You know, some time in the 00s, i saw a Metallica cover band, some local band in San Francisco that only did songs off the first three albums. They opened their set with Escape. And it totally changed how i hear the song. I don't know if it was just hearing it not buried in side 2 or what, but im a convert on Escape, hahaha!

The Day After!!! That made for tv movie scared the hell outta me back then.

Good stuff man! I still remember the day I got this on cassette when it was released! Jesus now I feel old! Lol! Blew me away and what an progression from Kill 'Em All! Damn! What I know now that I didn't know then, this is the influence of Cliff having a voice in writing music and Cliff was without question the most musically gifted and knowledgeable member at that time. Anyway. I'm sure you know all this, just love this album so much. Still in my top 5 of all time! Killer! Never heard Metallica anytime on the radio likely until Justice with "One"...but only the big city FM stations. What do I know. I grew up in the stix! Cheers man! 🍻 🤘🤘

The phrase “Ride the Lightning” is from the Stephen King novel The Stand. I seem to remember there is a character in that novel who is on Death Row but he escapes because all the prison guards and most inmates die from the Captain Trips virus and the story’s antagonist Randall Flagg comes to get him out.

Man where do I begin… First great well done retrospective review. Two, this is my iconic like I think Metallica I think this record. And cause my ocd, 3…chugging Bud Light while was watching this… cheers brother 🍻

Love Metal love Metallica also love venom

Black Sabbath in the 1970s only had Megalomania, Dirty Women, and Juniors Eyes as crescendo types of Metal songs. In the 1980s they had Children of the Sea, Lonely is the Word , Heaven and Hell, Falling Off the Edge of the World, Sign of the Southern Cross, the Shining, Ancient Warrior, Eternal Idol, Born Again, and more Fade to Black type songs. Most of their 1970s ballads stayed mellow like Planet Caravan, Solitude, and Changes. A lot of songs from Sabotage were diminuendo style. I can't think of another Metal album where songs get softer and mellower in their duration. Sabotage contained a few songs ( in particular the Writ) that could have been considered a Stairway to Heaven in reverse logic.

Game changer

Great video. Nice to hear positive things about Kirk for a change. What a good album!

How dare you talk smack about Escape!!!! 🤣 I love that tune. Pretty sure me liking Escape and Trapped Under Ice is why this has always been my number 1 thrash album. To me Master of Puppets was a notable drop off and really the end of the Metallica train for me.....🤘🤘 Keep doing what you're doing, good content.

New to the channel. Already watched pretty much all ur videos. There best album imo...

Yes I have a copy of the original Megaforce cassette

The song Ride the Lightning might hold the record for the most power chord progressions. It's all over the fretboard with power chords

I used to stash all the money I made giving guitar lessons in my copy of Ride the Lightning back in high school because it was my favorite album. Sweet examples of some original pressings!

Hi Dennis!!! this week on tuesday "Kill 'em all" celebrated it's 40th anniversary and i did a video taking about the effect that record had on the music scene, how it helped to shape our music journey and what (we kids) were doing back in the day...... Btw I got into Metallica with "Ride....." and then listen to the first one thinking that "Fight Fire...." was the coolest and heaviest song i have ever heard. Still the first four records are huge records and they still stand the test of time. cheers and be well

Great to hear your story around this album. The first one I heard was Kill Em All but it was already '88. First one I bought was Justice and Ride the Lightning was second. Like you I probably don't ever need to play it again, the entire record is stored in my head. That's funny you had the sellout vibes in '86 already, it took me until the Black Album when all of a sudden the entire football team loved Metallica, the same clowns that would mock me for it a year before. Awesome video Dennis!

I saw Metallica on this tour. It was my first album by then and I saw them with three other groups. I had an original obviously but my teen years albums are all gone as I moved around so much. On the chair next to you, I notice you change the image. I know DRI from a challenge given to me by This Is Music. Faces of Death - my older brother used to make me watch that. I still don’t know if that stuff was real, but I don’t want to know. I hear you with this album being ingrained in you. Hey, we might be the same age. I graduated in 86. I definitely wasn’t cool in school - still am not! I remember that Metal Up Your Ass shirt - I think you had that one displayed in your last video I watched.

Came out the year I was born, so I didn’t buy it until about 14 years later, but it’s still a fantastic album 🤘

Escape is the Heaviest song by Metallica, in one little section anyway

My only gripe is i wish that Rasmussen hadn't muted,pushed back the rhythm on some of the tracks.Cannot agree on Justice,that album was the death of Metallica for me and was boring as watching paint dry.

Amazing video about a fantastic album! I´m a little bit younger and came in with "Master...". "For whom..." was one of the first songs I performed on stage in 1991. I own only one copy since the late 80s, the green one on Bernett. I heard that the initial idea for "Fade..." came from the said loss of their equipment. I also read in an old interview that they always sneaked on stage at early Trouble gigs to "copy" their guitar sound.... makes sense, huh? The main riff from "Trapped..." is from "Impaler", the old Exodus song but I think you know that, hahaha.... For some reason this video makes me want to listen to the "Hard Core Metal" boot by Exodus, Ruthie´s Inn March 1984. Fun fact: my last band (Repent) always played "Whipping Queen" in practice and "Metal Command" at shows....

I like Escape, it’s different from rest of the album, has an epic feel. But the whole album rips.

I have TAT OF ALBUM COVER ON MY FOREARM OF THE COLORS TO IT. RIDE THE LIGHTNING IN BOLD BLUE SONG UNDERNEATH IT . Have cassette to it