Ride the Lightning
Studio album by Metallica
Released	July 27, 1984[1]
Recorded	September 1983 - June 1984 at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	47:27
Label	Megaforce, Music for Nations, Elektra, Vertigo
Producer	Metallica
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Kerrang! Q Magazine
Metallica chronology
Kill 'Em All (1983) Ride the Lightning (1984) Master of Puppets (1986) Singles from Ride The Lightning "Fade To Black" Released: 1984 "Creeping Death" Released: 1984 "For Whom The Bell Tolls" Released: 1985

Ride the Lightning is the second album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 27, 1984 by Megaforce Records and re-released by Elektra Records on November 19, 1984. ^[2] Ride the Lightning has sold over 5 million copies in the U.S.. ^[3]

[edit] Reception

Ride the Lightning is often hailed by fans as a classic of the thrash metal genre and a vital bridge between the band's albums Kill 'Em All and Master of Puppets, pushing the thrash metal of the debut into progressive territory more fully-realized on Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All.

Ride the Lightning retains the speed of Kill 'Em All on songs like "Trapped Under Ice" and "Fight Fire with Fire", but also contains the first of Metallica's longer, more symphonically arranged tracks, such as "Fade to Black" and the nearly 9-minute closing instrumental "The Call of Ktulu".

Ride the Lightning was listed at #3 on a list compiled by metal-rules.com of the Top 100 Metal Albums of All Timeand #5 by IGN Music on the Top 25 Metal Albums.^[4]

Q magazine (Summer/01, p.127) - 5 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."

[edit] Personnel

Metallica

• James Hetfield — lead vocals, rhythm guitar; acoustic guitar on "Fade to Black"
• Lars Ulrich — drums
• Cliff Burton — bass, backing vocals
• Kirk Hammett — lead guitar

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Singles

• "Fade to Black" was released as a promo single in 1984, in black vinyl & glow in the dark green.
• "For Whom the Bell Tolls" was released as a promo single with two versions of the song, an edited version on side A and the album version on side B.
• "Creeping Death" was released as an EP, with the B-side also known as "Garage Days Revisited" (precursor to 1987's "The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited"): covers of "Am I Evil?" (originally by Diamond Head) and "Blitzkrieg" (originally by Blitzkrieg). Both of the B-Side cover songs are now readily available domestically in the Garage, Inc. collection.

[edit] Charting positions

[edit] Album

[edit] Certification

[edit] Covers

"Creeping Death" was covered by Welsh glam metal band Tigertailz for a B-side in 1990, Welsh metalcore band Bullet for My Valentine on Kerrang!'s 25th Anniversary Higher Voltage compilation disk, the Italian epic black metal band Stormlord as a live track on their EP "The Curse Of Medusa" and by rock band Drowning Pool at Ozzfest 2002.

The Hard Rock/Metal band Disturbed has covered "Fade to Black" in concert on the live compilation album Music as a Weapon II. The power metal band Sonata Arctica and the Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica have also covered "Fade to Black" on the EP Takatalvi and on the album Inquisition Symphony respectively.

"Escape" was covered by both death metal band Gojira on the Japanese edition for their 2005 album From Mars to Sirius, and the American metalcore band Hatebreed on their most recent 2009 album For the Lions.

"For Whom The Bell Tolls" was covered by punk band Shotgun Remedy on the album "A Punk Tribute To Metallica" and by Apocalyptica on the album Inquisition Symphony.

"Fight Fire With Fire" was covered by death metal band Vader on their album, Necropolis, as a bonus track. Also, Apocalyptica covered the song featured on their album cult.

Trapped Under Ice was covered by parody metal band Austrian Death Machine on the 2009 album Double Brutal.

[edit] References