There are inherent dangers to sitting around after rotator cuff surgery, unable to drive, with lots of time on one\u2019s hands (or, in this case, hand). First, you might find yourself spending more money through mail order. This explains how a copy of the deluxe box set of Metallica\u2019s 1984 release Ride The Lightning<\/i> came to be in my possession.<\/p>\n
The second danger is having lots of time to plow through such a massive set. Granted, it\u2019s not as jam-packed as that for Metallica<\/i>, but it\u2019s still a respectable haul for the diehard Metallica fan.<\/p>\n
The keystones of this set, naturally, would be the original album, presented in both LP and CD formats. For their sophomore effort, James Hetfield and crew took the lessons they learned from Kill \u2019Em All<\/i>, tightened up their sound, songwriting and playing, and dared to expand those horizons past the typical rock star posing. The end result? Songs like \u201cFade To Black,\u201d \u201cFor Whom The Bell Tolls,\u201d \u201cCreeping Death\u201d and the instrumental \u201cThe Call Of Ktulu.\u201d (Yeah, \u201cEscape\u201d is in there, too… we don\u2019t talk about that one.)<\/p>\n
There is a lot of sentimentality I have for the picture disc of \u201cCreeping Death.\u201d I remember being a teenager in suburban Chicago, calling all the local record stores around me in an effort to find this (albeit on black vinyl), as it was the only way at the time to own their cover of Diamond Head\u2019s \u201cAm I Evil.\u201d Finding it was akin to the Holy Grail for a young budding metalhead like me; the cover of \u201cBlitzkrieg\u201d was just the icing on the cake.<\/p>\n
The rarities begin\u2014for this review, at least\u2014with one CD of demo versions and rough mixes. Yeah, it can be off-putting at first to hear these rawer versions of songs many of us have grown up with… but it\u2019s also kind of interesting to hear the progression of these songs. It might have helped if more songs had been featured\u2014there are three versions of \u201cRide The Lightning\u201d alone. What about the development of \u201cFade To Black\u201d or \u201cFor Whom The Bell Tolls\u201d? (I will say the garage demos\u2014especially \u201cRide The Lightning\u201d\u2014without vocals did<\/i> pique my interest.)<\/p>\n
It wouldn\u2019t be a Metallica deluxe box set without numerous live performances\u2014and Ride The Lightning<\/i> certainly has plenty to choose from. The earliest show is culled from the Lyceum Theatre in London in late December 1984, and while it\u2019s a fairly tight set, it is (to me) light on new material. Only \u201cFor Whom The Bell Tolls,\u201d \u201cThe Call Of Ktulu\u201d and \u201cCreeping Death\u201d make the cut. Still, even with tape cuts on two songs, it\u2019s an enjoyable listen.<\/p>\n
The two-LP set from the Hollywood Palladium on March 10, 1985, is an extremely sloppy affair. Often it sounds like lead guitarist Kirk Hammett is the one missing cues, and Hetfield commits several lyrical flubs, but at least half of the new album is featured. Still, this show feels like something was missing, from the overall lackluster, mistake-filled performances down to the apparently phoned-in version of \u201c(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth\u201d from bassist Cliff Burton.<\/p>\n
Five nights later, Metallica got a chance to redeem themselves at Kabuki Theatre in San Francisco. It\u2019s still a bit sloppy\u2014which one can say about many of Metallica\u2019s early career performances\u2014but this one, while higher in overall energy, makes some glaring mistakes. One can\u2019t help noticing the screwup at the start of \u201cThe Four Horsemen,\u201d but a quick recovery is made. I\u2019d like to be able to say the same about \u201c(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth,\u201d but the early part of the solo was cut\u2014something the set did not note. And what the hell happened in the middle of \u201cNo Remorse\u201d? (I\u2019m not referring to the tape cut; there\u2019s a point where Hammett\u2019s (?) guitar goes completely dead.<\/p>\n
However, perhaps all was not the fault of the band; Hetfield acknowledges to the audience at the end of \u201cFade To Black\u201d that the PA was having issues. So, perhaps I\u2019m being a little over-critical and should just accept this one, warts and all, as a slice of history.<\/p>\n
By the time the band appears at Castle Donington on August 17, the gloves are off, and they tear through their 50-minute set like unleashed wild animals. Although the overall sound isn\u2019t the greatest, it does show Hetfield and crew as a much tighter musical unit, and is a high-water mark for the box set.<\/p>\n
The one thing I\u2019m not crazy about in these sets is the disc of interviews. I know there are people who would be interested in hearing Lars Ulrich talking about the state of the band for 50 minutes (over the course of two interviews), or Hammett and Burton being interviewed for WUSC in Cleveland. Honestly, I find these dull, and there will rarely be some golden nugget of information that would make me sit up in my chair with surprise.<\/p>\n
Last, but not least, we get to the DVD. What should have been a highlight featuring one full and one partial show (both of which had snippets on Cliff \u2019Em All<\/i>) are marred at times by poor sound. None of these instances are Metallica\u2019s fault, to be fair\u2014and their performances are some of the best of all the live shows featured in this set. But when the MTV broadcast from \u201cDay On The Green\u201d washes out at times both Hammett and Burton\u2019s playing… well, suddenly I\u2019m not disappointed that they didn\u2019t include the whole 50-minute set. The interview snippets feel like an afterthought, and don\u2019t shed any new light on the band.<\/p>\n
Like many deluxe box sets, Ride The Lightning<\/i> is designed for the diehard Metallica fan who must own every single note the band has performed\u2014though casual fans will undoubtedly find nuggets here and there. Currently out of print, one should expect to shell out over $200 to add this to your collection. Sometimes, it feels like some better quality rarities could have been included to justify the cost\u2014but, in the end, it still proves to be a fairly interesting trip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5706],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-47055","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-metallica","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=47055"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=47055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}