The tale of this story has been told over an over so much at this point, they have been ingrained in the metal lore for all time. Back when Lars Ulrich put an ad in the Recycler newspaper to form a band for a compilation he talked his way on to. A lanky young guitarist named James Hetfield answered Ulrich’s ad, not knowing the ripples the two of them would make for the next four generations of musicians and fans. Just a few short years after naming their band Metallica, the band released their debut album on Megaforce Records, Kill Em All. Without re-tracing every step and beat you already know about if you are a fan, let’s step back and admire the debut album from Metallica from a high level, on the thirty-fifth anniversary of its release.

The growth of the band from demo to first full album was admirable and certainly this was no overnight revelation. However, the band that was a sensation in the tape-trading scene certainly went through a min-evolution in those first few years leading up to the album. The addition and later subtraction of Dave Mustaine can’t be overlooked or underrated. He wrote half of the material on KEA, and some of the best songs, lyrics and solos were his alone. Cliff Burton added his bass magic all over the place, not just with the music following the infamous line “Bass solo, take one.” Then of course you have have James and Lars. Lars by all reports could barely play when they met, but by the time of KEA, he was solid if not occasional spectacular on his kit. Channeling his Mikkey Dee influences for full effect for speed and fills. His power and technicality would improve vastly over the next three releases, when he became a legend. Hetfield came out of the box with the makings of a great guitarist, and although he was “yelling in key” on his recorded maiden voyage, he would go on to become the most copied and emulated frontman in metal history in due time. Of course the late addition to Kirk Hammett replacing Mustaine always overshadowed his performance slightly. His reputation for shredding preceded him with Exodus, and Kirk did a great job bringing a little of his own flavor to a lot of Mustaine’s well-known lead work as well as his own. However, Kirk wouldn’t get a writing credit until the next album.

Over time the garage days of the pre-Kill Em All days and the work that went into making the album with John and Marsha Zazula for Megaforce have grown into the stuff of legend. Production and was handled by Paul Curcio at Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. Mastering would be handled by two of the all0-time greats in Bob Ludwig and Alex Perialas, who went on to produce countless thrash bands such as Overkill, Anthrax, and Testament at his own studio later. For the most part, the songs have held up and are essential early thrash metal listening. The tracks have a timeless, youthful energy that still sounds great and most could never sound dated. Lyrically the band was all about the metalhead lifestyle and definitely left a blueprint on fans for living hard and partying harder. They stayed away for the most part from the fantasy and deviltry of their peers with only a few songs given to imagination. Mostly it was just more embellishment on the Motorhead blueprint. It’s a far better debut then almost all of their peers because it was a) the first of its kind, b) it had the quality songs. It was a real revelation when it came out. Songs like ‘Whiplash’, ‘Motorbreath’, ‘The Four Horseman’, ‘Metal Militia’, ‘Jump In The Fire’, ‘Seek And Destroy’, and ‘No Remorse’ set the template for thrash metal and pushed the band away from their NWOBHM counterparts in terms of speed and ferocity. All of these songs still dot setlists by Metallica today and no show is complete without a rendition of ‘Seek And Destroy’. Over the years as the band has improved and changed, these songs are some of the most loved, best-known songs in the bands’ entire catalog.

For an album that is a legitimate quadruple platinum and many times gold record for sales the world over, the album still has a lot of bite compared to other albums of that era. The re-issue with remastering by George Marino and overseen personally by Ulrich and Hetfield sparkles and was the most improved by the process of their early albums. The band even performed the entire album at their Orion Music And More Festival in 2013. This is an essential building block in the metal library for any fan and easily one of the top albums of all time in the genre.

WORDS BY KEEFY