Sunday, March 29, 2009

Dusting Off a Cassette Pt. 4: Metallica: Kill Em All


Metallica was the first band I really got into. This was before CDs had become the most common form of buying music so I have the first five albums by Metallica on cassette.

Kill Em All was Metallica's debut album and one of the first thrash metal albums of all time. This album is a classic. There are some great thrash anthems here including "Hit the Lights", "Seek and Destroy", "The Four Horsemen", "Jump in the Fire", and "Metal Militia". The sound is raw and powerful featuring some great riffs. The riff in "The Four Horsemen" is one of the all time greatest thrash riffs. Many of these songs, in particular the guitar riffs, were written by Dave Mustaine who had been kicked out of the band prior to the recording of this album. Mustaine has always been one of the better riff men in metal and that shows in this album.

There is nothing to dislike in this album. It is pure, classic Bay Area thrash. The songs are enrgetic and powerful, the individual performances are terrific, and the album has influenced a huge number of later bands. This is thrash at its best. This album would be surpassed by Metallica's sophomore album Ride the Lightning.

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