But when Metallica were making it, they were poor, young headbangers, trying to stretch their dollars. The record has since gone on to be certified six times platinum. The single “Creeping Death,” has become a concert staple, thanks to the way it can get 10s of thousands of metalheads at a time to chant “Die! Die! Die!” along with its outro. Songs like the heavy ballad “Fade to Black” and the crushing “For Whom the Bell Tolls” would serve as blueprints for later Metallica hits like “Nothing Else Matters” and “Sad But True,” and the eerie, nine-minute instrumental “The Call of Ktulu” demonstrated their range. Thirty years later, Ride the Lightning stands out in the group’s catalog as the album that introduced melody to its arsenal. Now they were working on the album that defined Metallica. Less than a year earlier, they had kicked out guitarist Dave Mustaine, who went on to form Megadeth, recruited Hammett and released their speed-limit-breaking debut, Kill ‘Em All, the record that defined thrash metal. At the time, Ulrich and vocalist-guitarist James Hetfield were both 20, guitarist Kirk Hammett was 21 and bassist Cliff Burton was the old man of the group at 22. It was the spring of 1984, and the Bay Area thrash-metal quartet was holed up in Copenhagen, Denmark – Ulrich’s home country – recording at a studio they had picked for two reasons: hard rockers Rainbow had recorded their Difficult to Cure album there, and more urgently, it was cheap. Look Back at Metallica’s Ferocious Career in Photos James and I slept in the bedroom, Kirk and Cliff shared his couch.” A friend literally gave us his apartment to stay in while we recording. “We were really broke,” drummer Lars Ulrich says, reflecting the state of Metallica as they were making their second album, Ride the Lightning.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |