GARAGE INC ALBUM REVEIW

Covers that thrash....well kind of!

By PowerMetalGuardian, March 1st, 2003

This album really isn't all that bad! Yes I know I am a metal head and saying new Metallica is good is blasphemy! But fuck that, okay I will admit they have lost there thrashy edge, but it is still good for being hard rock! Garage Inc. was acually one of my top favortie albums of that year. Let me start with the first disk! okay some of these songs are pretty stupid:

Free Speech For the Dumb, The More I See, Loverman, these are all skippers. Yes I realize that these songs have been recorded in the "new" age Metallica but there really not that bad. Covering everything from Black Sabbath's Sabbra Cadabra and Diamon Head's Its Electric. These are the bands that influenced Metallica greatly. Even Turn the Page is done good, not great, but not butchered. The Mercyful Fate melody is the best melody ever, taking all the great Mercyful Fate songs and cramming them into one. Kirk even manages to throw in some well copied solo's of MF. And the BOC cover! How can this album not be great, the riffs of these original songs are done heavier for a more modern age of listeners. The last couple of tracks were taken from the original Garage Days... EP!

The second disk is even better. Most, if not all of this is the old recording. Thrash??? Fuck yeah, Motorhead, Misfits, Diamond Head, come on this is what motivated these guys to come up with some of the greatest albums of all time (ie. Kill 'Em All, Master of Puppets, etc.) Once again, the riffs are nicely taken from the originals and played either at the same level or pumbed up with killer thrash speed! Tired of Metallica's new age and want them to go back to their roots? This disk is there roots!

This album is very important to any Metallica fan. Not only are these covers great, but they are nicelt performed, with little difficulties and crappyness. Over all blend is great, vocals good, guitars good, can't go wrong. And this my fellow metal heads is what got Metallica going! Their influencers! That is why cover albums kick ass, because they open you up to a whole bunch of other kick ass bands!

Track List  :

Disc 1

1. Free Speech for the Dumb (Discharge cover)
2. It's Electric (Diamond Head cover)
3. Sabbra Cadabra (Black Sabbath cover)
4. Turn the Page (Bob Seger cover)
5. Die, Die My Darling (Misfits cover)
6. Loverman (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds cover)
7. Mercyful Fate (Mercyful Fate cover)
8. Astronomy (Blue Öyster Cult cover)
9. Whiskey in the Jar (Thin Lizzy cover)
10. Tuesday's Gone (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover)
11. The More I See (Discharge cover)

Disc 2

1. Helpless (Diamond Head cover)
2. The Small Hours (Holocaust cover)
3. The Wait (Killing Joke cover)
4. Crash Course in Brain Surgery (Budgie cover)
5. Last Caress / Green Hell (Misfits cover)
6. Am I Evil? (Diamond Head cover)
7. Blitzkrieg (Blitzkrieg cover)
8. Breadfan (Budgie cover)
9. The Prince (Diamond Head cover)
10. Stone Cold Crazy (Queen cover)
11. So What (Anti-Nowhere League cover)
12. Killing Time (Sweet Savage cover)
13. Overkill (Motörhead cover)
14. Damage Case (Motörhead cover)
15. Stone Dead Forever (Motörhead cover)
16. Too Late, Too Late (Motörhead cover)

***Disclaimer*** 

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Metallica and Blackened Recordings!

Purchase your remastered copy today!

METALLICA - GARAGE INC FULL ALBUM 

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RELOAD ALBUM REVIEW

 

Kissing Ass!!! 

By Anus_Canis, January 5th, 202

If there was any album from Metallica's discography that disappointed me, it was "Reload". I'm even more disappointed to have ranked this album so low, as I thought this album was pretty decent. This may surprise most people reading this because I am aware of how much most of you hate this album, but I genuinely enjoyed ten out of thirteen of the songs from this album. These songs are truly unique gems; I mean, sure, they aren't as awesome as the songs from "Load", but I still found them to be exceptionally enjoyable. However, if I didn't bother to listen to them again, I would've given this album a profoundly low ranking, as this album as a whole is one of Metallica's worst. I still think this is one of Metallica's worst albums, but I mostly feel this way because of three songs that completely kissed ass. I would still recommend most of the songs from this album for those of you that are open-minded, but as for the others, I encourage you to avoid the shit out of them like the plague.

The songs from this album that completely kissed ass were "Slither", "Attitude", and "Fixxxer". The banality of these songs literally put me in a shitty mood, especially the latter two, and I'm not even exaggerating about that either, as no song, no matter how awful, has ever had this effect on me before, well, perhaps except Christian worship music, as that shit is banal AF. Although "Slither" had a decent riff, James Hetfield's vocals were horribly obnoxious (which is never something I would usually say about his vocal work), and the lyrics were horseshit. They were so piss poor that I was unable to determine what value they added to the song because, to be honest, there was no point to these lyrics. But hey, at least they weren't as shitty as the lyrics appearing on Mortification's "Impulsation", which is saying a lot, as I hated the lyrics on "Slither". As for "Attitude", there was no attitude (pun intended); instead, there was nothing but boring shitass background noise. Lastly, as for "Fixxxer", there was no FIXXXING that (pun intended), as it literally had the most boringly repetitious riff I have ever heard in the history of heavy metal music. I have yet to hear any song or riff as shitty as that.

However, although there were kiss-ass songs from this album, there were songs I genuinely enjoyed, with "Fuel" absolutely being the best song on the album, as it has kick-ass riffs and lyrics. The rest of the songs are excellent masterpieces, with perhaps my favorite of these being "The Memory Remains" featuring Marianne Faithful, who helped to give this song a sinister feel, and "Devil's Dance" because of how catchy it was. But perhaps the most unique songs from this album were "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Low Man's Lyrics", as they have a sound that cannot be found in any other Metallica song. "The Unforgiven II" is an extremely underrated song that I think is better than the first unforgiven. Finally, as for "Better Than You", "Carpe Diem Baby", "Bad Seed", and "Prince Charming", they are also underrated songs I genuinely enjoyed. Although "Carpe Diem Baby" has mediocre lyrics, I like how the overall point of the song is to live in the moment. I enjoy that! Overall, I would recommend these songs, even if someone ends up heavily disliking these songs in the process.

To summarize, although there were awesome, underrated songs from this album, the album as a whole was average at best. It didn't come remotely close to comparing to the masterpiece that was "Load" or to any of Metallica's other previous albums, although I still found it to be better than Mortification's "Post Momentary Affliction". Furthermore, I gave this album a ranking of 79%. It frustrates me to rate this album so low, but that’s only because “Slither”, “Attitude”, and “Fixxxer” add literally no value to the album as a whole. Although I love the riff in the first, everything else about it sucked. As for the latter two, they were absolute horseshit! Overall, although “Reload” had a lot of potential, it was honestly just an inferior version of “Load”. Unlike its predecessor, which kicked ass, this album, by comparison, kissed ass. In other words, if there is anything this album did well on, it was kissing ass!

Track List :

1. Fuel
2. The Memory Remains
3. Devil's Dance
4. The Unforgiven II
5. Better than You
6. Slither
7. Carpe Diem Baby
8. Bad Seed
9. Where the Wild Things Are
10. Prince Charming
11. Low Man's Lyric
12. Attitude

13. Fixxxer

***Disclaimer*** 

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Metallica and Blackened Recordings! 

Purchase your remastered copy today!

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ST. ANGER ALBUM REVEIW

 

A Perfect Hot Mess - 

By Anus_Canis, January 6th, 2021

Remember how I said that RTL was Metallica's best album (assuming you've read my RTL review)? Well, fuck that, because that's only true in terms of musical composition. Metallica's "St. Anger" was their true masterpiece all along. Now I am aware of how much this might be pissing off some readers (assuming there are any), but my intention is not to troll anyone, but to give my genuine opinion on this album. Although it may have been one of their worst albums in terms of musicianship, there was a reason why it sounded the way it did. Upon taking into consideration the fact that James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, and Lars Ulrich repressed a lot of their negative emotions throughout the '90s and early 2000s, the overall cacophonous sound of the album makes perfect sense, as it adequately expresses the frustration of each band member. Now the reason I didn't mention Jason Newsted was that he had actually quit by this time, so Bob Rock played the bass in this album instead. Even though "St. Anger" may have been a hot mess of cacophonous sound, that was the entire point of the album, thus making it perfect for what it is. James, Kirk, and Lars never tried to make this album good musically, but they accidentally created an absolute masterpiece that surpassed RTL in my opinion, although that's primarily because "Escape" wasn't particularly great.

