The quantum leap forward Metallica made in arranging songs on this album continues on their next album Master of Puppets.

This album is a masterclass in chord progression. The way the guitar chords paint picture after picture, in every song; it's almost like there's this soothing effect behind the heaviness once you start noticing it more and more. And yes, I am including the bass influence of Cliff in this equation. Absolutely. Such genius.

This album is like a million times better than Kill em all to me, the songwriting is improved upon exponentially. The lyrics now actually have meaning to them. The guitar tone is unique and the mixing is also much better than Kill em all. Call of Ktulu is actually a masterpiece in my opinion also fun facts: the bells you hear on the album are actually the drummer, Lars, hitting an anvil with a hammer in the studio The song Creeping Death is based on a part in the Bible where god sends an angel of death to kill all of the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, The song is told from the perspective of the angel

Running through metallica's discography will be a blast to hear the progression of the bands sounds through their career. I say def do them all. One of my fav all time bands 🤘

This is the best Metallica album in my opinion. Master of Puppets has some masterpieces, but this album just does it for me. By the way, the intro for For Whom the Bell Tolls is done by Cliff Burton, an incredible bassist who died far too soon. If you listen to MoP, look out for his bass solos in Orion.

Thanks for the review Molly! Me and my best friend have gotten into so many different bands and artists by watching your reactions. We look forward to them every week

I really love the way you describe which feelings the music is emanating. A few times you say what I've felt for years but couldn't put a words to. Great job! :)

Master of Puppets is definitely worth listening to as well. It follows a similar formula to Ride the Lightning. But slightly heavier and longer songs. I would say most people prefer Master of Puppets over Ride the Lightning. But I think Ride the Lightning is slightly more melodic. So I give the edge to Ride the Lightning. Glad you finally got to review this album.

Master of Puppets is often considered the greatest metal album of all time and a must for your next reaction. The first 2 songs are the best intro to any album.

Thank you for a greatvreaction and review. This album holds such a special place in my teen years. To this day, Creeping Death is my favourite metal song of all time. Your full album reactions are the best.

Great reaction! I really love hearing your thoughts in real time! The first 5 albums are an absolute journey!!

I just love your passion about music. This is such a great album, one of my favs from them. The instrumental song is a dark one, inspired by a HP Lovecraft tale which has the same name. Creepy and beautiful.

This was my intro to Metallica...as soon as 'Fight Fire With Fire' kicked in, really started my love of metal, and those chugging crunchy riffs. Wore out several cassettes back in the day! It's cool you have gone chronological as well...wait until Master Of Puppets hits your ears! Great reaction once again Molly! You must add Anthrax and Soundgarden to yer list too 😉

Molly digging your channel, and spot on reactions........from a metal head😂🤘🤘

Thanks Molly, I grew up listening to this album and it’s so awesome to see you react to it!! For sure Master of Puppets next, I hope you’re ready for the intensity 🙏🙏

I love your patience and listening. This band was working from their heart and guts for the first 3 albums!!! RIP : Cliff I so miss the long music intros without any vocals... and I do love James singing!! This band is like No Other!!! Call it heavy, dark, thrash, punk, death,... there is only One METALLICA!.

Love your reaction to this Molly, such an absolute masterpiece and it only gets better with more listens. I go back and forth between this and their next one Master of Puppets as my favorite Metallica album. Looking forward to your reaction to that one!

Former ice rescue technician and trainer...Trapped Under Ice was kind of our theme song and we blasted it on the way to the drills!!!! I have been an EMT in NJ since 1999.... BTW this is one of the best reactions to this album I have ever seen ... you get it... instant suscribe!!!!!

This album is very special to me, it was the first metal record that I listened to on vinyl. Years later during college, Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets and several Megadeth albums (among others) helped me during American Literature and Spanish History classes. I became curious about the inspirations and connections between the songs and the books. There are a lot of literary themes throughout this album, specifically in For Whom The Bell Tolls (it's a book by Hemingway about the Spanish Civil War) and The Call of Ktulu (based upon the Cthulhu mythos, a sea creature, by american writer H.P. Lovecraft). In essence, the songs inspired me to read and the books made me listen to more albums, and more importantly, learn. Sorry for the long text, lol. Nice analysis, Molly :)

Great reaction as always! Yes, Metallica really upped their craft with this one. Where Kill Them All was all speedy thrash all the time, this album brings Metallica into what became their signature mix of the beautiful and melodic with the blistering metal stuff. And yes, it continues into Master of Puppets, which is the one where it all comes together best. Can't wait to hear the reaction to that!

