«Ride the Lightning» is Metallica’s second album, released on 27 July 1984 by Megaforce Records. The band cut it in three weeks, in February and March 1984 at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, with Flemming Rasmussen producing. The line-up is James Hetfield on vocals and rhythm guitar, Kirk Hammett on lead guitar, Cliff Burton on bass and Lars Ulrich on drums.
“`Country: USA
Style: Thrash Metal
For fans of: Slayer, Megadeth, Exodus
The album keeps the speed of «Kill ‘Em All» but opens far more doors. «Fight Fire with Fire» begins on acoustic guitar before the thrash breaks through, and Rasmussen’s production gives every instrument room, so that Cliff Burton’s bass can be heard clearly for the first time. Compared with the debut there is space for melody and for longer, more carefully built compositions, with tempo changes and passages that had no place on the first record.
«Ride the Lightning», about a condemned man in the electric chair, «For Whom the Bell Tolls» with its bell tolling at the start, and the dark ballad «Fade to Black» are the obvious landmarks. «Creeping Death» takes the ten plagues of Egypt as its subject, while «The Call of Ktulu» closes the album instrumentally, after H. P. Lovecraft. On the title track and on «The Call of Ktulu» there is still a writing credit for Dave Mustaine, who had left the band shortly before.
«Ride the Lightning» proved that thrash did not have to be only about speed. The band brought in subject matter, atmosphere and personal songs, and opened the road for «Master of Puppets». Many listeners see it as the record where Metallica found their real sound.
