Metallica
Ride the Lightning

THE REVIEW

Certainly one of the best albums by the ultimate metal band (or thrash metal, as you may call it). An album characterized by numerous guitar solos, as are all the early albums of Metallica, infused with the ferocity worthy of the best tracks for lovers of hard sound, with a style typical of the 80s metal. Thus, an album worthy of note, which includes within it some of the most beautiful songs of the American band: indeed, we can find "For Whom The Bell Tolls," not to mention "Fade To Black," or even "Creeping Death." In short, definitely a CD that does not go unnoticed.

One of the features, which I would define as "anomalous" compared to metal norms, is the duration of the songs: in fact, Metallica, unlike what is presented in …And Justice For All, where the average duration of the songs ranges between seven and ten minutes ("To Live Is To Die" 9.48, "...And Justice For All" 9.44), chooses a very different framework for Ride The Lightning, with an average duration just over five minutes, with songs that, with the exception of "The Call Of Ktulu," never reach seven minutes, and this makes the album more easily listenable, especially for those not accustomed to the lengths of metal tracks; therefore, a record that can be listened to by both those who are not genuine fans of the genre and by the most convinced metalheads. Indeed, despite this, all the other "characteristics" that label a CD as metal remain unchanged: the lyrics are always darker and more gothic, some added sounds are gothic as well (like the bells that start "For Whom The Bell Tolls"), distortions are perpetually present, the rhythms are alternated, "flamenco style" guitars interchange with metal riffs (as in "Fight Fire With Fire"), the drum is imposing with complex attacks, the bass sound is dry when not distorted... but it's well-known that Metallica has a lot to teach about metal technique!

A separate comment must be made for "The Call Of Ktulu," an exclusively instrumental track, lasting more than eight minutes, decidedly splendid, further highlighting, if it were needed, the great technical abilities of the guitarists, not only from a performance point of view but also and especially from a creative standpoint (as demonstrated also by other Metallica songs, like "One" or "Master Of Puppets"). As a constant, we can also find in this album the long non-sung parts present in almost every song (for example, before hearing James sing in "For Whom The Bell Tolls," we have to wait for a good two minutes, but this is also part of the purest metal!). Another surprising element is the simplicity, which coincides with the beauty of some songs: indeed, Metallica manages to construct decidedly beautiful and full of character songs with only three or four riffs, not impossible to reproduce, but then they insert guitar solos worthy of the best Kirk, solos that give chills for both their speed and their beauty, as well as for the wide range of frequencies they cover, from the lowest to the highest, capable of stunning even the most obtuse deaf. I would therefore define Ride The Lightning not as a simple metal album, but rather as a remedy for those who feel a lack of ferocity in their day-to-day lives.