MattA75's Full Review: Ride the Lightning by Metallica
I'll say this once, and only once:
If today's bands grew as much as Metallica did in between their first and second records, not only would metal be in a far different place in the mainstream, but rock in general would be able to lose all that is awful about rock today (I'm speaking to the Hoobastanks and Nickelbacks of the world).
Metallica's debut, Kill 'Em All, is commonly referred to as the first "thrash" or "speed metal" record. To be quite honest, I don't know enough about the genre to actually say it is or it isn't. But while Kill 'Em All was dominated most of the time by said speed metal, the band's follow up, Ride the Lightning, is shocking in its precision and artistry.
Oh it still rocks, hell, the opening track is as brutal an assault on the senses as Metallica ever deigned to create. Fight Fire With Fire doesn't start that way, instead, it opens with a bit of classical acoustic guitar, a piece that sounds very medieval sounding in atmosphere. And therefore, the full on move into headbanging hell can be a bit surprising. It also starts the band's obession with death, in various forms, that carries throughout the record. Here the band is examining nuclear war, but its not the only hot button issue of the time they tackle.
The title track deals with the electric chair, and is an extremely solid treatise against the death penalty. Few, if any, of the so-called "nu-metal" artists truly understand how much atmosphere and delivery can bring to a song. Besides the fact that at times, singer/guitarist James Hetfield shrieks like he's in the chair himself, some of the killer riffs, and especially the knockout solo from Kirk Hammett, make the song feel like you're in the chair.
The following pair of tracks are probably amongst the best known early tracks in the band's cannon. For Whom the Bell Tolls is a brilliantly constructed track, showcasing drummer Lars Ulrich's considerable chops, whilst also creating the same type of atmosphere that the title track did, thanks to the tolling bells in the background, and the swirling, screaming guitar work from Hammett and Hetfield.
Fade to Black, on the other hand, is a track of considerable beauty and precision. In some ways, one could almost consider this one of the first songs to use the loud/soft dynamic that Nirvana helped to popularize. It's anti-suicide theme ("I have lost the will to live, simply nothing more to give") also shows the band's more conscious songwriting, and quite frankly, puts even the best held tracks from Kill 'Em All to shame.
After the epic leaning structure of the previous songs, the band changes things up a bit. While still over four minutes in length each, both Trapped Under Ice and Escape may be more appropriate on other Metallica albums. Trapped is a strong thrasher that wouldn't have felt out of place on Kill 'Em All. Escape, on the other hand, would have fit right onto the Black Album perfectly, especially with it's hook-heavy chorus. Regardless, both of these songs serve their purpose on this record well, a nice break from the 6-7 minute epics that dominate the record.
Not surprisingly, epics close the album out. Creeping Death has one of the strongest intros of Metallica's career, and the quality doesn't subside for any of the track's six and a half minute length. This song remains a concert favorite to this day, and it's not hard to see why.
But perhaps what truly sets Ride the Lightning apart from the band's debut is what closes it out. The Call of KTULU is a nearly nine minute instrumental. While the orchestral version on the S&M album is even more awe-inspiring, one listen to this might be enough to convert a non-Metallica fan to fandom. Some may call it over-indulgent to close an album out with a nine minute instrumental, but that is doing a severe disservice to the quality of the music.
So many people rate the two albums that followed this, Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All above this one, but this is certainly no slouch either. On any given day, I could probably call it my favorite Metallica album, and in fact, on most days, I probably would. Puppets and Justice are just as essential, but Lightning may just be moreso for the fact that it shows perhaps the band's biggest growth from one album to the next in their history.
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