Metallica

Released: July 27, 1984

Songwriter: Kirk Hammett Cliff Burton Lars Ulrich James Hetfield

Producer: Metallica Flemming Rasmussen

[Verse 1]
Life, it seems, will fade away
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters, no one else
I have lost the will to live
Simply nothing more to give
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free

[Verse 2]
Things not what they used to be
Missing one inside of me
Deathly lost, this can't be real
Cannot stand this hell I feel
Emptiness is filling me
To the point of agony
Growing darkness taking dawn
I was me, but now he's gone

[Bridge]
No one but me can save myself, but it's too late
Now I can't think, think why I should even try
Yesterday seems as though it never existed
Death greets me warm, now I will just say goodbye
Goodbye

[Instrumental Outro]

Like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden before, Metallica has managed to transcend the genre from which it was originated. To their metal fanbase they are considered one of the Big Four bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer; however Metallica is also one of the most commercially successful bands in all of rock music, having sold 110 million records including the 16x platinum Metallica, which stands as both the highest selling metal album of all time and most successful album of the past 25 years.

Metallica was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles after drummer Lars Ulrich placed an advert in the classifieds newspaper The Recycler, which was answered by singer/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield. They were soon joined by lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, who later formed Megadeth after being kicked out of the band because of his substance and alchohol abuse, and bassist Ron McGovney, a childhood friend of Hetfield. These two early members were replaced with Cliff Burton (who relocated the band to San Francisco) and ex-Exodus lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett to form the band’s classic line-up.

The band released three albums, 1983’s Kill ‘Em All, 1984’s Ride The Lightning and 1986’s Master of Puppets before the tragic and untimely death of Cliff Burton on September 27th, 1986.

more tracks from the album

Ride the Lightning

From the album

Ride the Lightning (1984)

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Ride the Lightning