First, Lars Ulrich's drum playing perfectly expresses the sheer annoyance the band experienced at the time. The tinny drum sound is extremely annoying, hence why it was perfect for this album. It was almost as if Lars kept hitting himself over the head with a frying pan due to how annoyed he was with both himself and everything else around him. It was almost as if Lars continuously felt annoyed even before he even left his bed every morning. Overall, the drums really help in evoking an atmosphere that expresses absolute frustration, anger, and annoyance.

Next, the lyrics that appear in songs such as "Invisible Kid" and "My World" are phenomenal. The lyrics in the first are extremely relatable to me, especially since I like to be alone and unnoticed, but at the same time, I also want to be able to talk about my problems whenever I need to. As for "My World", the bridge cracks me up, especially since it feels so random to me.

Not only do I not know what the answer is

I don't even know what the question is

Now anyone reading that might be wondering why I found that funny, but honestly, I didn't expect to hear that being said at all. As for the rest of the songs in terms of lyrics, they adequately express the frustration James, Kirk, and Lars had been repressing for years.

Finally, the overall atmosphere created by James' and Kirk's downturned guitars perfectly complements the album, as they adequately express the pent-up emotions those two had throughout the '90s and early 2000s. It's murky, cacophonous, and heavy AF, and that is exactly what this album needed. I honestly really enjoyed the riffs even though they were messy AF. I also love the raw energy the guitars emitted, as such energy cannot be found even in Metallica's original four albums. Overall, the album is solid and I would definitely recommend it for those who are open-minded, but for those who don't understand this album, this one isn't for you at all.

To summarize, although Metallica's "St. Anger" isn't their best album musically, the album as a whole is perfect for what it is and perhaps performed its purpose better than RTL did with its purpose, which was to kick ass. Furthermore, this album is a flawless mess and is now one of my favorite Metallica albums. Although I still think it's one of the worst Metallica albums musically, I think it's the best put-together album Metallica ever made. If I could summarize it in a few words, it would be a perfect hot mess because that's literally what this album is. "St. Anger" will never be as much of a classic as the original four albums, but it's the one I recommend the most, especially since I believe this was Metallica's final masterpiece.

Track List :

1. Frantic
2. St. Anger
3. Some Kind of Monster
4. Dirty Window
5. Invisible Kid
6. My World
7. Shoot Me Again
8. Sweet Amber
9. The Unnamed Feeling
10. Purify
11. All Within My Hands

***Disclaimer*** 

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Metallica and Blackened Recordings! 

Purchase your remastered copy today!

METALLICA - ST. .ANGER FULL ALBUM

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DEATH MAGNETIC ALBUM REVIEW

Magnetic, but Not Strong Enough to Attract My Fitbit Sense 

By Anus_Canis, January 9th, 2021

Metallica's Death Magnetic was the first album in which Metallica fully returned to their original roots. However, although they did a pretty good job at doing so, I never expected it to be a masterpiece, as I was never really into Metallica's latest two albums. It turned out that my expectations ended up coming true; it wasn't exactly a masterpiece, but it was slightly better than I expected. I enjoyed the cleaner sound implemented for James Hetfield's and Kirk Hammett's guitars, as well as Robert Trujillo's bass playing. However, as much as I enjoyed some aspects of the album, it has a few flaws (though that primarily has to do with its overall sound).

First, most of the tracks on the album sound a little bland by comparison to its predecessors. Although they were enjoyable to a certain degree, they didn't come close to measuring up in quality to albums such as RTL, MOP, AJFA, or even Load. I mean, sure, James, Kirk, Lars, and Robert still played well, but the tracks on this album don't have the same spirit as any of their previous albums aside from Reload. But perhaps the best example of this is "Broken, Beat & Scarred". It wasn't remotely enjoyable due to its banality and lack of passion, but at least it wasn't as bad as songs such as "Slither", "Attitude", or "Fixxxer" from Reload. Overall, I wouldn't recommend it or songs such as "The Day That Never Comes" and "All Nightmare Long".

