Metallica Enlist Fans for ‘Kill ‘Em All’ and ‘Ride the Lightning’ Reissues
Metallica are currently prepping remastered, deluxe editions of their first two albums, 1983’s Kill ‘Em All and 1984’s Ride the Lightning, which they hope to put out in 2015, but in the meantime they are asking for help from their fans. The band has requested that anyone who has photos of the group and memorabilia or audio of concerts they played between the years 1983 and 1985 to submit them for possible inclusion in the reissues.
“We want it all,” the band wrote on its website. “Did you manage to sneak a video camera into a show long before they fit in your pocket? Maybe your old instamatic camera for some snapshots? A cassette Walkman with a microphone? We’re looking for anything and everything…audio, video, photos, fliers, ticket stubs, the set list you picked up off the floor and in general any mementos you may have from that around that time.”
Fans with items of interest, including stories, can email the group at submissions@metclub.com. The group added, “By submitting it, you’re saying we can use it should your piece of history land on a release (yes, the lawyers made us add this part!).”
Earlier this year, the band told Rolling Stone of both their first-ever gig in 1981 and the making of Ride the Lightning, which contained the single “Creeping Death” and is home to fan favorites like “Fade to Black” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
“About two minutes into opening song ‘Hit the Lights,’ [former guitarist Dave] Mustaine breaks a string,” Lars Ulrich recalled of the band’s first show. “So after the first song, he had to change his own string, because there was no roadies. And so I sat up there in the back, behind the drum kit and tried to hide under the drums, basically.”
As for making their second album, Ride the Lightning, guitarist Kirk Hammett remembered it as a difficult process, as the band had relocated to Copenhagen to record it. But he recalled the genesis of the iconic, rolling bass line in “For Whom the Bell Tolls” fondly. “[Bassist Cliff Burton] would play that riff a lot in the hotel room, when him and I were hanging out,” the guitarist recalled. “He used to carry around an acoustic classical guitar that he detuned so that he could bend the strings. I would think, ‘That’s such a weird, atonal riff that isn’t really heavy at all.’ I remember him playing it for James [Hetfield], and James adding that accent to it and all of a sudden, it changed. It’s such a crazy riff.”
The band is now working on recording its next album. In April, Ulrich told Rolling Stone that the band was in the “fourth inning” of the writing process. Part of that included writing the new song “Lords of Summer,” which it premiered on tour this year and is issuing as a Record Store Day vinyl exclusive on Black Friday. Metallica are also putting out a 10th anniversary edition of its recently out-of-print documentary Some Kind of Monster, which will come out on November 24th.
Additionally, the band has booked a handful of live dates for the coming months. On November 8th, the band will play the gaming convention BlizzCon and, three days later, the Concert for Valor. The latter show will see them playing the same stage as Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Eminem and more. On November 17th, the band will play every day of the week on The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson as a residency. And in May, the band will appear at the first Rock in Rio festival in the U.S., which will also feature appearances by Taylor Swift and No Doubt.