Friday, July 12, 2013

#947 Metallica - Ride the Lightning

Finding a balance between the crude crush of their debut and their later excesses, Ride the Lightning is actually pretty darn good. Heavy and fast, melodic and listenable, the songs are full of little experiments that work. Neither watered down nor oppressive, this is the sound of Metallica on a roll, victorious, but still hungry.

The only place it loses points is in the subject matter. I know this is metal and all, but does every song have to be about death? Or rather, nuclear holocaust, the electric chair, death, suicide, being "trapped under ice", and "creeping death" (Call of Ktulu and Escape are pretty thin soup as exceptions go), respectively? By the end it just sounds lazy, and undercuts the music's comparatively exciting crackle 4/5

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