Metallica's Reviews
Ride The Lightning (Average Rating: 9.50 out of 10)
Ride the Lightning - classic Metallica (Rated this album with 10 out of 10)
Reviewed by
kgoody233
from Cincinnati, OH United States
While Metallica arguably peaked creatively and commercially with the Black Album and its hit singles, "Enter Sandman, "Sad But True", "Where I May Roam" and "Nothing Else Matters", Ride the Lightning, and its successor, Master of Puppets, rank among their most ambitious, and best work. Ride the Lightning is essentially a hint at what was to come with Master Of Puppets, considered by many to be their masterpiece. Ride the Lightning is not a masterpiece in totality due to its weaker cuts, but given its time (1984) and the musical climate it was written in...it's still exceptional.
Choice cuts like the title track, "Ride the Lightning", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Fade to Black" and "Creeping Death" are now rock radio staples - and with good reason...they're incredible. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is such a leap forward for Metallica from it's "Kill Em All" days - only "Seek and Destroy" from that album comes close to rivaling it. "Fade to Black" is a solemn trip towards suicide, with the track fittingly fading out perfectly. The real gem here though is track seven "Creeping Death", a harrowing reaccount of Moses's bout with the Pharaoh. Yes, it seems ironic that Metallica went biblical - but they did, and created a bonafide metal classic for all time, as stunning lyrically as it is musically. Final track, "Call of Ktulu" began what became a Metallica staple, the instrumental track. It also helped them emblazon their trademark classical-sounding interludes that would also become their trademark. Metallica was a band that made its reputation on playing harder, faster, and louder than anyone else. What folks don't realize is that wedged between the speed and volume are strong melodies and incredibly sharp musicianship. Ride the Lightning, with its intricate interludes as well as fast playing, begins to showcase Metallica as more than just metal hacks, but very skilled musicians. On the strength of its four best cuts, Ride the Lightning is a five-star album. Given its time period, and the music climate existing at the time, it was completely different than anything else existing, and helped pioneer and inspire an endless horde of imitators, the least of which whom could hold a candle to the original masters of metal. Simply put, Ride the Lightning is a (hard) rock classic that has stood the test of time.
Buy this album on Amazon at $13.99
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