Kill ’em All - 1983
This album—with its striking cover art (a hand dropping a hammer into a pool of blood)—is the embodiment of a youthful, energetic, yet somewhat "naïve" and "rebellious" Metallica. At this stage, Metallica lived a quintessential hippie lifestyle: eating, drinking beer, and sleeping by day, then grabbing their instruments and wandering around various clubs in Los Angeles and San Francisco by night, playing wherever they could and raising hell. Every few weeks, they’d load all their gear onto a bus and tour from the West Coast to the East Coast.
Metallica’s debut album stunned the metal world with blisteringly fast riffs, meaningful lyrics, and a raw energy few bands at the time could match, despite their songwriting style being similar to Diamond Head and heavily influenced by Motörhead. (In a VCD interview from this era, Metallica shared their inspirations: James admired no one, Lars favored Diamond Head, Dave Mustaine liked Motörhead, and Cliff chose Black Sabbath and ZZ Top.)
“Kill ’em All” is packed with fresh material, and while the lyrics often exude themes of violence, destruction, and killing, the album overall carries a somewhat “playful” atmosphere. The music doesn’t yet solidify Metallica’s thrash metal identity but leans towards speed metal, akin to the early works of Anthrax. The two guitars deliver vibrant and aggressive performances atop Cliff Burton’s thick, grounding basslines. However, Jaymz’s vocals at this time weren’t quite at their peak. (Interestingly, early on, Metallica considered inviting John Bush of Armored Saint to be their vocalist.)
With this album, crafted over nearly a year, Metallica debuted with a striking style. Although their lineup was not yet fully stable, the album features many classic tracks that remain legendary to this day, such as “The Four Horsemen.” This track was later reworked by Dave Mustaine (who was fired for his drinking problem) into “Mechanix,” used by his new band, Megadeth.
Right from the opening track, “Hit the Lights,” the band unleashes a seismic shockwave, delivering an overwhelming barrage of sound with every instrument played at a thunderous volume. Overall, this album is remarkably consistent, packed with quintessential Metallica tracks like “Seek And Destroy,” “No Remorse,” and “Jump in the Fire.”
“The Four Horsemen,” co-written by Dave Mustaine, vividly captures the battlefield chaos of medieval cavalry warfare and ties it to modern-day societal obsessions with violence. Lines like “By the last breath of the fourth winds blow, Better raise your ears, The sound of hooves knock at your door, Lock up your wife and children now, It’s time to wield the blade, For now you have got some company…” showcase the song’s haunting intensity.
“Motorbreath” is a high-octane anthem celebrating those who live life in the fast lane on roaring motorcycles, with adrenaline-pumping lyrics like “Motorbreath, It’s how I live my life, I can’t take it any other way, Motorbreath, The sign of living fast, It is going to take, Your breath away…”
A standout gem on the album is the bass solo “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth),” crafted by the magical hands of Cliff Burton. The eerie, hair-raising performance is a testament to Burton’s brilliance. Anyone who has seen his live rendition in “Cliff ‘Em All” would be even more awestruck, watching the fiery-haired bassist torment his instrument to astonishing levels. Truly, no bassist has ever surpassed Cliff Burton’s masterpiece, “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth).”
“Seek and Destroy” stands as the thematic centerpiece of the album, while Kill ’Em All marks the beginning of Metallica’s exploration of anti-war themes—a motif that later defined classics like “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” “One,” and “Disposable Heroes.” Yet, on Kill ’Em All, the crown jewel remains “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth),” Burton’s mesmerizing, soaring bass solo.
Bang your head against the stage
Like you never did before
Make it ring, Make it bleed
Make it really sore
Ride The Lightning - 1984
Released just a year after Kill ’Em All, this album marks Metallica’s transition into the realm of professional metal musicianship. Professionalism is evident in the recording, production, mixing, and songwriting. Even the album cover design shows a significant artistic improvement compared to KEA.
“Fight Fire with Fire,” the opening track, starts with a polished acoustic guitar melody but quickly erupts into a furious crescendo like a can of gasoline igniting the listener's ears. The sheer intensity of this track pulls the audience into a whirlwind of unrelenting fury, making it a shocking introduction.
