Metallica: The Essential Album-by-Album Guide

• Cover Story: Louder Faster Stronger
• Photo Gallery: Three Decades of Metallica
• James Hetfield: "There's More Dedication From the Four of Us Than Ever Before"
• Lars Ulrich: "If We Don't Get Along, Everything Else Is Irrelevant"
• Kirk Hammett: "I Was Ready To Start Working On a Solo Album"
• Robert Trujillo: "It's Like You're Caught Inside a Massive Set of Waves"

KILL 'EM ALL (1983)
Key Tracks: "Hit The Lights," "Seek and Destroy"
Quick Take: Kill 'Em All (originally titled Metal Up Your Ass) brokers an alliance between deadly adversaries: punks and metalheads. It contains the first great Metallica standard, "Seek and Destroy," not to mention the instrumental "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth," which features the late Cliff Burton delivering the greatest metal bass solo ever, for what it's worth. But the remainder of the album reflects the cover photo of four zitty teenagers trying to look tough. Throughout, Metallica declare their endearingly cute metal intentions (in "Whiplash," Hetfield screeches, "We will never quit cause we are Metallica!") over undercooked, if enthusiastic, riff bonanzas.