Ride the Lightning

Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by American thrash metal band Metallica, released on July 27, 1984, through independent record label Megaforce Records. It was certified gold by the RIAA on November 5, 1987, and 6× platinum on December 13, 2012.

In July 1983, Metallica released their debut studio album, titled Kill 'Em All through Megaforce Records. On February 20, 1984, the band began work on their second album, titled Ride the Lightning, at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark. The album was produced under Flemming Rasmussen, founder of Sweet Silence Studios, who also went on to produce the band's following two albums: Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All. Metallica finished recording Ride the Lightning on March 14, 1984, and it was released through Megaforce on July 30. On September 12, Metallica signed with major label Elektra Records who re-released the album on November 19.

Ride the Lightning is the last Metallica album to credit former lead guitarist Dave Mustaine with co-writing any songs. He was kicked out of the band in 1983, prior to the recording of Kill Em' All. He is credited on the title track, "Ride the Lightning", and instrumental track "The Call of Ktulu". The album is also the first for which lead guitarist Kirk Hammett is given writing credits.

Q - 4 stars out of 5 - "Reaffirms their status as the pre-eminent metal band of the modern era....They broke with the conventions of thrash metal to record the genre's first power ballad in 'Fade to Black'."

Kerrang! (p. 50) - "[The album included] melody, maturity and musical intelligence. It was these traits which helped them broaden metal's scope."

Chad Bowar writing for About.com, listed Ride the Lightning as the second best Metallica album behind Master of Puppets. He said that Ride the Lightning was another big step forward from their groundbreaking debut album. Steve Peake, also writing for About.com, names "Ride the Lightning", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Fade to Black" and "Escape" in his list of the "Top 10 Metallica Songs of the '80s". The album was listed at #5 by IGN Music on their "Top 25 Metal Albums". Ride the Lightning was voted best thrash metal album of all time by DECIBEL magazine in their Thrash Metal Hall of Fame Special Issue in November 2011.

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by Steve Huey

Kill 'Em All may have revitalized heavy metal's underground, but Ride the Lightning was even more stunning, exhibiting staggering musical growth and boldly charting new directions that would affect heavy metal for years to come. Incredibly ambitious for a one-year-later sophomore effort, Ride the Lightning finds Metallica aggressively expanding their compositional technique and range of expression. Every track tries something new, and every musical experiment succeeds mightily. The lyrics push into new territory as well -- more personal, more socially conscious, less metal posturing. But the true heart of Ride the Lightning lies in its rich musical imagination. There are extended, progressive epics; tight, concise groove-rockers; thrashers that blow anything on Kill 'Em All out of the water, both in their urgency and the barest hints of melody that have been added to the choruses. Some innovations are flourishes that add important bits of color, like the lilting, pseudo-classical intro to the furious "Fight Fire with Fire," or the harmonized leads that pop up on several tracks. Others are major reinventions of Metallica's sound, like the nine-minute, album-closing instrumental "The Call of Ktulu," or the haunting suicide lament "Fade to Black." The latter is an all-time metal classic; it begins as an acoustic-driven, minor-key ballad, then gets slashed open by electric guitars playing a wordless chorus, and ends in a wrenching guitar solo over a thrashy yet lyrical rhythm figure. Basically, in a nutshell, Metallica sounded like they could do anything. Heavy metal hadn't seen this kind of ambition since Judas Priest's late-'70s classics, and Ride the Lightning effectively rewrote the rule book for a generation of thrashers. If Kill 'Em All was the manifesto, Ride the Lightning was the revolution itself.