Ride the Lightning
| Ride the Lightning | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by Metallica | ||||||||||
| Released | July 27, 1984[1] | |||||||||
| Recorded | February 20 - March 14, 1984 at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark | |||||||||
| Genre | Thrash metal | |||||||||
| Length | 47:23 | |||||||||
| Label | Megaforce, Music for Nations, Elektra, Vertigo | |||||||||
| Producer | Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen | |||||||||
| Metallica chronology | ||||||||||
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Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on July 27, 1984 through Megaforce Records and was re-released by Elektra Records on November 19, 1984.[2] Ride the Lightning was certified Gold by the RIAA on November 5, 1987 and was most recently certified 5x Platinum on June 9, 2003.[3]
Contents |
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [4] |
| Punknews.org | [5] |
| Q | |
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 intricate tracks, such as "Fade to Black" and the nearly 9-minute closing instrumental "The Call of Ktulu". "Ride the Lightning" is the last Metallica album to credit former member, Dave Mustaine.
Ride the Lightning was listed at #3 on a list compiled by metal-rules.com of the Top 100 Metal Albums of All Time[6] and #5 by IGN Music on the Top 25 Metal Albums.[7]
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."
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.
Songs
Fight Fire with Fire
"Fight Fire with Fire" represents once more Metallica's development of their more harmonical style of song writing. The lyrical themes focus on revenge and Armageddon. The focal point of the lyrics is the counterblow of a nuclear war which would cause the end of the world.
The song was covered by Apocalyptica on their album Cult[8]. Also, the death metal band Vader covered the song featured on their album, Necropolis, as a bonus track.
Ride the Lightning
"Ride the Lightning" is Metallica's first song which directly pointed on the misery of the law system. The song is one of two on the album that credits former member Dave Mustaine. The lyrics of the song "Ride The Lightning" are written from the perspective of someone who is forthcoming the death by electrocution although he didn't commit murder[9].
For Whom the Bell Tolls
"For Whom the Bell Tolls" was composed by Cliff Burton, James Hetfield, and Lars Ulrich and the lyrics are based on Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The chromatic introduction, which is often mistaken for an electric guitar, is in fact Cliff Burton playing his bass guitar through distortion and wah-wah. The intro was written by Burton before joining Metallica. [10]
The lyrics are about a scene of the Ernest Hemmingway novel where five soldiers were taking a position on a hill and they get killed by an airstrike.[11]
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.
For Whom the Bell Tolls was the opening song for the 2009 movie Zombieland starring Woody Harrelson.[12]
Fade to Black
The lyrics of Fade to Black suggest a man contemplating, then eventually committing, suicide.[13] It begins with an acoustic guitar introduction and becomes progressively heavier as the song goes on, similar to their future songs, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "One", and "The Day That Never Comes".[14]
The solo of "Fade to Black" reached the 24th place in the "100 Best Solos Ever Reader's Choice" in the september 1998 issue of Guitar World.[15]
Many bands have covered Fade to Black such as Apocalyptica, Apoptygma Berzerk, Disturbed, Sonata Arctica, Steel Prophet, The Lemonheads, and Iron Horse.
Metallica revealed that they have received letters from fans who were dissuaded from committing suicide by the song.[16]
Trapped Under Ice
"Trapped Under Ice" is about a person simultaneously drowning and freezing to death. Trapped Under Ice is based upon a demo song of Kirk's former band Exodus which was called "Impaler".[17]
Until the World Magnetic Tour, Trapped Under Ice had only ever appeared 3 times in its entirety in Metallica's live set. The first two times the song was performed live were at the 17th and 18th November 1984, and then again on Chicago on January 5 2000. James commented on the song appearing once again on their live show's setlist on stage with: "Some guy asked us to play this song before the show. We haven't played it in like 15 years. So don't blame us for the fuck ups." [18]
"Trapped Under Ice" was covered by parody metal band Austrian Death Machine on the 2009 album Double Brutal.
Escape
The song "Escape" is about an escaped prisoner on the run. The song has never been played live in its original version by Metallica.[19]
"Escape" was covered by both death metal band Gojira on their 2005 album From Mars to Sirius, and the American Metal band Hatebreed on their 2009 album For the Lions.
Creeping Death
"Creeping Death" describes the Plague of the Firstborn (Exodus 12:29). The lyrics deal with the 10 plagues on Egypt, and throughout the song, four of the ten plagues are mentioned as well as the Passover.[20]
This song is originally written by Kirk's former band Exodus. Exodus called the song "Die By the Sword". The song was recorded and released by Exodus as a demo, but never appears on any album.[21]
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 Black metal band Stormlord as a live track on their EP "The Curse Of Medusa" and by rock band Drowning Pool live at Ozzfest 2002.
