Metallica's Reviews
Ride The Lightning (Average Rating: 9.50 out of 10)
Amazing transformation from Kill 'em All to this... (Rated this album with 10 out of 10)
Reviewed by
David M. Elliott
from Lovely Nebraska
If you listened to Kill 'em All and then popped in Ride the Lightning, you could easily be convinced that it was two different bands. Aside from the kiss-our-ass mentality of both albums, they are totally different, from Hetfield's voice to Lars' drumming to the song content, going from a leather and metal theme to introspective, well-thought lyrics.As soon as you hear the very pretty little acoustic opening of "Fight Fire With Fire" fade into rumbling distortion, you know this is gonna be heavy. The pounding begins and doesn't let up.
The title track "Ride the Lightning" is epic and amazing. The solos on this are some of the finest ever caught on tape as Kirk Hammett just kills.
"For Whom the Bell Tolls" has a signature Cliff Burton bass solo early in it that I can remember wondering if it was bass or guitar...he had such a distored sound that it was almost hard to believe it was a 4-stringer. A great song.
"Fade to Black" is a classic, a beautifully sad thing, beginning with another lovely acoustic intro (another example of these guys being anything but one dimensional) and ending with driving harmonies over Lars' thudding double kick. It was their first and best "ballad." The lyrics, dealing with suicide as the last and all-too-final answer, were slammed repeatedly for being pro-suicide, which wasn't the message at all. I always interpreted them as the opposite, a story of how suicide solves nothing.
"Trapped Under Ice" is another all-out blast of thrash, with jackhammering drums and more great guitar solos. I still feel worn out after listening to this song, nearly 16 years after the first time I heard it.
"Escape" is a hidden gem on the album, never mentioned in the long lists of Metallica's classics. It's a mid-tempo tune about coming to grips with feeling alone and isolated, and actually embracing it and rising above in spite of it. (Ah, youthful idealism...wherefore art thou nowadays?) An amazing song that's only slightly less amazing than the other amazing songs on this amazing album.
"Creeping Death" is another epic, and will always be remembered by me as the song that made a full arena chant "DIE! DIE! DIE!" for what must have been a full two minutes (University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena, January 16, 1989). An excellent song about biblical plague-type issues.
"The Call of Ktulu" is an amazing instrumental that featured each member's ability to create with their instruments (the Dave Mustaine influence is in here too...tell me the beginning doesn't make you think of "Good Mourning" off of Megadeth's Peace Sells...). It's a good way to end the experience of listening to Ride the Lightning. My friends and I still, to this day, debate over which is the best Metallica album, and it always comes down to either Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets. I agonize over this each and every time it's brought up. I think that if "Fade to Black" had been on Master of Puppets, then it would definitely be that album...there wouldn't be much agonizing. But, as it stands, it's a draw between the two (I know what you're thinking..."How can you talk about Metallica's best albums and not mention Load?" hehe, yeah right). Any early thrash metal fan worth his/her salt knows this album start to finish. If you think Metallica is defined by their tired, jaded, and poor albums "Load" and "S & M" and "St. Anger," then you are certainly misguided and need some edification. Start with Ride the Lightning.
Buy this album on Amazon at $13.99
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