In contrast, I would recommend tracks such as "The End of the Line", as it is an underrated masterpiece. This song demonstrates how to return to thrash metal the right way, as well as songs such as "That Was Just Your Life" (which was a great way to start the album) and "My Apocalypse" (which was a great way to end the album). I mean, these songs weren't as kick-ass as Testament's "Stronghold" from Brotherhood of the Snake, but they still did an amazing job at kicking ass nonetheless. Overall, I would recommend these three songs above any of the others, as they demonstrate how to approach modern thrash metal the right way.

Finally, as for the rest of the songs, they are decent. I especially enjoy "The Unforgiven III" and Robert Trujillo's bass playing in "Suicide & Redemption". However, although I really love "The Unforgiven III", the studio version isn't as good as I remembered it being. In contrast, the live version in 2010 from Oslo was significantly more enjoyable and soulful. As for "Suicide & Redemption", I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected, but I especially enjoyed being able to hear Robert Trujillo's bass playing, which is perhaps his best work for Metallica. Although it was perhaps Metallica's worst instrumental to date, it was still great. Overall, I would recommend these songs, albeit not as much as the songs I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

To summarize, although Metallica's Death Magnetic is pretty good, it is rather flawed in its overall delivery. It didn't have the same passion or charm as most of its predecessors and is perhaps one of Metallica's worst albums. Although it wasn't nearly as bad as Reload, it still kissed ass by comparison to most of Metallica's albums. Overall, if I could summarize this album in a short sentence, it would be Magnetic, but not strong enough to attract my Fitbit Sense.

The songs I encourage anyone reading this to check out most are "That Was Just Your Life", "The End of the Line", and "My Apocalypse".

Track List :

1. That Was Just Your Life

. The End of the Line
3. Broken, Beat & Scarred
4. The Day That Never Comes
5. All Nightmare Long
6. Cyanide
7. The Unforgiven III
8. The Judas Kiss
9. Suicide & Redemption
10. My Apocalypse

***Disclaimer***

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Metallica and Blackened Recordings!

Purchase your remastered copy today!

METALLICA - DEATH MAGNETIC  FULL ALBUM

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LOAD ALBUM REVEIEW

Kicking Ass!!!

By Anus_Canis, January 4th, 2021

Five years after the release of Metallica's controversial self-titled album, "Load" was released. It was during this time that Metallica completely moved away from thrash metal and into hard rock. However, the release of this album continued to alienate their original fanbase and further piss them off. In fact, even to this day, "Load" is one of Metallica's most hated albums, with reviews from Metal Archives being good examples of this. However, I am not one of these people, as I think "Load" is an absolute masterpiece. In fact, I think it's better than MOP even though it's not a thrash metal album. The majority of the songs on this album are top-notch and are worth listening to, even if someone ends up disliking them. But if someone dislikes this album, either they genuinely don't like it or they are viewing it from the lens of a thrash metal album and end up disappointed as a result. This is honestly as stupid as watching the original Star Wars trilogy and expecting it to be exactly like the prequels. The best parts about this album are the wonderfully written lyrics and James Hetfield's vocal performance, which is perhaps his best vocal work to date. Although this isn't Metallica's best album, I think it's their best out of their last five albums.

Now the songs that I felt are the worst from this album are "Until It Sleeps", "Cure", "Mama Said", and "Poor Twisted Me", with the first being my least favorite. Although "Until It Sleeps" isn't nearly as bad as songs such as "Sad But True", "Slither", "Attitude", or "Fixxxer", it is the song I least enjoyed, as I feel that the rest of the songs had more substance. "Cure" is an interesting song I genuinely enjoyed (most likely to the surprise of anyone reading this) and would definitely recommend. "Mama Said" is the only song from this album that is a ballad; however, I don’t think it’s their best ballad, as it sounds too much like a country song, which is not something I would ever expect in a hard rock or heavy metal album. Lastly, "Poor Twisted Me" is my second least favorite song, as I feel that the rest of the songs have more to offer than this one.

