Picture this: it is a scorching summer day, with no end to the heat in
sight. Suddenly the
sky goes gray, and a cool mist begins to cover the stifling land. As the
people rejoice, the
children begin to play in the rain. All are enjoying the fact that they are
alive. Suddenly,
and without warning, a torrential down-pour begins, bringing with it the
most disastrous
storm to have ever been witnessed by man. As the skies grow black, all
underneath them
is destroyed. If you are able to visualize this scenario, then you will
understand the
opening of Metallica's sophomore effort, Ride The Lightning.
This album opens up with a relaxed, almost soothing acoustic introduction.
For about a
half of a minute, a soothing feeling enters the body and mind of the
listener. And then it
hits: a nuclear blast to the aural senses kicks in and refuses to let up for
the next 45-plus
minutes. Forget hitting any lights: Ride The Lightning opens up with the
battle-cry of
"Fight Fire With Fire", and lives up to its own preachings.
After the relative success of the independently-released debut Kill 'Em All,
Metallica was
signed by Elektra Records to release their next album. Released in 1984,
Ride The
Lightning quickly assured both Elektra and the world that the band was a
musical force
to be reckoned with, and that they would be around for a good long while.
With a
maturity in songwriting beginning to become more prevalent and a heaviness
that
crushed all on-comers, Lightning became a record that showed the metal world
who was
in control.
Ride The Lightning contains several songs which are still to this day in
their extensive
live catalogue. The thunderous "For Whom The Bell Tolls," with all of its
near-glorious
apocalyptic visions, became an instant classic, causing metal fans
everywhere to bang
their heads and unite their raised fists as a proverbial one. Other
bone-crunchers on this
album include "Trapped Under Ice" and the namesake for so many things
Metallica,
"Creeping Death."
The music is not without message and conscience, however. Whereas much of
the first
album was about nothing more than rocking your brains senseless, several
songs on
Lightning actually had something much more important and necessary to
say. First is
the title track, one of two songs on this album to have been written by
former member
Dave Mustaine. "Ride The Lightning" is the tale of a man sentenced to die in
the electric
chair (the album's cover depicts an electric chair surrounded by ominous
skies), which
makes the listener take a second look at the American justice system.
Next is the softly-spoken (and loudly played) near-ballad "Fade To Black."
It is the first
song (of many to come in the following years) where James Hetfield does more
than
howl and shout: he actually sings, and does a surprisingly fine job of it.
Despite its
obvious connotations, it is a song that is anti-suicide, as opposed to what
much of the
media has speculated over the years. It truly is a song that helps those
who hear it realize how
precious life really is.
And then there is always a time when everyone needs a good dose of reality:
the reality
that all we have in this world, when everyone and everything else is gone,
is ourselves.
"Escape" captures the spirit of isolation-turned-defiance perfectly. In a
world that is
always trying to put you down, Hetfield tells of how you must get the world
first.
And finally, after much devastation to the senses, the second album draws to
a close with
the near-nine-minute opus "The Call Of Ktulu," an instrumental penned by the
Hetfield/Ulrich/Burton/Mustaine line-up, with bass
maestro Burton
assuming lead-bass position. Never before had a heavy metal instrumental
been so
sophisticated, complex, and downright brilliant.
Ride The Lightning is the album that set the stage for Metallica to become
the mighty
Rock Gods that the world was waiting for. And to think, at the time, who
knew that a
battery, a sanitarium, and a few puppets would launch this band into the
stratosphere?
