Metallica - Ride the Lightning
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Free Music Notes for Ride the Lightning
Free Music Review: The best metal album ever released
Hit: 5 Stars
There is no doubt in my mind that 1983s metalica ride the lightning is the best metal album in history. a lot of people tend to prefer 1986s master of puppets i agree mop is a true landmark recording. it cotains nearly an hour of unforgetable classic metal but even that beast couldnt prepare me for what i was about to discover with ride the lightning. the first thing youll notice with ride the lightning is the outstanding production. unlike 1988s impressive but flawed and justice for all this album sounds astoundingly clear and crisp and no odd noizes detract from the overall expereince. another curse that justice for all was plaqued by is its ridicoulusly long song structures. waiting 7-10 minutes for a song to end is a little bit too tiring some people enjoyed it i did not. ride the lightnings songs average at about 5-6 minutes and stay incredibly fresh troughout. although the closing instrumential Call of ktulu clocks in at roughly under 9 minutes and is a great way to end the album. the songs are mmindblowing in both depth and sound qaulity. every guitar solo every drum beat lyric and opening will mezmerize you in time after time i promise. the colorful acoustic guitar intro to the massively monstorus metal beast known as fight fire with fire is the most melodic note ever being summed up by metalicas axe. but there almost 9 minutes of unforgetabe pure melodic but still angry classic metal to be found in the 9 minute instrumential which is worth the price of admission alone. all the songs on here feel more trashy yet scarily melodic and musical at the same time while offering great instrumential development. with the instrumential and the beggining of fight fire with fire along with escape sounding as melodic as anything the bands ever done with the exception of orion. the 8 songs youll find here never get old every musical expereiment changes drastically in pace to the degree that they sound mightily diffrent. they all have some similarities but for most part this is the most diverse intresting and massively entertaining albums ive ever listened to. he harmonic phazes that open and close the songs often pop up after loud trash metal beasts and add a great flavor to the mix. each song is consistent in qaulity with the last even though the one filler track in escape seems akward coming before a tornado sized metalica classic call of ktulu. nevertheless lightning offers the musical diversity and intresting song structures that felt strangely absent in master of puppets. this truly has every aspect of great music in it. it is moving. powerful. melodic. angry. trashy. aggresive and just plain fun to listen to. this is the masterpeice that puppets could only wish to be i have both albums i know please please make it your duty to own this album. i will now rate the songs from 1-10. fight fire with fire- starts with a beautifal acoustic guitar intro it goes into one angry beast of a song with apsolutely tsunami sised riffs of rage 9-10.
Ride the lightning- this is one of there best songs. lightning quick guitar riffs plus some awesome lyrics 9-10.
for whom the bell tolls- has some awesome bass lines. with a thump thump guitar sound. it has an awesome guitar interlude in the middle and theres a church bell being played in several sections. this is my all time favirote metalica song 10-10
Fade to black- one of heavy metals all time greatest ballads. it has a beautifal guitar sound filled with beauty and passion. the lyrics posess both power and anger. many consider this the best song on the album its second on my list right after whom the bell tolls 10-10.
Trapped under ice- this is a very thrashy song with spiteful lyrics. Although the singing is largely boring the bright spot is that the guitar sounds fantastic troughout 8-10.
Escape- this is the filler track. but the guitar work is still good enough that it ought to be on the album 7-10.
creeping death- Everyone seems to love this song and for good reason. alongside for whom the bell tolls. master of puppets and one this is one of metalicas best songs. the guitar is apsolutely out of control and is played remarkebly troughout. the drums soundlike machine gun fire and the whole thing just kicks FU---NG ASS. if youve heard one it sounds sorta of like that song in terms of instrumential intensity a resounding 10-10.
call of ktulu- my personal favirote metal instrumential. its melodic crushing and distinctive all at once. it paints pictures without hetfeild ever uttering a word 9-10
what can i say? this is the best heavy metal album EVER. Everything about it screams qaulity. the production. lyrics. guitar work. drums. singing. instrumential progresion. muscianship. this disc is perfect anyway you look at it. its flawless if there ever was such a thing. you can add ride the lightning to the definition of perfect as far as im concerned. it pushes the boundaries of every aspect of music and is more exciting. thrashy. melodic. scary. passionite. moving. powerful. thought provoking metal album ever released. ypu apsolutely owe it to yourself to own a copy of Ride the lightning. if there were any flaws they were miniscule and i was having too much fun to notice them. should i get it you ask? if you dont own it yet you should consider yourself cheated. Own this or be OWNED!
