Interpretations
» Kill
Em'all
» Ride
The Lightening
» Master
Of Puppets
» Garage
Days Re-Visited
» ..And
Justice For all
» Black
Album
KILL
'EM ALL (Megaforce, 1983)-
"Hit The Lights"-
An auspicious opening to their legendary debut,
the song also appeared in rougher form on the Metal Massacre I compilation
before either Cliff Burton or Hammett joined. A great opener for the band's
early live shows, lyrically the song is immature by present day Metallica
standards and is now rarely performed.
"The Four Horseman"-
The original version of this Metallica epic was
called "Mechanix,"co-written by original guitarist Dave Mustaine and
appears[in that form] on Megadeth's debut Killing Is My Business...And Business
I Good.
"Motorbreath"-
This thrash classic was rumored to be inspired by
cocaine, but is actually about being a loyal fan of the band's music.
"Jump In The Fire"-
From the perspective of the devil, Hetfield sings
of how easily people give in to temptations.
"(Anesthesia) Pulling
Teeth"-
Supposedly written by original bassist Ron
McGovney, this bass solo was adopted and augmented by Cliff Burton and would
became his trademark.
"Whiplash"-
This headbanging anthem-titled after what
over-zealous fans often experience the morning after a concert-is still a major
part of the band's live set.
"Phantom Lord"-
The song that begins side-two of the vinyl
version of Kill 'Em All, is the arrogant war cry of a mythical heavy metal
creature. The most musically mature song on the album, it hints at where the
band's sound would head.
"No Remorse"-
Metallica's first anti-war song, it talks of
people who go off to war for the sake of killing;guiltless and numb to the pain
of their vistims.
"Seek &
Destroy"-
During the band's current concerts-with vocals
now handled by Jason Newsted-this song is part of the audience participation
portion of the show. Fans lucky enough to be at the front of the stage or in the
Snake Pit are given the chance to emulate their heroes by chiming in with the
song's title, while Hetfield holds the microphone and judges each attempt.
"Metal Militia"-
Co-written by Hetfield, Ulrich, and Mustaine, the
album's closing track is a call-to-arms song for metalheads.
RIDE
THE LIGHTNING (Megaforce/Elektra, 1984)-
"Fight Fire With
Fire"-
Acoustic guitar turns into into a full-on thrash
assault in this song of revenge and Armageddon, a common topic among metal bands
of that era.
"Ride The
Lightning"-
An epic that graphically details death by
electrocution, Written by Ulrich, Hetfield, Burton, and Dave Mustaine, who has
often said that he tried to teach Hetfield the song's famous, intricate guitar
break without success.
"For Whom The Bell
Tolls"-
Driven by Burton's bass, this war song was
inspired by a film of the same name.
"Fade To Black"-
The band's first ballad, it's about the grim
contemplation and execution of suicide. Although anti-final solution, the song
has been singled out, with Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution." The
band maintains that they have received letters from fans who were dissuaded from
taking their lives by this song.
"Trapped Under Ice"-
This nightmarish epic uses a person
simultaneously drowning and freezing to death to symbolize a person living
zombie-like, burnt out and perhaps a drug addict.
"Escape"-
The story of an absolute loner, it is the album's
shortest track at 4:33, hinting at the style the band would eventually embrace.
"Creeping Death"-
Classic Metallica, although parts of this song is
borrowed from the rarely heard Exodus song "Dying By His Hand." The
lyrics to Metallica's version are based on the film "The Ten
Commandments" more so than the bible.
"The Call of Ktulu"-
With lead bass by Burton, this song was inspired
by the Necronomicon and H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Originally called
"When Hell Freezes Over"
MASTER
OF PUPPETS (Elektra, 1986)-
"Battery"-
Trying to move away from being known merely as a
speed metal act, Ulrich once hesitantly referred to this song as "thrashy."
"Master of Puppets"-
A classic epic of the horrors and downfalls of
drug dependency.
"The Thing That Should
Not Be"-
Another song based on horror author H.P.
Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and his classic short story "The Shadow Over
Innsmouth."
"Welcome Home
(Sanitarium)"-
The band's second ballad, this one tells of being
forced to be at home in an insane asylum.
"Disposable Heroes"-
The band's acclaimed anti-war song that details
the struggle of individualism against authority.
"Leper Messiah"-
Dave Mustaine claimed he wrote the song's main
riff and was not given credit. The matter was settled quietly.
"Orion"-
A favorite of the late bassist Cliff Burton, this
instrumental that displayed his talents was played at his memorial service in
San Francisco.
"Damage, Inc."-
This thrashy, fight song spawned a variety of
t-shirts, named a few street gangs, and became the title of a comic book.
