Line Up: James Hetfield - Guitar, VocalsLars Ulrich - Drums Cliff Burton - Bass, Background Vocals Kirk Hammett - Guitar Tracks: 2. Ride The Lightning (6:36) 3. For Whom The Bell Tolls (5:09) 4. Fade To Black (6:57) 5. Trapped Under Ice (4:04) 6. Escape (4:23) 7. Creeping Death (6:36) 8. The Call of Ktulu (8:53) Singles: Fade to Black - Promo released in 1984For Whom the Bell Tolls - Promo single released with two versions of the song Creeping Death Album Notes: The album was re-released in 1989 and it was remastered in 1995. This is the only album that the band produced themselves. James: "Overall, I'd have to say Ride the Lightning is my favorite. Kill 'Em All , our first album, was already written when we went into the studio but Ride... was the first next step, when we started to discover the studio and what we could do in it. That was kinda the fun bit, and it still is." Fight Fire With Fire is a song about revenge and Armageddon. The focal point of the lyrics is the counter blow of a nuclear war which would cause the end of the world - Armageddon. But what the hell is this world coming to? Blow the universe into nothingness Nuclear warfare shall lay us to rest Fight fire with fire Ending is near Fight fire with fire Bursting with fear We all shall die Time is like a fuse, short and burning fast Armageddon's here, like said in the past Fight fire with fire Ending is near Fight fire with fire Bursting with fear Soon to fill our lungs, the hot winds of death The gods are laughing, so take your last breath Fight fire with fire Ending is near Fight fire with fire Bursting with fear Fight fire with fire Fight The lyrics of Ride The Lightning are written from the perspective of someone who is forthcoming the death by electrocution although he didn't commit the crime. In an interview in a Guitar Magazine James said: "I believe in capital punishment, but it was more about the idea of being strapped in the electric chair even though you didn't commit the crime." But damn it, it ain't right There's someone else controlling me Death in the air Strapped in the electric chair This can't be happening to me Who made you God to say, I'll take your life from you? Flash before my eyes Now it's time to die Burning in my brain I can feel the flame Wait for the sign To flick the switch of death It's the beginning of the end Sweat, chilling cold As I watch death unfold Consciousness my only friend My fingers grip with fear What am I doing here? Flash before my eyes Now it's time to die Burning in my brain I can feel the flame Someone help me Oh please, God help me They are trying to take it all away I don't want to die Time moving slow The minutes seem like hours The final curtain call I see How true is this Just get it over with If this is true, just let it be Wakened by horrid scream Freed from this frightening dream Flash before my eyes Now it's time to die Burning in my brain I can feel the flame The song is about a scene from the Ernest Hemmingway novel where one morning five soldiers were taking a position on a hill and they get killed by an air strike. The lyrics of the song are based on the same titled Ernest Hemmingway novel, For Whom The Bell Tolls which is about an American who is given the job of taking out a bridge held by the Fascist army in the Spanish Civil War - the precursor to the World War II. He fell in love and then found out very disturbing things about life and death. Constant chill deep inside Shouting gun, on they run through the endless gray On they fight, for they are right, yes, but who's to say? For a hill, men would kill. Why? They do not know Suffered wounds test their pride Men of five, still alive through the raging glow Gone insane from the pain that they surely know For whom the bell tolls Time marches on For whom the bell tolls Take a look to the sky just before you die It's the last time he will Blackened roar, massive roar, fills the crumbling sky Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry Stranger now are his eyes to this mystery He hears the silence so loud Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be Now they see what will be, blinded eyes to see For whom the bell tolls Time marches on For whom the bell tolls The song's subject matter is about loosing the will to carry on. The song was written by James just after the band's equipment was stolen at a show in Boston, MA in 1984. Among all the stuff which has been stolen was a Marshall amp, which was very valuable to the band. They had to search two continents for a replacement amp with quite the same sound. The song has to do with loosing gear and finding a way to keep on moving. Therefore