Recorded in early 1984 at producer Flemming Rasmussen’s Copenhagen studio, Metallica would wait until the summer month of July to deliver their brand new offering, and what a beauty it was.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Metallica
ALBUM: Ride The Lightning
LABEL: Megaforce (USA), Music For Nations (UK)
SERIAL: MRI 769, MFN 27
YEAR: 1984
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: James Hetfield – lead vocals, guitars * Kirk Hammett – guitars * Cliff Burton – bass * Lars Ulrich – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Fight Fire With Fire * 02 Ride The Lightning * 03 For Whom The Bell Tolls * 04 Fade To Black * 05 Trapped Under Ice * 06 Escape * 07 Creeping Death * 08 The Call Of Ktulu
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Metallica’s 1984 album ‘Ride The Lightning’ is perhaps my favourite throughout their discography. I really should’ve written something about this LP years ago. Having delivered the debut ‘Kill Em All’ which wrapped up all of their early songs in one bundle, now was the time to surge ahead with new material.
Recorded in early 1984 at producer Flemming Rasmussen’s Copenhagen studio, Metallica would wait until the summer month of July to deliver their brand new offering, and what a beauty it was.
The Songs
After a brief acoustic interlude, there is some brutal metronomic drumming from Lars Ulrich which leads into ‘Fight Fire With Fire’. I’m not sure what the tempo is, but it must be well over 170 BPM! The title song ‘Ride The Lightning’ is all about the nasties of the electric chair (as you see from the album cover). ‘flash before my eyes, now it’s time to die.. burning in my brain, I can feel the pain’.
The big bell intro on ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’ reminds me of Ozzy Osbourne‘s ‘Center Of Eternity’ from the previous years ‘Bark At The Moon’. This track is a killer, and shows that Metallica don’t really have to operate at break-neck speed to get their point across. It’s a heavy intense affair with a guitar riff that is famous now as it was back then.. ‘for whom the bell tolls, time marches on..’
To further embellish my point from the previous song, Metallica’s first proper ballad ‘Fade To Black’ shows their fanbase that a power ballad is not beneath them. In fact, FTB is a beautiful acoustic/electric hybrid stretch at a touch on 7 minutes.
We return to Metallica sans speed with the terrific ‘Trapped Under Ice’, while ‘Escape’ which follows operates at a more sedate pace. Another track that easily finds itself at the top of Metallica’s popularity list is the effortless metal of ‘Creeping Death’, still a great listen all these years later. The closer ‘The Call Of Ktulu’ is an instrumental, which was also a Dave Mustaine co-write, and is a 9 minute guitar based workout.
In Summary
No two ways about it, ‘Ride The Lightning’ was a great album which reinforced their stakes and claim to being one of the pre-eminent metal bands of the 80’s. RTL’s popularity among Metallica fans is still evident today. The band would spiral to new heights with the late 80’s pairing of ‘Master Of Puppets’ and ‘.. And Justice For All’ while 1991’s Black album put the band well over the top.
Video
Entire Album (Select Tracks)
