Customer Reviews
Sheer Genius - By: cassandra, 22 Sep 2008 
ok who,s " A customer " who gave this 1 star & said it wasn,t even Metallica,s material ? .. it was you dave wasn,t it ?
This album is a classic , still i sit spellbound when i listen to this , their finest imo
The classic Thrash album, absolutely perfect! - By: Mr. Ewan Ashford, 31 Aug 2008 This is my personal favourite. One of the most important albumsin Metal, a standard upon which it's peers were measured, & has influenced more modern metal bands that I can list here. The fact that it was a second effort froma bunch of kids barely out of their teens only cements the genius that is this album. There are 8 out & out classics on this album - or put another way the ENTIRE album. From the genre defining opening of 'Fight Fire With Fire' with it's classical guitar opening, right into all out metal fury, the pace does not let up through title track to 'Creeping Death'. Only when you get to 'Fade to Black' does the pace change, but what a change. Melodic & beautiful, 'Fade to Black' could have easily been a complete ballad, but the fact is it launches into a full throated metal chorus only elevates the song beyond the Thrash label. This was the song that transcended Metal into something else, & has proven very difficult for other bands to imitate (only Pantera I think ever came close). Again, remember that Metallica's members were only just into their 20's! How many bands these days write such a stunning follow up so earlyin their careers? Even the instrumental 'The Call of Ktulu' is an operatic experimentin fusing clasical with metal. Truly one of the best albums ever written.
Metal perfection!!!! - By: Mr. G. Charlesworth, 11 Aug 2008 Jesus how can an album now nearly a quarter of a century old still sound so fresh & exciting! Yep before metallica lost the plot & released mediocre albums (ie St Anger) they were producing monsters like these.
Now I have owned this album for over 15 years & when I still listen to it today it still thrills as much as the first time I heard it. Songs such as For Whom The Bell Tolls & Creeping Death are as devastatingly crushing & the quality of material on this album has rarely been bettered. The only weak point on the album is the instrumental track on the end (Call Of Cthula) but it doesn't distract you from the brilliance of this album. I'll be very surprised if Death Magnetic (due for release soon) will be half as good as this.
If you're new to Metallica or looking for a starting point you won't go far wrong with this.
Metal Perfection!!
Ride the Lightning... No, No Really Ride the Lightning - By: G. Twiss, 13 Jun 2008 Now I want to star by saying that I am completely honestin my ratings off albums & don't let blind loyalty to my favourite bands cloud how I rate them. I very rarely rate albums 5 stars simply because to be a 5 star album it has to be nearly perfect. I can hand on heart though say that this is one of them albums. There are problems with this album of course there are, I have yet find an album with no faults but they are small & not really big enough to affect it overall.
This is Metallica's 1984 release & was their second delivering of thrash metal that would make all other bands at the time & even now look mediocre. I'm not the biggest fan of thrash metal because although I love guitar solos I prefer them to be deliveredin different varieties rather than as fast as possible every single time. Metallica are however a thrash band that vary their music & show strong degrees of creative intelligence. On Ride the Lightning the `Tallica do fast solos but also have mid paced ones as well as the slow majestic beauty that is Fade to Black. This is a mix of thrash & slow melodic beauty that will draw youin & keep you asphyxiated until the end. Many reviewers have said that Lars is a poor drummer & that his beats are simplistic but I totally disagree, I think he's a very good drummer & although technically not the most proficient especially when compared to a couple of my favourite drummers Jukka Nevalainen (Nightwish) & Travis Smith (Trivium), but what he produces with Metallica is of a high standard. Lars is credited to 99% of Metallica songs & if he weren'tin the band would they really be the band we know & love. Anyway I don't want double bass beatsin songs just for the sake of having them, that's one of the things that ruin Epica's `The Divine Conspiracy'. James Hetfield isn't the greatest vocalistin the world but then again this isn't Power Metal but James is one of my favourite metal vocalists he's also a great rhythm guitarist & gives the songs an epic galloping feel. Kirk Hammett is one of the best guitaristsin the world & although some people think ex Metallica man Dave Mustaine is the better guitarist, but I've always preferred Kirk. Lastly Cliff Burton Metallica's bassist at the time was the man credited with moving Metallica towards their more `progressive' approach to music because of his classically trained background. I don't know whether this is really true but he was a great bass player as can most evidently be seen on For Whom the Bell Tolls. Some people argue that Lars is weak on drums & that Kirk isn't as good as Mustaine (I disagree) but overall as a band they compliment each other perfectly. As a band they are a perfect unit... look at it this wayin football you can get the 11 best playersin the world but if they don't play together as, if they don't gel or compliment each others abilities they won't win anything.
