Ride The Lightning (Deluxe Box Set)

Metallica

Blackened, 2016

http://www.metallica.com

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/13/2025

There are inherent dangers to sitting around after rotator cuff surgery, unable to drive, with lots of time on one’s hands (or, in this case, hand). First, you might find yourself spending more money through mail order. This explains how a copy of the deluxe box set of Metallica’s 1984 release Ride The Lightning came to be in my possession.

The second danger is having lots of time to plow through such a massive set. Granted, it’s not as jam-packed as that for Metallica, but it’s still a respectable haul for the diehard Metallica fan.

The keystones of this set, naturally, would be the original album, presented in both LP and CD formats. For their sophomore effort, James Hetfield and crew took the lessons they learned from Kill ’Em All, tightened up their sound, songwriting and playing, and dared to expand those horizons past the typical rock star posing. The end result? Songs like “Fade To Black,” “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” “Creeping Death” and the instrumental “The Call Of Ktulu.” (Yeah, “Escape” is in there, too... we don’t talk about that one.)

There is a lot of sentimentality I have for the picture disc of “Creeping Death.” I remember being a teenager in suburban Chicago, calling all the local record stores around me in an effort to find this (albeit on black vinyl), as it was the only way at the time to own their cover of Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil.” Finding it was akin to the Holy Grail for a young budding metalhead like me; the cover of “Blitzkrieg” was just the icing on the cake.

The rarities begin—for this review, at least—with one CD of demo versions and rough mixes. Yeah, it can be off-putting at first to hear these rawer versions of songs many of us have grown up with... but it’s also kind of interesting to hear the progression of these songs. It might have helped if more songs had been featured—there are three versions of “Ride The Lightning” alone. What about the development of “Fade To Black” or “For Whom The Bell Tolls”? (I will say the garage demos—especially “Ride The Lightning”—without vocals did pique my interest.)

It wouldn’t be a Metallica deluxe box set without numerous live performances—and my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 Ride The Lightning certainly has plenty to choose from. The earliest show is culled from the Lyceum Theatre in London in late December 1984, and while it’s a fairly tight set, it is (to me) light on new material. Only “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” “The Call Of Ktulu” and “Creeping Death” make the cut. Still, even with tape cuts on two songs, it’s an enjoyable listen.

The two-LP set from the Hollywood Palladium on March 10, 1985, is an extremely sloppy affair. Often it sounds like lead guitarist Kirk Hammett is the one missing cues, and Hetfield commits several lyrical flubs, but at least half of the new album is featured. Still, this show feels like something was missing, from the overall lackluster, mistake-filled performances down to the apparently phoned-in version of “(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth” from bassist Cliff Burton.

Five nights later, Metallica got a chance to redeem themselves at Kabuki Theatre in San Francisco. It’s still a bit sloppy—which one can say about many of Metallica’s early career performances—but this one, while higher in overall energy, makes some glaring mistakes. One can’t help noticing the screwup at the start of “The Four Horsemen,” but a quick recovery is made. I’d like to be able to say the same about “(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth,” but the early part of the solo was cut—something the set did not note. And what the hell happened in the middle of “No Remorse”? (I’m not referring to the tape cut; there’s a point where Hammett’s (?) guitar goes completely dead.

However, perhaps all was not the fault of the band; Hetfield acknowledges to the audience at the end of “Fade To Black” that the PA was having issues. So, perhaps I’m being a little over-critical and should just accept this one, warts and all, as a slice of history.

By the time the band appears at Castle Donington on August 17, the gloves are off, and they tear through their 50-minute set like unleashed wild animals. Although the overall sound isn’t the greatest, it does show Hetfield and crew as a much tighter musical unit, and is a high-water mark for the box set.

The one thing I’m not crazy about in these sets is the disc of interviews. I know there are people who would be interested in hearing Lars Ulrich talking about the state of the band for 50 minutes (over the course of two interviews), or Hammett and Burton being interviewed for WUSC in Cleveland. Honestly, I find these dull, and there will rarely be some golden nugget of information that would make me sit up in my chair with surprise.

Last, but not least, we get to the DVD. What should have been a highlight featuring one full and one partial show (both of which had snippets on Cliff ’Em All) are marred at times by poor sound. None of these instances are Metallica’s fault, to be fair—and their performances are some of the best of all the live shows featured in this set. But when the MTV broadcast from “Day On The Green” washes out at times both Hammett and Burton’s playing... well, suddenly I’m not disappointed that they didn’t include the whole 50-minute set. The interview snippets feel like an afterthought, and don’t shed any new light on the band.

Like many deluxe box sets, Ride The Lightning is designed for the diehard Metallica fan who must own every single note the band has performed—though casual fans will undoubtedly find nuggets here and there. Currently out of print, one should expect to shell out over $200 to add this to your collection. Sometimes, it feels like some better quality rarities could have been included to justify the cost—but, in the end, it still proves to be a fairly interesting trip.

Rating: B-

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