Kill ‘Em All Songs Ranked

Kill ‘Em All is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983,^[1] through independent label Megaforce Records. Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los Angeles. They recorded several demos to gain attention from club owners and eventually relocated to San Francisco to secure the services of bassist Cliff Burton. The group’s No Life ’til Leather demo tape (1982) was noticed by Megaforce label head Jon Zazula, who signed them and provided a budget of $15,000 for recording. The album was recorded in May with producer Paul Curcio at the Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. It was originally intended to be titled Metal Up Your Ass, with cover art featuring a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl. The band was asked to change the name because distributors feared that releasing an album with such an offensive title and artwork would diminish its chances of commercial success. Here are all of Kill ‘Em All songs ranked.

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10. (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth

“Opens with the words “Bas solo. Take one”. Just looking at Wikipedia’s entry for this song now, it states that those words were spoken by the bass player, Cliff Burton. The instrument that you hear playing is, suprisingly, the bass guitar. That’s because it sounds more like a lead guitar. It does have a synthy tone to it. Might have included this track as a noteworthy one if it had maintained its early tone…a classical type melody to start with, which I liked. Burton makes some of the notes he plays frizz. The drum comes in towards the end of the track.”

9. Metal Militia

“Perhaps the most thrash song on this album…there seems to be two kinds of thrash tropes here…the first at 0:10+ and the second at 4:13+. The early emphatic strums are thrashy. Another intense, uptempo song. Bass noticeable at times. Lead guitar solo. Hetfield’s vocals are most like Joe Swanson here, teetering a lot. It is overdubbed at one point too, I think. Outro reminds me of the intro to “One” off of their later “…and justice for all” album.”

8. Phantom Lord

“Has some KISS style riffing early on and throughout the song. Some of the riffing also made me wonder whether they would return to this riff for their later album “…and justice for all”. Another example of Metallica’s future template…just before 3:03, the track is maybe a bit like their later song “Welcome home (sanitarium)”. There’s a familiar riff from 3:03…perhaps similar to something off of their self-titled album many years later.”

See more: Metallica Albums Ranked

7. Motorbreath

“Like the drum intro, it’s interesting. Riffing track…sounds like KISS at times. Lead guitar breaks sound clichéd at times. Outro maybe has some vocal like effects on the guitar.”

6. No Remorse

” Slower riffing at start but fast lead guitar notes (shredding?). Iron Maiden flavour to the song from 3:48 – 3:58, as far as the lead guitar goes. Some of the riffing gets more frenetic later on in the song. Hetfield’s voice again threatens to collapse, a la Joe Swanson when he’s upset. You can make out the bass on this song. This song actually has bits which I’d say are distinctly thrashy, as opposed to being merely uptempo hard rock”

5. Jump in the Fire

“The riff, which is one of the most recognizable in metallica’s output, is the quintessence of her thrash style, combined with Kirk’s playing, which likes to refer to the blues. The track is fast and dynamic, and Metallic shows its claws.”

4. Hit the Lights

“Intro sounds like a jammy outro to a live song. The riff early on reminds me of Bad Company’s riff for “Feel like makin’ love”. Grinding guitar sound and riffing, with lead guitar solos. Like the plasticky drum tone…there’s a heavier texture to it later. Perhaps the song’s rhythm is Motörhead like. Some riffing also struck me as being familiar…perhaps this was one of those tracks the Dave Mustaine had a hand in composing and made his own version in Megadeth, when he was sacked from Metallica.”

See more: Metallica Songs Ranked

3. Whiplash

“The powerful percussion at the beginning of the piece is masterfully combined with a monumental guitar riff. The rebellious lyrics and loud vocals emphasize the song’s significance. While listening to this song, you want to destroy everything around you. The moment the solo enters, the song reaches its apogee, and the dose of adrenaline served by the band is indescribable.

2. Seek & Destroy

“Simple to build, incredibly energetic track. He’s often covered by new metal bands and it’s no wonder. I guess everyone knows the riff that appears at the beginning. James screams out rebellious sentences. He yells that the show has already started and nothing will stop him. And the rest of the team echoes him, showing off their great game. At one point the song picks up even faster than at the beginning, here it becomes clear that what James meant is obvious. The team will not give up.”

1. The Four Horsemen

” This song provides the template for superior songs on later albums by Metallica…where various moods are created within the one song. Also found some of the riffing Dave Mustaine like…like his Megadeth stuff…”Kill the king”, for instance. Like the part of the song between 3:28 – 4:30, as far as the riff and nice lead guitar goes…maybe other riffs are like what they would do on later albums like “Ride the lightning” or “Master of puppets”. The bass guitar is nice for this section too. Hetfield sings with a sing song quality to his vocals.”