Editing Ride the Lightning (section)

==Reception and legacy==
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="AM">{{cite web|last=Huey|first=Steve|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/ride-the-lightning-mw0000190995|title=Ride the Lightning – Metallica|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=July 28, 2013|archive-date=May 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507114147/https://www.allmusic.com/album/ride-the-lightning-mw0000190995|url-status=live}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
|rev2Score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref name="Kot">{{cite news|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|date=December 1, 1991|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/12/01/a-guide-to-metallicas-recordings/|title=A Guide to Metallica's Recordings|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=July 28, 2013|archive-date=September 27, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927224542/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-12-01/entertainment/9104180330_1_star-cliff-burton-classic-status|url-status=live}}</ref>
|rev3 =''[[Martin Popoff|Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal]]''
|rev3Score = 10/10{{sfn|Popoff|2005|pp=222–223}}
|rev4 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
|rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{sfn|Larkin|2006|p=725}}
|rev5 = ''[[The Guardian]]''
|rev5Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Mongredien|first=Phil|title=Metallica: Kill 'Em All; Ride the Lightning review – metal giants' early years revisited|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/17/metallica-kill-em-all-ride-the-lightning-review-metal-giants-early-years-revisited|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=April 17, 2016|access-date=April 17, 2016|archive-date=April 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417162326/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/17/metallica-kill-em-all-ride-the-lightning-review-metal-giants-early-years-revisited|url-status=live}}</ref>
|rev6 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
|rev6Score = 10/10<ref>{{cite web|last=Reyes-Kulkarni|first=Saby|title=Metallica – Ride the Lightning|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21755-kill-em-allride-the-lightning/|work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=April 13, 2016|access-date=April 14, 2016|archive-date=April 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415121851/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21755-kill-em-allride-the-lightning/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|rev7 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
|rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="CD Universe">{{cite web|url=http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=8982163&style=music&fulldesc=T|title=Metallica – Ride the Lightning CD Album Japan|publisher=[[CD Universe]]. [[Muze]]|access-date=July 28, 2013|archive-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701034555/http://www.cduniverse.com/favicon.ico|url-status=live}}</ref>
|rev8 = ''[[Rock Hard (magazine)|Rock Hard]]''
|rev8score = 10/10<ref>{{cite web|last=Kühnemund|first=Götz|title=Metallica – Ride the Lightning|url=http://www.rockhard.de/megazine/reviewarchiv/review-anzeigen.html?tx_rxsearch_pi1%5Breview%5D=5730|work=[[Rock Hard (magazine)|Rock Hard]]|language=de|access-date=August 11, 2016|archive-date=November 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151130063707/http://www.rockhard.de/megazine/reviewarchiv/review-anzeigen.html?tx_rxsearch_pi1%5Breview%5D=5730|url-status=live}}</ref>
|rev9 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
|rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{sfn|Kemp|2004|p=538}}
|rev10 = ''Sputnikmusic''
|rev10score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="sputnik">{{cite web|first=Channing|last=Freeman|url=http://sputnikmusic.com/review/45717/Metallica-Ride-the-Lightning/|title=Ride The Lightning – Metallica|website=Sputnikmusic|date=September 23, 2011|access-date=February 28, 2012}}</ref>
}}

''Ride the Lightning'' received widespread acclaim from music critics. According to [[Q (magazine)|''Q'']] magazine, the album confirmed Metallica's status as the leading heavy metal band of the modern era. The magazine credited the group for redefining the norms of thrash metal with "Fade to Black", the genre's first power ballad.<ref name="CD Universe"/> British rock magazine ''[[Kerrang!]]'' stated that the album's maturity and musical intelligence helped Metallica expand heavy metal's boundaries.<ref name="CD Universe"/> [[Greg Kot]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' described ''Ride the Lightning'' as a more refined extension of the group's debut.<ref name="Kot"/> In a retrospective review, Sputnikmusic's Channing Freeman named it as one of the few albums that can be charming and powerful at the same time. He praised Hetfield's vocal performance and concluded that Metallica was "firing on all cylinders".<ref name="sputnik"/> [[AllMusic]]'s Steve Huey saw the album as a more ambitious and remarkable effort than ''Kill 'Em All''. He called ''Ride the Lightning'' an "all-time metal classic" because of the band's rich musical imagination and lyrics that avoided heavy metal cliches.<ref name="AM"/>