Free Music Review: Thrash masterpiece from the days of the real Metallica
Hit: 5 Stars
Ride The Lightning (1984.), Metallica's second studio album
The 1980's were undoubtedly the age of heavy metal. One of the genre defining bands of the decade was Metallica. Taking the heaviness of bands like Iron Maiden and combining it with intense speeds, Metallica were one of the bands to pioneer the genre we all know as thrash metal. The American band released their raw and aggressive first album, 'Kill E'm All' in 1983 however the band still needed a major record deal. Finally, they were noticed by Elektra Records and this album, 'Ride The Lightning' became their first major label release...
... and what a major label debut it has proven to be! 'Ride The Lightning' is a masterpiece showcase of raw energy and intensity. The album is the best part of 50 minutes long and it doesn't hardly let up one bit. It's not hard to see why many Metallica fans hail this album as the band's best work. The album has raw qualities like its predecessor but at the same time, the song writing is awesome. The album is full of captivating guitar solos/melodies and grinding riffs that never for a moment loose interest plus at the same time, the music is played often at breakneck speeds! With all this, it is an album where with more and more listens, the work becomes more and more jaw dropping as you appreciate the phenominal and complex musicianship on the album. It is true to say there are some downsides to the album; James Hetfield hasn't quite found his vocal potential on the album although he gives plenty of aggressive and gruelling performances. Similarly Lars Ulrich's drumming does improve on the following two albums; it is sometimes low key in some areas on the album although he does pull off some stunning rhythms such as in 'Fight Fire With Fire'. These small pickings aside, Metallica work as a brilliant unit on this album. You can't fault the guitar play from Hammett and Hetfield and Cliff Burton's bass play is something else. The more you listen to this album, the more you can appreciate the blistering, resonating and sometimes cleverly distorted work from Burton's bass; it's truly awesome. 'Ride The Lightning' shows the Metallica of old; the band who were original and not interested in commerical success. The album is full of raw power and inspiration.
'Fight Fire With Fire' gets this thrash metal classic going. Don't be fooled by the acoustic opening, the heaviness soon fades in. This opener is very aggressive and probably the rawest cut on the album. Snarling, complex guitar themes intertwine with a growling and angry vocal performance from James Hetfield and there is some great drumming from Lars Ulrich. The title track bursts in next. 'Ride The Lightning' is my personal favourite song on the album; a long but very spectacular song. Hetfield sings about a man condemned to death by the electric chair and his vocal style reflects this. The riff to the song is fearsome and the fast paced instrumental in the middle of the song is awesome; don't fail to listen to Cliff Burton's distorted bass in the background. One of Metallica's famous earlier songs, 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' follows. The lengthy cascading guitar opening is excellent and Hetfield gives a great vocal performance. Then, after all of these pacy, heavy tunes, 'Fade To Black' was a surprise for me, albeit a VERY good one. This lengthy metal ballad is the band's ode to suicide. Hetfield gives a more emotional vocal performance on this one. That's not to say the pounding riffs aren't there though and the song has a brilliant guitar exit.
For the second half of the album, the intensity quickens up for 'Trapped Under Ice'. More snarling guitars, off beat pounding bass and a catchy chorus keep the high standard on the album going. 'Escape' is in a similar mold, with plenty of inspired guitar work. The album theme of death becomes even more plain with, you guessed it, 'Creeping Death'. If the hammering and dark opening chords don't entrance you into this song, then the lengthy vocal sequences with howls and thunderous guitar lines will. This is a masterful song. Then, to close the album, is the 9 minute instrumental, 'Call Of Ktulu'. This song, funnily enough co-written by Metallica exiled and later Megadeth guitarist Dave Mustaine, has a swirling, mysterious acoustic opening sequence. Eventhough it goes on just a little too long, the band give a powerful showcase on this song. Trademark pounding riffs are matched by great bass work from Cliff Burton; the song has some timeless melodies. The grand, crashing finish marks a classic end to a classic album.
'Ride The Lightning' is a definitive metal album, and one of the greatest albums of the 80's as well as one of the band's best. This is a classic album from a genre defining band. In many ways it is quite sad to think how substandard this band's music has become over the past decade, no part due to the band going more commercial and shamelessly abandoning their thrash stylings (I'm looking at you, 'The Black Album'). However, the band's later failings aside, this album is amazing and is a must have!