GARAGE
DAYS RE-REVISITED (Elektra, 1987)-
"Helpless"-
The band's second Diamond Head cover, it actually
improves on the original.
"The Small Hours"-
Arguably the band's most obscure cover, this song
was originally recorded by Holocaust in 1983, the same year that saw the release
of Kill 'Em All.
"The Wait"-
Metallica's re-working of the Killing Joke
classic is much harder and not as "poppy" as the original.
"Crash Course In Brain
Surgery"-
A cover of the Budgie classic where Jason "Newkid"
Newsted gets to display his abilities to Metallica fans not familiar with his
work on Flotsam & Jetsam's debut, Doomsday For The Deceiver.
"Last Caress"-
A duo of contrasting Misfits covers, the first, a
morbidly humorous parody of the pop song format, the other, pure hardcore. It
all ends with the band's hilarious, but painful, false start of Iron Maiden's
"Run To The Hills."
...AND
JUSTICE FOR ALL (Elektra, 1988)-
"Blackened"-
After beginning two albums with an acoustic riff,
this one starts with high intensity build up. This song was co-written by
Newsted, though you would never know it from listening. The sound is so poor,
the bass is nearly absent from the mix. It is the band's first
ecologically-minded tirade.
"...And Justice For
All"-
The title track is critical of American ideals.
Something the band will contradict on its next album.
"Eye Of The
Beholder"-
Freedom is only as true as you perceive it.
Released as a single, its flip-side features a raw run through of Budgie's
"Breadfan."
"One"-
Metallica's most popular, well-known song, is an
anti-war story of a soldier who has lost all his limbs, is deaf, blind, and
mute, yet is still alive and aware. After the album's release, fans informed the
band of a movie with a similar plot ("Johnny Got His Gun"). Rights to
film were purchased by the band for use in their first music video.
"The Shortest
Straw"-
A song of contemporary blacklisting.
"Harvester of
Sorrow"-
The story of a drunken and drugged man who
torments his family before finally cracking and murdering them.
"The Frayed Ends of
Sanity"-
Its intro lifts the march of the Evil Witch's
soldiers from The Wizard of Oz, which, ironically was also later used by Prince.
The song deals with reappearing insanity and the growing inability to
distinguish fantasy from reality.
"To Live Is To Die"-
Cliff Burton's post-humorous contribution is an
instrumental that features his poetry-spoken by Hetfield-and a riff which the
band composed around. Also, clocking in at 9:48, it is the band's longest epic.
"Dyers Eve"-
Rumored to be inspired by Dyers Avenue in
Manhatten, New York City, it is about the ultimate act of teen angst, a violent
suicide.
THE
BLACK ALBUM (Elektra, 1991)-
"Enter Sandman"-
A nightmarish-lullaby dealing with a child's fear
of entering the dreamscape, it was the album's first single and video clip and
also the first of many hits from the record, quickly finding a home in the top
thirty.
"Sad But True"-
Pure power stomp., its a song of obsessive
manipulation.
"Holier Than Thou"-
The albums most aggressive track, the song's
message is "those who live in glass houses should not throw stones."
Is it a crack against music critics?
"The Unforgiven"-
The band's first song to include orchhestral
instumentation, it details the life of a person brow-beaten into conforming to
society while being denied the chance to be open-minded or creative.
"Wherever I May
Roam"-
Beginning with an electric sitar, this road song
is the edict of a person who is constantly on the go, who never has the chance
to plant his roots or settle down in one place. The song's narrator eventually
admits that anywhere he pauses is his home.
"Don't Tread On Me"-
Taking its name from the revolutionary flag that
bears the coiled snake, it is the album's most controversial track. Its
patriotic stance starkly contrasts the anti-Americanism slant of And Justice For
All.
"Through The Never"-
Another frantic track, it's about the
never-ending pursuit of knowledge, no matter how unfeasible it may seem in the
perpetual universe.
"Nothing Else
Matters"-
The closest the band has ever come to writing a
love song, this ballad is arguably the band's most accomplished song featuring
vocal harmonies and strings.
"Of Wolf and Man"-
A werewolf song, it symbolizes the hunter who
believes he is one with nature.
"The God That
Failed"-
Bass-driven tirade on people who believe in
Christian Science and thus deprive their child of medical attention. It is also
a thinly-veiled autobiographical song involving Hetfield's strict religious
parents.
"My Friend of
Misery"-
Outsider view of someone reveling in self-pity
and maintaing a pessimistic view of the entire world.
"The Struggle
Within"-
With a drummer's march intro, the dramatic
conclusion of Metallica's fifth album deals with a person suffering from a
self-defeating personality.
