Metallica - Ride The Lightning

Image via Revolver Mag: https://www.revolvermag.com/culture/metallicas-ride-lightning-story-behind-iconic-cover-art/

Ride The Lightning is an exploration of themes like death, claustrophobia, and the inescapable hand of fate. With bassist Cliff Burton’s inputs at the helm, the album incorporates brutality with increased sophistication in songwriting and complex arrangements. It exhibits a wide range of dynamics, like fierce riffs, melancholic acoustic passages and long, narrative epics. As drummer Lars Ulrich puts it, “Ride The Lightning is about being trapped in a situation you can’t get out of. Big Brother, The Man, fear and manipulation. Those sort of things became the lyrical tentpoles over the next couple of records."

The album takes us through different faces of mortality, like a stark reflection on death and human powerlessness. Fight Fire with Fire is a blistering thrash metal song about nuclear annihilation and the suddenness of death. The title track, Ride the Lightning, takes us through the viewpoint of someone about to be executed by the electric chair. The lyrics suggest the inmate is innocent, adding to the tragedy and injustice of the situation, as they are about to be executed for a crime they did not commit.

Many songs feature more advanced structures, especially my personal favourite The Call of Ktulu. It’s a vast instrumental that closes the album, over eight minutes long. The title comes from H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror short story The Call of Cthulhu. It starts slow and builds intensity with layers of guitars.

Overall, Ride the Lightning unfolds like a dark journey about fear, death, and existential struggle. With its layered guitar harmonies and shifting dynamics, it creates an atmosphere that’s ominous and otherworldly. Its musical and lyrical complexity established Metallica as a band capable of tackling serious subjects.