Ride the Lightning

This is Metallica's second CD and is my favorite one of all time. Changing the pace a little bit from the raw tones of Kill Em' All, Ride the Lightning is considered the bridge from playing in the clubs of LA and small gigs in the early eighties, to big stages and arenas all over the world in the mid-eighties. This album holds Metallica's first instrumental 'Call of the Ktulu', and their first so called ballad 'Fade to Black.'

I'd like to talk about Fade to Black first of all. This is one of the best Metallica songs ever released. James Heitfield, lead singer and rhythm guitarist wrote this song shortly after the bands equipment was stolen out of their bus. He was depressed from this and possibly other things and was able to write a great song with poetic lyrics, a blasting chorus, and awesome guitar solos.

Another song that stands out on the album and is significantly heavier than Kill Em' All is Fight Fire with Fire. The song talks of the world ending, nuclear warfare or apocalypse. Metallica would soon find themselves writing about this topic a lot more in the epic 'Master of Puppets.'

This song is fast, but they keep it simple. This is one of the main reasons I like Metallica so much, simplicity. The opening isn't really anything like the song. They start out with a sort of acoustic riff reminding you of the days of knights and dragons. They play this a few times then go into absolute chaos. With a series of pulse pounding open E strings and a downward progression, Lars banging on the drums, this song makes you want to scream.

A lot of people will argue that the Black album or Master is better than anything else Metallica has put out. But in my opinion this album is the start of Metallica's career. This is where people see the heavier side of them for the first time. The bridge between a bar band, and and metal gods.