Metallica - Ride the Lightning
July 27th, 1984.
Megaforce
Metallica's sophomore album was released nearly a year to the day of their debut, Kill Em All. Blazing a trail in Metal which would be organised under the label of 'Thrash', Metallica lead the charge for the new school - a school of wicked speed and riffs like shredded A4 sheets. Kill Em All got the word out; Ride the Lightning solidified said word.
Youth trapped under the pressure; trapped under the ice. The only way out is through. You stop; you get stuck. Bottle it up and it slowly - person dependent - kills you. Force will find its place, and its feet. Face forwards - or at least an approximation of forwards - and fucking heave. Make things move or pull them in your favour. Position that lever in the right place. Patience underneath the performance.
The power of Metal meets the energy and speed of Punk. An unequivocal sonic prowess, with Ride the Lightning Metallica reinforced the might which Kill Em All displayed the year prior. Quality-wise, Ride the Lightning is a bit more consistent. That unadulterated raw purity is still centre to the band's sound.
Petition for debut albums to end with instrumental tracks. It's a good way to show the potential of an artist through lyricless means - a chance for different avenues to be ventured down; to tell a wordless story. A chance for the band to show their creative side. Think of it as a way of forcing - suggesting - a different approach/perspective. Sounds sonically sculpt a thousand pictures; pictures.... so on and so forth. The Call of Ktulu is the ultimate closing statement.
The album title, Ride the Lightning, is a reference to Stephen King's 'The Stand'. Coincidentally, I'm reading The Stand as I write this. Life works in funny ways.
'Time is like a fuse; short and burning fast.'
