The Call Of Ktulu also had an amazing intro with a shredding distorted wah sound joking along a nice and clean melodic rhythm, followed by a flawless key change further along the instrumental track. Finally, Hetfield’s seemingly aloof and emotionless vocals topped it off just perfectly. Fade To Black has my favorite Metallica intro ever, combining delicate acoustic tunes with a subtle change in colors from dark to almost sarcastically bright, followed by a firm and crisp electric entrance. The band’s maturity is also evident in the combination of skillful acoustic rhythms and shredding electric solos, such as in Fight Fire With Fire and Fade To Black. By playing with his fingers instead of using a pick, he allowed for more fluid and seamless bass lines. According to LoudWire, Burton showed Hammett and Hetfield how basic guitar harmony worked, and how to augment core notes with complementary counter-melodies to enhance their guitar solos.Ĭliff Burton himself contributed to the group’s evolution in style and sound. Cliff Burton’s knowledge on music theory and guitar harmony contributed tremendously to Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield’s signature duo-guitar solo tone. Metallica sounded a whole world more mature in Ride The Lightning compared to their debut album, Kill ‘Em All. Listen to Creeping Death and tell me you don’t feel a funny sensation going down your spine when the Metallica members chanted “ Die! Die! Die” as if they were possessed. Metallica frontman James Hetfield recalled losing his favorite Marshall head cabinet in a robbery, which inspired his woeful lyrics in Fade To Black, his first ballad ever: The lyrics in this album are as usual haunting, aggressive, sometimes passive-aggressive, and dark. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich (man, do I love his drumming) also became remarkably more mature in his control and variation of the beats in this album compared to Kill ‘Em All. Ride The Lightning also has some of the group’s most melodic songs ever, most notably Fade To Black, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and Creeping Death. While their first studio album Kill ‘Em All sounded more like an angst thrash garage band record, Ride The Lightning had remarkably more mature, calmer thrash sounds, closer to the sounds of their thrash Gods counterparts Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth. Burton’s contribution to the songwriting process led Metallica members to experiment with different tempos and song structures. One major reason for this is the replacement of former Metallica bassist Dave Mustaine by Cliff Burton. Ride The Lightning marked the important maturation of the band’s musical style. The record companies will not be mistaken, Eleckra will sign the group shortly after the first release by the label Megaforce.Photo: By Saad Faruque from Bangalore, India (James Hetfield), via Wikimedia Commons How time flies And speaking of how time flies let’s celebrate the thirty eight year anniversary of “Ride The Lightning” by discussing whether this is the best Metallica album ever recorded! The themes are also more detailed and allow to erase the "garage band" label that sticks to Metallica. The new intelligence of Metallica also concerns the arrangement of the songs, which allows a fluid listening, and which will serve as a model for the following albums. Thus the melodic side of certain songs, such as "Creeping Death" or "Ride The Lightning", is perfectly transcribed without losing the aggressiveness, sometimes still teenager, of the group. The guitar parts are moreover highlighted by the impeccable production of Rasmussen (who will be their regular producer until "And Justice For All"). The band even dares a ballad, "Fade To Black", which will become a great Metallica classic, with its perfectly mastered solo that shows Kirk Hammett's progress. Indeed, if the strong moments of the fast Thrash of "Kill 'Em All" are still present on "Fight Fire With Fire" or "Trapped Under Ice", the Americans allow themselves more constructed pieces, like the heavy "For Whom The Bell Tolls", or the formidable instrumental that is "Call Of Ktulu", in which the plans are linked with ingenuity. Lars Ulrich leaves little by little the stereotyped game of the first opus and animates the songs in a more effective way ("Call Of Ktulu"). James Hetfield's vocals are much more worked, and allow the band to produce more elaborate vocal lines, like on "Fade To Black". The progress shown by the band in the space of a few months is frightening. With this "Ride The Lightning", Metallica astonish once again. The musical landscape was turned upside down, and it will be then frequent to hear that Metallica had just invented the Thrash metal, alongside bands like Slayer, Megadeth or Anthrax. Thirteen months before, Metallica launched a huge paving stone in the pond of metal music with a snarling, fast, violent "Kill 'Em All".
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