METALLICA’s Lars Ulrich Reflects On Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lighting Albums - “It Sounds Like Youth And Spunk And Fire…”
April 19, 2016, 8 years ago
Last week, after years of planning, Metallica reissued their first two albums, 1983's Kill 'Em All and 1984's Ride The Lighting.
“The record companies and the radio stations were sort of controlling everything,” drummer Lars Ulrich tells Entertainment Weekly when discussing the music landscape Metallica emerged from. “Anytime that there’s that kind of monopoly on something there’s always an alternative of some option. You could just feel that there was a group of people that were embracing the other options.”
Money became a problem for the budding rock band and, as Ulrich recalls, prevented him and Hetfield from completing Kill ‘Em All exactly as they would’ve wanted. “We literally stood outside the studio where they were mixing our record and basically camped out there because they wouldn’t f–king let us in to sit there and go ‘That sounds good,’” he says. “That was a mindf–k, but in our own perverse way we sort of accepted that. Not necessarily willingly, but there was no other way. It wasn’t like, here’s another $1,000 that’s going to buy us another day of studio time. It didn’t exist. So much of stuff that was going on at the time was basically based on economics.”
Read the full story at EW.com.
The reissues of Kill 'Em All and Ride The Lightning have been remastered for the most advanced sound quality and are available in three formats - CD, vinyl, and deluxe box set. Both deluxe box sets include original source material from the band's personal collection with many never before heard or seen recordings, along with a book including rare photos and essays from those who were there.
Fans can order both Deluxe Box sets at the Met Store.
In support of the reissues, Metallica posted this rare video of the band performing “Ride The Lightning” on August 31st, 1985 at Day On The Green, held at Oakland Stadium in Oakland, CA.
On August 20th, Metallica will headline the first rock concert at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, the new home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings. They are currently in the studio working on a new album.