The band’s songwriting skills clearly advanced, producing standout tracks like “Fade to Black,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “Creeping Death,” which later became staples in Metallica’s live performances. Memorable moments include the electrifying performance of “Fade to Black” at the Tushino Airfield in Russia in 1991, the haunting rendition of “Bellz” at Seattle Coliseum in 1989, and the iconic “Creeping Death” at Woodstock ’99.
“Fade to Black” evokes a bittersweet image: the band, drenched in sweat after a performance, returning backstage only to find their equipment stolen. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” paints the harrowing final moments of a soldier, staring at the sky one last time as the roar of artillery drowns out the world (“Take a look to the sky just before you die, It is the last time he will, Blackened roar, massive roar fills the crumbling sky…”). Inspired by the plagues of ancient Egypt and the biblical Exodus, “Creeping Death” conjures a vision of a dark sorcerer stalking the Egyptian desert by night to claim the life of a newborn Pharaoh (“Die! By my hand! I creep across the land! Killing first-born man!”).
“Ride the Lightning” captures the dread of a death row inmate, haunted by the looming specter of the electric chair (“Flash before my eyes, Now it’s time to die, Burning in my brain, I can’t feel the flame…”).
The album concludes with a breathtaking instrumental, “The Call of Ktulu,” inspired by the works of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Both Kirk Hammett and Cliff Burton were fans of Lovecraft’s stories and successfully persuaded the band to create this masterpiece. The track resonates like an eerie call from the depths of some mysterious abyss or perhaps the hellish undersea world described in Midian by Cradle of Filth. It is not only Metallica’s finest instrumental but also one of the greatest in rock history.
The most iconic tracks are arguably “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “Fade to Black,” essential listening for any rock fan. The former is named after Ernest Hemingway’s novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, set during World War I, and continues Metallica’s exploration of anti-war themes. It critiques the senselessness of war and the thirst for power that drives it.
However, it was “Fade to Black” that truly shocked the metal world. Could a rising metal band create a ballad so profound? Although the song was criticized for allegedly promoting suicide, fans believed it helped them through their darkest times. Songs like this are double-edged swords; misunderstood, they can have a negative impact, but when appreciated correctly, they resonate deeply. Written after the band’s amplifiers were stolen (as mentioned earlier), Fade to Black remains an explosive milestone that redefined metal at the time.
No one but me can save myself for it’s too late
Now I can’t think, think why I should even try
Yesterday seems as though it never existed
Death greets me warm, now I will just say goodbye.
Master of Puppets - 1986
Metallica's third album is considered by many to be a classic, a breakthrough that defined their career, and their best work—a pinnacle of thrash metal. With Master of Puppets, Metallica truly stood out as a phenomenon in the metal world, though they still struggled to gain attention from major record labels due to the length of their songs (ironically, one of the aspects most revered by Metallica fans).
The relentless, furious, and intense melodies of Metallica, crafted by the sound wizard Flemming Rasmussen, became iconic templates for the thrash metal genre. The album opens with an acoustic guitar section in Battery, similar to their previous album, but the execution here surpasses Ride the Lightning. Battery is a perfect opening for an album like Master of Puppets, with rhythmic and poetic lyrics:
Smashing through the boundaries,
Lunacy has found me,
Cannot stop the Battery,
Pounding out aggression,
Turns into obsession,
Cannot kill the Battery,
Cannot kill the family,
Battery is found in me, Battery!!!
This is accompanied by ferocious guitar riffs and Lars Ulrich's energetic drumming. Following this is the legendary Master of Puppets, which pushes the listener's senses to the limit. The song delivers an all-out assault on the ears, reaching almost impossible speeds at times. It offers fans a false sense of respite in the middle of the track, only to explode again with fury, describing the devastating grip of drugs—cannabis truly becomes the master of its addicted puppets. The song blends the eerie, mocking tone of Black Sabbath's War Pigs with the transcendent beauty of Queen's Innuendo, all underpinned by Metallica's signature relentless and aggressive style. Kirk Hammett's masterful guitar solos, full of twists and turns, take the listener on an emotional journey through the track's 8.5-minute runtime.
This album also features The Thing That Should Not Be, inspired by the horror works of H.P. Lovecraft. The track is imbued with a chilling, spiritual essence and unsettling imagery:
Crawling chaos, underground;
Cult has summoned, twisted sound;
Out from ruins once possessed;
Fallen city, living death.
