When these songs are played raw like on this recording, you can tell how special these songs are. The guitars and drums on this release sound fucking great when raw. Probably one of the most horrid experiences is hearing his attempt at screaming on this release. You can tell that James didn't polish his vocals on this demo due to the very weak delivery through this demo.

The vocals on this release are very different from what you hear on the Ride the Lightning album itself. Not as polished as the later releases of Metallica, but still very well production, especially for a demo tape. In the production matters of this demo, it's pretty raw and sloppy. Some of the differences noticed on this demo though are the production and vocals. This demo features 4 early versions of some of the most popular songs from Lightning: Fight Fire With Fire, Ride the Lightning, Creeping Death, and When Hell Freezes Over (Later titled The Call of Ktulu) in the immature form. There are some parts I recognized that were different from the album, Ride the Lightning, but overall it's pretty similar compositionwise. Musically, the album is similar for the most part.

Ride the Lightning is by far one of the best of Metallica albums, and on this demo you will be pleased to hear the infancy of song of the material. 'When Hell Freezes Over' was later retitled 'The Call of Ktulu'.Īfter the release of the famous Kill 'em All debut from Metallica, they recorded this demo, Ride the Lightning.

Metallica ride the lightning rar