Hello! 😊👋
Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s music pick marks the 40th anniversary of Metallica’s full-length debut, a record that changed metal forever.
Genre: Metal, Thrash Metal
Label: Elektra
Release Date: July 25, 1983
Vibe: 😤
Here’s an opening line for you: Metallica is the Star Wars of the metal and classic rock spheres.
Before the group became a brand unto itself and, as a result, a lightning rod for criticism, they unequivocally changed the world they operated in. In the same way that George Lucas and ILM set the standard for the next 50+ years of sci-fi adventure flicks, Kill ‘Em All became the explosive template for mid-to-late-80s and 90s metal that, while often imitated, was rarely equaled in terms of precision and might, even by Metallica themselves. Forty years later, it’s a sound that’s lost none of its destructive, head-spinning power.
Like all universe-altering events, it starts with a bang. “Hit the Lights,” with its double-time drums and its intense, intertwining guitar riffs, is one of the most important rock album openers of all time and represents Metallica at their most pure and fun—throwing caution to the wind and caring about nothing except rocking out and, as James Hetfield sneers, “[kicking] some ass tonight.” It’s also arguably the band’s most reused material of all time, with its sonic bones showing up again and again on “Fight Fire with Fire,” “Battery,” “Blackened,” and many more. In that same vein, songs like “The Four Horsemen” and “Seek and Destroy” added shades of grinning menace that’d become forever associated with their sound. The chugging rhythms and blaring guitar solos are unrelenting without feeling overblown or unengaging, adjectives often attached to records released after Metallica (The Black Album).
Even if metal isn’t typically your thing, Kill ‘Em All is still worth your time—if nothing else, as a fascinating look into how the heavy metal sausage is made.
👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈
Got thoughts on this album? Did you love it? Sound off in the comments.