RIDE THE LIGHTNING

Even though I've been a metalhead ever since I can remember, Metallica has never been one of my idols. I'm not debating whether they deserve their status as one of the, let's say, top five metal bands of all time since history will most probably prove me otherwise. All I want to do with my reviews is to give you an understanding for the metal upbringing that I went through and how I ultimately got to where I am today.

Sweden and Scandinavia, in general, are not considered to be the best places for touring bands to go since the distance between the biggest cities is way too long and only the biggest acts can afford to take on such a diversion from their tour of the mainland Europe. Instead, the usual route of a smaller band's Europe tours consists of the biggest cities in France, Germany and U.K.. All this is irrelevant when it comes to three acts, for us here in Sweden, and the performers I'm referring to are 1). Bruce Springsteen 2). Iron Maiden and of course... 3). Metallica. The fan bases for these three acts here are gigantic and it was/still is almost impossible to get tickets to these shows unless you camp outside the ticket sale stands... days before the tickets went on sale!

Naturally this weird fanaticism will get to your head when you're a young kid growing up in this climate. Every respectable rock fan is almost forced to keep at least an album by all three of these acts, which is a mentality that really used to bug me back in the day. I've never been much for illogical herd behavior and always tried to see a wider picture wherever I explored new things. That doesn't mean that if people enjoy something that everyone else does that they are automatically brainless zombies or anything like that. I'm sure that many of these fans truly love these bands. What I'm aiming at here is the lack of enthusiasm of exploring anything outside of the norm set by the environment around us!

I've given all of these bands a fair chance to impress me but didn't find anything there that could not be substituted and, most importantly, improved on by other lesser known artists. This doesn't mean that I don't like anything by these artists and Metallica's Ride The Lightning is a perfect example of just that! Made during the classic post-thrash metal era in the band's history, Metallica actually carved out quite an experience with these 8 lengthy compositions. The opening 4 tracks are some of the best pieces composed by the band and have it not been for the two fillers, called Trapped Under Ice and Escape, then a 5-star rating would have been in order.

As it stands today this is a great Metallica album which I originally considered second only to ... And Justice for All, but my history with this music actually made me appreciate this album a lot more with time. Today, this is easily my favorite Metallica album even if it doesn't pass the requirements of being anywhere near my top 100 favorite albums.

***** star songs: Fight Fire With Fire (4:45) Ride The Lightning (6:37) Fade To Black (6:57) The Call Of Ktulu (8:54)

**** star songs: For Whom The Bell Tolls (5:10) Creeping Death (6:36)

*** star songs: Trapped Under Ice (4:04) Escape (4:24)