Kill 'Em All is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica , released on July 25, , through the independent label Megaforce Records. After forming in , Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los Angeles. They recorded several demos to gain attention from club owners and eventually relocated to San Francisco to secure the services of bassist Cliff Burton. It was originally intended to be titled Metal Up Your Ass , with cover art featuring a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl.
Zazula convinced the band to change the name because distributors feared that releasing an album with such an offensive title and artwork would diminish its chances of commercial success. The album also generated two singles: " Whiplash " and " Jump in the Fire ".
Although the initial shipment was 15, copies in the US, the album sold 60, copies worldwide by the end of Metallica's Seven Dates of Hell European tour in The album did not enter the Billboard until , when it peaked at number , following Metallica's commercial success with its third studio album, Master of Puppets ; the Elektra reissue peaked at number Kill 'Em All was critically praised at the time of its release and has since been regarded as a groundbreaking album for thrash metal , because of its "precise musicianship, which fused new wave of British heavy metal riffs with hardcore punk tempos ".
It was also retrospectively placed on a few publications' best album lists. The album's musical approach and lyrics were markedly different from rock's mainstream of the early s and inspired a number of bands who followed in a similar manner.
Before settling on a definitive lineup, Metal Blade Records owner Brian Slagel asked Metallica to record a song for the first edition of his Metal Massacre compilation. The band's first lineup featured Hetfield, Ulrich, McGovney, and guitarist Dave Mustaine , who was acquired through a newspaper advertisement. The band practiced in McGovney's garage and looked for gigs at local clubs. Metallica's first show was on March 14, , at the Radio City in Anaheim.
