
Metallica, then consisting of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Dave Mustaine and Cliff Burton, originally wanted to call the album Metal Up Your A** - the cover art would have featured a toilet bowl with a hand clutching a dagger emerging from it.
Distributors refused to carry the album with that title and the band’s label convinced them to change it. Cliff Burton (who was later killed in a bus accident while on tour) came up with the title Kill ‘Em All, a veiled reference to the record distributors who had balked at their original title.
The album was not a commercial success and peaked at #120 on the Billboard Top 200 in 1988.