Metallica - Kill 'Em All

[troopsofdoom]

I agree AJFA was not a sign. I beleive it was when bob rock joined them. In fact a freind of mine told me this before the black album came out. He said dude there fucked bob rock is produceing their next album hes Bon Jovi's friggen producer. I told him he was full of shit but to this day they still suck.

 

[troopsofdoom]

I dont know if he was Bon Jovis producer or not but he was right.

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

to be honest I don't see how one could say AJFA was the sign of things to come

we're talking about an album here with poor production, with 6-10+ minute songs revolving around themes of social injustice, mental illness, child abuse, the media, politics, etc...

I think AJFA is the least mainstream and least accessible album out of their 1st 4

I wasn't speaking of lyrical content... for the most part people or the public in general do not pay attention to a band's lyrics unless it is controversial... and the lyrics on that album were tame... To me the production wasn't poor at all... by then they had the money for recording in top studios with top equipment... poor production is Black Metal albums not a Metallica album circa 1988... When I meant things to come I meant the music was more commercial sounding and appealing to radio... when you hear One on the radio being played in mainstream stations that aren't even metal or rock for that matter.. trust me it shows things to come... the songs on that album started to be less heavier, less fast and more commercially accessible unlike the first 3 albums... by then Lars and James were taking full control and letting others less input... and when the next album Bob Cock came along (i was so into music then that i knew about producers and such).. i knew it was over... Bob Cock produced alot of commercial hard rock bands... below is from Wikipedia:

Bob Rock is best known for helping give bands such as Metallica and Mötley Crüe a more mainstream sound. He has also worked with Bon Jovi, Cher, The Cult, David Lee Roth, Skid Row, Veruca Salt, Nina Gordon, Our Lady Peace, The Tragically Hip, lostprophets, American Hi-Fi and Simple Plan.

 

[Bryant]

I think "Kill-em All" is a raw, in-your-face metal release with some punk overtures. It is an enjoyable release and is great for what it is, but that release is not what comes to mind when I think of "Metallica." RTL - AJFA are progressive/technical thrash releases and they set the standard (especially MOP) for the world about what the technical and heavy side of metal was supposed to sound like.

Bryant

 

[carnut]

For me personally, everything after "Kill 'm All" is despensable. I never got into the "Master of Puttets" style Metallica, I like more that early raw sound Bryant talks about,for me they never could capture that moment of magic again...

 

[Klein]

I wasn't speaking of lyrical content... for the most part people or the public in general do not pay attention to a band's lyrics unless it is controversial... and the lyrics on that album were tame... To me the production wasn't poor at all... by then they had the money for recording in top studios with top equipment... poor production is Black Metal albums not a Metallica album circa 1988... When I meant things to come I meant the music was more commercial sounding and appealing to radio... when you hear One on the radio being played in mainstream stations that aren't even metal or rock for that matter.. trust me it shows things to come... the songs on that album started to be less heavier, less fast and more commercially accessible unlike the first 3 albums... by then Lars and James were taking full control and letting others less input... and when the next album Bob Cock came along (i was so into music then that i knew about producers and such).. i knew it was over... Bob Cock produced alot of commercial hard rock bands... below is from Wikipedia:

Sorry, but I cant agree with you, the Album is in no way easy accessable, its the album all the St. Anger & Black Album fans dont like because its not as listenable as MOP or the Black Album, its full of tempochanges and progressive-thrash influences, the album really is in a bad light; the new/'nu' fans can't stand its heavyness, and the oldschool fans kinda lost hope because of Cliffs dead. And they made a video for the most 'accessable' song on the album. AJFA IS not as fast MOP, but repeating themself would have been the worst they could have done.

AJFA was 'healthy evolution', not sellout or anything into this direction.
I know this album came out the year I was born, so I can't see it the way you do, but I tihnk being that young gives me the chance to see it in a more objective view.

