Why? You have to be familiar with finger picking, and also with hybrid picking. Acoustic PartĪcoustic part at the beginning is on the intermediate level of playing. IMO, it is the hardest song to play on the album. It is fast, and it demands a high level of accuracy and stamina to play it right. How hard is it to play Fight Fire With Fire on a guitar?įight Fire With Fire is hard to play. Ride The Lightning paved the way to the new, more harmonized and heavier Metallica. It was, of course, different from Kill ’em All, in terms of sound, music and arrangements. By now, everybody and their brother is familiar with the thrash giants that put the genre on the map.10 Conclusion Ride The Lightning – The AlbumĪfter it’s debut, Kill ’em All, Metallica released its second album, Ride The Lightning in 1984. With controversial takes existing everywhere on every spot of Metallica’s discography, it’s sometimes nice to just peel back the layers and taste the core of a classic’s excellence. Being only the band’s second record, Ride The Lightning signals the hint of constant change as they progress forward, a stunt that would stick for every record in the band’s career. Stylistically, is it that different from the explosive debut? Nah, but writing wise, this may already be one of the biggest shifts in tone. The obvious part is how clean of a leap James and co. While this is important in the context of the early ‘80s, it’s even more compelling when you figure Ride The Lightning’s title track and opener “Fight Fire With Fire” are two of the heaviest songs the band has ever written. The bridge following the chorus in “Ride The Lightning” leading into that chaotic windstorm of a solo absolutely smolders the listener with burning intensity under an umbrella meant to invoke colder feelings. That’s beyond incredible in and of itself before you even consider how cleanly this is pulled off. Moreover, Metallica did what I think advanced the thrash genre to another step. While early output may warrant a tough time splitting the hairs of speed and thrash metal, they managed to give that a heavier definition here. By that, I mean they nailed the “thrash but not necessarily fast” style that many bands would take and run with before. I’m not saying it hadn’t been done before 1984, I’m saying the line was sharpened substantially. The instrumental closing masterpiece “The Call Of Ktulu” shows this in some of the finest progression of its time, coating itself in the aggressive attitude and harder punch without the need for constant speed. The classic hit “For Whom The Bell Tolls” is a more obvious example of this, keeping the same steady but heavy pace the entire run, not sidestepping the style at all. Catchy choruses and melodic verses all over the record can't cause that to happen.įew are gonna deny the excellence of the sophomore masterpiece that is Ride The Lightning. But I can’t help feeling that it gets unfairly underpraised, sandwiched between the monumental titan Master Of Puppets and the sweaty and sticky energy of Kill ‘Em All. Even the weakest moments on this (see “Trapped Under Ice”) are still incredible. It being one of the fastest songs, yet one of the most overlooked speaks volumes about the tighter cementation of the direction they took. When the ballad “Fade To Black” gets more recognition than a speed metal gunshot, it’s pretty telling where the important factors are, even if this didn’t land with some fans right away. I go back and forth between Ride the Lightning and Kill 'Em All, the two albums that in my eyes revolutionized heavy metal. Metallica's debut brought a punk edge to metal, combining a bunch of different influences into one streamlined genre of music. The band's second effort is a fantastic leap forward in just about every way the band makes major strides in songwriting and musicianship, the production is a little bit cleaner, the track list is more diverse, and the band is truly forging their own path here, mostly shedding the Motörhead and Minor Threat influences. This record encapsulates everything about Metallica's youthful energy, puts it in a time machine, and catapults it ten years into the future in terms of maturity.
There are hints of Rush and early Slayer, but the band still retains some of their edgy rage. The A-side of this record is absolutely flawless. "Fight Fire with Fire" opens with an acoustic intro followed by one of the heaviest, fastest, most intense riffs that Hetfield ever wrote.
But this song is more than just a straightforward scorcher, there are different instrumental changeups and James's vocal performance is more of a bark to throw the song forward. The title track follows with just as much aggression but an even more complex song structure, and Kirk's solo (even if it borrows from Mustaine) is astonishing.
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