Hard-hitting, a more polished version of Kill 'Em All
Metallica's second studio album, Ride the Lightning is a great thrash metal experience. The album's theme revolves around death; this is apparent from the album art alone, which depicts an electric chair. Some songs are fast, some songs are slow, but in my opinion each track is great in its own right. Enough foreplay.

Fight Fire With Fire: The opening track, this song is about nuclear war. It starts off with a calm acoustic intro, reminiscent of some sort of old instrument (a harpsichord I believe). If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was a recording of the National Symphony Orchestra leading up into a masterpiece by Beethoven. But all of a sudden, you get a fast, heavy, low guitar. It's a pretty good song overall, but it isn't the greatest. 8/10

Ride the Lightning: This titular track is nice because it simply sounds great. Hetfield's voice sounds angry, maybe even a bit spiteful. The song is about a man on death row, about to be executed on the electric chair. The solo is killer, as is the bridge leading into it. Great to listen to. 10/10

For Whom the Bell Tolls: This one is interesting, because it's a bit slower than the previous two tracks. The song seems to be about soldiering and the Hemingway book by the same title. The intro riff is cool, as are the various solos throughout the song. That said, I think it's a bit overrated. Not bad, just overrated; there are better songs on here. 9/10

Fade to Black: This song arguably started the 'tradition' that would be followed in the next two Metallica albums of having the fourth track start slowly but end heavy. The song has a catchy acoustic intro leading into a distorted riff. The song focuses on suicide, the mental struggle of a man. Once again you can hear some anguish in Hetfield's voice, and overall the song has a gloomy mood to it. It is definitely one of the slower tracks on the album, but it's very well composed and the solo is great. A classic. 10/10

Trapped Under Ice: Basically Fight Fire With Fire in terms of how it sounds. I like it, but it's basically 'another thrash song.' The song's title speaks for itself. 8/10

Escape: One of my favorite tracks on the album, and interestingly it's the only one that's got a more positive mood in the lyrics. The chorus is one of the best parts, just because of the way it is structured. The song seems to be about escaping from prison or from the shackles of life. Sadly, Metallica has never played it live (or so it would seem), because they don't like it that much. 10/10

Creeping Death: A song about the plagues from the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments, told from the perspective of the creeping fog that killed the first-born of each family that didn't paint the X on their doors (or however the story goes). It's a heavier track than the others, and has a good sound to it. 9/10

The Call of Ktulu: Inspired by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, of whom the late Cliff Burton was a major fan, this song is purely instrumental. I do think it drags on a bit long, but it's still a good showcase of Hammett's guitar work. The ending is one of the best parts, because it simply sounds epic. 9/10

If you want to get into Metallica, this MAY not be the best album to start with; I would recommend the classic Master of Puppets or even the Black Album. If you've already heard some Metallica (I'm talking about early Metallica, not the Load/Reload and beyond years) then you should definitely get this if you haven't already.

Metallica's most artistic effort
While MoP deserves it's place in history, I am with the many reviewers here who believe that this is the best Metallica album. This is dark, gut-wrenching, aggressive, sledgehammer, *brilliant* stuff from four intelligent and insanely talented guys who were too young to know that you're not allowed to make music this good. 5 stars all the way.

classic heavy metal album
along with many other metal albums of the 80s this is one that goes right with them. metallica is a great band some key tracks on here are, ride the lightining, creeping death, for whom the bell tolls. the best song on here is for whom the bell tolls. great album buy today

"Ride The Lightning" is a high-voltage classic
Metallica's sophomore album, "Ride The Lightning" certainly showcases some interesting and classic thrashers. It's hard to imagine what the metal community nowadays would be like without gems like this album. It seems that this album seemed to be an overlooked one in Metallica's early catalogue, considering "Kill 'Em All" is generally considered the birth of thrash metal, "Master of Puppets" is regarded as Metallica's magnum opus, and "...And Justice For All" got Metallica some mainstream attention with the music video for "One".
Regardless of whether or not "Ride The Lightning" is overlooked or not, it's still a classic that should be in every metalhead's collection. One interesting thing about this album is that while it still captured the raw power and fast energy of Metallica's debut, it seems to have a thicker, more polished, and at times, more epic sound. Don't get me wrong, though, I still think "The Four Horsemen" off their debut is one of the finest metal epics, but to get a full review of "Ride The Lightning", simply read on.
"Fight Fire With Fire" starts things off with some classical acoustic guitar playing for a bit over half a minute. Suddenly, a crushing riff rips its way into your sound system at about a hundred miles an hour. The massive drums crash their ways in and you have a fast and furious headbanger about the evils of pollution and nuclear warfare. The singing is also very raw, with James singing a very staccato pattern, "Do!...Un!...-to others!...As!...They've!...Done to you!". Great way to start off the album.
"Ride The Lightning", the six and a half minute epic title track starts off with some high-pitched guitar notes before going into a thrashy, Devil's Tritone riff. Some epic guitar soloing is featured in here, along with an interesting storyline that shows how the band is against capital punishment.
"For Whom The Bell Tolls" is a progressive, five-minute classic with plenty of great guitar riffs that occupy the first two minutes of the song. The nastiest riff of them all is featured in the chorus, and some wild guitar playing closes this war song out.
"Fade To Black" is a personal favorite of mine, one of the best songs on the album, and one of the very best songs Metallica's ever written. Some sad but beautiful acoustic guitar work opens with a lovely electric solo. Mournful but poetic lyrics occupy the verses, then comes a powerful chorus riff. More great guitar soloing fills the rest of the song out.
"Trapped Under Ice" is another heavy song about struggle, featuring some dirty riffage and wild soloing that definitely makes itself worthy to be on the album.
"Escape" is a more melodic, radio-friendly sounding song, but nonetheless a great track, as well. A bit shorter and a pretty cool song.
"Creeping Death" is a song that defines thrash metal. This is an overall great song that you gotta hear. Its lyrics refer to the Seven Plagues in the story of Moses in the Bible, and the thrashing riffs pummel their way into your brain. And, as always, Kirk Hammett shows us why he's an amazing guitarist when he screeches out those awesome guitar solos.
"The Call of Ktulu" is a nine-minute, progressive instrumental. A cool way to end the album, it has an odd but mesmerizing tone that features some mighty and powerful riffs and drums, alongside solos that give the song quite an epic tone. I personally prefer "Orion" off "Master of Puppets", but this song is definitely a great one, too.
So as you can see, "Ride The Lightning" is undoubtedly a classic metal album. I've seen it ranked as being one of the top ten metal albums of all time, and when you give this a listen, you'll see why. All of the tracks are very strong, the songwriting's great, as are the singing, guitar-, bass-, and drum-playing. Get this, along with the other three Metallica releases in the '80s, and even "The Black Album" if you're interested. Overall, this is a very strong and solid album that I would recommend to all fans of thrash metal, and heavy metal in general. Good job to the 'tallica guys! Thanks for the time, and peace.

Ride the Lightning!
Great, bought it as a present for my brother.
He loves it, thank you.