My favorite Metallica album all-round. This album is perfection! THIS album contains the SOUL of Metallica. Some wiser ones divide the first four albums into the elements: Kill 'Em All is the Fire album, Ride the Lightning is the Water album, Master of Puppets is the Air album, and ...And Justice For All is the Earth album. You can even tell by the artwork of the covers.

Great reaction, as always Molly! Looking through your backlog of videos, it appears Opeth hasn't made an appearance yet. They have a huge catalog, but if I had to pick a jumping in point, it would definitely be 'Ghost Reveries', one of my personal favorites. I know you'd enjoy it. Hope you have a great week!

Their first 5 albums to me are perfect each one just keeps getting better. I don't care what anyone says black album is awesome..

So much nostalgia for me with this one. I think myself as well as a lot of younger metallica got into the band from their parents. So many good memories for me connected to this one and their next, I almost forget at times they are super diverse masterpieces.

Keep going!!!!! Haven't clicked on a vid that fast in a while!!

7:59 Bless you Molly! First and foremost, I love your view of things and how you think them through. And you have one of the best intros I've seen, it is nothing short but iconic to me. Bless you twice for doing this and I hope that many more albums of many kinds would follow :)

Trapped Under Ice Is A Still Amazing Hit, Its The First One I Heard And I Think It's The Best One. Next Up, Master, Master! Of Puppets, Hope You Enjoy That One.

I love these reactions, keep going with Metallica, it only gets better.

Nice one!! 👏❤ This one and next 3 are, for me, masterpieces. And each one with its own slight different style. Can't wait for your Master of Puppets reaction 🤗

Ride the Lightening is my fav of their early thrashier material. I remember when they played Big Day Out festival in Australia. I went to both BDO and their sideshow and there was only one difference between the sets, Fade to Black. Totally worth going to both shows just to hear it!

God!! This react takes me soooo far back! I was 15 when this came out, and I was at Hastings before school the day it came out. Bought the CASSETTE (God I'm old) and played the hell out of it. Most of my friends and party acquaintances (lol) had no idea what this was. Keeping in mind, Metallica got almost ZERO radio play for Kill Em All, Ride, AND Master. We used to get heavy rock played on Friday nights from the college radio station and that was about it. FM 90 Amarillo, TX. Then And Justice came out and BLEW UP. Crazy times back then. Thank You!

👍🏻 “For whom the bell tolls” is one of those “band tryout” songs that everyone can or should know how to play. 18:17 goosebumps 😂👍🏻

So glad you're getting to experience all this amazing music for the first time. Also extremely jealous, wishing I could hear it for the first time again 😂

Keep that Metallica record spinning. They just keep getting better!

"Fade To Black" has a pretty interesting story behind it; James wrote those lyrics shortly after some of Metallica's equipment had been stolen, and one of those stolen items was a cool amplifier that James had got from his mother before she had died, so he was really depressed for a while at that point.

Thank you so much, Molly! I love your reactions, especially this one about Ride the Lighting because it's my favorite album by Metallica. These guys were very important for me to love metal music.

Glad you loved the album, it's one of my favourite Metallica albums. I see someone has already mentioned Opeth and I agree you should check them out, they have so much variety in their music, you never know what to expect

Cant wait for the Master of Puppets and, of course, And Justice for All reactions. The progression of Metallica's sound and songwriting is one of the most fascinating Ive ever witnessed in music, youre on the beginning of the great journey! And their first 4 albums are probably one of the most influential pieces of heavy music you can find, its cool to listen one the foundations of basically entire modern metal music

My favorite song from this album is definitely the title track Ride the Lightning, I didn’t listen to the whole album thoroughly before watching this but I will definitely do so as you have pointed out things I’ve never noticed before. Love all your videos, looking forward to the A7X (avenged sevenfold) video

The riding the rollercoaster analogy is a pretty good one for the entire Thrash genre. That juxtaposition of different tempos, transitions, starts and stops, and change ups is par for the course. This album is one of the all time greats and upped the ante for the genre at the time. The guitar sound on this record is fantastic. Definitely do Master of Puppets. It's a progression from this one, but this one is my personal favorite Metallica record because it turned the corner for me and sent me down the Thrash rabbit hole when it came out.

