Released: 1983
Tracks: Hit the Lights; The Four Horsemen; Motorbreath; Jump in the Fire; (Anesthesia)–Pulling Teeth; (Blitzkrieg); Whiplash; Phantom Lord; No Remorse; Seek & Destroy; Metal Militia; (Am I Evil?)
Best track: Four Horsemen
Tracks to skip: Phantom Lord, although the part that Mustaine wrote is excellent. Skip No Remorse too.
I included Blitzkrieg and Am I Evil in the tracklist as they are on the original version of the album that I had, even if they’re not on the CD version of Kill ‘Em All. That’s too bad, as they’re the best songs on the thing!
Anyway, it’s totally amazing to me how friggin’ kick ass Metallica were. Yeah, they were kids when they made this, but it’s just so brutal! When Hit the Lights started a few minutes ago I went into a total headbanging frenzy! I am still recovering. These four guys came out of seemingly nowhere and just exploded all over the metal scene in 1983. The nerve that these kids had to play this well, this fast, and write songs this good! Ouch.
It’s pretty amazing to hear this and hear how they practically invented a style of music with this one album. Yeah, they weren’t the only ones doing it, but they were by far the best of the groups. It’s a lot to listen to this thing all the way if you’re not prepared for the, uh, onslaught. There are some songs that really stand above the rest and also some that really don’t have any business existing. But it really doesn’t matter, this album is all about power and taken as a whole it’s a huge thing. If you know anything about Metallica you’ll most likely know that the Metallica of 2002 sounds NOTHING like the Metallica of 1983. Should they? No, they shouldn’t, but they shouldn’t sound like they do now.
It’s nice to listen to this and be transported back to a time when money wasn’t the driving factor for Metallica. So many good songs on here, it is hard to pick. I wish my CD had Blitzkrieg and Am I Evil on here. They are to be found on the band’s Garage Inc. CD, or maybe you can get lucky and find a really old copy of this that has them on there. Regardless, it’s still a pretty good album, and they get loads (ha ha) better with the next few.
Rating: 85
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