Ride the Lightning

The first 10,000 copies include a "Metal Militia" insert.

Dave Mustaine gets a co-songwriting credit for "Ride the Lightning" and "The Call of Ktulu". Mustaine used several riffs from these songs in Megadeth, such as "Ride the Lightning" (on "Wake Up Dead" and "Hook in Mouth") and "The Call of Ktulu" (on "In My Darkest Hour", "Hangar 18", "High Speed Dirt", "Countdown to Extinction", "Blood of Heroes", and "When").

According to an interview with Dave Mustaine, the opening riff of "Ride the Lightning" was composed by Lars Ulrich, although Kirk Hammett says it was Cliff Burton.

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" is titled after the book by Ernest Hemingway, and borrows its subject matter from one passage. The intro of this song is not really a bell as many believe, but rather a hammer hitting an anvil. Cliff Burton's bass intro was played with his band Agents of Misfortune in a battle of the bands in 1981.

"Creeping Death" is lyrically about the biblical story of the plagues of Egypt. The song contains a riff from an old Exodus song called "Die by His Hand" composed by Kirk Hammett.

"Trapped Under Ice" contains riffs from the old Exodus songs "Impaler" and "Hell's Breath".

"Escape" was the last song made for the album, and besides, it was done at the last minute. Lars Ulrich revealed that the label was not convinced that the album had only 7 songs, so they asked the band to record one more song.

"The Call of Ktulu" is titled after a H.P. Lovecraft story, although the original spelling is "Cthulhu".

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark during the spring of 1984.
Mastered at Frankford Wayne in New York City, New York.

Identifiers:

Matrix / Runout (Side A Variant 1): A-1 MRI-769
Matrix / Runout (Side B Variant 1): A-2 MRI-769
Matrix / Runout (Side A Variant 2): MRI-769-A ▻ MASTERED BY FRANKFORD/WAYNE NEW YORK ¢ L.I.✩ A-1
Matrix / Runout (Side B Variant 2): MRI-769-B ▻ A-1