Ride The Lightning - Metallica > Reviews > So let it be written

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	The perfect heavy metal album
Disadvantages:	I'm afraid I can't think of any

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I'm a huge Metallica fan, and I have listened to and purchased almost every single Metallica album out there. But I have to say that Ride the Lightning is undoubtedly the best Metallica album out there.

There are many reasons for this. This album might have only reached 100 on the charts, but this album contained everything that a punk rock album needs. James Hetfield is consistent as the rhythm guitarist, always providing the riffs while Kirk Hammett, Metallica's lead guitarist, provides the amazing guitar solos (mroe detail when I describe the songs). Cliff Burton's innovativeness as a bassist is noticeable throughout the album, while Lars Ulrich is a powerful presence on the drums. Hetfield also provides some well-thought out lyrics for the songs, which are all based on death. When all these coalesce together, you can expect a heavy, full blown, electric sound that can be recognised as the full Metallica sound.

Is there anymore needed to create a great album? In my opinion, there isn't anything else that is needed to complete a great album.

Anyway, onto the album. The album has 8 songs, and here they are listed below:

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

All these songs are standouts, but I'll describe a few songs, which I thought were the best of this collection.

Fight Fire with Fire is an explosive opener, which is perfect for this album. The slow acoustic guitar intro builds into a speed metal craze in full distortion! The guitars, bass and drums stick well together during the fast main riff, and Hetfield's lyrics about nuclear war are expressed through a lot of anger, which is highly suitable for this song. Hammett's guitar solo is amazing, and as usual, done at a fast pace. A perfect opener for a classic album.

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a classic metal song, and perhaps one of the best out there! This song starts off with an amazing bass riff from Burton and after 30 or so seconds of hearing the bass, you soon here some stunning guitar work from Hammett. This soon breaks into the song's slow, but powerful main riff, which is backed up very well by the sheer power of Ulrich's drums and is kept well together by Burton and Hetfield. The lyrics are immense. The song's lyrics are about war and the phrase "for whom the bell tolls, time marches on" defines this song and the use of that phrase is perfect for this song. These are portrayed perfectly by Hetfield and is also done through anger. The ending from Hammett is particularly superb and does convey feelings of dying during the war through high-pitched squeals from the guitar, while the rhythm section stay together with a simple yet heavy two chord pattern. This is highly effective. A great song, and one of my all-time favourites!

Fade to Black is another song that is sent from heaven! The guitar work from Hammett is spectacular to say the least. His solo at the beginning creates this warm feeling and is done without any effects, and by the time it comes to the end, Hammett lets loose with a stunning solo that is revered as Metallica's best guitar solo (which is quite an accomplishment)! Hetfield plays the song's main riff on the acoustic guitar, which sounds peaceful, but once you hear the song's lyrics from Hetfield, you are unsure what to feel. The song is about suicide, and Hetfield does a good job conveying this resigned feeling throughout the song, but later let's out his feelings when he's about to say "goodbye". Back to Hetfield on rhythm guitar, he changes his main riff on the acoustic guitar into a heavy, fully distorted riff at the end. The bass and drums take a backseat in this song, merely providing the song's beat, but this is the only way this song could've worked, since a heavy presence of drums and bass would somewhat ruin the song's meaning and one will not feel the same feelings if the drums and bass were not such a presence. Anyway, a great song and another metal classic!

Creeping Death is a classic speed metal song. The fast riff at the beginning is astonishing! The band coalesces really well in this song, and for a fast song like this, it's incredibly difficult to keep up at this pace, but even better to make it sound amazing! The song is based on a story in Exodus, and to be exact, the story where Moses is trying to free fellow Jews from the Egyptians. The idea of death comes into this story when Moses kills all the first born sons, which in effect, frees the Jews. Hetfield does a good job in portraying the lyrics and does a good job keeping the rhythm section, along with Burton and Ulrich, together. Hammett has a magnificent guitar solo halfway into the song, and this contains an array of fast fingerwork, high-pitched bends, hammer ons. You can probably guess that this solo is amazing. He also has a cadenza at the end and this is done at an extremely fast pace, while it builds up in tempo. A great metal song, which is simply amazing.

The Call of Ktulu is probably the best heavy metal instrumental out there, and it is not hard to see why. Burton's innovativeness as a bassist is clearly evident. He uses a wah-wah pedal through a distorted pedal, which creates this unique sound that can be recognised only as Burton's. His presence as lead bass is immense and hearing the bass licks from Burton's bass is an amazing thing to here at any time! Ulrich's drums are also a domineering presence in the song. The diverse range of drumming patterns is complex yet fantastic and the use of the various drums on his drumkit are amazing. Hetfield's main riff is a presence throughout the song, and even this main riff is incredibly intricate! But, it's fun to listen to, and it really does gel together with Ulrich's and Burton's parts. Hammett's solo is probably one of the best guitar solos I've ever heard! This has everything a guitar solo needs: fast fingerwork, many pitch bends, the use of two pedals (distorted and wah-wah) and slides. Amazing (I know this has been emphasised a bit too much), is all I can say about this. Although long, this instrumental will go by in a flash! That's how great it is!

As you can see, I really love this album! This is a truly amazing album instrumentally and musically. If you want to know what's in the other songs, I'll sum it up for you below:

Ride the Lightning (song moves at moderate pace; lyrics are thoughts from a person on death row; excellent drum work near the end)

Trapped Under Ice (typical speed metal; lyrics based on drowning; Hammett's guitar work is incredibly complex)

Escape (about being in a maximum security prison; effective use of a bell; a good guitar solo from Hammett; excellent delay effect on lyrics at the end of the song)

Anyway, I would highly recommend that you purchase this album, especially you heavy metal freaks out there! This one is a classic and if you don't have this, you should be ashamed of yourself!

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the review.