"If Metallica are considered the 'Beatles of speed metal,' then 'Ride the Lightning' must be their 'Rubber Soul' or 'Revolver'"

rfi: what the hell is up with "Escape"? It's a weird departure/experiment? Other thrash/metal that does a big gay anthemic poppy chorus like that?

You should probably read this, in Cosmo Lee's ongoing series about the songs on Metallica's first four albums:

http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2011/07/metallica-the-first-four-albums-escape/

This is a particularly strong entry in the series.

Thanks for the heads-up on that blog Marty; a bit overwritten, but I like the guy's passion.

love escape

"Other thrash/metal that does a big gay anthemic poppy chorus like that?"

Death Angel "Voracious Souls" maybe? it's straight up thrash but with these weirdly poppy moments/sung/clean breakdowns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjQjLLxWKCk

Or maybe Megadeth´s Tornado of Souls. Catchy as anything, that tune.

Is there actually a better opening minute to an album than the one on RtL? I'm starting to think not.

The main riff of Fight Fire with Fire is just insane, Metallica never did anything quite like it before or since.

“What did the narrator in the song “Ride the Lightning” do to end up on death row?

James Hetfield: It must have been pretty bad if he was in that chair. It came from living in the Bay Area, hearing about the death penalty in California. And it was kind of a big deal, being near San Quentin. There was no real character, it was fictitious. It had to be something real bad. I think he stole music online.”

been looking all over ilm for some in-depth complaining about lars' drumming, to no luck :(

http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2011/07/metallica-the-first-four-albums-trapped-under-ice/

Drumming-wise, this is certainly one of Lars’ more aggressive performances, with a shitload of double bass drumming – especially for 1984. As is his usual style, he wisely underplays and makes the most out of quarter and eighth note accents in the chorus and the bridge. A lot of people criticize his playing, but I think he’s brilliant. He plays exactly enough to make the riff kick ass and stay heavy. No matter how fast a riff or song is, it always retains power. He never forces his drumming on the listener like so many modern players who use drum fills excessively. That said, there are some cool rolls in the verse section. Even though the toms on this record are a bit reverb-y and indistinct, you can certainly feel the rolls, and the whole kit sounds pretty big and booming, even if it is a little back in the mix behind the wall of rhythm guitars. The drums are especially buried by today’s mixing standards, where they’re way too up front in the mix for my taste; I don’t need to hear every 16th-note tom hit, just like I don’t need to hear every single note of a really fast scale run. I just need to go on the journey with it and experience the vibe that it conveys.

i'm only just now listening to 80s metallica, since i only ever heard their 90s albums years ago but have started listening to metal since then. and aside from hetfield the only - not sticking point but just dissatisfaction - has been the drumming.

like, this passes for metal drumming?? i can kind of hear how ulrich is so tied to like a punk 2-step for his basic rhythm and as a way to keep up the speed, but instead of getting out of the way per above it often makes it seem like he's afraid to do anything else for fear of losing the beat. sometimes this does sound kind of mechanical ('grimacing technician', someone said on another thread about the whole vibe of the era) in a good way but it's usually not assertive/aggressive enough to pull off that effect.

mostly i like the songs and the guitars enough that the drumming is serviceable and i don't care, and it has its moments, but i'm surprised that such obviously accomplished music could be made with such a seemingly shaky drummer.

like, this passes for metal drumming??

see, I would ask this about anything that doesn't sound like lars.

i'm only just now listening to 80s metallica, since i only ever heard their 90s albums years ago

The Eagles endurance marathon thread inspired me to listen to Load in its entirety for the very first time.

And well. It's aptly titled.

Can't wait for the poll in 2014 though.

