Metallica-Ride The Lightning (1984)

If their debut album had subtly revealed the musical direction Metallica was heading in, their second album left no doubt about it. The intensity and raw power remained in this second release, but they also became more versatile, creating more complex and intelligent music. This shift is evident in the epic and brilliant "Fade to Black" and "Call of Ktulu", two tracks of great instrumental complexity that border on progressive sounds. However, glimpses of the frenetic thrash metal of their first album still lingered in the incredible and intricate "Creeping Death", "Fight Fire with Me", and "For Whom the Bell Tolls". This second album would put Metallica's name on the lips of millions of heavy metal fans around the world and pave the way for them to explore new horizons with great works in the years to come.

Metallica-Kill´Em All (1983)

In 1983, Metallica unleashed their fast, furious, and exhilarating thrash metal with one of the most stunning debuts in heavy metal history. An album of killer guitars, intense and brutal riffs, and a hyperactive and devastating rhythm section, showcasing a raw, direct, and ice-cold sound. Lyrically, they focused on death, hell, wars, victories and bloody defeats, rebelling against the political establishment, and much, much more. James Hetfield (guitar and vocals), Kirk Hammett (guitar), Cliff Burton (bass), and Lars Ulrich (drums) created an album that, unlike their subsequent releases, is composed of relatively simple pieces overall, albeit with somewhat complex instrumental structures. Influenced by the new wave of British heavy metal (Iron Maiden), the American and British heavy punk movement (Motorhead), and fusing these styles with the aggression and rawness of hardcore, this album showcases all these hallmarks, from the frenetic "Hit The Lights", "Motorbreath", "Whiplash" and "Phantom Lord", to the more complex and intricate developments of the semi-progressive "The Four Horsemen" and the superb instrumental "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth". With this debut, Metallica rebelled against all the easy-listening music of the time, breathing new life into heavy metal and hard rock in the early eighties, and simultaneously inspiring and influencing tens of millions of young people around the world.

Metallica-Metallica (1991)

In 1991 Metallica published their album of the same name or also known as "Black Album", for many the beginning of its decadence, for others a heavy metal masterpiece, although everyone agrees that it was a full stop in the career from the band.
Metallica with this album leaves behind their virtuous trash metal that had elevated them to offer a heavy sound, but with a clean sound and much more accessible than their previous four works.
There is no doubt that the production of Bob Rock contributed to the band recording their most commercial album and at the same time the most remembered, for better or for worse.
"Enter Sandman" with that mythical riff, the creepy "Sad Bad True", the heavy "Through The Never" or "Wherever I May Room" or the halftime "The Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters" made up a superb work heavy metal with a dose of old-time thrash metal.
Until 2018, some 17 million copies of this album had been sold in the United States and a total of 32 million worldwide.

Metallica-...And Justice For All (1988)

Metallica's career has had very significant ups and downs and after the release of the first four albums that marked a before and after of Thrash Metal, the San Francisco band revolutionized their sound with their 1991 release entitled "The Black Album", in where they deviated towards less harsh and more melodic sounds, with high quality heavy metal.
But before this album the band had created what was then their masterpiece "Justice For All", published in 1988 and that would achieve eight platinum records after achieving eight million copies sold, in addition to being nominated for a Grammy Award in the Hard Rock / Metal performance category.
However, the album was questioned by its fans and criticized for the "defective" recording where Jason Newsted's bass practically does not sound.
It is also the band's darkest and most instrumental album, dominated by dense, fast-paced drum sounds of great complexity.
Memorable and superb compositions like the frenetic "Blackened", "Eye of the Beholder", "Harvest of Sorrow" or "One", extensive and complex epics like "Justice For All", or the instrumental "To Live Is to Die" to Metallica at the foot of the rock Olympus as the undisputed gods of Thrash Metal and Heavy Metal in general at the end of the eighties.

Metallica-Master of Puppets (1986)

Metallica helped define the Thrash sound of the early 80s, along with bands like Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax among others, but it was the one that literally invented the genre. They are considered one of the "Big Four", (Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica and Anthrax) although excellent groups like Testament, Exodus, Sodom are left out ... who failed to belong to that elite of thrash founders, for a reason or for other. Personally, I consider Testament equal or superior to Anthrax. Records like "The ritual" of Testament should have had the exposure, notoriety and recognition that a work of art like that deserves.

The sound of Metallica, at least until 1986, the year in which "Master of Puppets" was published, was essentially Thrash metal, with murderous guitar rides, brilliant solos executed by Hammett, aggressive, scraped, Venom voices, as opposed to the glam scene of the time, not to forget the enormous weight it had. Bands like Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Poison, among others, were the most popular in the United States in those years, so the sound not only of Metallica but of the "Big Four" became a breath of fresh air, A kick in the face live. Metallica distilled rebellion unlike Glam makeup. Metallica played jeans and shirt, wild hair, no shake. There was no makeup, it was pure rawness, pure aggressiveness, authenticity and transgression. Perhaps that authenticity and attitude, added to the excellent music of the first 5 albums, gave them the worldwide fame and recognition they knew they had. With the incredible instrumental "Orion" or the murderer riff of "Master of Puppets" among others, the album was destined to stay forever. A disc that has no waste, from beginning to end.

Despite the brilliance of the album, this album evokes a sad story, the death of Cliff Burton at the beginning of the album presentation tour.