MY RATING: 9/10
Free Music Review: Metallica Raw and how they should be, Thrashy! Not Nu-Metal!
Hit: 5 Stars
Released in 1984, Ride the Lightning is Metallica's Second Album.Although Kill 'Em All was arguably the album that revolutionized Underground Heavy Metal, Ride the Lightning assuredly expanded the Underground scene to new heights. Only one year after the release of Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lightning comes off as a fully realized and ambitious Thrash album that showed Metallica WERE the Kings of Metal, and they never lost their throne until releasing St. Anger. Each track tries something new and it explores the limits of Metallica's creativity, not just in lyrics but in complex song structures that show a maturity most musicians can't capture until VERY far in their career, except like Led Zeppelin, Metallica pulls it off very early on with their sophomore album Ride The Lightning. Although not commercially popular, after the release of the Black Album, many people began to peruse Metallica's early records, and since then, EVERY SINGLE METALLICA ALBUM HAS BEEN CERTIFIED PLATINUM, signifying these albums staying power and popularity. Although none of the songs on Ride The Lightning charted, you still hear such fan-favorites as "Fade To Black" and "For Whom The Bells Toll" on a regular basis(At least on my radio stations!). Although not as grandiose as Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All(Their Best!), Ride The Lightning stands as one of the best moments in Metallica's career, and it shouldn't be missed by anybody. Below you'll see song by song reviews to see just why this record is so great!
Track Reviews:
Fight Fire With Fire-10/10: Don't be fooled by the classical guitar at the beginning, you're not in for a night at the opera!Burton's bass and Ulrich's drumming immediately pick the pace up to a frenzy, and Hetfield's vocals echo bloody murder behind the instruments! Crazy solo by Hammett, and it shows why he's the best guitarist ever!
Ride The Lightning-9/10: Hammett's deathly riff starts us off, and Hetfield's rather high-pitched vocals scream out lyrics about being killed in the Electric Chair. Great chorus, but Hetfield's vocals are a little iffy on this song, thus one point degraded. Really long interlude where Hammett and Lars thrash it out for 2 minutes straight!
For Whom The Bells Toll-10/10: Echoing eerily of AC/DC's Hells Bells, church bells resound behind Hammett's doomy riff. Thrash is it's supposed to sound, we get 5 minutes of total bliss that revolve around Hammett's mastery of the guitar and his exuberant playing. Hetfield's vocals AND lyrics are great, and I would have to say this beats out all the other competition on this CD!
Fade To Black-10/10: Really overrated, but a great song nonetheless. A far cry from "One"'s mastery, Fade To Black is a sermon about the effects of suicide through Hetfield's eyes. Hammett's soulful acoustic guitar playing and Hetfield's heartbroken vocals truly show Metallica were geniuses. Really thrashy as it goes along, and Hammett's solo is incredible!
Trapped Under Ice-10/10: If you call this or "Escape" filler, you are a MORON! One of the hardest songs here, we are thrusted headfirst to Hammett's heavenly solo at the beginning of the song! Soon after Hetfield takes over, singing the (rather cheesy) lyrics superbly.
Escape-10/10: Hammett's addictive guitar riff starts the song off and stays the entire time, and Hetfield's vocals truly echo the mind of someone trapped and unable to escape, very haunting!Rather creepy solo from Hammett, and it perfectly matches the song's tone! The police siren only gives added effect to this song!
Creeping Death-10/10:A song about the 10th plague sent down by God in Egypt to combat the pharoah is a non-stop thrashfest, and clocking in at 6:36 it's a fully realized one too. Hetfield's vocals are exceptional here, his voice infused with a sarcastic tone about death. Great solo from Hammett and a killer bass line from Burton!
The Call of the Ktulu-10/10: Although not as magnificent as the S&M version, Ride the Lightning's version is nothing short of excellent. You get 8 minutes of some of the best instrumentalists pushing all their instruments to the creative brink. Truly a masterpiece, and my favorite instrumental by Metallica.