And I don't know about how well the Beatalica metaphors work. The Black Album could be The White Album I guess with its "diverse" focus, but Justice just feels more White Albumy to me.

yeah, even on record, nothing about Lars' drumming stands out, and much of it is fixed in the studio. Live, he's atrocious. He rushes ends of phrases, adds an extra beat EVERY TIME during the chorus of "Sad But True". listening to the bootlegs from the 80s, they played the songs too fucking fast because by his own admission, he got so nervous he sped the songs up to get through them faster.

It's weird because one staple of metal is super precise drummers, obviously not everybody had 90s Pete Sandoval, and lots of people are guilty of various cheats, but I think us metal listeners get spoiled by listening to some of the superhumans out there that are just machines of the kit, it's kind of funny to hear Lars' sloppy drumming.

then again though, Metallica as a BAND are extremely sloppy live, judging by the times I've seen them and hte scores of bootlegs I used to scour through. Kirk gets bored and throws extra rhythm fills in, sometimes that don't even fit (especially on "One), or he falls a measure behind on his solo.

I will say though that I was impressed that the tricky harmonized lead in "My Friend of Misery" was pulled off pretty solidly on last year's tour when they played TBA in its entirety.

yeah, and the cover's white too.

a nervous drummer is funny, from my time playing jazz i always think of drummers as THE most unshakeable people in bands

lars has his flaws but i can't really imagine those records without him, i'll happily defend his drumming in detail.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/25/news/companies/metallica-coca-cola-antarctica/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Wonder if even Paul has ever gone to Antarctica?

lars has his flaws but i can't really imagine those records without him, i'll happily defend his drumming in detail.

― festival culture (Jordan), Wednesday, October 23, 2013 1:35 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Im not a drummer or a musician, but i have a hard time listening to his drums. They just sound crappy next to his peers from back then.

last night i listened to them playing a show in the mid-80s, the day on the green one in oakland, and when they're playing faster and it locks in to straight robotic fours it seems to suit the music better, lars' thing sounds a lot better

title of this thread really epitomizes the kind of analogy algebra that is the worst thing about ILM haha

how could analogy algebra be worse than pollification, is there anyone as good at starting polls as dave q was at starting analogy threads?

is there a special name for the spot near the end of the solo in ktulu where it sounds like guitar is raining from the sky

Wouldn't know but here's an analogy to maybe tide you over in the meantime - Sea Change is the Mazzy Star of Beck albums.

the soundstage is so weird on this album

I still find it weird that For Whom the Bell Tolls is pitched *higher* than standard tuning

the soundstage is so weird on this album

― j., Saturday, August 29, 2015 3:26 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

What does this mean?

"Soundstage" of an acoustic recording

The term soundstage refers to the depth and richness of an audio recording and usually relates to the playback process. According to audiophiles, the quality of the playback is very much dependent upon how one is able to pick out different instruments, voices, vocal parts, and such exactly where they are located on an imaginary 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional field. The quality of this soundstage can enhance not only the listener's involvement in the recording, but also their overall perception of the stage.[1]

hey man all i know is this album rools \m/

"I still find it weird that For Whom the Bell Tolls is pitched *higher* than standard tuning"

My guess is that this was done on the tape. It's an old analog trick to 'speed up' the band only thing is that it will slightly tune the whole recording up a bit in pitch.

They do it by altering the speed on the tape reels I believe to do this technique.

I think Motown was known for doing this very thing quite a bit in the Detroit years.

Would be funny if James played it live with a capo on the first fret

funnier if Kirk simultaneously didn't

There's a lyric in Fight Fire With Fire: "Armageddon's here, like said in the past". I had always wondered if this was a reference to the song Blitzkrieg, which was on Kill 'Em All: "The day is coming, Armageddon's near". I just looked it up though and Blitzkrieg was actually just a bonus track on the 1988 reissue of Kill 'Em All. That would've been cool though.

Metallica's Blitzkrieg cover was originally a B-side from 1984, and apparently they played it live as far back as 1982 so it's still plausible.

“Fight Fire” is hard to play and sing at the same time , you run out of breath by the first couplet