Metallica's Reviews
Ride The Lightning (Average Rating: 9.50 out of 10)
Awesome power (Rated this album with 10 out of 10)
Reviewed by
Mark Sasaki
from Sydney, Australia
As soon as I heard the title track I knew this album was something special. I am yet to find a thrash album with such a dominant theme, or 'feel' to it as RTL. Just looking at cover now captures what the album is all about - spine tingling power. It starts off with a sold thump in the form of 'Fight Fire with Fire', with a great intro and riffing. The crossover between tracks 1 and 2 is awesome. The title track 'Ride the lightning' is in my opinion one of the most underrated songs in the whole of rock music. If there can be a perfect heavy metal song it has to be this one. AWESOME intro, one of the greatest Metallica guitar solos and James Hetfield's vocals at his peak. His screaching '...wakened by horrid screams, freed from this freightning dream' is absolutely fantastic, I wish he had sung more like that in the other Metallica albums. This song, clocking in at 6:36, would make this album 10/10 even if that was the only good song on there. But it ain't... 'For whom the bell tolls' is an excellent innovation, in that the majority of the song's time is taken up in the excellent, plodding intro and the creepy fade out. This is also the only song on the album with no guitar solo. This track also stands out because of the terrific visual imagery it creates - despite being relateively short compared with the other tracks, it conveys a vivid atmosphere and aura of being in a wartime battle 'Fade to black' is very popular, but to be honest it doesn't do a lot for me. It serves the useful purpose of slowing the pace down significantly after the blistering speed of the earlier tracks. Very morbid, with lyrics that I have grown weary of over time and a moderate guitar solo. Definately not one of their best; its an average metal ballad. 'Trapped under ice' picks up the pace once again and provides the albums fastest song. Its a standard thrash outing with, once again, absolutely brilliant imagery created largely by Hetfield's lyrics and vocals. Guitar solo is short and sweet, could have been a little longer and more complex. 'Escape' I feel is the weakest song, although my lack of love of this song is probably because it is significantly overshadowed by the other monster tracks on this album. The whole track lacks direction, with a pretty weak riff and solo. The lyrics are also substandard compared with the other masterpieces. 'Creeping death' is a terrific track, with excellent speed throughout. It tells of the plight of the Hebrews in the Old testament of the Bible, and is not a bad summary of the situation (for people like me who don't know too much about it!) A pretty good solo and high intensity throughout. Once again Hetfield shines in the vocals. 'The Call of Ktulu' - in my opinion, the GREATEST metal instrumental ever recorded. This song is just so well structured and executed by the boys that it is hard to believe its the same band as they are today with the stuff they have released lately. This is Metallica at their most powerful - the riffs and underlying chords used in this 9 minute monster are very complex and need to be listened to carefully to derive full enjoyment. An excellent solo by Hammett complements a suburb drum and base track by Ulrich and Burton repectively - the sudden speed up after the solo really gets me going, even after so many times of listening. In terms of metal creativity it doesn't get any better - the final stages of the track are so original in their design, with an absolutely explosive finish. Listen to this one LOUD!!! Overall a brilliant metal opus, especially considering it is now 20 years since its release.
Buy this album on Amazon at $13.99
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