In contrast, the songs that ultimately take the cake for me are "2x4", "King Nothing", "Wasting My Hate", "Thorn Within", and "The Outlaw Torn", with my favorite out of these songs being the last one mentioned. "The Outlaw Torn" is truly a masterpiece of its own, easily besting most of the Metallica songs I've heard. However, I have only one complaint about this song, and it is the fact that Bob Rock (Metallica's producer at the time) cut out the song at literally THE best part, all because he thought the overall song was "too long". Man, get that shit out of here! That was honestly a dick thing to do, especially since he cut the song out while James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett were in the middle of playing one of their all-time riffs and solos, but I digress. My next favorite songs are "King Nothing" and "Wasting My Hate", with my favorite part of both songs being their catchy riffs. In the former, I really enjoyed Jason Newsted’s bass playing, as I believe it was his best work. The latter is my second favorite song from this album and I believe that if anyone directs any hatred toward this song (especially without listening to it), then they are wasting their hate (pun intended), as this is one of Metallica's best songs. "2x4" and "Thorn Within" are perhaps one of Metallica's most unique songs containing wonderfully composed riffs that are rather difficult not to enjoy (unless if someone listening to these songs finds them too repetitive).

Finally, the rest of the songs offer something both amazing and unique, with my favorite of these songs being "Bleeding Me" and "Ronnie". I really enjoy the riffs and the choruses in both songs, as they both do a damn good job at capturing my interest. As for "Ain't My Bitch", it was the perfect way to start the album, as the riffs are catchy AF. Lastly, "The House Jack Built" and "Hero of the Day" are wonderful, underrated masterpieces which I would definitely recommend, but especially the former.

Overall, although Metallica's "Load" is one of the most hated albums in Metallica's discography, I believe it deserves more credit than it earns, as there are many interesting and wonderfully written songs from this album. Although it never will be Metallica's best album, I think it is the best out of the last five albums. Furthermore, I have given this album a ranking of 96% when rounded to the nearest whole number. To further elaborate, I ranked "2x4", "King Nothing", "Wasting My Hate", "Thorn Within", and "The Outlaw Torn" at 100%, "Ain't My Bitch", "The House Jack Built", "Hero of the Day", "Bleeding Me", and "Ronnie" at 98%, "Cure" and "Mama Said" at 93%, "Poor Twisted Me" at 90%, and "Until It Sleeps" at 80%. If there's anything this album did well, it was kicking ass!

Track List :

1. Ain't My Bitch
2. 2x4
3. The House Jack Built
4. Until It Sleeps
5. King Nothing
6. Hero of the Day
7. Bleeding Me
8. Cure
9. Poor Twisted Me
10. Wasting My Hate
11. Mama Said
12. Thorn Within
13. Ronnie 05:17
14. The Outlaw Torn 09:49   

***Disclaimer***

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Metallica and Blackened Recordings!

Purchase your remastered copy today!

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KILL 'EM ALL ALBUM REVIEW

 

Metallica: Kill ‘Em All 

Review By MetalManiaCometh, August 26th, 2020

For the past few days I was mulling over what I should cover next and the very obvious answer I had was picking Metallica’s highly influential debut, “Kill ‘Em All”. For an album that has had so much coverage and multiple different takes from multiple different people; it puts me off a little to come up with something that will stand on its own against the back drop of voices but I hope to try my best. Coming slap dab in the middle of summer 1983, Metallica came out of the gates running with an album that many would call one of the greatest metal albums of all time, some expressing that it is the greatest. Now I do think it’s one of the greatest and it’s influence is widespread but I’m not one to think it is the best, let alone the best thrash metal debut, but I do believe it is a tremendous album and an album that helped pave the way for the genre as a whole.

To begin, if there is a way to describe what “Kill ‘Em All” is, it is in all of its 80s glory a “raw, furious thrasher”. Fueled by NWOBHM and classic metal / rock with a dash of punk aggression, all the contents are mixed together in a caldron of sonic proportions only to great the dish named, thrash metal. Ok yeah I know that there is some contention and debate on “who REALLY put out the first thrash metal album” but what really matters is that this album, along with Slayer’s debut a few months later, was what put thrash on the map. The album is unpolished, distorted, and raw but still retains a charm to it. Matter of fact, as I re-listen to it in full today here in 2020, I notice how well it still sounds and how much it holds up. The guitars are nice and loud, the drums back a punch but not overbearing, the bass is loud enough to be heard but at places I do wish it was higher in the mix, and Hetfields shrieky, angsty vocals is in central focus here, but just like the drums in the production it isn’t over shadowing the instrumentation. So yeah, besides the bass being a tad bit low in places, the overall production is pretty great for a debut and packs a bunch of sound.

