10 Best Opening Tracks On Debut Rock Albums
7. Hit The Lights - Kill ‘Em All (Metallica)
The opening of Metallica's Kill 'Em All is odd because it sounds like it should be the ending.
The very first track, Hit The Lights, starts with a slow fade in on a cacophony of guitar and drums, like the outro to a live show. But this is far from the end. This is only the beginning.
One dive up the fretboard later, and the song gets going in style. The lightning fast picking of Kirk Hammett sets the album in motion and it does not let up for the next 51 minutes.
Hit The Lights is totally off the hook. Hammett's impressive technical playing is just one part of it; there's also Lars Ulrich's infectious drumming, James Hetfield's wailing vocals, and Cliff Burton's subtle yet essential bass playing.
The quality of the musicians involved is what prevents this song from being just one big blob of noise.
There's rhythm to it, melody, actual song crafting. These tools would serve the band exceptionally well over the next 40+ years, as they would move away from the thrash scene that first defined them and into more conventional rock.