Product ReviewsRide the Lightning by Metallica (CD, Jul-1987, Elektra (Label))

Awesome Album

This has everything you want in Metallica. Fight Fire With Fire and Trapped Under Ice bring you the speed. Fade to Black will give you the power ballad with a good solo at the end. The Call of Ktulu is a great instrumental. For Whom the Bell Tolls is a great mid pace song that is often played on the radio. The title cut has a fantastic arrangement of different riffs and moods. Creeping Death is my favorite that just kicks you in the face with a story from the book of Exodus. Perhaps a certain bay area rival inspired that song. Highly recommended for anyone just getting into Metallica.Read full review...

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Ride The Lightning

Track listing
1. Fight Fire With Fire
2. Ride The Lightning
3. For Whom The Bell Tolls
4. Fade To Black
5. Trapped Under Ice
6. Escape
7. Creeping Death
8. Call Of Ktulu, Ther>
Details
Playing time: 47 min.
Producer: Mark Whittaker, Metallica
Distributor: WEA
Recording type: Studio
Recording mode: Stereo
SPAR Code: AAD

Album notes
Metallica: James Hetfield (vocals, guitar); Kirk Hammett (guitar); Cliff Burton (bass); Lars Ulrich (drums).
Recorded at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark in Spring 1984.
Metallica turned the metal world on its ear with their debut album, KILL 'EM ALL and then blew its mind with the follow-up, RIDE THE LIGHTNING. The riffs and arrangements are more intricate, the lyrics are more intelligent and biting and James Hetfield's growl is meaner. The set starts out with two tunes that would have been right at home on KILL 'EM ALL, but the next two are slower and more involved. "Ride The Lightning" is a slow (by Metallica's standards) dirge about the futility of war. "Fade To Black" is a ballad (!) that builds to an instrumental coda featuring the guitar melodies that the band would later base their sound around. It's also Hetfield's first attempt at singing in tune. The most ambitious song is a dense instrumental, "The Call Of Ktulu," that starts with a single arpeggiated guitar and slowly adds layer upon layer, building in intensity until it all comes crashing down nine minutes later.Read full review...

Masterpiece

CD, case, and lyrics booklet were all in outstanding condition. The album itself is some of Metallica's best work, one of the best thrash metal albums ever made. Great production, striking the perfect balance between rawness and a clean and crisp sound, a great treatment of some very heavy subject matter in the lyrical content, and some amazing riffs. The song Escape is definitely a weak point of the album, but the rest of the record is filled with classic after classic. Must have for any metal fan.Read full review...

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A Thrash Classic!!

Metallica will always have a special place in my heart as the band that got me into metal. The Black Album was it for me until I decided to do some digging. And found out that, WOAH, Metallica was one of the founders of a genre called thrash metal. Unfamiliar at the time when I was around 12 years old, I decided I would take a listen and I am forever changed because of it.

“Ride the Lightning” displays excellent song writing but doesn’t leave out the thrash Metallica was so good at making. “Kill Em’ All” was pretty much straight alcoholic thrash metal. While the alcoholism was still there, “Ride the Lightning” shows more maturity in their writing styles. While their debut is still my favorite, their second album is still godly among the beginnings of thrash metal.

Starting with the production, it’s probably a little better than the debut. The production on RTL is still very raw but it is a step up. The guitars are still crunchy and heavy. The drums sound pretty amazing; except for the fact that the bass drum doesn’t exist except for when he hits a crash but it’s not a big deal. The bass is audible but could be a bit louder. James’ vocals are amazing. I don’t see how anyone could not like his early vocals. They are not as high as “Kill Em’ All” but still maintain that angry James Hetfield that I love.

As far as speed goes, this album still delivers. It’s not as fast as their debut but it still gets the job done. “Fight Fire with Fire” is arguably their fastest song. The riffs are extremely fast. “Ride the Lightning” is a pretty mid-paced song that turns into pure thrash during the solo. “Trapped Under Ice” is another full speed thrasher from beginning to end that has some awesome gang vocals. The other speedy song on here is “Creeping Death”. Now it’s not “Fight Fire with Fire” speed but it is still pretty fast.

Song writing has stepped up tremendously on this album. Kirk seemed to write his solos more carefully instead of shredding thrash solos on the debut. The riff in “Creeping Death” is great example of how their writing has improved. “The Call of Ktulu” is the longest song on here and is an amazing instrumental. The beginning is very creepy and the song is easily as good as or maybe even better than “Orion”. Cliff really shines on this song as well as “For Whom the Bell Tolls”.

This album is killer thrash and is essential to own if you like thrash metal. And for all you idiots who write Metallica off for selling out, grow up and listen to one of the founders of the genre you say you love so much. This album is truly a thrash classic and you’re missing out if you don’t have it.

Best tracks – “Fight Fire with Fire”, “Trapped Under Ice”, and “Creeping Death”Read full review...

Highly technical and definitive album of the 80's!

So much more than metal. The technical skills combined with grace and out right talent of the band are displayed with pristine clarity on this early Metallica album. You can really tell they're still "hungry". .. a true masterpiece of Heavy Metal. 🎸Read full review...

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Simply my favorite Metallica of all time!

This is classic heavy metal at its finest! Being a Metallica fan in the 1980's, I really enjoy the earliest releases the best of all the bands career. In fact, after the Black album I really started to question the band and what it was doing (they put out some real crap after that). If asked I instantly (without thinking) say this is my all-time favorite Metallica title. It flows, follows a theme and is musically superior to all of their other music except for maybe "Master of Puppets" or "And Justice for All" (which I would rank as good as Ride). I'm biased I guess, I'm old-school metal-head so I prefer the pounding drums, the awesome guitars and the statements that the songs used to make "back in the day" and that is why I chose this over any other Metallica cd to play at home on a regular basis (after all these years!).Read full review...

Truely Great Metal Album!

If you know metal this album should be in your library! Always on the cutting edge of thrash this is a great piece of work by the greatest metal band of our time! Metallica goes right for the throat and then caps it off with the greatest power balad ever written! Forget the BS about selling out or possers! This band has always played it fast and tasty!!!!! As you get older you become better at what you do and your views change! This album helped change thrash music for good! No stupid screaming or heroin songs here! Truely one that has stood the test of time!!!!!Read full review...

Totally rocks!

My favorite Metallica cd album so far. Love to listen to it on my car stereo and totally rock out. Great therapy for commuter stress! My dad had Pavarotti for his commutes.For me it’s Metallica! Especially this album.Read full review...

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one of the greatest albums of all time

this is an incredible cd metallica definately knocked it out of the park on their second album. heavy metal of the highest order would recommend to anyone who's interested in starting a metallica collection. Read full review...

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More of the same awesomeness

Metallica fans will love it. Metal attack

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