the song has been interpreted to be about a person who decides that suicide is the solution. Drifting further every day Getting lost within myself Nothing matters, no one else I have lost the will to live Simply nothing more to give There is nothing more for me Need the end to set me free Things not what they used to be Missing one inside of me Deathly lost, this can't be real Cannot stand this hell I feel Emptiness is filling me To the point of agony Growing darkness taking dawn I was me, but now he's gone No one but me can save myself, but it's too late Now I can't think, think why I should even try Yesterday seems as though it never existed Death greets me warm, now I will just say goodbye The song is a nightmarish epic that uses a person simultaneously drowning and freezing to death to symbolize a person who is living zombie-like, burnt out and perhaps even drug addicted. Woken up, I'm still locked in this shell Frozen soul, frozen down to the core Break the ice, I can't take anymore Freezing, can't move at all Screaming, can't hear my call I am dying to live Cry out I'm trapped under ice Crystallized as I lay here and rest Eyes of glass stare directly at death From deep sleep I have broken away No one knows, no one hears what I say Freezing, can't move at all Screaming, can't hear my call I am dying to live Cry out I'm trapped under ice Scream from my soul Fate mystified Hell forevermore No release from my cryonic state What is this? I've been stricken by fate Wrapped up tight, cannot move, can't break free Hand of doom has a tight grip on me Freezing, can't move at all Screaming, can't hear my call I am dying to live Cry out I'm trapped under ice The song is about an escaped prisoner on the run which can also be interpreted as an escape from everything which is preventing you from doing what you want to or even from being as you want to be. I know I'm my best friend No one cares, but I'm so much stronger I'll fight until the end To escape from the true false world Undamaged destiny Can't get caught in the endless circle Ring of stupidity Out for my own, out to be free One with my mind, they just can't see No need to hear things that they say Life's for my own, to live my own way Rape my mind and destroy my feelings Don't tell me what to do I don't care now 'cause I'm on my side And I can see through you Feed my brain with your so-called standards Who says that I ain't right? Break away from your common fashion See through your blurry sight Out for my own, out to be free One with my mind, they just can't see No one to hear things that they say Life's for my own, to live my own way See them try to bring the hammer down No damn chains can hold me to the ground Life's for my own, to live my own way Life's for my own, to live my own way Metallica was inspired by the second half of Charlton Heston's film The Ten Commandments which is based upon the bible tale of the plagues which bestowed upon the Egyptians. Throughout the song there is made mention of more of the ten plagues. There is the line "Blood running red and strong, Down the Nile." This is the first of the ten plagues. The Final darkness is also made mention of in the song. The title of the song was created when, while watching the movie, bassist Cliff Burton stated "Whoa, that's like creeping death!" Hebrews born to serve, to the pharaoh Heed To his every word, live in fear Faith Of the unknown one, the deliverer Wait Something must be done, four hundred years So let it be written, so let it be done I'm sent here by the chosen one So let it be written, so let it be done To kill the first born pharaoh son I'm creeping death Now Let my people go, land of Goshen Go I will be with thee, bush of fire Blood Running red and strong down the Nile Plague Darkness three days long, hail to fire So let it be written, so let it be done I'm sent here by the chosen one So let it be written, so let it be done To kill the first-born pharaoh son I'm creeping death Die by my hand I creep across the land Killing first-born man Die by my hand I creep across the land Killing first-born man I Rule the midnight air, the destroyer Born I shall soon be there, deadly mass I Creep the steps and floor, final darkness Blood Lamb's blood, painted doors, I shall pass So let it be written, so let it be done I'm sent here by the chosen one So let it be written, so let it be done To kill the first-born pharaoh son I'm creeping death A reference to H.P. Lovecraft's fictional character Cthulhu features a riff which was written by Dave Mustaine while he was a member of the band, which he later used in the Megadeth song "Hangar 18", from Rust in Peace. |