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Metallica ride the lightning banner3/24/2023 ![]() In bassist Flea's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee speech for Metallica, he cited this as being the first Metallica song he heard. The song is featured in the indie film Hesher and in the video game Guitar Hero: Metallica, along with "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Fade to Black" and "Creeping Death". Black metal band Abigail Williams also covered "Fight Fire with Fire" as a bonus track to their 2010 album In the Absence of Light. The song was covered by Apocalyptica on their album Cult, Therion on the 'Tribute to The Four Horsemen' tribute album, as well as by Polish death metal band Vader, released as a bonus track on their album Necropolis. The song encourages the eye for an eye approach, and its lyrical themes focus on revenge and Armageddon, resulting in the end of the world. Because of their rarity, this misprint caused these green albums to become a collectors' item. The introduction to "Fight Fire with Fire" displays Metallica's evolving towards a more harmonically complex style of songwriting. 400 copies with the green cover were pressed. In 1984, the French record label Bernett Records misprinted the color of the album cover in green, rather than blue. The album was placed at number five by IGN Music on their "Top 25 Metal Albums" list. Steve Peake, also writing for, named "Ride the Lightning", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Fade to Black" and "Escape" in his list of the "Top 10 Metallica Songs of the '80s". He said that the band's sophomore record was another big step forward from their groundbreaking debut album. Chad Bowar of ranked Ride the Lightning as the second best Metallica album. It was these traits which helped them broaden metal's scope. The album included melody, maturity and musical intelligence. They broke with the conventions of thrash metal to record the genre's first power ballad in 'Fade to Black'. ![]() The album also represents the first time that the lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett, is given writing credits. He is credited on the title track, "Ride the Lightning", and instrumental track "The Call of Ktulu". He was kicked out of the band on April 11, 1983, prior to the recording of Kill 'Em All. Ride the Lightning is the last Metallica album to credit former lead guitarist, Dave Mustaine, with co-writing any songs. On September 12, Metallica signed with major label Elektra Records who re-released the album on November 19. Metallica finished recording Ride the Lightning on March 14, 1984, and it was released through Megaforce on July 27. The album was produced under Flemming Rasmussen, founder of Sweet Silence Studios, who also went on to produce the band's following two albums: Master of Puppets and. On February 20, 1984, the band began work on recording them at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark. ![]() Shortly afterwards, they began composing new material and during the fall, the songs that would comprise Ride The Lightning started being performed at concerts. On July 25, 1983, Metallica released their debut studio album, titled Kill 'Em All Through Megaforce Records. ![]() Since the albums release "For whom the Bell Tolls", "Fade to Black" and "Creeping Death" would appear as permanent staples at Metallica's live shows while "Fight Fire with Fire" and the title track would occasionally appear as well. While the album was printed in France the press mistakenly printed green covers for the album which are now collectors items. It was certified 6× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2012, having shipped six million copies in the United States. The album was released on July 27, 1984, through the independent record label Megaforce Records. Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by American Thrash metal band Metallica. ![]()
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