Overall, this is a flawless album that won't fail to disappoint Metallica diehards and metalheads alike. Ride The Lightning is a glorius step up from Kill Em All, but it really only hints at the greatness to come. Don't worry about the album only being 8 songs, it still manages to be almost 50 MINUTES LONG, which is a lot more than you can say for most albums today! A casual warning to buyers, Hetfield's vocals on Ride the Lightning sound much lighter and different that his later material, so don't come in expecting that!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! FANS OF METALLICA, METAL, AND MOST ROCK WOULD HIGHLY ENJOY THIS ALBUM! METALLICA AVOIDS THE SOPHOMORE SLUMP IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE! ALSO GET: MASTER OF PUPPETS,...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, AND THE BLACK ALBUM!Thanks for reading!
Free Music Review: Ride The Lighting - Timeless!
Hit: 5 Stars
If there are battered CDs weathered through regular constant playing in my CD player over the years, its THIS CD and Master of Puppets. Ride the Lightning was four years old when I got it, and it still holds up in terms of feel, dynamics and musical complexity not to mention, raw and heavy.
Of course, newbies, doesnt have an idea how this CD become a masterpiece in the first place. It was so AHEAD OF ITS TIME in 1984. On an albumwise perspective, this was a big step for a sophomore album from their firebomb Kill Em ALL. The first was all speed one sound. RTL shifted songwriting many levels higher, with musical dynamics and melodies. It was written when Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett came into the group. Kill Em ALL was primarily written by Hetfield, Ulrich and Mustaine from 1981-82. There was a remarkedly big difference there.
Cliff Burton had classical music training and influenced Hetfield and Ulrich to incorporate dynamics and melodies into a seemingly linear form of music they pioneered. Almost every song in the album was a milestone. No one, during that time, has done what they have innocently written. Thats classical genius. Early on you can feel there was something about this band destined for greatness, loyal fans know that.
Bar none, much of the musical metal templates you hear today came from this seminal album.
On a guitar player/musician's perspective, the album was innovative. Its the first metal album with an acoustic intro before shifting into armageddon feel of the first track (Fight Fire With Fire). It featured the dynamic high note lead bar intro from the title track courtesy of Mustaine (Ride The Lightning). It featured the first ever song that has a bass driven solo focusing more on dynamic songwriting and seamlessly gelled with thematic and universal lyrics (For Whom The Bell Tolls).
Its definitely the first album that featured the first metal ballad (Fade To Black) in a speed metal album that got the band a lot of flak early in controversy for selling out and the suicide lyrics. IT IS STILL the FIRST METAL BALLAD in the genre they pioneered that everyone copied. It has a word-less chorus subsitituted by big firebomb guitars, and has the last section executed with arpeggiated Hammett solo that entered somewhere in the main riff and has the eerie feel of departing. I never thought a metal song can strike a nerve emotionally on this one. Classic!
Trapped Under Ice was one of the supposedly "fillers" done. The mind blowing thing about this song. It has some thrashy feel, yet has some wild dynamic arrangments, yet it was also written in less than two hours.. considered being a filler due to constraints budget in studio time at Sweet Silence in Denmark.
Creeping Death, obviously captured the classic Metallica power, nuff said, its the story of 10 plagues of Egypt in the book of Exodus. Where in the angel of death creeps in to kill the first born son of those without the cross painted with blood on their doorpost.
Escape... not very popular within the band but it showcased where they were heading.
Inspired from H.P. Lovecraft's Khutulus Mythos and the Lochness monster (has its derivative in The Thing That Should Not Be), the dynamic 9 minute instrumental (The Call of Ktulu), all downpicked riffs, has Cliff's Bass solo, then moving to the longest solo ever by Kirk Hammett, you have to commend Kirk for executing those solos with almost 80 percent improvisation, section in different scales. Thats how he approached it, truly an intuitive musician.
Overall, there are songs that may feel to sound boring at first, but the charm of this album make you so disturbed and you'd want to play it again and again and get addicted... shifting your interest to EACH ONE of the songs in this album. Same was true for Master of Puppets, no left overs.
Metallica had everyone feeling so good that time, they became posterboys for aggression that it pissed a great number of them when they got big progressed with their nineties albums.
This album has that cultish vibe when their popularity increased in the Bay Area and Europe. An album chockfull of riffs, it has the raw, eerie feel of death and dying as the album theme, the imperfect high pitched Hetfield vocals, great massive sound thorughout.
Great guitar sound considering they lost almost ALL their equipment on tour when they started recorded this album in Denmark. Inspired by a lot of depression and loneliness brought about by loss of gear and homesickness, they created another sound that cemented a template sound for thousands of band to copy all over the years.