Kirk Hammett's haunting solo evokes the sinister laughter of demons.
Welcome Home (Sanitarium) depicts a revolt of patients in a mental asylum, inspired by the acclaimed novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by American writer Ken Kesey, which was later adapted into a film starring Jack Nicholson.
Disposable Heroes, a potent anti-war anthem, portrays the inevitable fate of "disposable heroes" in warfare. When Metallica performed this track live for the first time in December 1985 at the Metal Hammer Festival in Hannover, West Germany, they caused a frenzy.
Leper Messiah sarcastically critiques blind devotion to religion, which turns believers into victims of deceit without their realization.
Orion is a remarkably refined and mysterious instrumental, featuring soaring, flowing guitar passages interwoven with powerful crescendos. It evokes the dazzling and enigmatic imagery of the Orion constellation, the brightest cluster in the night sky, located six light-years from Earth. In mythology, Orion represents the god Osiris, the founder of ancient Egypt. In this instrumental, Cliff Burton once again showcases his exceptional bass skills with innovative techniques.
The album closes with Damage Inc., leaving listeners in a suffocating and terrifying atmosphere. This title was also chosen for Metallica's European tour in 1986, which seemed to foreshadow tragedy: James Hetfield broke his arm after falling from the stage, and during a tour in Sweden, the band's tour bus overturned. This tragic accident claimed the life of Cliff Burton, one of the greatest bass players in rock history. The 24-year-old prodigy passed away on the road from Copenhagen to Stockholm, leaving fans with immeasurable grief.
However, Metallica stood firm in the face of this immense loss, realizing that, in the afterlife, Cliff would have wanted them to continue. The band brought in bassist Jason Newsted from Flotsam & Jetsam (a well-known band at the time) to fill the void left behind. During this period, Garage Days Re-Revisited was recorded in 1987 as an experimental effort to help Jason integrate with the band. This album—if one might say in a somewhat sentimental way—is a flawless gem.
From a commercial standpoint, this was Metallica's first album to achieve Platinum status without much advertising, signaling that America had fallen under the spell of the conqueror, Metallica.
…And Justice For All - 1988
After the devastating loss of Cliff, our boys overcame this challenging period, marked by the release of …And Justice For All. This album carries a hint of black metal, filled with bitterness and an almost rebellious attitude toward the norms of justice.
"Blackened" opens the album with a strange and explosive sound, reflecting how humanity has ravaged the planet, essentially digging its own grave. Following that is the title track …And Justice For All, a mix of irony and protest against a government controlled by the almighty dollar, where money can buy justice. The metal spirit continues with "Eye of the Beholder," which exposes the hypocrisy of recent legal amendments in America at the time. These changes outwardly promised to guarantee freedom of speech but, in reality, were censored and restricted.
In this album, Metallica also delivered their second ballad, One. This is perhaps one of the most well-known anti-war songs, telling the story of a soldier returned from the battlefield, left empty in spirit and abandoned within the shell of his own body. This song also became the band’s first music video, featuring clips from the film Johnny Got His Gun, which shares the same narrative as the song.
A final contribution from Cliff Burton is recognized in To Live is To Die, despite his death before the album's release. The song was crafted from numerous riffs written by Cliff, and a short passage of lyrics was taken from one of his poems. The title itself, To Live is To Die, suggests that death is an inevitable part of life, seemingly reflecting Metallica's mindset at the time. Keeping Cliff’s memory close to their hearts, they pressed on toward success.
When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.
These are the pale deaths which men miscall their lives.
All this I cannot bear to witness any longer.
Will not the kingdom of salvation take me home?
Metallica - 1991
This Grammy-winning album needs no introduction. It remained prominently on the Billboard Top 100 charts for years after its release. With this album, Metallica brought metal into the spotlight and made it famous—a feat perhaps only Black Sabbath, the godfathers of metal, had previously achieved.
Known unofficially as the Black Album (in Vietnam, simply referred to as the 1991 album), it produced a series of outstanding tracks. This streak of success began with Enter Sandman, an excellent track despite its simplicity in both structure and lyrics. The second song, Sad But True, stands out with its powerful, abrupt riffs, where James plays the role of a demon speaking to a being stripped of its thoughts, reduced to a mindless offering.