For the better part of “Kill ‘Em All”, Metallica’s focus is on NWOBHM influenced riffs but sped up ten times faster. “Hit The Lights” is the perfect representation for my statement, as it has a clear Iron Maiden influence with its galloping rhythm but with the tempo dial turned up a notch. If slowed down a little, I could see “Hit The Lights” ending up on one of Iron Maiden’s early albums honestly. The majority of the album is like a literal speed rollercoaster; speeding down the tracks more than they slowly go up them. Besides “Hit The Lights”; “Whiplash”, “Motorbreath”, “Phantom Lord”, “Metal Militia” all offer that same energy as the riffs and solos spill out in a quick pace but there is some variety here that isn’t all just quick riffing as Metallica does offer some mid-paced performances. “Jump In The Fire”, “No Remorse”, and “Seek & Destroy” all fit that mid-paced bill with influences ranging from Motörhead to Diamond Head sprouting from the seems; giving us the listeners some breathing room. Hell if you were to really slow down “Seek & Destroy”, I could see that as something Black Sabbath could have written. Metallica also adds little moments between songs where a melodic break or a melodic solo happens which I feel adds more to the song than being a straight forward speed thrasher.

A nice outlier from “Kill ‘Em All” is the late Cliff Burton’s bass solo in “(Anesthesia)- Pulling Teeth”. It is very experimental and totally different from everything else on the album that I couldn’t not stop and talk about it individually. I really love that buildup towards the 2 minute mark, then the rest of the instruments kicking in but not overtaking the bass. It’s a stand out in Cliff’s short career and definitely a standout here. Back to the album as a whole, I will say that it isn’t the most technical or complex in nature. The riffing follows a basic path and pattern, not verging much off from the well placed solos and the occasional melodic break or melodic solo that I’ve mentioned. Some think that “Kill ‘Em All’s” simplicity here is a negative but I don’t share those views. It’s easy for someone now to say “well look at all these albums that have come out since then, this is piss easy compared to them” but just look at when this came out, this album was very much different from what was going on and helped set a standard for the upcoming thrash genre. Even then, “Kill ‘Em All” may not be as complex or technically impressive, it sure as hell is a lot more memorable as a whole compared to a plethora of albums. So yeah, just because something is simple doesn’t make it bad, moving on.

Getting to our lineup, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Cliff Burton, and Lars Ulrich all preform fantastically, for the most part. James’s performance here is very much different from how he sings on later albums as he is much more raw here. He’s just full of screeches and shrieks as he more so yells at you than he does sing at you. He does have some more melodic singing like he’d utilize on later albums, such as in “No Remorse” and “Seek & Destroy” but for the most part stays pretty powerful and raw in “Kill ‘Em All”. James is also on rhythm guitar and his skill is excellent here as he keeps up with Kirk’s impeccable leads. Cliff Burton is fantastic here as his bass lines really help shape the songs and give the music a extra dimension. Fun fact, Cliff’s only writing credit here is“(Anesthesia)- Pulling Teeth” as he would join the band shortly before the recording of the debut. Never less, his performance here is a stand out in the genre and he’d only get better with his next release.

Kirk Hammett is a monster on the lead guitar and his early solo work is something that is hard for a lot of musicians to match now. What else makes Kirk’s solos top notch here and in early Metallica albums is how catchy those verses are. You just listen to the onslaught in “Seek & Destroy” or the beginning of “No Remorse” and not tell me that doesn’t want to make you shack head with the rhythm. Then there’s Lars Ulrich who gets the job down remaining consistent throughout. The drumming is not really complicated here on “Kill ‘Em All” nor has Lars ever been a standout drummer for me but he does do a great job on the studio albums, at least the early ones, but the less said about his...live performances, the better.

I guess the last thing I should mention is the elephant in the room; good ol’ Davey Mustainey. It would be disservice not to talk about Dave’s contributions for Metallica as he did greatly help shape their sound early on. You know his distinct style of writing when you hear “Jump In The Fire”, “The Four Horsemen”, “Metal Militia” and “Phantom Lord” as those songs have a little more, technicality to it? More meat and bones to the riffing I suppose? I mean you just listen to that melodic solo and the slow melodic break in “Phantom Lord” and you know that Dave’s sweaty fingers were all over it. In the end, I’m glad that Dave was fired from the band as it gave us some of the best riff writing and solos in the genre over in the Megadeth camp.

