Kill 'Em All

"Kill 'Em All" is the debut album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, through the independent label Megaforce Records. After forming in 1981, Metallica initially played in local clubs in Los Angeles and recorded several demo tapes to attract attention from promoters. The band later relocated to San Francisco to recruit bassist Cliff Burton. Their 1982 demo "No Life ’til Leather" caught the attention of Megaforce Records founder Jon Zazula, who signed the group and provided a budget of $15,000 (equivalent to $48,835.49 in 2025) for recording. The album was recorded in May 1983 with producer Paul Curcio at Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. It was originally intended to be titled "Metal Up Your Ass", with proposed cover art depicting a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl. The title and artwork were changed after Zazula advised that distributors might reject such material due to its potentially offensive content. To promote the release, Metallica embarked on the two-month "Kill 'Em All for One" co-headlining tour with the English heavy metal band Raven in the United States. The album produced two singles, "Whiplash" and "Jump in the Fire". Although its initial U.S. shipment was 15,000 copies, global sales reached around 60,000 by the end of Metallica’s "Seven Dates of Hell" European tour in 1984. The album entered the Billboard 200 for the first time in 1986, peaking at number 155 following the success of the band’s third album, "Master of Puppets". A 1988 reissue by Elektra Records later reached number 120. Upon release, "Kill 'Em All" received critical acclaim and has since been recognised as a pioneering work in thrash metal, noted for its precise musicianship and its combination of new wave of British heavy metal influences with the speed and aggression of hardcore punk. Its sound and lyrical themes differed significantly from mainstream rock of the early 1980s and influenced numerous subsequent metal bands. In 2025, it was certified four times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping four million copies in the United States. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.