''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' viewed the album as a great step forward for the band and as an album that established the concept for Metallica's following two records.{{sfn|Kemp|2004|p=538}} [[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]], writing in the ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]'', singled out "For Whom the Bell Tolls" as an example of Metallica's growing music potential.{{sfn|Larkin|2006|p=725}} Popoff regards ''Ride the Lightning'' as an album where "[[extreme metal]] became art".{{sfn|Popoff|2004|p=12}} "This literally was the first album since ([[Judas Priest]]'s 1976) ''[[Sad Wings of Destiny]]'' where the rulebook has changed. This was a new kind of heaviness; the soft, billowy but explosive production was amazing, the speed was superhuman", stated Popoff.{{sfn|McIver|2014|loc=Chapter 11: 1984–1985}} Reviewing the 2016 reissue, Jason Anderson of ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]'' considers ''Ride the Lightning'' the second best Metallica album which set the pace for metal in the years to come.<ref>{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=Jason|title=Metallica – Kill Em All/Ride The Lightning|url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/metallica-kill-em-allride-lightning|work=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]|date=May 26, 2016|access-date=August 12, 2016|archive-date=August 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822032941/http://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/metallica-kill-em-allride-lightning|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Megaforce initially pressed 75,000 copies of the album for the US market, while Music for Nations serviced the European market.{{sfn|Popoff|2013|p=50}} By late 1984, 85,000 copies of ''Ride the Lightning'' had been sold in Europe, resulting in Metallica's first cover story for ''Kerrang!'' in its December issue.{{sfn|Winwood|Brannigan|2013|loc=Chapter 6: Creeping Death}} After signing Metallica, Elektra released the single "Creeping Death" in a sleeve depicting a bridge and a skull painted grey and green. The album peaked at number 100 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] with no radio exposure.{{sfn|McIver|2014|loc=Chapter 11: 1984–1985}} ''Ride the Lightning'' went gold by November 1987 and in 2012 was certified [[RIAA certification|6× platinum]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA) for six million copies shipped in the US.{{sfn|Popoff|2013|p=55}}

The album, along with ''Kill 'Em All'', was reissued in 2016 as a boxed set including demos and live recordings.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Grow|first=Kory|title=Metallica Detail Deluxe 'Kill 'Em All,' 'Ride the Lightning' Reissues|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/metallica-detail-deluxe-kill-em-all-ride-the-lightning-reissues-20160217|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=February 17, 2016|access-date=August 11, 2016|archive-date=August 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817023836/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/metallica-detail-deluxe-kill-em-all-ride-the-lightning-reissues-20160217|url-status=live}}</ref> Many rock publications have ranked ''Ride the Lightning'' on their best album lists. The album placed fifth on [[IGN Music]]'s "Top 25 Metal Albums" list.<ref>{{cite web|author=Spence D. and Ed T.|title=IGN: Music – Top 25 Metal Albums|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/01/20/top-25-metal-albums?page=6|website=[[IGN]]|date=July 7, 2010|access-date=November 13, 2010|archive-date=January 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111154300/http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/01/20/top-25-metal-albums?page=6|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' listed it as a thrash metal essential, declaring it "the thrashiest thrash ever".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gross|first=Joe|title=Thrash Metal Essentials|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-gSPOtHSH08C&q=ride+the+lightning+spin+metallica&pg=PA104|journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=July 2007|page=104|access-date=January 17, 2016}}</ref> According to ''[[Guitar World]]'', ''Ride the Lightning'' "didn't just change the band's trajectory—it reset the course of metal itself".<ref name="Guitar World"/> Corey Deiterman of the ''[[Houston Press]]'' considers ''Ride the Lightning'' the most influential Metallica album, saying it had a lasting impact on genres such as [[crossover thrash]] and [[hardcore punk]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Deiterman|first=Corey|title=Why Ride The Lightning Is Metallica's Most Influential Album|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/music/why-ride-the-lightning-is-metallicas-most-influential-album-6778097|work=[[Houston Press]]|date=August 26, 2014|access-date=January 18, 2016|archive-date=February 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202143027/http://www.houstonpress.com/music/why-ride-the-lightning-is-metallicas-most-influential-album-6778097|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, it was ranked 11th on ''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'s}} list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Beaujour|first1=Tom|title=100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-100-greatest-metal-albums-of-all-time-w486923/anthrax-among-the-living-1987-w486946|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|publisher=Wenner Media LLC|access-date=June 22, 2017|date=June 21, 2017|archive-date=June 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624025337/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-100-greatest-metal-albums-of-all-time-w486923/anthrax-among-the-living-1987-w486946|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a 1991 interview, [[Jason Newsted]] stated that ''Ride the Lightning'' was next to ''[[Metallica (album)|Metallica]]'', "the best album ever".<ref>{{cite news|last=Featherstone|first=Falth|title=Metallica|url=https://archive.org/details/thecharleton21carl/page/408/mode/2up|work=[[The Charlatan (student newspaper)|The Charlatan]]|date=November 14, 1991|access-date=September 4, 2021}}</ref>