So after all of this long winded rambling, what is my final verdict on “Kill ‘Em All”? Well I personally think this a fantastic record and a fantastic debut. The album is memorable from beginning to end as Metallica handles catchiness and aggressive speed in tandem as if they were from different sides of the same coin. Their stance on the metal way of life and the lyrical subject matter is something the thrash genre still writes about, even after almost 40 years since this album released. Sure, there are some stuff that could be fixed or changed, like upping Cliff’s bass in the mix or cutting some time down in “No Remorse” but as a whole, “Kill ‘Em All” just fucking slays. It’s simple (for the most part) in its writing but difficult in its execution and Metallica definitely executes. I may not hold “Kill ‘Em All” as my favorite thrash debut, that title belongs to “Feel The Fire”, but the exceptional skills and memorability at play are something many can’t say they can repeat and with how successful and influential “Kill ‘Em All” became, it deserves every bit of it.

Metallica- Kill 'Em All
Label: Blackened Recordings ‎– BLCKND003RD-1
Format: Remastered Vinyl 12" Limited Edition
Country: US
Released: 15 Apr 2016

1. Hit The Lights                          (0:00​)
2. The Four Horsemen                  (4:15​)
3. Motorbreath                              (11:27​)
4. Jump In The Fire                      (14:35​)
5. (Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth    (19:17​)
6. Whiplash                                  (23:32​)
7. Phantom Lord                          (27:40​)
8. No Remorse                             (32:40​)
9. Seek & Destroy                       (39:06​)
10. Metal Militia                         (46:02​)

***Disclaimer*** 

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Metallica and Blackened Recordings! 

Purchase your remastered copy today!

METALLICA - KILL 'EM ALL FULL ALBUM 

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ON THE PROWL ALBUM REVIEW

 

While Loudness' first record with American singer Michael Vescera two years earlier had a commercial touch but still included a few good and especially new tracks, On the Prowl is a disgraceful effort and might even be the worst release in Loudness' long career. The reason for my harsh rating is very simple: On the Prowl only consists of three new tracks while the other songs are re-recorded Loudness tracks with a few new arrangements and different lyrics. 

 Both the new songs and the revamped tracks are unimpressive. The three new tracks don't have any memorable parts and sound like exchangeable hard rock music that already sounded dated back in the early nineties and that could have been released by a weaker Bon Jovi, Dokken or Whitesnake copy a decade earlier. The new tracks don't have the vivid spirit of the original tunes and changing the lyrics is a slap in the face of original singer Minoru Niihara. Ironically enough, Loudness actually released a decent and heavy track called ''Slap in the Face'' a few months after On the Prowl saw the light of day but Michael Vescera suddenly left the band in the middle of a tour to join Yngwie Malmsteen and slapped his band mates in the face as well. Loudness simply was on a losing streak in the late eighties and early nineties and it would only be in the new millennium after their reunion with original singer Minoru Niihara that the band would get some positive momentum back. 

 On the Prowl only had the purpose to increase sales figures and make the band more popular outside Japan. However, heavy metal and hard rock were already declining in the early nineties and On the Prowl didn't receive much attention or praise while the band's fans of old date obviously disliked Soldier of Fortune and were rightfully furious about On the Prowl. In hindsight, we could say that releasing On the Prowl was probably Loudness' worst idea in a career that approaches nearly four decades by now. The fact that the band has released numerous greatest hits compilations, re-recorded some of its material several times in its career and has also released numerous live albums featuring classic material makes On the Prowl even more forgettable and useless. 

 This release is only interesting if you are into commercial hard rock and glam rock of the eighties and if you have never heard of Loudness before. Die-hard fans will obviously buy anything Loudness has released for the sake of completing their collections. Any other fan of the band should ignore this disgraceful release. The only good aspects about this album are the facts that the songs still sound acceptable due to the excellent source material and that the album cover is one of the most beautiful and detailed ones in Loudness' career.

***Disclaimer*** 

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Loudness and Atco  Recordings! 

Purchase your remastered copy today!

1. Down 'n' Dirty 04:36   

2. Playing Games 03:47   

3. Love Toys         04:02   

4. Never Again         05:01   

5. Deadly Player         04:47   

6. Take It or Leave It 04:31   

7. Girl                          04:20   

8. Long Distance     04:15   

9. In the Mirror         03:34   

10. Sleepless Night 04:39   

11. Find a Way         07:31   

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