Sorrrry. A nice person already pointed out that my review sucked. I'll work on that for next time.
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Metallica- Ride the Lightning
- Thread starter RoseSunglasses
- Start date
Decided to add my own review:
1. Fight Fire With Fire
Initially I didn't like this song much, as I found it far to heavy for my taste. However as I listened to it more it grew on me and now I love it. The heavy verse riff and the harmonised part of the solo are just plain fantastic, although I feel the song would have been better if Hetfield's vocals were about an octave deeper (I appreciate that probably wasn't possible, but for an aggressive song like this the vocals just don't seem angry enough).
8.5/10
2. Ride the Lightning
What can I say? The guitar intro is absolutely stunning and the riffs throughout are all great, although my personal opinion is that all those riffs were just used as wrapping for Kirk's exceptional guitar solo. The solo is very well made and is furiously fast without being flaily, even the very fast part at the end of it uses repeating triplet patterns and scale runs to prevent it being inaccessibly fast. Hetfield's piercing vocals really add an extra layer into the song, and it's har not to scream along with the chorus.
9.5/10
3. For Whom The Bell Tolls
All hail Cliff Burton. The bass riff in the intro is really sweet, although for a really great version of it, look up the Cliff 'Em All video, where cliff plays a bass solo before it and randomly goes ballistic during it. The chorus riff really gets you on your feet and headbanging, and it is impossible not to shout "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS!" at the top of your lungs while listening, truly excellent song.
9/10
4. Fade To Black
The album's standout track by a good distance. The ratings of 9/9.5 on Call of Ktulu, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Creeping Death and Ride the Lightning are solely to prevent the value of this 10 meaning less than it should.
The intro solo is an amazingly good display of Hammet's ability to play solos that make you cry every now and then, and Hetfield's backing line is one of the best out there. Again this feels like it would be even better if Hetfield's voice had become deeper, but que sera sera. The wordless chorus is so incredibly powerful that it really doesn't need any words to prevent you from screaming along. The acoustic verse is another beautiful little piece and when it finally gets very heavy the guitar line used is amazing, Hetfield's vocals are almost as scream along as For Whom The Bell Tolls' chorus and the triplet bar is just genius.
Then, onto what is, in my opinion, the best part of the song: Kirk Hammet's ending guitar solo. There are really no words to describe the beauty and power Hammet puts out of his guitar even while playing at the speed he is, showing to all doubters metal CAN be pretty, and when he reaches the hammer-on sequence... just listen for yourself, absolutely amazing.
10/10
5. Trapped Under Ice
While being a good song, Trapped Under Ice seems a little underwhelming given it's predecessor. Catchy intro and verse riff make it fun to listen to and the bridge in the middle would be great live. Not really that much to say, OK song with a few catchy riffs but just doesn't hold up to the rest of the album in my opinion.
7.5/10
6. Escape
Let me put it simply, the drop from Fade to Black to Trapped Under Ice is about the same from the latter to Escape. I honestly find it horribly boring and skip it every time I listen to the album. I just don't get why this was put in, surely they wrote something better before deciding on the songs, it wouldn't have been hard. Do yourself a favour and try not to think of this when you think of the album, to have this on the same album of Fade to Black is practically sacrilege.
4/10
7. Creeping Death
Now THIS is more like it! Every riff in the song is gloriously heavy and the lyrics are great fun to sing along to, Hammet's solo is pretty cool, but the most notable part of this song is easily the bridge. You can't really tell from the studio version but live, every member of the crowd chants DIE! DIE! DIE! during it, it is truly amazing to be a part of (Adding to that, the riff they chant over sounds epic). Not much to say about this, classic Metallica at it's best.
9.5/10
8. The Call of Ktulu
What a song, the whole song, especially the intro, are very atmospheric and put you in the mind of watching Cthulhu unleashing itself, which shows how well it's written as not many instrumentals can actually do that. Kirk's solo is quite under-rated in my opinion and oneof my favourites, although I haven't heard it mentioned much by anyone so maybe it's just me. The song is really quite different from standard Metallica, as most of Metallica's riffs are power chords whereas the riffs in the are arpeggiated chords, sounds very atmospheric as I mentioned and, along with Fade to Black, prevents the album from being monotonous when you first hear it.
