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1984. Ride the Lightning

is the second studio album by band Metallica. The album was released on July 27.

On July 25, 1983, Metallica released their debut studio album, titled Kill ‘Em All . Shortly afterwards, they began composing new material and during the fall, the songs that would comprise Ride The Lightning started being performed at concerts. On February 20, 1984, the band began work on recording them at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ride the Lightning is the last Metallica album to credit former lead guitarist, Dave Mustaine, with co-writing any songs. He was kicked out of the band on April 11, 1983, prior to the recording of Kill 'Em All. He is credited on the title track, “Ride the Lightning”, and instrumental track “The Call of Ktulu”. The album also represents the first time that the lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett, is given writing credits. Hammett took the album’s name from Stephen King’s novel The Stand. In 1984, the French record label Bernett Records misprinted the color of the album cover in green, rather than blue. Four hundred copies with the green cover were pressed. Because of their rarity, this misprint caused these green albums to become a collectors’ item.

Kerrang! (p. 50) - “The album included melody, maturity and musical intelligence. It was these traits which helped them broaden metal’s scope.”

In summary, a classic. The absolute best this band would ever do, yet sort of overlooked in their back catalogue. Amazing riffs, great solos, powerful drumming, awesome bass, cool vocals, thoughtful lyrics and above all else, amazing songwriting!. this was the pinnacle of Metallica’s career. They would still go on to create more great albums (Master of Puppets, …And Justice For All, Metallica).