2. Metallica - Ride The Lightning
1. Fight Fire With Fire 2. Ride The Lightning 3. For Whom The Bell Tolls 4. Fade To Black 5. Trapped Under Ice 6. Escape 7. Creeping Death 8. The Call Of Ktulu Stand out track: For Whom The Bell Tolls. A monster track informed by Cliff Burton's terrifying bass intro that seems to herald the sound of Armageddon. No other band achieved atmospherics as well as this. This was a tough one, what is the greater achievement, Ride The Lightning or Master of Puppets? Both are outstanding albums and both deserve their place on this list but Ride The Lightning edges it for me. Released almost a year to the day after their genre defining debut, Kill 'Em All, hit the shelves, Metallica's monumental progression was instantly noticeable. Ride The Lightning is the band's greatest achievement, containing some of their most perfect songs and the powerful and morbid feel of the music is unparalleled. From the misleading acoustic intro to 'Fight Fire With Fire', which culminates in one of Metallica's most unhinged moments, to 'Creeping Death', a true thrash classic to this day, Ride The Lightning is untouchable. This album slayed the competition during the genre's formative years and laid down an insurmountable challenge to their peers; beat this they screamed in your face! Unsurprisingly, most couldn't. Metallica have always courted controversy; whether being accused of selling out, taking on Napster or appearing egotistically challenged on the 'Some Kind of Monster' documentary but there is no denying that in the 1980s Metallica were
the band in Heavy Metal, not just Thrash metal.....but is this the greatest thrash metal album of all time? Nope, that honour goes to..