METALLICA — Ride the Lightning (review)

METALLICA — Ride the Lightning album cover Album · 1984 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
bonnek
If Metallica's debut had revealed only little of the direction Metallica was heading for, their sophomore effort leaves little room for doubt. Their intensity and harshness were maintained, but the band had become much more versatile in ways to express it.

The speedy opener Fight Fire with Fire stays true to the debuts method: loud, aggressive, fast, vicious and uncompromising. It's one of their best songs in this style, but Metallica's qualities lay in another direction. Where Megadeth and Slayer proved to be better contenders for speed and evil, Metallica had the knack to write big dramatic epics. They were not only authentic enough for thrash fans but also sufficiently catchy, musical and accessible to attract people from outside the inner circles of the metal underground.

Metallica learned an important lesson in the year since their debut. Metal isn’t just about aggression and speed but also about power and heaviness. Ride The Lightening achieves this by varying the edgy riffing with slower drum rhythms. For Whom The Bell Tolls goes even a step further and comes close to epic doom metal. Tony Iommi must have been proud hearing this one.

Fade To Black introduces acoustic guitars and quality balladry in the verses. A thundering chorus and great harmonic leads make it into another metal classic. Trapped Under Ice returns to the speed idiom of the first album. Escape is the odd one out on this album, it’s a catchy and almost anthemic hard rock tune with a great 70’s vibe despite the thrashy riffing.

If the previous onslaught of elevated metal wasn’t enough, Creeping Death adds another classic to the list. The album ends with the instrumental Call of Ktulu, a definite progressive moment. This isn’t just a succession of metal riffs or a jam with guitar solos. It’s a carefully crafted epic monster that goes through a number of developing themes with a distinct proggy feel. It won’t beat Rush’s Villa Strangiato for me but it has a similar feel.

The big arenas that Maiden was filling back then were lurking at Metallica’s horizon. Coming from the same year as Maiden’s Powerslave, I would have a hard time picking a 1984 metal favorite, but this is sure my Metallica fovorite.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 7 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 7 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed