The Metallica album Kirk Hammett regrets playing on: “Bad notes all over”
Los Angeles thrash metal heavyweights Metallica‘s debut album couldn’t have been better named. While titled as a “fuck you” to the various distributors and retailers too squeamish to stock the original idea for their cover—a fist brandishing a dagger from a toilet bowl under the title Metal Up Your Ass—1983’s Kill ‘Em All found underground pertinence among a cohort of the metal crowd alienated by the spray hair and spandex absurdity that dominated MTV.
Formed as a reaction against glam metal’s pop saturation, Metallica combined a love of the new wave of British heavy metal with hardcore punk’s urgency to conjure a new slice of metal that hit hard with raw dynamism. Their body of work is peppered by bold forward leaps and creative U-turns that have won acclaim and fan derision in equal measure. From 1991’s eponymous 16x platinum seller’s immersion in tauter song arrangements and Load‘s country and alternative rock explorations, to the audacious Lulu collaboration with Lou Reed, Metallica always had an eye on striving beyond thrash’s expected formulas.
There’s a mammoth sonic jump from Kill ‘Em All to 1984’s sophomore Ride the Lightning. Bigger ideas, a wider aural expanse, and a touch of bassist Cliff Burton’s grasp of music theory lifted the metal attack to a dramatic height of melodic stir. Beginning the winning collaborative relationship with Danish producer Flemming Rasmussen, Ride the Lightning sparked their lauded 1980s thrash run that muscled aside Megadeath, Anthrax and Slayer out of the way as metal’s most innovative act of the day.
One of the most celebrated guitarists in wider rock, let alone metal, Kirk Hammett’s expressive shredding was instrumental in Metallica’s rise and rise. However, across their wieldy output, Hammett was always open about the one album he felt his playing was compromised due to time constraints and studio naivety, and it began with Kill ‘Em All. Produced by Paul Curcio, the limited time for retakes and overdubs, coupled with a high-pressure daily recording schedule, resulted in cuts that Hammett has been candid about over the years, as well as about their overall quality.
“There’s like bad notes all over that album,” Hammett told Gibson TV in 2020, “…you know bends are kind of shaky… when I think about it it’s just like it gives the album personality… we were just going for it, we were just happy to be there and we were happy to be recorded.”
Likely a familiar story for many bands first entering the studio, newly signed to a professional label and due to cut their long dreamed-of debut. Blemishes, rushed takes, and raw captures all create a project that’s possessed with a special character due to its slapdash creation: “You know, I would say that Kill ‘Em All is imperfect, but that’s what makes it perfect”.
Kill ‘Em All‘s imperfections shroud Metallica’s debut with a unique aura among their later polished entries. An important feature of their development, Hammett and the gang played their debut in its entirety under the phoney name Dehaan at 2013’s Orion Festival, marking its 30th anniversary—a thrill to the fans who still venerate the thrash legends’ bruising debut burnishing.
