Maps of Music

Kill 'Em All (1983)

Where the lyrics of Kill 'Em All take you, and where it was really made.

The album was first meant to be titled Metal Up Your Ass, and its planned cover showed a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl.

Key places

Recorded at Music America Studios in Rochester (1983)

Recording site Music America Studios — The album was recorded in May 1983 with producer Paul Curcio at Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. The band recorded the album in about two weeks, and Curcio set up the equipment as if for an ordinary rock band. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Kill 'Em All: debut album by the American heavy metal band Metallica
• Released July 25, 1983 through the independent label Megaforce Records
• Initial pressing of 15,000 copies
• Regarded as a groundbreaking album for thrash metal
• Certified 4× platinum by the RIAA in 2025 for four million copies shipped in the United States
• Remastered and reissued as an expanded box set in 2016

Background

• Metallica formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield
• Early shows were played at local clubs in Los Angeles, and demos were recorded to attract club owners
• The band relocated to the San Francisco area to secure bassist Cliff Burton and moved to El Cerrito in February 1983
• Megaforce head Jon Zazula noticed the No Life 'til Leather demo (1982) and signed the band with a $15,000 recording budget
• Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who co-wrote several of the songs, was fired shortly before recording began
• Hetfield and Ulrich fired Mustaine on April 11, 1983 after a gig in New York because of drug and alcohol problems, aggressive behavior, and clashes with bandmates
• Kirk Hammett replaced Mustaine and learned the songs on a flight to New York

Recording

• Recorded in May 1983 with producer Paul Curcio at Music America Studios in Rochester, New York
• The band recorded the album in about two weeks
• Band members could not afford hotels and stayed in people's houses in Rochester, and at the Music Factory in Jamaica, Queens
• Metallica resented Curcio's involvement, feeling he seemed uninterested and had little impact on the sound
• Zazula was unhappy with the first mix because the drums were too loud and the guitars too low, so Chris Bubacz remixed it
• The band was absent from mixing and communicated only through Zazula; afterward it required at least one member present for future albums

Cover

• The original plan was the title Metal Up Your Ass with a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl
• Zazula convinced the band to change the title and artwork because distributors might not stock it
• The final cover shows the shadow of a hand letting go of a bloodied hammer
• Cliff Burton is credited with the name Kill 'Em All and suggested the bloodied hammer for the art

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, later based in San Francisco for most of its career.
• Founded as one of the "big four" of thrash metal alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer.

Members

• Current lineup: Hetfield, Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo.
• Former members include Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton, Jason Newsted and Dave Mustaine.

Career

• Commercial breakthrough with Master of Puppets (1986), often cited as one of the best metal albums of all time.
• The self-titled 1991 album moved the band toward a more mainstream audience and became its best-selling record.
• Returned to thrash roots with Death Magnetic (2008) and released 72 Seasons in 2023.
• Led the lawsuit against Napster in 2000.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.
• Sold more than 163 million albums worldwide as of 2023.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The album received widespread critical acclaim at release
• Bernard Doe of Metal Forces described it as one of the fastest and heaviest albums ever recorded and said it is not for the faint-hearted
• Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune called it the "speed metal prototype" but felt its lyrical replication of Judas Priest and the Misfits kept it from becoming a classic
• Chuck Eddy of Spin noted that the album did not get much critical praise at release

Reappraisal

• Billboard praised the album in a retrospective review for changing the face of popular music with its mix of punk and metal
• AllMusic's Steve Huey called it "the true birth of thrash" and praised Hetfield's technical rhythm guitar style
• Rob Kemp in The Rolling Stone Album Guide credited the album for consolidating the punk rock and heavy metal scenes
• Kemp felt that apart from "Seek & Destroy" and "(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth", most of the album had the band trying to look tough
• Chuck Eddy considered it the inception of the early 1980s extreme metal mania and said it aged well
• Martin Popoff said fans could identify with Hetfield's lyrics and the band's appearance, which set it apart from Bay Area debuts

Records

• Sold 17,000 copies in the US by the end of 1983
• Sold 60,000 copies worldwide by the end of the 1984 Seven Dates of Hell tour
• Entered the Billboard 200 in 1986 and peaked at number 155
• The 1988 Elektra reissue peaked at number 120 on the Billboard 200
• Certified 4× platinum by the RIAA in 2025 for four million copies shipped in the US

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Cliff Burton is credited with coming up with the name Kill 'Em All as a response to the distributors who objected to the original title.
• The bass solo "(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth" was recorded in one take after about twenty minutes of preparation, with Burton insisting on recording alone in an empty room.
• The band later released a "Metal Up Your Ass" T-shirt that used the proposed artwork, even though the original title was never used.
• Every issue carries the phrase "Bang That Head That Doesn't Bang", dedicated to San Francisco fan Rich Burch, who was known for headbanging at early shows.
• Hammett learned the songs on his flight to New York and started recording the album barely a month after joining the band.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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