Ride The Lightning has it all. The feeling, vibe, sound, rawness complexity and heaviness. and nothing of the glam and pretentious stuff stereotyped to heavy metal. What more could you ask for?
Free Music Review: Ride the Lightning People
Hit: 5 Stars
I started to get into the whole Metallica thing a little under a decade ago. Then I entered into many phases; latin pop, christian and country; rap; hip hop etc. WEll, it is 2006 and I have circled back to where I began - Metallica and metal thrash. I must say that this CD is a very amazing foray into political disagreement with manyt hings - fear of death ( of many forms ) and death. First of all, I don't know what a riff is. But I do know good music and good ' let's get going ' music and this is it. So that being said, let's begin shall we?
Fight Fire With Fire - Starts off with a nice little movement and then the drums start. Here is a song about how nuclear warfare will destroy us all if we fight fire with fire aka ' eye for eye tooth for tooth '. I must say, it is an enjoyable and exciting thrill ride. This is the perfect song to get someone pumped up, the devilish laugh is to show HE is winning not any of us. Fantastic joy ride. 10 / 10
Ride the Lightning - Holy freaking cow. I must say that this song starts off right off the bat as quick and pounding. A little past the midway point comes the amazing solo. This is a song speaking about the fear of dying in the electric chair, obviously, as the name of the song and cd and the pic on the cover indicate. Obviously, the way I see it, they are not coming out for or against they merely are singing about fear of dying in such a way. However we interpret that so be it. The solo is amazing and the song keeps you going at a fast pace. 10 / 10
For Whom the Bell Tolls - I don't know where this lovecraft thing came from. This is obviously a reference to Heminway's classic of the same title speaking about the spanish civil war - just like the book. The church bells and the guitar start off ominously. It's a little slower but just as aggressive as the first two. This is the type of song that can be played in many different settings and is definitely a concert song. Once the song transitions from the initial segments to the middle you can tell it's going to be a great song that will keep you thinking. Yep you THINK listening to Metallica ) for those who say metal damages the brain HA! ) 10 / 10
Fade to Black - Suicide. Suicidal thoughts. This is a fine ballad given these things however. I must say it is a great way to slow down after the first 3 pounding songs. It is a song, simply stated, about contemplating suicide and ' fading to black ' ending the life. I can see this song with many montagues in movies although they might have to loop the beginning and forego the lyrics which btw are standout. Just make sure you don't listen to the song while depressed. Int he right mood - THIS is the best song on the cd. In the wrong mood ( or a bad mood ) it's well.... 10 / 10
Trapped Under Ice - Fear of being trapped under ice and screaming without anyone to hear you is definitely a few some people have. And in fact, the movies go a long way in showing the agony and fear as, like in space, no one can hear you scream under ice. The song is back to fast paced and typical thrash. I tend to not like this song as much as many on here. It seems to just drag on although the drumbs pounding are well. Lead singer's voice seems raspy here ( but it usuallyd oes 0 it just feels raspier. 8 / 10
Escape - Yep, this is a filler and it is the worst song on the cd. However, it is definitely something that people can remember. I even sung part of this song in the shower so I know it can stay in the head. However, once you move onto the next track, it does feel like ' what did I just listen to? ' hits you. However it does have a classic ' 80's ' feel to it and that, for nostalgia sake if anything else, makes the song decent 7.5 / 10
Creeping Death - Ah here we go. This song is fast paced with amazing 'rifs ' ( WHAT ARE THESE THINGS! ) and memorable lyrics. It is a little ominous with ' ooo death is coming ' and if you listen to this song at night with the lights off but candles glowing it's going to be a little too much in terms of the imagination department. One thing that separates this song fromt he others are the transitions ( are those rifs?! ) which, while exercising, keeps you going more than any other song. This is the perfect song to get someone jacked up before a big event. 8.5 / 10
Call of Ktulu - Instrumental. Swoosh swoosh and guitar initially. Then the song transitions. You all know the song, it's been stated many times. There is one thing that tends to make the song memorable, it just SOUNDS like someone is traveling through something ( a forest, space, consciousness what have you ) and that feeling seems to make it all the more thrilling. After it switches to a little louder it just feels Metallicaish. Highly recommend for those with a great imagination feeling as if they are ' traveling '. 10 / 10