Ride the Lightning

• Track Listing

Metallica’s first charting album (’84) saw them managing, already, to break new ground in the wake of their 1983 debut "Kill ’Em All." They didn’t just lay out the path for their future direction here—they indisputably changed the course of heavy metal with these complex compositions, shifting moods and textures and built-to-last fusions of hard-rocking power and raw human emotion. Along with the remastered album on CD and vinyl, the deluxe box here brings you, on vinyl, their amazing 1985 set at the Hollywood Palladium and a picture disc with "Creeping Death," "Am I Evil?" and "Blitzkreig." The extra CDs include 1984–85 band interviews, demos and rough mixes from Lars’ vault ("Ride the Lightning," "When Hell Freezes Over," "Creeping Death," "Fight Fire with Fire" and more), a 1985 concert at the Kabuki Theater in San Francisco ("Motorbreath," "Fade to Black," "No Remorse," "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and more), their 1984 set at the Lyceum Theatre in London ("Phantom Lord," "The Call of Ktulu," "Whiplash" and more) and their Castle Donington Concert from ’85. The on-stage pyrotechnics continue on the DVD, which contains their Metal Hammer Festival set in Germany from ’85 ("Disposable Heroes," "Creeping Death," "Fight Fire with Fire," "Am I Evil?" and more) and performances from MTV’s "Day on the Green" (in Oakland) and Lars’ first TV interview (on Danish television). Along with a hardback book full of unpublished photos, you also get a mini-book of handwritten lyrics and three posters from these metallic giants! Blackened.