I say...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL THEIR ALBUMS, every album gets what it deserves, and AJFA deserves more. I kinda feel sorry for this album, its the problem child between old Metallica fans and new Metallica 'fans', its the album everyone hates...-.-

(all of the above stuff is IMO)

 

[JonnyD]

I personally think "RTL" is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overrated. Kill em all is awsome and so is Justice, but IMO none of the touch Master of Puppets, it is the album that not only got me into Metallica but Truely Heavy Metal also, before that it was GnR and Motley Crue, MoP opened a whole new world of aggresive music for me that I am still exploring to this day

 

[Death Animal]

I personally think "RTL" is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overrated.

I think that too. It is a good thrash album. But It gets boring sometimes.
kill em all and master of puppets are my favorite metallica albums.
And somehow I never realy got ito justice for all eather.

 

[Satanstoenail]

I like Kill 'Em All. It's got some good songs on it, and I realise it's it's importance in the history of thrash metal. It hasn't aged well though. To me, Master of Puppets is timeless. Kill Em All sounds like a band in its infancy. Especially due to lyrics like

Bang your head against the stage
Like you never did before
Make it ring Make it bleed
Make it really sore

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

Sorry, but I cant agree with you, the Album is in no way easy accessable, its the album all the St. Anger & Black Album fans dont like because its not as listenable as MOP or the Black Album, its full of tempochanges and progressive-thrash influences, the album really is in a bad light; the new/'nu' fans can't stand its heavyness, and the oldschool fans kinda lost hope because of Cliffs dead. And they made a video for the most 'accessable' song on the album. AJFA IS not as fast MOP, but repeating themself would have been the worst they could have done.

AJFA was 'healthy evolution', not sellout or anything into this direction.
I know this album came out the year I was born, so I can't see it the way you do, but I tihnk being that young gives me the chance to see it in a more objective view.

I say...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL THEIR ALBUMS, every album gets what it deserves, and AJFA deserves more. I kinda feel sorry for this album, its the problem child between old Metallica fans and new Metallica 'fans', its the album everyone hates...-.-

(all of the above stuff is IMO)

Believe me when I say this because you were just born in 1988 and don't know but AJFA was when they started selling out and going in a more commercial direction. I was in High School that year and when you see Football jocks, class presidents, cheerleaders getting into them and that album when normally they would not give metal of any kind a listen much less a Thrash band then you know that album was way too accessible. It was by no means Heavy imo compared to the older albums. Listen to Damage Inc on MOP or any song on RTL with the exception of Fade to Black (hell imo this was heavier then One) and AJFA is not heavy at all by any means of the word. They should of repeated themselves with perhaps a song or two in the new direction to see how it went. This is why Motorhead is so well respected because even though they may sound the same on each album they do it for the fans and not for the money per say. By this point in 1988 Metallica was looking ahead at the $$ aspect of it especially Lars who only seems to care about is the $$.

You being young and not growing up in that era does not really give it a more objective view then someone like me and others who did grow up in that era. You didn't experience Metallica from the beginning. You can only base your opinions on the music you grew up with and only imagine what happened back then. It would be like me trying to tell a hippie about their favorite bands in the 60's and how they changed after the 60's when I wasn't there to experience it. Difficult to explain I guess.

MOP was obviously more heavier then AJFA and therefore not as accessible to the general public which explains why at the time of 1986 MOP only made Gold Status and not Platinum while AJFA was their first million unit selling album because of it's accessibility. When you start hearing Metallica on pop 40 stations in 1988 believe me I knew where they were heading and the Black album proved it. And yes I dislike the album though it has it's moments here and there. It was obvious that Cliff was the one who perhaps kept them in the more heaviness thrash mode and who knows if he saw where they were heading up till today he probably would of left the band eventually. Other then that I still can't believe there are any St. Anger fans...

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

I like Kill 'Em All. It's got some good songs on it, and I realise it's it's importance in the history of thrash metal. It hasn't aged well though. To me, Master of Puppets is timeless. Kill Em All sounds like a band in its infancy. Especially due to lyrics like

It was metal in it's purest raw form. This came out in 1983 when their influences were Venom, Motorhead, Angelwitch etc. and not Bob Seger and country bands etc. this is when Metal was Metal to begin with and lyrics were about violence , death , beer and such and not social and political views and such... when you can listen to metal and have fun and not have to think about it... Seek and Destroy!!!

