The start of something big
When I first heard of Metallica I saw mixed feelings about them. Having no prior knowledge of the band I more or less bought into the "sell-outs" argument but ultimately dismissed it since I had no interest in the band at all. One day, I decided that after hearing about this supposedly amazing song called "Master of Puppets", I would check it out. One youtube channel and several clicks later I found myself listening to the epic eight-minute and thirty-eight second masterpiece; or, "epic" so I thought. I couldn't ignore the nagging doubt that I had been lured into listening to an overrated song due to public opinion. It wasn't until I listened to "Enter Sandman" that my interest really began to pick up. A few more songs - "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "Ride The Lightning" - later, I decided that enough was enough and it was time for me to invest in my first Metallica album(s). Unfortunately, "Kill 'Em All" wasn't my first (Lightning, Puppets, and self-titled album were), so it's only fair to say that I wasn't all impressed with their landmark debut album.

"Kill 'Em All" was released in 1983 under Elektra records and forever changed thrash metal. Cuts like "The Four Horsemen", "Hit The Lights", and "(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth" defined what could be done with a guitar

While Metallica may be given credit for inventing the whole genre, no artist is without its flaws and more often than not their debut album is often sketchy; weak; still coming into its own and trying to find its niche. While highlight songs like "Jump In The Fire", "(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth", and "Seek And Destroy" revelled in knocking the bar for metal songs up several notches higher, their amateurity as a band definitely shows here with most of the songs having no real purpose other than to provide some semblance of substance. James' vocals, while guttural and menacing, are often grating and sometimes I wanted to just skip the song I was on so that I wouldn't have to hear him; Kirk's soloing is great but listening to the same riff for 8 stanzas becomes tiring; it's difficult to hear Cliff's roaring bass above all the thrashing the rest of the band is putting out; the lyrics sound juvenile enough to have been written by a fifteen-year-old, although to be fair, these guys were only 19-20 when they first recorded this album. For the record, the band plays with a focused effort and really gives it their all; it just comes up short and the album feel incomplete because of these flaws.

That's not to say that "Kill 'Em All" is a bad album. Far from it. Cuts like "Seek And Destroy", "Jump In The Fire", "The Four Horsemen", and "(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth" should be welcome additions to any metal enthusiast's library. Lesser numbers like the opening track "Hit The Lights", "Whiplash", and "Motorbreath" are great songs to work out to. There's some filler to be found in "Phantom Lord", "Metal Militia", and "No Remorse" but they're played with such enthusiastic glee that you can get over the fact that they just seem to be there. Some of the most fantastic and mind-boggling shredding you'll ever hear can be found on this album, partly in thanks to Megadeth's Dave Mustains for penning "The Four Horsemen", "Jump In The Fire", "Phantom Lord", and "Metal Militia" and Kirk for having the chops to play them.

While Metallica may be responsible for giving birth to an entire genre and inspiring countless bands, their debut album becomes a victim to just about every pitfall a debut album faces. The sheer thrashiness and beer-drinking, basement-bashing attitude gave it the edge it needed to launch the entire thrash metal genre forward, but it ultimately winds up as another debut album; which is not to say that it isn't bad - in fact, it's one of the quintessential albums of Metallica's early career - it just had potential to be a lot better. Potential that was reserved for their more trademark albums later to come; albums that would thrust them into the forefront of the metal scene for years to come.

Overall, "Kill 'Em All" is definitely worth picking up if you're into Metallica or just getting started; just don't expect it to possess the compositional prowess of "Master of Puppets".

Hit The Lights, It's Thrash Metal Time!
People often incline Metallica's true sound as their 80's catalog, nailing the sweet spot particularly around the 3 albums proceeding this ("Ride The Lightning", "Master of Puppets", and "...And Justice For All").

Metallica's sound has always changed from album to album in my opinion, and their 1983 thashing debut "Kill Em' All" is a fine example of what thrash is all about. The songs aren't as brutal lyrically as their next set of albums, but "The Four Horsemen" tinkers with the apocalypse, and is the underlying work for Metallica's trademark long progressive songs. Beating in triplets gives a sound of hooves to the song and contains a melodic opening in the middle and a powerful classic E minor Metallica solo. "Hit the Lights" intro is a loading up fading in sound, welcoming you to the plateau. "Motorbreath" and the powerful "Whiplash" are the definition of thrash, spotting the highlights of being a almighty rebel hitting up gigs nightly. A nice gem is the bass solo Cliff included "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth". Fast, punkish, metallic, and over the top solos something to kick start a day of mayhem or to jam to.

The album wont let you down, from the opening beat to "Jump In The Fire", to the overhead sounding "Phantom Lord", Metallica have succeeded in making a great debut album. Forgotten a bit in comparison to their next few albums, but it's Metallica, nothing is truly forgotten by them (Unless you're a St. Anger hater...haha by all means you can forget that).

Probally the best debut album from any band
This is a very good album. of course 24 years later metallica SUCKS. but yeah they could make you poop your self 24 years ago. very good album

Another metal trifecta.
Metallica's debut.
Where do I begin? The album that ushered in a whole new era of metal.
I won't bore you with a song by song review.
In a word, essential.
This album is important in so many ways it would take up too much space to write about it.
Metallica at their rawest.
A must have for all metal heads.

This is the true essence of Metallica. No Kill 'em All, No Metallica.
1989. I was 12, and started with rock music, by listening to Def Leppard. Me and a friend used to listen to several tracks over and over. After a month or so, I returned to my friend's place and commented over one of DL's older albums. He replied: "I'm no longer with that stuff". "Listen to true heavy metal". He put a tape and it started to play and incredible fast heavy distortion riff. And when the vocals came out, I barely got some lyrics like "...it is going to... take your breath away." In fact, it took my breath away for ever. I was officially introduced to my all-time favorite band. The track was "Motorbreath" from the all-mighty "Kill 'em All". The rest is history.

No Metallica fan can be allowed to call himself a fan, if this albums is missing. Period.