Chart entered : 22 August 1987
Chart peak : 27
Number of hits : 21
The second thrash metal act to break through would be the biggest of the lot.
Metallica was formed late in 1981 in response to an ad placed by Lars Ulrich ( born 1963 in Denmark ) . Lars was the son of a tennis pro and had come to LA in 1980 to develop his tennis potential but started playing the drums instead. His ad ran "Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden". It was answered by native Californian guitarist James Hetfield ( born 1963 ) formerly with local metal band Leather Charm. He could also sing. A second ad led to the recruitment of Dave Mustaine as lead guitarist as the duo were impressed by his expensive equipment.
The trio recorded a song for a metal compilation LP "Metal Massacre" with James playing bass."Hit The Lights" sees the band boasting of their prowess with all the moderation of a Def Jam act which is a bit rich coming from a band who'd yet to play a gig. Nevertheless they already had a fearsome sound with James vocal, high-pitched and snarling , indicative of their interest in punk as well as metal.
Before the album was released they had recruited a bassist Ron McGovney and gone out on the road. A few months later they detatched Cliff Burton from the band Trauma to replace McGovney who they felt wasn't making a creative contribution.
In 1983 they signed a deal with Megaforce Records and started working on their debut album. Before recording started the other three decided to dump Mustaine and replace him with Kirk Hammett ( born 1962 ) who had formed his own band Exodus but agreed to put that on ice and join Metallica.
In July 1983 they released their first album "Kill 'Em All" ( changed from "Metal Up Your Ass" at the record company's insistence. It's not for the fainthearted , with the band seeking to demonstrate how tight they could play at extremely fast tempos.The lead single "Whiplash" celebrating the intensity of their live show is insanely fast, sounding like a cleaner Motorhead taken one step further. Apart from the self-promotion, the lyrics are mainly and cheerily concerned with war and death. With melody at a premium and few guitar solos they do sound a bit samey over an album's length but second single "Jump In The Fire " ( as instructed by Satan ) stands out for its melodic bass line as well as its ferocious tightness and the instrumental "( Anesthesia ) Pulling Teeth" , an extended bass solo from Burton , provides a welcome melodic interlude. The LP did not chart at the time.
Apart from that one track , Burton had had no writing input on the first album. As the only member with real musical training he set about educating his bandmates to broaden their sonic palette in time for the next album "Ride the Lightning". The leap in musical sophistication in a year is considerable. The inclusion of a semi-acoustic suicide ballad "Fade To Black" is the most obvious indication . There are no songs that you could describe as catchy but on tracks like "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and the instrumental "The Call Of Ktulu" there's a recognition that you don't have to play at 100 mph to be heavy. Even the hell-for-leather tracks like the radio- unfriendly single "Creeping Death" are structurally more interesting than their predecessors. James's lyrics haven't got any chirpier though, ranging from the thoughts of a man about to be fried in the chair to imminent nuclear destruction and suffering from Locked-In Syndrome. The album reached 100 in the US but like its predecessor would go higher when the band broke big . In the UK it reached number 87 after the band had played at Castle Donington.
The band now signed a more lucrative deal with Elektra. Their third album "Master of Puppets" in 1986 is more of the same with a semi-acoustic track , "Welcome Home ( Sanitarium )", and instrumental "Orion" placed in exactly the same spot as on the previous LP. The main sign of development is a creeping tendency towards prog rock with the songs getting longer ( three of the tracks are over eight minutes long ) and featuring more changes in time signature. It reached number 29 in the US and number 41 here.
There was no single released from the album ; the band promoted by going on a long support tour with Ozzy Osborne. At one point James broke a wrist falling off his skateboard and the guitar roadie had to fill in for his playing but much worse was to follow. The tour moved to Europe and after a gig in Stockholm their tour bus skidded on black ice and left the road. Burton was thrown out of the window and then crushed by the bus; the others were not seriously injured.
Having the blessing of Burton's family to continue , they auditioned for a replacement bassist and chose Jason Newsted ( born 1963 ). Jason was from Michigan and his first band was called Gangster but he made his recording debut with the band Flotsam and Jetsam. He played and wrote most of the lyrics on their recent debut LP "Doomsday for the Deceiver" on which they sound no better nor worse than their thresh metal peers but for having a strong singer who sounds a bit like Rush's Geddy Lee. The song "Der Fuhrer" attracted some attention although it's quite clear from the lyrics that they weren't giving him a stamp of approval.
The impetus to record this EP came from their UK record label Vertigo who wanted some product to follow their appearance at Castle Donington. Not having much new material to hand, the band decided to record some covers of songs by their musical heroes instead. Therefore you have "Helpless" ( Diamond Head ), "The Small Hours" ( Holocaust ), "Crash Course In Brain Surgery" ( Budgie ) , "Last Caress" and "Green Hell" ( both The Misfits ). I must admit to not being familiar with any of the originals but that doesn't really matter as Metallica pummel them all into submission to produce a homogenous and frankly pretty boring racket. Only on "Last Caress" does some trace of melody remain and that's immediately followed by the ridiculous "Green Hell" where they fall into self-parody by playing it so insanely fast. It's a defiantly uncommercial single whose chart placing further illustrated the encroachment of fanbase-only records into the business end of the charts.
In America , where it included an extra track , a cover of Killing Joke's "The Wait", cut from the UK version to comply with Gallup's rules on a single's duration, it reached number 28.
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