Ride The Lightning - Metallica

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	8 amazing tracks, great energy, great riffage, great lyrics !
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Ride The Lightning - Metallica!

'Who Are Metallica?'

Who are Metallica? Well Metallica are one of the biggest metal band of all time, have dominated the thrash scene, they've made some of the greatest albums of all time (this being the best), has one of the greatest guitarists of all time, Kirk Hammett, in their arsenal and have amassed over 100 million album sales since their release of 'Kill 'Em All' in 1983.
Over the last 25 years Metallica have released a total of 9 studio albums, 2 live albums and 1 album consisting of coverers and tributes.
Although Metallica started out by making four amazing album, they are still not only one of the greatest thrash bands but also the biggest sell outs, with such pieces of trash like Load, Re-Load, Garage Inc. and worst of all St. Anger! But despite this Metallica is one of my favourite all time bands and one I will eventually see live, but this is Ride The Lightning, this is not a sell out album, so hear comes the thrash!

'Line-up'

Lead Vocals and Rhythm Guitar - James Hetfield
Lead Guitar - Kirk Hammett
Drums - Lars Ulrich
Bass Guitar - Cliff Burton

'The Album'

Ride the Lightning was released in 1984 and was the follow up to the greatly successful Kill 'Em All album that was released only a year prior to this masterpiece, 25 years later and some Metallica fans will argue that this album is their best, I most certainly will, although Master of Puppets was a landmark in Thrash metal and voted the best metal album of all time, according to Metal-Rules.com but this album most certainly has a very different and much heavier feel to it.
Since 1984 Metallica has sold almost 6 million copies, which for its genre, is pretty good and albums shouldn't be judged on sales as this only shows popularity not quality, I mean not one true Metallica fan will say that the black album was their best album, but that has by far sold the most, after which Metallica was labelled as sell outs, but I'm not here to discuss that, I'm hear to talk about one of the greatest albums in metals history, it's time to Ride the Lightning.

'Album Art'

Basically plays up to the whole lightning theme by having 'Metallica' induced with a fierce glow of lightning, dark clouds in the background producing a few bolts of lightning and having the old electric chair in the middle, this comes into relevance with the title song 'Ride the Lightning' with the lyrics 'strapped in the electric chair' and I personally love the look of this album next to Master of Puppets as that is red and the mix of blue and red goes quite well, so credit where its due to Metallica, a simple yet effective piece of artwork.'Track List'

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. The Call of Ktulu

'Fight Fire With Fire'

I love the way this song opens the album, it's a brilliant intro, it stars off with an acoustic guitar, but even that sounds a little heavy, with other guitar parts in the background, this only last around 20 seconds until Metallica do what they always did in the early 80's and that's play some heavy thrash metal!
True to Metallica this opening riff is heavy, simple and so very hard hitting, it just knocks you out of your seat, puts you on your feat and makes you pull out that beautiful looking air guitar, thrash at its best.
First time I heard this I found the vocals a bit odd, just the way it's like a word at a time 'Do…On…..To others…..As…..They've done to you' but even though it's a bit strange its still really catchy and goes well with the backing music, which does help when playing air guitar, and if you've ever wanted a solo to air guitar to here's a brilliant one, the intro to this solo is one of the albums best, reminds me of the solo intro to No Remorse, another Metallica classic.
There isn't really much else to this song, a catchy and simple chorus just 'Fight fire with fire, the ending is near…' and towards the end of the song the words 'Fight fire with fire' is just repeated fore a while until James is almost screaming it.
Now this song, to me, is just an intro to the title track as the ending part with just a quick repetitive beat on the drum, like the heavy part on 'One' leads straight into the killer opening riff off 'Ride the Lightning' and when listening to it on iTunes, as I am now, they miss out the few seconds of nothingness and go straight into the next song, so I'd advise using iTunes for this album.

10/10

'Ride The Lightning'

With a Brilliant opening riff and guess what? It's easy again! But Metallica are so good at it, look at Paranoid, simple yet still good after over 30 years. Now this track is my 3rd favourite of the album and this is because of three things, number one, it's a song that shows the rest of the world that Lars is an awesome drummer and the thick beats at the start gives the good old head banging feel to the song, number two, the riff after the intro that takes you to a new world of head banging, this riff caves your head in! Finally, have you heard Kirks solo? What a solo, another amazing solo entry with the tapping and then another minute or so of pure solo, how much more can you ask for?
This song is album downloadable on Rock Band and when my friends are over it's always on our play list if get to choose our songs but it is one I really struggle to do on expert as that solo is extremely hard.
Lyrically it's a song about someone facing the electric chair, hence the album art and basically I like the fact they did a six minute song on the electric chair and the emotion that comes with it, again a lot of talk about death, as usual, with a catchy melody playing with a great riff, perfect, I also love the chorus:

Flash before my eyes
Now it's time to die
Burning in my brain
I can feel the flame

Its just really catchy and what more could you say about an electric chair besides flashes, dieing and burning brains, nice one Metallica. The song closes out with a repetitive riff of power chords and hard picking before the intro riff finishes it off, then we enter For Whom the Bell Tolls, are you ready for 'Tallica heaven?

