Metallica – Ride The Lightning

Similar to the Master of Puppets reissue cut by Chris Bellman - a lot of music crammed into one disc. To preserve the dynamics, it was cut at a lower volume. Turn up the volume and this record will come alive.

Also having a finer stylus significantly improves the listening experience on records like this because of the groove width (lot of music -> more demanding on the stylus).

In terms of sonic quality - I am actually blown away. It sounds wide, deep and I can actually hear the air/separation between the instruments. I did a volume matched A/B with what’s on Qobuz, and the difference is night and day on my system.

Compared to the Master of Puppets reissue cut by Bellman, this is a sonically better mastering. I believe this is mainly due to Howie who actually did the mastering as Bellman mentioned he did a flat transfer: https://youtu.be/buM-MHRekFw?si=wmmUCX3V0WRDhw5r

I paid $20 for this record - pressed at Pallas, came inside a polylined sleeve, download card and the discs were flat and absolutely noiseless. This alone shows Metallica’s choice of quality over quantity. Massive respect for this. Some of my other favorite bands are reissuing inferior sounding records with much poor mastering and packaging while charging a very premium price.

I bought my copy back in 2021 and just pulled it out for a listen. I forgot how fckn bada$$ this thing sounded! They did a really nice job on this one. Glad to have it in my collection.

I ordered this off Amazon, opened it up, and was very happy to see the initials "CB" in the dead wax. This sounds great to me.

This version was reissued AGAIN this year (2024) in Blue Splatter Vinyl exclusively sold to 5th members on Metallica.com to commemorate the 40th anniversary of this record...

Some periodic ticking noise at side B. Side A is very good sound, more drums and guitar with equaliser off.

I haven't heard a first pressing in person, but this sounds pretty good to my ears! It's punchy, it's clear, and it’s bright! I'd imagine an original pressing isn't as clear or as loud as this. 4.5/5.

I hesitate when buying vinyl pressings of early Metallica albums. That is because anyone who has listened to original 1980's CDs knows they are pretty much the holy grail, and a great example of the capability of that format.
That said this vinyl is very good, it's a clean press, sounds fantastic to me, and I can hear everything fine. Not as good as the original CD sure, but damn close.

If it was possible to give a 4.5 I would. The pressing isn't as punchy as I was hoping for, but overall still pretty great. Worth picking up.

there is nothing wrong with this reissue/remaster. sounds fantastic to me. i don’t have my first press anymore but i’m very happy with this reproduction.

Very minor but noticeable background noise throughout the entire record. The dark blue text on a black background label was a bad idea. I'm giving it a 5/5 stars just because I can't give a 4 to this masterpiece, even though this pressing could be better.