Ride the Lightning along with Master of Puppets are Metallica's two biggest albums & essential to any real metal heads collection. Most people award Master of Puppets as the superior; I've always slightly preferred its predecessor although I can't really say why its just one of those things.
Two of the songs are co credited to Dave Mustaine (Ride the Lightning & The Call of Ktulu) but these are Metallica songs simply because they are better than anything Megadeth ever produced as a result I don't see Mustaine as having had any major impact on these. To make my point Mechanix is a song Mustaine wrote when he was with Metallica which Megadeth later released. For Metallica's debut Kill `em All Hetfield & co rewrote it & called it The Four Horsemen, which is the superior version i.e. any thing he does Metallica do better so any input he had here will have been redone only better.
Track by Track:
1) Fight Fire with Fire- A good fast & aggressive opening, once the acoustic intro is out of the way of course. 8.9/10
2) Ride the Lightning*- A fast more mid paced song compared to Fight Fire with Fire, but much better. This is a song from the view of someone who is on death row awaiting execution by electric chair. 9.2/10
3) For Whom the Bell Tolls*- This has one of the best riffs of any song ever, courtesy of Cliff's bass. This is one of my favourite songs from the album & a fantastic song live The only minor problem is it's to short, at 5.11 it's not exactly too short it just should have been more along the 8 minute mark, it needs another verse & a guitar solo. Even so it is such a fantastic song I still can't give it any less than ten. 10/10
4) Fade to Black*- This is the ballad of the album & also the best song here, & arguably the best song Metallica have ever done. The lyrics are about suicide & the song starts of with one of the best & most beautiful guitar intros ever the music gradually builds & gets heavier as it progresses. The outro is 2 minutes long & has fantastic couple of minutes of guitar soloing, possibly Kirk's best. 10/10
5) Trapped Under Ice- This is the thrashiest song on the album & is not as good as the previous songs or the last two, decent enough though. The closest song to that of Kill `em All 8.2/10
6) Escape- This is easily the most filler song & poorin comparison to the rest of the play list. 7.6/10
7) Creeping Death*- This is another brilliant song about the plagues of Egypt. There is also fantastic instrumental play & superb lyrics. This song kicks arse live much like For Whom the Bell Tolls. 9.7/10
8) The Call of Ktulu*- This is an instrumental & most people seem to prefer Orion from Master of Puppets, although I personally have always preferred this one as Metallica's best instrumental. 9.9/10
Overall Rating 9.18
Highlights*
This is one of the best thrash metal albums ever & better than anything Megadeth have ever done & is an important addition to any metal fans music collection. I believe this is better although only slightly than the more praised Master of Puppets.
My pick of Metallica albums, I just can't seem to fault this album. - By: MrMetalheadO'Hagan, 07 Jun 2008 (EDIT FROM MY OLD REVIEW) Right now this is my favourite Metallica album (alongside their new album Death Magnetic). This album is just perfect you've got everything fast thrash metal songs, the beautiful ballad "Fade To Black" (still got the heavy riffs & solos) & an instrumental "The Call Of Ktulu". My favourite things about this album are the solos perfectly played by Kirk Hammet & brilliant Lyrics. Lar's drumming is great but man listen to his drumming on "And Justice For All" that will blow your brains away. Cliff Burton as everyone knows is a brilliant bass player & I think Rob Trujillo is the modern Cliff Burton.
The albums starts off perfectly with "Fight Fire With Fire" an acoustic kind of intro which is breathtaking then blast into a fast heavy riff then kicksin Fight Fire With Fire as I said before perfect. I don't think I have a favourite song on this album as it's just perfect. Every song is a masterpiece. In my opinion i'd rate this above Master Of Puppets. This is a fantastic start to Metallica if you're new to 'em, this is classic metal from start to finish. A MUST BUY! ! ! ! ! OH STOP COMPARING MEGADETH AND METALLICA THEY ARE BOTH GREAT BANDS JUST TOTALLY DIFFERENT STYLES! ! ! ! ROCK ON! ! ! !
