"Escape" also feels like it walks the same path, it feels incredibly simple and doesn't stimulate me in any way, although I have to admit it has a very catchy chorus that I would probably be more attached to if this album was part of my teenage years as it was for many, but like the song I mentioned previously it lacks the songwriting and punch that the beginning of the album has, and it's no surprise that they are the least discussed songs on this work by far. And the rest of the song is just as iconic, and the moment between when the first chorus ends and they resume the main riff doing a build up that is reinforced twice by two different rhythm patterns by the drums seems to me a supreme detail that adds at the same time complexity and memorability and all this without mentioning the epic ending that lengthens and recreates like a flame refusing to extinguish, just beautiful.Įverything I've just covered is almost the entirety of side A, but when we get into the same type of songs on side B, the brilliance previously present starts to dissipate, "Trapped Under Ice" is another song that sounds very much in the vein of "Kill 'Em All" but sounds dull and lazy, almost as if they've activated the autopilot thus making it a song true to their early style with the most generic sound possible causing me to become totally abstracted. And then there is "For Whom the Bell Tolls" which is for me Metallica's peak in terms of songwriting, I knew it was a good song but I didn't remember how incredibly good it is, just the intro alone leaves you breathless, everything fits perfectly, the guitar breaks happen at the right time making the song totally dynamic but letting each section last long enough so you can immerse yourself in it and remain in your mind forever. But then the tone changes, the title track is slower (compared to the opener of course) but still radiates strength, yet there is more detail in the songwriting, following a classic composing style it manages to be precise and engaging in all its fragments from the chorus to the solo through all the riffs. And even with all this being true there are several aspects I can't stand about this album that have to do from a musical and personal point of view, how nostalgia affects classic albums like this one and how historical perspective also matters when it comes to pointing out certain facts.Īnd speaking about nostalgia, it had been easily seven or eight years since the last time I had listened to this album and when I did it again quite recently I was amazed by the fact that I remembered the first three tracks perfectly, and I think that speaks volumes about how powerful and impactful the first steps of this album are, "Fight Fire with Fire" is a sample of the band's speed metal side and works both as an opener that engages the audience and as a continuation of the band's sound, I feel this song is a similar and improved version of "Whiplash". With the passage of time Ride the Lightning has acquired new perspectives and it doesn't sound too crazy to point it out as the best album made by Metallica, and the truth is that it doesn't lack arguments for it, this album has a stellar song writing and shows an evolution in Metallica's sound with respect to their debut album that would fit much more with what they were about to show in the years to come, also the influence this album has had on the development of extreme metal is unquestionable, one can play through Bathory's discography while finding totally identical segments of this album in their music to give an illustration of his influence.
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