The band’s epic songwriting emerges on this thrash-metal classic

Containing all of the thrashing speed and rage of Metallica’s debut, Ride the Lightning pours these traits into intricately structured epics grounded in sociopolitical commentary. It opens with the classic melody of “Fight Fire With Fire”, a terrifying look at nuclear armageddon, while “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is a fiercely chugging examination of war with ominous harmonics. But the album’s boldest moment is “Fade to Black”, a bleak ballad from the perspective of a young man contemplating suicide.