9.5/10
And that was MY first review.
1. Fight Fire With Fire
Initially I didn't like this song much, as I found it far to heavy for my taste. However as I listened to it more it grew on me and now I love it. The heavy verse riff and the harmonised part of the solo are just plain fantastic, although I feel the song would have been better if Hetfield's vocals were about an octave deeper (I appreciate that probably wasn't possible, but for an aggressive song like this the vocals just don't seem angry enough).
8.5/10
2. Ride the Lightning
What can I say? The guitar intro is absolutely stunning and the riffs throughout are all great, although my personal opinion is that all those riffs were just used as wrapping for Kirk's exceptional guitar solo. The solo is very well made and is furiously fast without being flaily, even the very fast part at the end of it uses repeating triplet patterns and scale runs to prevent it being inaccessibly fast. Hetfield's piercing vocals really add an extra layer into the song, and it's har not to scream along with the chorus.
9.5/10
3. For Whom The Bell Tolls
All hail Cliff Burton. The bass riff in the intro is really sweet, although for a really great version of it, look up the Cliff 'Em All video, where cliff plays a bass solo before it and randomly goes ballistic during it. The chorus riff really gets you on your feet and headbanging, and it is impossible not to shout "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS!" at the top of your lungs while listening, truly excellent song.
9/10
4. Fade To Black
The album's standout track by a good distance. The ratings of 9/9.5 on Call of Ktulu, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Creeping Death and Ride the Lightning are solely to prevent the value of this 10 meaning less than it should.
The intro solo is an amazingly good display of Hammet's ability to play solos that make you cry every now and then, and Hetfield's backing line is one of the best out there. Again this feels like it would be even better if Hetfield's voice had become deeper, but que sera sera. The wordless chorus is so incredibly powerful that it really doesn't need any words to prevent you from screaming along. The acoustic verse is another beautiful little piece and when it finally gets very heavy the guitar line used is amazing, Hetfield's vocals are almost as scream along as For Whom The Bell Tolls' chorus and the triplet bar is just genius.
Then, onto what is, in my opinion, the best part of the song: Kirk Hammet's ending guitar solo. There are really no words to describe the beauty and power Hammet puts out of his guitar even while playing at the speed he is, showing to all doubters metal CAN be pretty, and when he reaches the hammer-on sequence... just listen for yourself, absolutely amazing.
10/10
5. Trapped Under Ice
While being a good song, Trapped Under Ice seems a little underwhelming given it's predecessor. Catchy intro and verse riff make it fun to listen to and the bridge in the middle would be great live. Not really that much to say, OK song with a few catchy riffs but just doesn't hold up to the rest of the album in my opinion.
7.5/10
6. Escape
Let me put it simply, the drop from Fade to Black to Trapped Under Ice is about the same from the latter to Escape. I honestly find it horribly boring and skip it every time I listen to the album. I just don't get why this was put in, surely they wrote something better before deciding on the songs, it wouldn't have been hard. Do yourself a favour and try not to think of this when you think of the album, to have this on the same album of Fade to Black is practically sacrilege.
4/10
7. Creeping Death
Now THIS is more like it! Every riff in the song is gloriously heavy and the lyrics are great fun to sing along to, Hammet's solo is pretty cool, but the most notable part of this song is easily the bridge. You can't really tell from the studio version but live, every member of the crowd chants DIE! DIE! DIE! during it, it is truly amazing to be a part of (Adding to that, the riff they chant over sounds epic). Not much to say about this, classic Metallica at it's best.
9.5/10
8. The Call of Ktulu
What a song, the whole song, especially the intro, are very atmospheric and put you in the mind of watching Cthulhu unleashing itself, which shows how well it's written as not many instrumentals can actually do that. Kirk's solo is quite under-rated in my opinion and oneof my favourites, although I haven't heard it mentioned much by anyone so maybe it's just me. The song is really quite different from standard Metallica, as most of Metallica's riffs are power chords whereas the riffs in the are arpeggiated chords, sounds very atmospheric as I mentioned and, along with Fade to Black, prevents the album from being monotonous when you first hear it.
9.5/10
And that was MY first review.
I like doing it track by track, though. That's my personal preference. =/