band. One day after arriving in New York the band decided to formally relieve Mustaine of his duties. He was sent back to California and Kirk Hammett flew in to New York the next day. (Doughton 39-41)Almost immediately after the change the band went into a recording studio in Rochester, New York and recorded their first album, "Kill 'Em All." In the first two weeks of sales the album sold twenty thousand copies. This was an impressive feat considering Metallica was on an independent label and did not get that much exposure. They followed this success with the "Kill 'Em All for One" tour, which helped Metallica create a following. Afterwards the band left the United States and headed to Lars' home in Copenhagen, Denmark to begin work on what would be their second album, "Ride the Lightning." This album became even more popular than its predecessor, mainly because a part of it created some controversy. A song called "Fade to Black" had lyrics that some viewed as pro-suicide. An excerpt of the song includes:Things not what they used to be;Missing one inside of me.Deathly lost this can't be real;Cannot stand this hell I feel.Emptiness is filling me;To the point of agony.Growing darkness taking dawn;I was me but now he's gone.Even though many critics deemed this as pro-suicide the band vehemently refused being labeled this. Soon after this was made public hundreds of thousands of fans wrote in saying how the song helped them and in effect steered them away from suicide. The public had spoken and they were in favor of Metallica. (Doughton 56-57)With public notoriety on their side Metallica decided to launch their first ever major European tour. It was a huge success and each night the band drew close to an average of thirteen hundred fans per show. They then returned to the United States and finished up their tour in mid nineteen eighty-five. Metallica then got some well-deserved rest before returning to the studio to begin wo...
