Kirk Hammett on Ride the Lightning: Metallica Had a “Burning Ambition” to Make the Best Possible Album
The post Kirk Hammett on Ride the Lightning: Metallica Had a “Burning Ambition” to Make the Best Possible Album appeared first on Consequence.
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!’”
He continued, “Kill ‘Em All was our first album — you’re allowed to have your first album covered in mistakes, warts and all. It’s okay, it’s your first album. But then, by the second album, you’re expected to step up, and we were well aware of that. And we wanted to put out an album that could compete with everything else that was coming out at that time, which was stuff like Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Dokken. We wanted to put out an album that was good as any major-label-backed album. And that was a real, real big burning ambition for us. That’s one thing I remember about Ride the Lightning.”
That said, he had one not-too-fond memory of recording Ride the Lightning, concluding, “And also, there wasn’t a shower at the studio, so we didn’t shower very much! [Laughs]”
The staying power of Ride the Lightning is clearly evident in the setlists of Metallica’s ongoing “M72 World Tour.” The band consistently plays five songs from the album over the two nights in each city on the outing, which resumes with a new North American leg on August 2nd and 4th in Foxborough, Massachusetts
See video of Metallica performing the song “Ride the Lightning” at their gig in Copenhagen in June of this year, and listen to the entire album, below. Grab tickets to the band’s “M72 World Tour” at this location, and pick up Ride the Lightning on vinyl here.
Kirk Hammett on Ride the Lightning: Metallica Had a “Burning Ambition” to Make the Best Possible Album
Spencer Kaufman
Popular Posts