Kill 'Em All
may have revitalized
heavy metal
's underground, but
Ride the Lightning
was even more stunning, exhibiting staggering musical growth and boldly charting new directions that would affect
for years to come. Incredibly ambitious for a one-year-later sophomore effort,
finds
Metallica
aggressively expanding their compositional technique and range of expression. Every track tries something new, and every musical experiment succeeds mightily. The lyrics push into new territory as well -- more personal, more socially conscious, less
metal
posturing. But the true heart of
lies in its rich musical imagination. There are extended, progressive epics; tight, concise groove-rockers; thrashers that blow anything on
out of the water, both in their urgency and the barest hints of melody that have been added to the choruses. Some innovations are flourishes that add important bits of color, like the lilting, pseudo-
classical
intro to the furious
"Fight Fire with Fire,"
or the harmonized leads that pop up on several tracks. Others are major reinventions of
's sound, like the nine-minute, album-closing instrumental
"The Call of Ktulu,"
or the haunting suicide lament
"Fade to Black."
The latter is an all-time
classic; it begins as an acoustic-driven, minor-key
ballad
, then gets slashed open by electric guitars playing a wordless chorus, and ends in a wrenching guitar solo over a thrashy yet lyrical rhythm figure. Basically, in a nutshell,
sounded like they could do anything.
Heavy metal
hadn't seen this kind of ambition since
Judas Priest
's late-'70s classics, and
effectively rewrote the rule book for a generation of thrashers. If
was the manifesto,
was the revolution itself. ~ Steve Huey