Metallica - Ride the Lightning

Don't let that classical-guitar-ish opening to "Fight Fire with Fire" fool you--Ride the Lightning packs a heavy-metal wallop. While not as ambitious as the subsequent Master of Puppets, this early Metallica album is indubitably one of their best. Thematically, it explores death and dying from myriad points of view: nuclear war ("Fight Fire with Fire"), electric-chair execution (the title track), and drowning ("Trapped Under Ice"). Interestingly, the best track on this album is probably "Fade to Black," a slower, more introspective song about suicide. There's also "Creeping Death," which remains a concert favorite. An excellent mix of rapid-fire guitar riffs, rip-roaring solos, and singer James Hetfield's trademark growl, this is thrash metal at its finest. Very highly recommended. --Genevieve Williams Amazon.com essential recording

 Metal from the good old days
"Ride the Lightning" was my first ever Metallica recording, and I love it. Made in less bass-worshipping days, the treble heavy sound is rough and metallic. The playing is, as it always is, fast and furious. Some of the greatest metal compositions are to be found on this album, including "For Whom the Bells Toll", "Creeping Death", and of course "Fade to Black".

The album definitely representend a refinement in terms of playing, composition, and production as compared to the first album "Kill 'Em All", but we are still talking about the very roots of the thrash genre here. Uncompromising metal from the kings of thrash. Highly recommendable. April 22, 2008

 Great CD
The only problem I have with it is that the sound quality isnt as good as it should be, but any old school metallica fan should buy this. March 29, 2008

 Semi-genius in its time, now merely heavy
4 stars for what it is in the history of metal, 3 stars for how it now
compares to what it was back in the day.

In short: when this came out, heads turned and then banged, hard. Seemed miraculously heavy at the time, but of course this looks like Romper Room now after bands like Carcass etc (none of whom do much for me after a "tune" or two). I love true heaviness, which comes (to my ears) from extreme tightness between the drummer, bassist (kickdrum and bass locked in tight over the riff, specifically) and guitars. Here we have one of the great heavy rhythm players and a fine metal drummer. But Lars and James are only half of this band. Kirk is WAY overrated as a lead player, very prosaic and uninspired, miles from someone like Randy Rhoads. And man, after the decades of Cliff-worship, this album proves that legend is often myth. The bass playing here is merely average, truly. There are dozens of heavier and tighter bassists; Cliff may have been a party monster and added to the vibe that way but his playing is average. Geddy, Geezer, Harris, etc etc etc blow him off the map.
That said, there are some fast and furious highlights here, but frankly everything is so on top of or ahead of the beat that it gets wearing after a few tunes. About one minute into Bell Tolls is a highlight because everybody locks in but the guitars are finally a bit back in the pocket and everything gets much heavier and fatter due to that. That's why the Black album hit so hard: producer Rock knew how to make their groove much fatter and got them focusing on melody as well as heaviness. The Black is too poppy to be real metal but is good for what it is, as is this. But neither is as good as Puppets, which has their most intense moments.
This is a great thrash album, but that genre gets real old if you want music as well as power. But if power and release is all you want, this will do it for you. But if you really want that, go to the various (FREEEEE!!!) Metallica tape-trading sites and get the live shows from this and later periods; that's where the real heaviness lays. Funny that the best stuff is free, ain't it? Who says life is always unfair?
March 25, 2008

 9.5 stars - only Master of Puppets can top it
I first heard this album at the age of 14. My rock/metal experience up to that point was composed primarily of Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Ozzy (Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman were my favorites). One of my friends introduced me to Metallica one afternoon and it was like a cannon report in the early morning hours! I sat up and took notice immediately as "Fight Fire With Fire" kicked things off with a nice clean channel guitar harmony that suddenly exploded with intensity.

It was like waking up to a whole new perspective. I've had this experience a few times before and since, including Slayer's "Reign in Blood", Tool's "Aenima", Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", and John Coltrane's "Blue Train".

Being a guitar player, I picked "Fade to Black" as the first track to learn from the album. The remainder I learned over the next couple of years. "Creeping Death" was on the cover set list for my first band and I loved butchering Kirk Hammett's solo on a regular basis. "Call of Ktulu" never allowed me to forget (even when Megadeth's "So Far, So Good... So What?" came out) that Dave Mustaine was still out there somewhere and his unique brand of metal music genius wouldn't remain dormant for long.

It's my opinion that this is no "Master of Puppets". I realize that it's all subjective and many Metallica fans would argue otherwise, but I'm going to stick to my guns here. RtL is an awesome release in its own right...but MoP is as close to divinity as a metal album can get without bursting into flames.

All sumo foot-stompin' aside...you really cannot go wrong with this one. I played one cassette and one CD of this album to death during my teen years and it has since found a new digitized home on my iPod, where it'll remain for years to come. I'd even venture a guess that I'll probably be barking about the wasted youth of some future generation from my wheelchair, while Ride the Lightning pops a speaker in the background. March 22, 2008

 Best Metallica Album
There is Great music, then there is Metallica. This album showcases everything I love about Metallica. Sure, "Master of Puppets" has a few great songs, and so does "And Justice For All". However, those two great albums pale to their predecessor, Ride the Lightning. This album has great vocals, great Guitar playing, good druming and killer Lyrics. This Album is an instant classic. March 18, 2008

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