Ride the Lightning by Metallica

If any one song revolutionized metal, this would be it. In 1984 the metal landscape was filled with Whitesnake, Poison, even the dreaded Great White—sure, it was fun, but it was getting goofy.

Metallica came along with a sharp jolt to the senses, a reminder of just how edgy and dangerous—not to mention, how much perverse fun this stuff could be. Their sophomore album, Ride the Lightning found them already reaching for grandeur, getting more ambitious with the song structures and weighty themes. And while nearly every song on the album was about death - the title track being a nifty metaphor for the electric chair - the music kicks with vitality.

If you’re playing bass to this song, raise your fist in honor of original Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a tour-bus accident two years later.

“Ride the Lightning” is one of several Metallica songs on which Dave Mustaine gets a writing credit, though he was ousted from the band long before its recording.

This regularly gets named alongside “Thrasher” and “Constant Motion” as one of the toughest guitar solos in all of RB. The best advice we’ve seen (thank you, Vedicardi) is “You just have to practice over and over until you get the HO 1-2-3 and counter hammer 2-1, then 2-3, then 2-1. What you really do is index, middle, ring, then index, middle, etc. Practice it on your palm.”

Pulled off their latest comeback in mid-2008.

“Ride The Lightning” as performed by Metallica courtesy of Warner Music Group
Cliff Burton, James Alan Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Dave Mustaine
Creeping Death Music. All rights reserved. Used by permission