Metallica - Ride The Lightning (LP) Vinyl

Ride The Lightning is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, first released on 27 July 1984 by the independent label Megaforce Records and following Kill 'Em All (1983). It is the record on which the band moved beyond the flat-out speed of its debut, and it remains one of the defining thrash metal albums.

The Album

Metallica began recording on 20 February 1984 at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark, and finished on 14 March, working with co-producer Flemming Rasmussen. The overall recording costs were paid by the band's European label Music for Nations because Megaforce could not cover them. Two months after release, Elektra Records signed Metallica to a multi-year deal and reissued the album on 19 November 1984.

Although rooted in thrash metal, the album showed the band's musical growth and lyrical sophistication. Bassist Cliff Burton introduced the basics of music theory to the group and took a larger role in the songwriting, and Metallica broadened its approach with acoustic guitars, extended instrumentals and more complex harmonies. It is the last album to carry songwriting contributions from former lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, and the first to feature contributions from his successor Kirk Hammett. Q magazine credited the band with redefining the norms of thrash metal through "Fade to Black", the genre's first power ballad.

The title was taken from a passage in Stephen King's novel The Stand, in which a character uses the phrase to refer to execution by electric chair. The sleeve, based on a concept by the band, shows an electric chair struck by lightning flowing from the Metallica logo. The album peaked at number 100 on the Billboard 200 and has since reached number 48; it was certified 6x platinum by the RIAA in 2012 for shipping six million copies in the United States.

This Pressing

This is the Blackened Recordings reissue, released under exclusive licence to Universal International Music BV and pressed as a single black vinyl LP. The audio was remastered by Howie Weinberg at Howie Weinberg Mastering in Los Angeles, with vinyl masters cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. The record is housed in the original single sleeve artwork and comes with the printed lyric insert.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Fight Fire With Fire (4:44)
2. Ride The Lightning (6:36)
3. For Whom The Bell Tolls (5:10)
4. Fade To Black (6:56)

Side B

1. Trapped Under Ice (4:03)
2. Escape (4:23)
3. Creeping Death (6:36)
4. The Call Of Ktulu (8:52)