Another major hit, alongside Nothing Else Matters, quietly climbed the charts—The Unforgiven. This song tells the story of a man who, from childhood, was taught to obey without question and, in his old age, grows resentful of those who suppressed his ability to be himself. Another fan favorite is Wherever I May Roam, which paints the picture of a wanderer whose spirit continues to roam even after death. Interestingly, Metallica’s faith in America resurfaces in Don’t Tread On Me, a tribute to national military pride. The title Don’t Tread On Me is drawn from flags flown on Navy ships during the American Revolution.
The snake depicted on the album cover also resembles the one from these flags. Lastly, The God That Failed seems to be a deeply personal song for James. It recounts the story of a Christian couple who allowed their children to die, refusing medical treatment and relying solely on faith in God. Through this, James delivers a blow to the religion he believes was responsible for his mother’s death. (James’ family was also Christian, and his mother succumbed to cancer after refusing treatment, insisting that God would heal her. Despite her worsening condition, she rejected medical intervention and passed away.) In this context, the God That Failed is all too literal.
I see faith in your eyes.
Never you hear the discouraging lies.
I hear faith in your cries.
Broken is the promise, betrayal.
The healing hand held back by the deepened nail.
Follow the God that failed.
Reload - 1997
Load was initially intended to be a double album, but delays forced its release to be split into two parts. Although composed during the same period as Load, Reload carries a slightly different feel. The first single from this album, The Memory Remains, features Marianne Faithful.
The idea behind this song revolves around a faded star, gradually falling into obscurity and eventually burning out completely. Another single, Fuel, is a subtle nod to Motorbreath from the Kill 'Em All album.
Reload is a solid album, and though written alongside Load, it demonstrates a more seasoned and reflective side of Metallica. The album spans a range of styles, from fast and powerful tracks like Fuel to Celtic folk-inspired pieces such as Low Man’s Lyrics. A prime example of the album's clever lyricism is Why the Things Are. Using the metaphor of a boy waking up in a room full of toys, Metallica crafts yet another anti-war anthem, openly criticizing the reality that children with their whole lives ahead of them are sent to kill each other at the whims of politicians.
One day you will see
And dare to come down to me
Now c’mon, c’mon now
Take a chance…that’s right
Let’s dance
Garage, Inc - 1998
This double-disc album is a collection of Metallica’s favorite cover songs. It reflects the reality that even the greatest bands often have their roots in cover performances. With this album, Metallica revisits their beginnings, featuring selections that range from Lars Ulrich's collection of artists in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement to legends like Lynyrd Skynyrd. The track Sabbra Cadabra, originally by Black Sabbath, was suggested by Lars after the group agreed not to cover Sabbath’s more famous songs like War Pigs.
The first single released from this album was Turn The Page, a Bob Seger original, chosen by Metallica because it resonated with their views on life and the journey ahead. Die Die My Darling, a Misfits track, has lyrics reminiscent of Last Caress. Meanwhile, Mercyful Fate is a medley of five songs by the band Mercyful Fate, pioneers of black metal alongside Venom and Bathory.
The most unusual choice is Whiskey In The Jar, an Irish folk song previously rock-ified by Thin Lizzy. It tells the story of a man betrayed by his wife, killing an officer, and subsequently ending up in prison. Tuesday’s Gone, originally by Lynyrd Skynyrd, was suggested by James Hetfield due to his admiration for their heavy sound. Another track, Am I Evil?, is a Diamond Head composition—a band that had a profound influence on Lars Ulrich.
Blitzkrieg was written by a band of the same name, which only existed long enough to produce this one notable song. Breadfan, a cover of a Budgie track, may not be particularly remarkable in melody but is considered one of Metallica’s best covers.
The final four songs on the album were taken from the Motörheadache ’95 concert, held in honor of metal godfather Lemmy Kilmister’s 50th birthday. These tracks showcase raw, unpolished energy.
There’s a devil crawling along your floor
And he’s old and he’s stupid and he’s hungry and he’s sore
And he’s blind and he’s lame and he’s dirty and he’s poor
(Give me more, give me more)
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