I still remember the first time I heard Fight Fire With Fire when I was a teenager. That speed and intensity!

Great selection! I first heard For Whom the Bell Tolls on my crappy AM/FM stereo clock radio, stayin up way past my bedtime listening to the Metal Shop radio show. First ever Metalica track I heard. But "Creeping Death" is my fave now. So sinister performed live. It's tough to beat their '91 Moscow show. 1.6 mil fans shouting "Die! Die!" back at James, Lars, Kirk, and Jason. Find it online.

Not sure if anyone else posted this but Dave Mustaine co-wrote the songs Ride the Lightning and Call of Ktulu when he was originally in the band. That’s why they have a pretty different tone to the rest of the album and you can definitely hear his influence when you compare them to Megadeth compositions

Fun fact: the songs Ride the Lighting & The Call of Ktulu are the only songs with Writing credits for Dave Mustaine thus making them the last songs to appear on a Metallica album that were made by the Hetfield/Ulrich/Burton/Mustaine lineup!

A MASTERPIECE ALBUM!!!🎼🍻💯🤘🤜🤛🥁🎸

My personal favorite Metallica album. Particularly love the title track and Fade to Black.

''almost like, riding a roller coaster, with all the sounds their making'' just wait for ST ANGER, even Load and reload. oh, LULU..... Their NEW album 72 seasons is out NEXT MONTH!

I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!! Hi Molly ☺️

This album brought back a lot of memories for me as it was my High School best friend's FAVORITE ALBUM! Loved your expressions on this one 😊😃😋 too & as always really appreciate your descriptive reviews.

Fun fact: cliffs knowledge of classical music really influences this album and also master of puppets. He also stands out on this album in some songs. Especially the intro to the 3rd track. Love your reviews!

I was a teenager when Ride the Lightning was first released. Musically, it changed my life. Being a professional musician, that album gave me a new, daring direction to which has benefited me greatly, especially in my song writing nowadays. Still loving your radio voice, Molly. You are awesome. Can't wait to hear your opinion on Master of Puppets...

Man i love your reactions. So genuine and honest. This is a great metal album. For whom the bell tolls is a classic. Get on the next Helmet reaction. Cant wait.

As I'm sure you guessed, For Whom The Bell Tolls is about war, and the crazy guitar noises at the end in place of what would normally be a solo are supposed to emulate soldiers screaming on the battlefield

😎 actually on For Whom The Bell Tolls is a Hammer hitting/stiking an Anvil , it's not gongs of a Bell swinging being struck. 😎.

This is the only album from them that I truly love! Masterpiece!

Thanks for this react! I knew you would enjoy it. Keep going on😎🤟

great memories of this album, I remember lying on my bed with headphones playing air guitar before I owned a real one, I thought that higher notes were low down the fretboard and lower notes were up, good times

It’s not a fan favorite, but try to keep going through “Load” it’s a big departure for Metallica, but it is their most unique album. Somebody that seems to enjoy many genres, like yourself, will find it quite intriguing.

Going into the old school metal. This album is the gateway for me in metal. Other thrash albums I recommend: Slayer - Reign in Blood Sepultura - Arise Kreator - Pleasure to Kill Exodus - Bonded by Blood Testament - Practice What You Preach Sodom - Agent Orange Anthrax - Fistful of Metal Death Angel - The Ultra-Violence

Classic, absolute classic. Listening to Metallica nowadays, after a nlifetime being a fan, I think this is their best. I love And Justice but damn, Ride de Lightning is amazing.

Fight Fire with Fire is my favorite, gets me fired up, pun heavily intended

Molly, I really like the way that you make your videos, this way holding a little microphone. It's different and I've never seen any reactors making videos like this.

your comment about being impressed by how fast they can play the guitar really made me want to recommend you the band "Archspire" now that is some technically impressive music. 🤘🤟

18:05 Funny you mention icicles. That song was originally going to be called "When Hell Freezes Over".

Kill Em All was one of the greatest debuts of all-time by any band BUT this album was better in every way; songwriting, musicianship and production values. There would never be such a huge leap in quality between any Metallica release after Ride the Lightning, as Master of Puppets was almost as good. I know many Metallica fans often rate MoP as their #1 album but for me it's always been RTL.

Hey Molly the song for This song is based on the Ernest Hemmingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, and it is about 5 soldiers left to defend a hill and are killed in an airstrike

Solid reaction, Molly!

