10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Metallica

8. A Rare Misprinted Green Cover For Ride the Lightning Has Become A Collector’s Item

Metallica Ride The Lightning Green
Elektra

The front cover for the band’s phenomenal sophomore effort Ride the Lightning was extremely iconic, perfectly encapsulating the destructive force of the music found within it. However, some French fans got an alternative version upon release.

Rather than the steely blue color that slathered it, they got a murky green one instead.

Why? It turns out that there was a mistake when printing the album – one which altered the color completely. You can still find copies of the misprinted alternative online, but be prepared to pay a rather hefty buck for it.

French record label Bernett Records only pressed 400 copies of the now infamous green version, making it a rather tantalizing collectible to many of the group’s fans.

Even though it’s misprinted, it’s still pretty darn cool, right?

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Contributor

Music Journalism graduate and freelance writer from Northern Ireland, who enjoys scouring the music archives for the best sounds from the past and present. Writer for the awesome publications WhatCulture, Metal Injection, Scribol, The Gamer, and Prefix.