Metallica: Ride The Lightning - Ranking Every Song Worst To Best

8. Escape

Generally considered the black sheep of the eight tracks that make up Ride the Lightning, this mid-temp effort represented one of the band's first serious endeavours to marry their brand of thrash propulsion with something approaching more obvious commercial appeal, partially at the urging of their label.

It remains the least-played cut from the record on stage - once, in a full album performance at 2012's Orion Music + More Festival, in fact - and it lacks some of the melodic deftness showcased elsewhere on this record's other slower cuts too, never mind the more chart-friendly crossover efforts of fellow contemporaries Iron Maiden.

But nor is it the dud it often finds itself derided as either. It's far from tuneless and though it never ultimately made it to an intended single release, it lays the groundwork for the band's later work on The Black Album, which brought them serious singles appeal following an arguable organic extension of their approach here.