Metallica’s sophomore album, Ride the Lightning, is celebrating its 40th anniversary, having been released on July 27th, 1984. The LP is an all-time metal classic, and according to guitarist Kirk Hammett, the band had a “burning ambition” to make the best possible album at the time.
Ride the Lightning has been certified six-times platinum thanks to such stellar songs as “Fade to Black,” “Creeping Death,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and the title track. For many fans, it’s right up there with its follow up, Master of Puppets, as Metallica’s best album.
Heavy Consequence caught up with Hammett, who briefly reflected on Metallica’s mindset going into Ride the Lightning, which arrived a year after the band’s debut album, Kill ‘Em All.
“I would say when we were recording [Ride the Lightning] we were still in that same lifestyle situation where we were living literally hand to mouth,” recalled Hammett. “We didn’t have much. None of us had vehicles or houses. I had maybe one guitar, actually two guitars. But all of a sudden we had these songs. We held them very close to our hearts.”
The album was recorded with producer Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark, marking a big step up from the setup the band had for Kill ‘Em All.
“So, when we went in to record these songs, it was our first time in what we consider a real studio,” remembered Hammett. “And so we really, really wanted these songs to be the best that they possibly could be sonically, and in the execution of the production. So, we had the constant [mindset]: ‘Is this the best that we can get it? Is this the best the guitar sound could be? Is this the best playing it could be? We need to make an album that could stand up to everything else out there!’”