For all the Metal Maniacs.....This is a Never to be missed album.After their foray into the Hard Rock bandwagon with a superlative debut in ’’Kill’em All’’, Metallica showed to the world their true caliber with an unbelievable album.... ’’Ride the Lightning’’.
Made in 1984, this gripping features only 8 songs for a total playing time of 47 minutes and 23 seconds, yet it contains some excellent tunes.From the hard-hitting opening tune Fight Fire with Fire{this song had many Metallica fans shocked and disheveled when it started out with an acoustic intro} to the haunting yet heavy The Call of Ktulu, this album features some of the best songs I have ever heard Metallica play.
’’Fade to Black’’ with its rhythm, ’’For whom the Bell Tolls’’ for its Gothic Symphony and ’’Ride the Lightning’’ for its pace and adrenaline, this album is a sheer treat....Hell Yeah!But my favorite song off this album is ’’Creeping Death’’.....the most righteous of all songs on Ride The Lighting.It would certainly have been my favorite Metallica song if they never put out ’’One’’. It features a most strident ’’Die... Die.. Die’’ chant section that so epitomizes metal rock. The other two songs in the album ’’Escape’’ and ’’Trapped under Ice are no pushovers though....they might have been classic pieces for any other bands albums.
The vocals of James Hetfield became much better than on the band’s previous album, Kill ’Em All, and Cliff Burton remains one of the best bass players in history...but alas.
Ride The Lightning was the first example of Metallica’s understanding of complex melodies and classically-inspired layering. Its not the case where ’’ You miss and I hit’’.....for ’’Ride the Lightning’’ the term is to be rephrased as ’’You Miss and You are Hit!!’’