The Call of Ktulu
"The Call of Ktulu" was Metallica's second instrumental song, following the first instrumental Anesthesia(Pulling Teeth) off of Kill 'Em All. The song working title was originally "When Hell Freezes Over".[22][23][24][25][26][27]
The idea of the song The Call Of Ktulu is based upon H.P. Lovecraft's book The Shadow over Innsmouth which was first introduced to the rest of the band by Cliff Burton. The song's name was taken from one of H.P. Lovecraft's main storys featuring Cthulhu, The Call of Cthulhu, which was written in 1928 for the magazine Weird Tales. The name "Ktulu" is originally written "Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft.[28]
"The Call of Ktulu" is also the last song to include a writing credit for Dave Mustaine
Personnel
- James Hetfield — lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Kirk Hammett — lead guitar
- Cliff Burton — bass
- Lars Ulrich — drums
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fight Fire With Fire" | James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton | 4:45 |
| 2. | "Ride the Lightning" | Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton, Dave Mustaine | 6:36 |
| 3. | "For Whom the Bell Tolls" | Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton | 5:09 |
| 4. | "Fade to Black" | Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton, Kirk Hammett | 6:57 |
| 5. | "Trapped Under Ice" | Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett | 4:04 |
| 6. | "Escape" | Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett | 4:24 |
| 7. | "Creeping Death" | Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton, Hammett | 6:36 |
| 8. | "The Call of Ktulu" (Instrumental) | Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton, Mustaine | 8:53 |
Charting positions
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Billboard 200 | 100 |
| 1985 | UK Albums Chart | 87 |
| 2007 | Finnish Album Chart[29] | 9 |
| 2008 | Australian ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart | 37 |
Certification
Since the beginning of the SoundScan era in 1991, Ride the Lightning has sold 4,334,000 copies.[30]
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| United States | 5x Platinum[3] |
| Canada | 2x Platinum |
References
- ↑ Metallica.com
- ↑ Metallica.com
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Gold and Platinum Database Search". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=Ride%20the%20Lightning&artist=metallica&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
- ↑ Allmusic Review
- ↑ Punknews.org Review
- ↑ Top 100 Metal Albums of All Time
- ↑ IGN: Music - Top 25 Metal Albums
- ↑ "Fight Fire With Fire cover". http://metal-archives.com/review.php?id=5081.
- ↑ "Ride The Lightning song info". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0381723/bio.
- ↑ "Cliff Burton with Agents of Misfortune performing pre-metalilca FWTBT". http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8600360414571121543&q=cliff+burton#.
- ↑ "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS: MEANING". http://xyzmusic.blogspot.com/2009/08/for-whom-bell-tolls-meaning.html.
- ↑ "Movie Review: Zombieland". http://www.kulturblog.com/2009/10/movie-review-zombieland/.
- ↑ "(Don't Fear) the Reaper". http://www.learningfromlyrics.org/Don%27tfear.html.
- ↑ "Best Metallica Ballads". http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=2215.
- ↑ "100 Greatest Guitar Solos Part 3: Solos Number 21 - 30". http://guitar.about.com/library/bl100greatestb.htm.
- ↑ "Fade to Black song info". http://www.encycmet.com/songs/srfade2b.shtml.
- ↑ "Exodus-Impaler". http://www.nolifetilmetal.com/exodus.htm.
- ↑ "Trapped Under Ice song info". http://www.encycmet.com/songs/srtuice.shtml.
- ↑ "Q: Has Metallica ever played Escape live?". http://www.chacha.com/question/has-metallica-ever-played-escape-live. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.
- ↑ "Creeping Death". http://www.encycmet.com/songs/srcreep.shtml. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.
- ↑ "Creeping Death by Metallica". http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2175. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.
- ↑ "The Call Of Ktulu (Hetfield/Ulrich/Burton/Mustaine)". http://www.encycmet.com/songs/srktulu.shtml. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.
- ↑ "Call of Ktulu / Ride of Lightning". http://themetallicalyriclounge.blogspot.com/2008/06/call-of-klutu-ride-of-lightning.html. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.
- ↑ "Review about The Call of Ktulu". http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Call-of-Ktulu-lyrics-Metallica/CA007AB0A11F7D154825688D003323D4. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.
- ↑ "The Call Of Ktulu by Metallica". http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2671. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.
- ↑ "The call of ktulu". http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=the%20call%20of%20ktulu. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.
- ↑ "About The Call Of Ktulu". http://metallica-mp3.com/news/The-Call-Of-Ktulu/page/9. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.
- ↑ "Cthulhu/Ktulu". http://www.sodabob.com/Metallica/Cthulhu.asp. Retrieved 5 Aug 2010.
- ↑ Finnish Album Chart - Search. Retrieved on 2009-07-08.
- ↑ http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=132493&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blabbermouth+%28Blabbermouth.net%27s+Daily+Headlines%29
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Book:Metallica
Category:Metallica
Portal:Heavy metal