10/10

'For Whom The Bell Tolls'

One of Metallica's all time classic, a really simple song as a whole; the intro just shows any bass haters what the instrument can do when used by a trained professional like Cliff Burton, one of the greatest bassists to have lived, along with Steve Harris who is probably the best.
The simple power chords and the powerful bass riff combine extremely well and just sets the song up for so many brilliant yet easy riffs, the hard hitting heaviness of the first one as the guitars slide up the neck producing such an effortless amount of heaviness, this of course is then destroyed with one of Metallica's best riffs, played a total of 16 times by Kirk Hammett before entering into the chorus riff. That's the traditional 2 minutes of intro by Metallica.
Now into the verse and surprise surprise yet another simple riff, well just a power chord actually, couldn't make it much easier, yet somehow Metallica makes the song feel so electrified and with the lyrics about death, possibly in relation to the novel 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' by Ernest Hemingway, but I just love the lyrics:

Take a look to the sky just before you die
It is the last time you will

Relatively simplistic lyrics with a very catchy rhyme pattern and a very catchy chorus to match, 'For whom the bell tolls, Time marches on' easy enough and that's probably why its such a great crowd pleaser, well and the fact that there is no solo so its pretty easy for them to do live, unlike the rest of the songs. The song slowly in a similar way to how it started but with a little bit of craziness from Kirk to make up for the lack of solo, then the song goes onto one of the best Metallica songs and one of the best songs ever made, in my mind, Fade To Black.

10/10

'Fade To Black'

This is defiantly my favourite track off the album and quite possibly my favourite Metallica song of all time. The slow intro of the clean acoustic guitars is met with a soft solo, beautifully crafted from the hands of Kirk Hammett. This is also the first song on the album that Kirk has been credited for in terms of the writing process.

Then after the long introduction the riff changes, though still using the acoustics which gives this song a much more epic and emotional feel. After a few seconds the drums begin to softly play along and you know that the song has moved into full swing and we only await the lyrics of James Hetfeild to come in.

Next the words 'Life it seems, will fade away, Drifting further every day' are sung wonderfully and again soft, fitting in with the mood of the song. This mood keeps with the song throughout the first verse where it then begins to show the darker side to the song as the lyrics 'Need the end to set me free' are sung and the mood of the song rapidly switches from soft and gentle, to hard and heavy.

This only lasts about 20 seconds before the song goes back to its original verse riff and another slow background solo goes throughout the verse. Then again, like before, the mood changes as the words 'I was me, but now hes gone.'

The darkness is then kept thought the song instead of going back to the slower feel like before and this is where Metallica show how great they are as guitarists. The riff changes, to a 3 part riff with a quick tremolo section for the riffs tail as 4 frets are used to give it that extra edge and create a much more dynamic feel, basically its one of the greatest riffs of all time, and so energetic.

The last 2 minutes of the song is then pure instrumental and is truly great. It's hard to describe I suggest listening to the song yourself. Watch out for the solo, as even though its quite slow at the beginning it does pick up to a much faster pace and I believe some tapping is used towards the end, which is typical of Kirk with songs such as 'One' that uses this technique, then he goes back to the original solo rhythm and this continues as the song begins to fade out which is ironic considering the song title.

10/10

'Trapped Under Ice'

Yet again Metallica builds suspense through a 30 second introduction, mainly consisting of power chords and a simple drum beat, this is all before Kirk Hammett steps in and like No Remorse all you here is hardcore solo and what an intro to a solo, with plenty of bends and typical thrash speed.
The verse is again played with speed and a lot of open strings, this really does sound good and with the lyrics of 'I don't know how to live through this hell' that blends well, as usual, with the rest of the song, this is a song I love singing and playing guitar to on Guitar Hero World Tour, feels just like being James Hetfield, which is nice to feel.
The chorus again like most of Metallica's early songs is a catchy melody and a much slower backing music, something they are brilliant at, just look at the pace changes in Fade to Black or One, the lyrics go:

Freezing
Can't move at all
Screaming
Can't hear my call
I am dying to live
Cry out
I'm trapped under ice

Great to sing along to whilst playing the lead guitar, or the air guitar, either one works well, then solo number 2 kicks in and of course it's a good one, what did you expect? The only flaw is that this song only has two minor solos, but is lacking that epic over the top 1 minute long solo and doesn't really provide enough unique riffage to back up the lack of long solo like for whom the bell tolls.
Overall though a good start to the second half of the album, which is the weaker half of the album, still 4 great songs, but it's hard to measure with what has come before. The song then ends, pretty fast before going into Escape.

