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

The first of the band's quasi-power ballad compositions - and still the best in their arsenal - the near-seven-minute closing cut from Side A of the record remains one of Metallica's defining compositions; a semi-classical, moodily atmospheric acoustic intro that gives way to a searing chorus and brilliantly climactic guitar solo outro.

Upon release, it confounded some of the group's fans for its musical departures, but that only helped mark it out as the bravest and best offering from the four piece yet. Much of its creative impetus came from bassist Burton's more sophisticated influence on the songwriting process, with Hetfield penning its lyrics after the band had their gear stolen before a show in Boston.

Several other songs in their repertoire - Welcome Home (Sanitarium), One, The Day That Never Comes - would later build on the escalating structure present here, leaving its influence across the rest of the band's discography as a particularly well-felt one.

When those final minutes kick in, it's hard to not be swept up in Fade to Black's magnificence every time.