Review Summary: A sign of maturity...
After successfully finalizing and summarizing what Thrash Metal meant as a new sub-genre to metal heads with their debut studio album Kill 'Em All in 1983, Metallica had greatly widened their already vast fanbase in the underground heavy metal scene. As appreciation for this new found playing style grew more and more, the band found themselves in the commotion spear heading the movement. While other bands where just getting on their feet, Metallica found themselves in the strange situation of having to worry about a sequel to their breakout underground hit. Ride The Lightning is the answer the band gave to its fans, and is ultimately the record that would define Metallica's iconic and unique thrash sound. While it might not be the thrash metal masterpiece that Master of Puppets is considered to be, or the incredibly progressive ...And Justice For All, Ride The Lightning is a definitive sign of maturity for such a (at the time) newly founded group.
Acoustic guitars and harp harmonies set up a calming musical experience for the listener, until angry guitars crash in, invading the listeners ear drum with their heavy riffage. This act of trickery shocked many metal heads back in 1984, who were expecting the same short and sweet punk-like tracks that were on Kill 'Em All to appear once again. Instead, Fight Fire with Fire lures its prey through an act of confusion, and speed-fully goes in for the kill. James Hatfield has a triumphant return as a vocalist, with his prepubescent moans and screams from his debut being replaced by vicious speak of impending doom and nuclear war. As the track finally ends, a blistering guitar solos signifies the dropping of a nuclear bomb, with its landing causing mass destruction and giving the track a haunting finality in its conclusion. Fight Fire with Fire does an amazing job of expressing the differences in sound between the bands debut, and their more iconic and prolific sound created on Ride the Lightning. While Metallica is generally well known for these kind of song structures, this was a very experimental endeavor back in the day, and Fight Fire with Fire would ultimately inspire Thrash Metal music immensely with its use of rhythmic riffs and thematic solos that convey different climaxes in emotion and classical pieces that ease listeners into the music before showcasing a more metal aesthetic.
Other pieces of music on Ride The Lightning are considerably influential for the subgenre. For Whom The Bell Tolls could be considered Metallica's first foray, or at least flirtation, with progressive metal. There is so much memorability in this track, and it has easily become one of the bands most iconic songs. Everything from the bong of the bell and the impressive guitar-mimicking bass solo in the beginning to the lead guitar solo in the bridge creates a song like no other. And all of it was fairly groundbreaking and progressive for its time.
Fade To Black is perhaps just as famous as the track prior to it. Featuring acoustics throughout a considerably large portion of the track, Fade To Black focuses on making a somber experience throughout, even with its multiple surges and spikes in Thrash Metal worship. With Hatfeild's lyrics of never ending depression and suicidal thoughts, Fade To Black is the most emotional experience the album has to offer, and still one of the most impactful songs the band has made to date. The lyrical maturity of Fade To Black would go on to inspire the bands later works as well, mainly ...And Justice For All, which focuses on mature themes throughout. Even when Fade To Black focuses on a more full-frontal approach to musicianship, it still works incredibly well as a ballad. Hell, the solo from 5:22 - 6:57 is the cherry on top of the entire experience as it is the emotional apex of the entire track.
The last two songs on the record, Creeping Death and The Call of Kthulu are also particular highlights. Creeping Death has an incredible thooming intro, which is one of the most infectious riffs on the entire album, sticking to your brain like gum to a shoes soul. It even has an incredibly catchy, though somewhat lacking, chorus. The Call of Kthulu on the other hand is overshadowed far to much by Orion off Master of Puppets. It's a nearly 9 minute instrumental, with an unsettling and claustrophobic atmosphere. The use of Dynamic range on the song makes it all the more creepy. Personally, while Orion and The Call of Kthulu are very close in terms of quality, there are definitely just as many days where I prefer the latter to the former.
Ride The Lightning, despite being one of the bands most consistent records, does suffer from problems however. Trapped Under Ice and Escape are generally considered to be the two weakest tracks of Metallica's early career, and while this is a sentiment I do not share, Escape is the weakest song off the album and Trapped Under Ice fails to do much interesting in comparison to other tracks from the album. But as much as I hate to say it but the same is kind of true to a certain extent for the famous self titled track Ride The Lightning, which feels a bit elementary in the context of the album. In conclusion, Ride The Lighting is an amazing sequel to one of the best debuts in rock history. It delivers everything we wanted from a Kill 'Em All sequel, but leaves enough room to experiment and progress the bands sound. While it isn't always the rawest, or hell even the thrashiest record around, its songs stand the test of time, and even the "filler" on the album isn't particularly bad or immersion breaking. Highly recommended!
Best tracks :
Fight Fire with Fire
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Fade To Black
Creeping Death
The Call of Kthulu