I really enjoyed your reaction and your insightful comments were spot on. Thank you!

Metallica were a group who progressed on each album! So rewarding as a young Metal fan!🔥 I got this on cassette, at an import shop, outside Boston, between Jr & Sr year!🤘 ‘ Escape’ is reviled by the band, as it was the label’s one attempt to try to get them on the radio! Otherwise; NO MTV. NO Radio. LIMITED magazine coverage before their fifth album, the following decade! I’m someone who values the era I came up in!👍

Tracks 4 and 8 for all the next albums are going to have a distinction of AWESOMENESS!!!

It's always such fun to watch your videos because you remind me what experiencing these great albums for the first time is like. My favorite Metallica albums are definitely the first three with Cliff Burton on bass. My ranking of them is probably #1 Puppets, #2 Kill em All, #3 Ride the Lightning

Do 'em all!

Great reaction vid, Molly! Love to see master of puppets, garage days EP, and justice for all. The self titled album is optional.

A classic to be sure!

They continue to improve after this album imo but this is still the one I return to most often.

13:54 nailed it. That is one of the best things about the band IMO

Nice course from alternative nu metal to thrash metal! Hope one day you react to a doom/black/death record 🤟☺️

Awesome album, thanks for the video. I can’t wait for more Metallica on your channel.

I have a to ask: Do you have Dream Theater on your list? If so that's awesome(if not you should!), but fair warning, if you plan on doing their albums in order, their first album has a different singer than every album after that. (they've also changed drummers and keyboardists over the years, but that's kind of a long story. and I don't want to bore you with details)

One of my favorite "hype" tracks is For Whom The Bell Tolls, live Woodstock 94. Creeping Death is one of my all time favorite songs by Metallica, partly because, as a Jew, we don't have very many great songs, and nothing near as amazing as this. The story of Passover and it kicks off my Seder every single year.

Death Angel, Armored Saint, Metallica @ The Kabuki Theater, San Francisco, March 14th 1985. I was 15. It was my third time seeing them, it was for this album. I think it's out there on KZfaq somewhere

Lorna Shore - Pain Remains This is gonna be a challenge ;)

Finally! So cool to see someone else exploring Metallica for the first time just like i did 24 years ago :D

Thank you, Thank you! Now you see why this is my All time favorite Metallica album. Stand out Tracks don't apply on this album, every track is perfectly crafted. It requires more than 1 listen, It's that awesome!

Can't wait till you get to the Black album. Some of the best 90's heavy metal.

Escape was a radio song that the label wanted. They all hate Escape. But I really like it.

Hard to believe this album is 40 years. This album was way ahead of it's time and has aged pretty well.

I was skeptical @ first..... but I now respect this chick more than I thought I would. Considering I saw ride the lightning tour twice. August 31.1985....december 31.1985-86

I was exposed to Metallica through this album (and Kill 'em All) in the fall of '85 by a friend of mine my Freshman year of HS. It was the first time I had ever heard anything like it. I couldn't get enough m, it was so fast and driving in tempo. Everything a 14 year old kid needs. 🤣

Escape is literally about prison break. Hence the siren sound. For some silly reason, the band don't like the song, and never wanted to play it live, though eventually did. I say silly, because the song is good and boy do they have some real stinkers in comparison.

creeping death is my favourite metallica song of all time and my go to at karaoke when i'm 10 beers down lol

Perfect album front to back

master of puppets will be epic also what about breaking benjamin?

Gonna have to react to all their albums

I love your reactions but honestly it was particularly jarring in this video the speed of transitions and how you didn't let certain segments of the song breathe for the viewer (I'm thinking solos in particular, but I'm biased)

After watching your first reaction of the first album Kill‘em all, I am waiting for you to listen to the third album Master of puppet. I can’t wait.

Oh, you look just like my younger sister. Especially with that hair. And we both listen to Metallica and all kinds of rock and metal music. And, well, we play music ourselves 😁 (though I haven't met her for years already). She's a DJ and I'm a guitar player. Metallica is my major inspiration in terms of guitar playing 🤘

Creeping Death is a staple on their live shows. The crowd keeps chanting Die Die Die!

Can't wait for your reaction to Master, aaaaaand... ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

I would love to hear you react to Load and Reload, these albums have such undeserved hate, many of songs from there are so good! (But of course, I want you to go in order and eventually those will come)