In 2024, they're still serving as the kings of metal as the band is currently touring the world in support of their latest album, 72 Seasons. But in 1981, the band was just coming into the world as James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich were forming the brainchild that would later be known as Metallica.
James Hetfield grew up with christian scientist parents and raised him with extreme religious ways that never made sense to him. His parents did not believe in modern day medicine and James would often be pulled out of certain health classes, which instantly made him feel left out and he considered himself to be a loner in school.
Lars Ulrich was born in Denmark, where his father was an all-star tennis player and Lars was in the top ten in his age group for the sport. He moved to the states in 1980 wanting to join his high school's tennis team, but was busted for smoking weed. He then turned to his other passion in life - music, where he started playing drums at the age of 14.
In 1981, Lars was motivated to begin a music career and placed an ad in the newspaper as a drummer, looking for more people to start a band with. James was already invested in a band of his own, but responded to Lars' ad. Although James was not impressed with Lars' drumming and unique styles, Lars kept pestering him to start a new band and give him a chance. James eventually gave in as he and Lars bonded over a love for British heavy metal and being loners.
After a couple of shuffling with other members, Metallica had its official lineup with guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Cliff Burton. Although Mustaine was later fired for his substance abuse and inability to keep up with the band, he did make contributions to Metallica's first two albums. After Mustaine was fired and then created his own band Megadeath (in which he consistently threw shade at Metallica in interviews), Kirk Hammett was called in to serve as Metallica's new lead guitarist. After recording several demos and attempting to grab club owners attention in Los Angeles, the band was desperate to record their debut album. The band had an $8,000 budget for the first record and since an owner of an independent label in California could not afford it, Lars contacted Jon Zazula, a record store owner and heavy metal band promoter in New Jersey. In March 1983, the band rented a U-Haul and traveled across the country where Zazula sold copies of Metallica's demo No Life 'Til Leather, being that no label wanted to finance the album's recording. From the profits of selling the demos, Zazula founded Megaforce Records, where Metallica would record and release their first two albums.
Kill 'Em All's final cost rounded to an estimated $15,000, which nearly caused Zazula to go bankrupt. He had such a hard time finding a distributor for the record, but eventually convinced Relativity Records to distribute it in the US and Canada, and Music For Nations in Europe. The band originally titled the album Metal Up Your Ass with a cover featuring a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl. However, Zazula convinced them to change the name and artwork because he thought it would be too explicit for distributors to display. Cliff was credited with coming up with the name Kill 'Em All—referring to timid record distributors, saying, "Those record company fuckers ... kill 'em all!"—as a response to the situation.
The band's debut album was the first thrash metal album released in the US and caught the attention of the underground metal scene, where kids just like the members of Metallica were outcasts, desperate to fit into a community where they would be loved and accepted.
In January 1984, Metallica traveled to Denmark to record their sophomore album Ride The Lightning. The album was recorded on Megaforce in three short weeks and produced by Flemming Rassumen at Sweet Silence Studios. The artwork and title was inspired by a passage in Stephen King's novel The Stand, in which a character uses the phrase to refer to execution by electric chair, which was Kirk's idea. The thrash metal album showcased the band's musical growth and lyrical sophistication. Cliff introduced the basics of music theory to the band and had more input in songwriting.
"From a musical standpoint, I think we have a bit more to offer just from the point of view - We're putting as much into the music as we can, in terms of the song arrangements, songwriting, tempo changes, etc." - Lars Ulrich
During these times, the band had very little money and would often eat one meal a day. They were sleeping in the studio by day and recording by night, being that they couldn't afford a hotel and the day times were booked in the studio.
In their new album, Metallica broadened its approach by emploding acoustic guitars, extended instrumentals and gave more complex harmonies. Cliff showed James how to augment core notes with counter-melodies and how basic guitar harmony works. James developed more socially aware and philosophical lyrics. Lars revealed that Metallica opted not to rely strictly fast tempos as on the previous album, but explored other musical approaches that sounded powerful and heavy.
The major-key acoustic intro to Ride The Lightning's opener "Fight Fire With Fire" displays Metallica's evolution towards a more complex style of songwriting. The title track emphasizes the misery of the criminal justice system. The lyrics are in the perspective of a death row inmate anticipating execution by the electric chair. The main riff was composed and simplified by Mustaine originally, but Kirk decided to add an instrumental section and was highlighted by his solo. The song is about a man setened to death for a crime he did not commit - "Guilty as charged/But damn it/It ain't right."
"For Whom The Bell Tolls" kicks off with a bell tolling, followed by a marching riff and high-register bass melody. The lyrics were inspired by Ernest Hemingway's novel of the same name, which explores the horror and dishonor of modern warfare. The song was released as a promotional single in two versions, an edit on Side A and the album version on Side B. "Fade To Black" is a power ballad with lyrics about suicide. James wrote the words because he felt powerless after the band's equipment was stolen before the January 1984 show in Boston. The song begins with an acoustic guitar intro overlaid with electric soloing. The track becomes progressively heavier and faster, ending with multi-layered guitar solos.
"Trapped Under Ice" is about a person who wakes up from a chronic state. Realizing there is nowhere to go and nobody to help, the character helplessly awaits impending doom. The track is built on a fast-paced galloping riff, reminiscent of the album's opener. "Escape" was originally titled "The Hammer" and was intended to be released as a single to its lighter riffs and conventional song structure. The intro features a counterpoint bass melody and a chugging guitar riff that resolves into a standard down-picked riff. The song is James' most disliked Metallica song, due to the record company forcing the band to write something more radio friendly. "Creeping Death" lyrics deal with the ten plagues visited on Ancient Egypt. The title was inspired by a scene from The Ten Commandments while the band was watching the movie at Cliff's house. The bridge with its chant - "Die, by my hand!" - was originally written by Kirk for the song "Die by His Hand" while he was in his previous band, Exodus.
"The Call Of Ktulu" was inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's book The Shadow Over Insmouth, which was introduced to the rest of the band by Cliff. The track begins with a D Minor chord progression in the intro, written by Mustaine, followed by a two-minute bass solo over a rhythmic riff pattern.
Metallica was unhappy with the lack of promotion from Megaforce and parted ways with Jon Zazula. While Metallica was playing a gig at The Stone in San Francisco, Elektra Records A&R Executive Michael Alago noticed them and invited chairman and head of promotion to the band's New York show. Metallica was coheadlining with the band Raven at the Roseland Ballroom and pleased Elektra staff and was offered a contract the next morning. On September 12, 1984, Metallica signed with Elektra and the label re-released Ride The Lighting on November 19.
With the help of Elektra, the album peaked at number 100 on The Billboard 200 with no radio exposure. The album remains one of the greatest albums of all time. In a 1985 interview with MTV, when asked why Metallica had never recorded a music video at that point, Lars responded with, "We tend to rely on live performances and putting money and effort into that, instead of music videos." Lars continues, "For us, the music is the main thing for what we do. How we look or the image people see for us - they can worry about that. We just really worry about our music."
METALLICA