“We were firing on all cylinders,” bassist Jason Newsted said. Its most harrowing track, “One” - a torturously slow depiction of a quadriplegic soldier praying for death - was an unlikely breakout hit, propelling the band into arenas. Despite how inaccessible it seems (and, to boot, the album’s mix barely featured any bass), it was a masterwork. Metallica’s commercial breakthrough is also their most uncompromising album - nine bleak, brutal progressive-thrash odysseys about political corruption (the title track), nuclear war (“Blackened”), state-sponsored censorship (“Eye of the Beholder”), and coldblooded parents (the album’s best song, “Dyers Eve”).
“We were just playing music and drinking beers.” There are also moments of true heart, such as Hetfield’s arresting descent into madness on “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” and dearly departed bassist Cliff Burton’s intricate melodies on the instrumental “Orion.” “We were just kids,” Ulrich once said, looking back Metallica’s finest hour. But what’s hugely impressive is how each tune is its own mini-symphony with spiraling, ornate riffs, and finger-breaking solos. Metallica’s third album is thrash-metal perfection, from the galloping aggression of “Battery” to the pile-driving pummel of “Damage, Inc.” Hetfield rails against drug addiction (“Master of Puppets”), the inequity of war (“Disposable Heroes”), greedy televangelists (“Leper Messiah”), and Lovecraftian monsters (“The Thing That Should Not Be”). Metallica made room for melody, too, and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett’s solos became a beacon for the band, especially on the brilliant closing instrumental, “The Call of Ktulu.” Although heshers called them sellouts for playing below 220 bpm this time, the band proved its versatility with a tender song about suicide (“Fade to Black”), the devastating “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” which marched along steadily enough that you could actually hear its crunching riffs, and the biblically apocalyptic “Creeping Death” and its “Die! Die! Die!” singalong, perfect for campfires and war rallies. Kill ‘Em All made Metallica instant legends, but they sealed their legacy on their second LP, Ride the Lightning. Here is a guide to navigate the group’s extensive discography, from their years pounding out aggression in San Francisco’s Battery to ruling stadiums with “Enter Sandman” and everything in between.Įlvis Presley: His 10 Best Country Songs Must-Haves Ride the Lightning (1984) They’ve influenced everyone from Slipknot to Yo-Yo Ma. Forty years after their first jam session, Metallica no longer worry about crushing speed limits their music has become more melodic and heartfelt over the years without sacrificing any of the sonic heft that propelled them to become one of the planet’s biggest bands. They wanted their metal faster, tougher, and more intense than anything they had ever heard, so they had to invent it, introducing thrash metal to the world on their debut, Kill ‘Em All.
When James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich formed Metallica in 1981, they were a couple of pimply faced, adrenaline-starved teenage outcasts obsessed with the speed of Motörhead, weightiness of Black Sabbath, and intricate riffs of New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands like Iron Maiden and Diamond Head. We also recommend key songs from other releases. Rolling Stone’s Essential Albums guides survey an iconic artist’s discography, breaking down their finest LPs into three tiers: Must-Haves, Further Listening, and Going Deeper.