3 Key Tracks From Metallica’s Classic ‘Ride the Lightning’

While Slayer, Exodus, and others were also pioneers of thrash metal, Metallica’s first two albums created a dividing line in music history.

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Once Metallica had arrived, they established a new blueprint for heavy music. While other bands also shared a love for Motörhead’s frenetic tempos, the compositional weight of Kill ’Em All outshined its contemporaries.

When Ride the Lightning landed in 1984, it single-handedly evolved the genre. The lit-conscious album also raised the bar for arrangements and technical proficiency. Metallica was developing at a rapid pace, and Ride the Lightning became their first masterpiece. It wouldn’t be their last.

A line from The Stand by Stephen King provided the album title. Guitarist Kirk Hammett explained, “The chapter had a guy in prison who was waiting to ‘ride the lightning,’ and I just thought, ‘Oh my God, what a cool collection of adjectives and nouns that is!’”

“Why, then you go on to Death Row at state prison and just enjoy all that good food until it’s time to ride the lightning. It won’t be long.” —Stephen King, The Stand

Hammett’s band also has a cool collection of words. They just put theirs over crushing guitar riffs. Here are three key tracks from Metallica’s classic album.

“For Whom the Bell Tolls”

Ernest Hemingway’s 1940 novel of the same name inspired “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” The song, like the book, is a masterpiece. This track has more memorable hooks in its intro than most bands’ entire catalog. Within two minutes, Cliff Burton’s distorted bass, Kirk Hammett’s cycling lead, and James Hetfield’s threatening riff created a new benchmark for heavy metal. And Lars Ulrich’s drumming gives a swinging groove to Hemingway’s war novel.

“Fade to Black”

You don’t call an album Ride the Lightning without tackling some dark subjects. With gorgeously orchestrated acoustic guitars, Metallica details the despair of someone with suicidal thoughts. Some accused Metallica of glorifying suicide, but Hetfield said the band received “hundreds and hundreds of letters from kids telling us how they related to the song, and that [it] made them feel better.” Fellow thrash metal bands didn’t write ballads. Though Metallica felt vulnerable doing it, they didn’t want to be limited by the scene’s demands or audience.

“Creeping Death”

Metallica gets biblical on this thrash metal classic. “Creeping Death” retells the story of the first Passover from the Book of Exodus. Hetfield sings from the perspective of the “deliverer” of God’s punishment while he and Hammett shred through the iconic riff. Hammett wrote the guitar riff as a teenager in his pre-Metallica days. Meanwhile, Burton came up with the title while watching The Ten Commandments. If you need to change a pharaoh’s mind, this is the way to do it.

Photo by Pete Cronin/Redferns