 

[Wyvern]

It was metal in it's purest raw form. This came out in 1983 when their influences were Venom, Motorhead, Angelwitch etc.

Right and that's why I mention how much I like it in a previous post.

WHIPLASH!

NP: Zoetrope - 'Thunderdome'

 

[Bryant]

Sorry, but I cant agree with you, the Album is in no way easy accessable, its the album all the St. Anger & Black Album fans dont like because its not as listenable as MOP or the Black Album, its full of tempochanges and progressive-thrash influences, the album really is in a bad light; the new/'nu' fans can't stand its heavyness, and the oldschool fans kinda lost hope because of Cliffs dead. And they made a video for the most 'accessable' song on the album. AJFA IS not as fast MOP, but repeating themself would have been the worst they could have done.

(all of the above stuff is IMO)

I agree with you 100%. Some of the MTV casual viewers/casual music listeners eventually were introduced to enough metal to where they "got" some of the Metallica stuff. By the time AJFA was released, Metallica was the biggest underground band that had ever lived aside from The Grateful Dead. They didn't "sell out" with AJFA, it was simply that there was so much hype about Metallica that casual music fans sold into them.
Metallica, Queensryche and to a lesser extent, Metal Church are the bands that really moved me into the Progressive metal direction. Metallica's AJFA was a big influence on me looking into prog stuff. I think it is a fine release and I see no "sell-out" less the fact they finally made their first video from that release.


Bryant

 

[Thoth-Amon]

I like Kill 'Em All. It's got some good songs on it, and I realise it's it's importance in the history of thrash metal. It hasn't aged well though. To me, Master of Puppets is timeless. Kill Em All sounds like a band in its infancy. Especially due to lyrics like

You hit the nail on the head. Perfect.

 

[LOS MAGANDOS]

I like Kill 'Em All. It's got some good songs on it, and I realise it's it's importance in the history of thrash metal. It hasn't aged well though. To me, Master of Puppets is timeless. Kill Em All sounds like a band in its infancy. Especially due to lyrics like

thats why it is great.. and the best stuff they ever did... followed by Ride the Lightning ... MOP to me was the overrated album..

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

thats why it is great.. and the best stuff they ever did... followed by Ride the Lightning ... MOP to me was the overrated album..

Exactly... though MOP will always be great in my book... but I like ROTL over KTA first...

 

[baldyboy]

each of thier first 4 albums showed different sides of what they were,from the rawness of kill em all,progressing into ride the lightning,the sheer fantastic songwriting in master of puppets,then to the musical and lyrical technical mastery of and justice for all,they destroyed everyone else in their genre,and in others,for a decade.

then they got bob rock in and made the black album

and i cried.

 

[Wyvern]

each of thier first 4 albums showed different sides of what they were,from the rawness of kill em all,progressing into ride the lightning,the sheer fantastic songwriting in master of puppets,then to the musical and lyrical technical mastery of and justice for all,they destroyed everyone else in their genre,and in others,for a decade.

then they got bob rock in and made the black album

and i cried.

Talk about a concise summary of the thread

 

[Hawk]

each of thier first 4 albums showed different sides of what they were,from the rawness of kill em all,progressing into ride the lightning,the sheer fantastic songwriting in master of puppets,then to the musical and lyrical technical mastery of and justice for all,they destroyed everyone else in their genre,and in others,for a decade.

then they got bob rock in and made the black album

and i cried.

Talk about a concise summary of the thread

Indeed a damn good comment! Not just a concise summery of the tread but of Metallica's history as well.

 

[Supertwister]

Kill 'Em All is a great album, although still my least fave of the first four Metallica albums. Compared to the rest of them it does have a couple of weak tracks, like "Motorbreath" and (dare I say it) "Whiplash", but it has a lot of energy going around and underdeveloped, but still strong songwriting. I just prefer the refined edge the next three have over it. If I'd put them in order it'd go Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All, Kill 'Em All with the Black Album trailing along a fair bit behind. I'm not too interested in much of anything Metallica put out after that