9.5/10

'Escape'

Escape, although a good song, it is probably the worst song on the album, only just behind Trapped Under Ice, it's just that song had a blistering opening solo. The song opens relatively slow, with no real energy in either the intro or the repetitiveness off the verse riff, this song is basically saved through the quality of the sound, even though the verse riff is just constant open E strings, it does sound hard and heavy, which is always nice, also the chorus is yet again really catchy and soft:

Out for my own, out to be free
One with my mind, they just can't see
No need to hear things that they say
Life's for my own to live my own way

I'm a man for catchy melodies and fun-to-sing lyrics, one of the reasons why I love Maiden so much and this song luckily provides us with that catchiness. Now I love Metallica and all but this isn't one of Kirks best solos, it does fit with the song well, possibly too well as I fancied a really fast solo to overlap the riff, instead I didn't really feel much energy, then the song plays with the last line of the chorus being repeated as a siren sounds in the background this then fades away until you hear the sound of Creeping Death!

9/10

'Creeping Death'

In terms of intros, this has to be one of the best on the album and one of the best in Metallica's history, beaten of course by Master of Puppets, but not only does this have a great riff with a lot of head banging potential, but it also has a great riff for the verse and is one of those songs that combines everything to create an amazing song and if we talk about energy then this song is a power plant of pure pleasure.
Lyrically the song is about the old Moses thing and the Egyptians, letting the people go and all the rest of it, but the way James enters with the first lyrics is what does it for me, as soon as I heard that I was up and singing with my air guitar, nothing different there.

Slaves
Hebrews born to serve, to the pharaoh
Heed
To his every word, live in fear

The chorus is then said through the eyes of the thing that comes and kills all the first born children, don't know what it was, don't believe in it either, but I makes a good song, the chorus isn't as catchy as the verse but its still brilliant.

So let it be written
So let it be done
I'm sent here by the chosen one
So let it be written
So let it be done
To kill the first born pharaoh's son
I'm creeping death

As choruses go it's not my favourite but it does well for the track and does flow pretty well, now a song with this sort of start, fantastic intro, quality lyrics, has to be backed up with a good solo, I bet your surprised to hear that this one is pretty good, not my favourite solo but it still has a good sound and speed for the song and the bit played out at the end has a really nice tune to it before going into the slower part of the song.
This part is again, pure headbanging, traditional of thrash metal, with slower vocals but with the same theme of death and killing the first born son, very nice. The song continues with another verse and chorus, before ending with a little simplistic riff and another sort of half solo type riff then back to the intro like on Ride the Lightning, this of chorus setting it up for the next song, The Call of Ktulu.

10/10

'The Call of Ktulu'

Right, this is defiantly the hardest song on the album to talk about, for two reasons, one it's really long, almost 9 minutes in fact and second of all, it's an instrumental, so I can't talk about lyrics, just pure music.
It's actually surprising how quick this song goes, as there is so much going on, your mind gets taken away due to the speed changes and the different riffs, it really is a brilliant song. The introduction is both beautiful and some how rather sexy, which is weird for a Metallica song, well I find it sexy, probably because I'm a little strange but it doesn't deny the fact it's a good intro, with, thanks to Cliff Burton, a really good bass line at a different pace to the other riff that adds that dynamic feel to the song.
Then after about a minute or so the riff changes, you'll find this a lot, and your taken somewhere else from where you thought you was going and although this part is rather heavy, its still soft, don't ask me how, it just is. The rhythm carries on until around 4 minutes where it picks up from some good guitar work and eventual soloing from Kirk but with a slower background sound, now we're at the half way point, don't worry it gets better from here, somehow, well it starts off getting better with a much heavier feel and a lot more vertical movement up the neck of the guitar giving increasing note sound that begins to build towards the next stage of the song.
The pace then gets slower before continuing with a new riff and this has a nice little headbanging moment as it draws to the final few minutes of the song and as its an instrumental everything takes long, each passage extended so you will find a lot of repetition before it goes back to the intro part, this is where the final outro of the album comes, with a build up from the drums and an final power chord riff that should used a lot more frequently, but is still a brilliant closing to any album, basically by this point your ready to start again as your slightly gutted its come to an end whilst being chuffed with how good it was. So that's The Call of Ktulu, a weird name and one that I don't think I can say correctly, but a good song none the less.

10/10

Conclusion

Well, what can I say? This is my favourite Metallica album and possibly my second favourite album of all time, just behind Painkiller and only just above Powerslave. Its an album that shows what Metallica where capable of, of course we all now know that they've lost that edge with their age and are now trying to redeem themselves with Death Magnetic, which is their best album since selling out in 1991, but still, its no Ride the Lightning and nothing they ever do will compare with this album, if you're a fan of heavy metal then you don't need me to describe the feeling of this album, if your not then I either suggest you listen to it, or you start off lighter and build yourself up.

Rating 78.5/80 ----- 98%
Total album time: 47:24

Rampant_Ross

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