from the area went to school there. I had nothing in common with any of them. I was a city kid from Dallas. There were a few of us like that. It would be three months before I even met someone who knew who Metallica was. Instant friendships were bonded in that way. Long haired, torn denim, tennis shoes wearing metal heads in the world of clean cut cowboys complete with hat and boots. The only downside was that all the pretty girls (and there were many of them!) liked the cowboys. Sigh.
A true story: One early afternoon after class, I needed to burn off some energy (common theme apparently), and was jamming to 'Whiplash'. Two of my dorm mates were walking down the hall. Imagine 6' 4" tall cowboys, tight jeans, boots, and black hats - walking in lockstep. They saunter past my door. They stop and look backwards into my room and ask in a western twang:
"What the hell is that sh*t?".
"It's Metallica, dude"
"What?"
"Metallica".
"Well that sh*t SUCKS. Keep it down!"
Ownership: LP: 1983 Megaforce. Single sleeve with lyric inner bag. Acquired at a mall record store as noted above (1983). Funny to think about that too. At a mall store... Probably right next to Men at Work's Cargo.
CD: Vertigo/Polygram (Argentina). Commodity jewel case. I keep this version since it has two hidden bonus tracks taken from the 'Creeping Death' EP: 'Am I Evil?' and 'Blitzkrieg', both killer cuts.
CD: 2010 Vertigo (Japan). Papersleeve edition. I have the first four albums in this format, though it's superfluous to own.
8//83 (first listen); 1//04; 8/8/15; 8/8/24 (review/new entry)
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