(Rated this album with 8 out of 10) Reviewed by
Frank Ponce
from Norwalk, CA USA
"Ride the Lightning" is a solid album, and one of Metallica's best. I would give this album 4 and a half stars, but there's not a rating option here. I felt "Ride the Lightning" wasn't as good when compared to their next album, "Master of Puppets", but this album still packs a wallop. Metallica still has Cliff Burton, a great bassist. "Ride the Lightning" deals with death and dying with nearly all the songs. My favorite songs that deal with this is "Fight Fire with Fire", which opens a with a un-metal, but interesting guitar opening; the song deals with nucleur warfare. The title song is also good. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is nice as well. "Fade to Black", a ballad, is not as compelling in comparing to Metallica's other ballads, like "Welcome Home (Sanatarium). "Trapped Under Ice" is a rip-roaring song; Kirk Hammett does a nice job here. The rest of the songs are pretty good too. "The Call of Ktulu" is long, but is perfectly instrumented. Cliff Burton does his magic in this song. James Hetfield sounds young, as his voice seems to get stronger in later albums, but his vocals sound terrific. To sum it up, I'm defintly recommending this album, don't get me wrong I like this album. I'm really giving this 4 1/2 stars, not four.
