[Spyglass]

I might be switching sides over which Metallica album I like the most. I had always liked Master of Puppets more because it had a stronger progressive side, but I'm not so certain now. I'm reevaluating this, and since Master of Puppets is my current number 1 metal album, this could potentially reinvent the entire way I see metal music.

Don't hold back, ladies. Load your purses with bricks and beat each other, because I want to read all your arguments for which Metallica album is better: Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets. Right now the world seems to be in a duel. Let's settle our choices here and now. Even if you think there are better Metallica albums (which is perfectly fine), we're gonna worry about the war between the two most beloved among the metal community.

Btw, Ill be listening to both albums while reading your points of discussion.

EDIT: No, I'm not going to take the side of the album with the most votes. What really matters is whether or not you can convince of one or the other.
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Do it yourself and let me play my music: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=61802

[mickilennial]

The progressive elements in Master of Puppets just make Metallica's sound seem bloated and too restrained, making what feels sharp and energized into something plodding and unengaging. That's why I prefer Ride the Lightning every time.

[Spyglass]

And Gowi makes a strong argument against the length and choice of genre. Anybody else coming up to bat?
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Do it yourself and let me play my music: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=61802

[Mercury]

A great and classic question. Ride the lightning is more near and dear to me. Saving lawn mowing money at 12 years old to go and buy Ride the Lightning on CD, excitedly riding in the passenger side as my mom drove me home from Walmart as I looked at the pictures of Kirk and James with bear-worship, then getting home and playing it on our home computer in the living room with my headphones on, that album from the start completely overwhelmed me. It took over my life.

A week later I got Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All and Kill ‘em all. The rest is history.

So, on a guy level RtL every day. Also the HIGHS of RtL are tops all time for me again, probably cuz of how much they moved me at a young age. For Whom the Bell tolls is still my fave Metallica song ever and one of my fave songs bar none. And Fade to Black was the perfect song for a young and angry and sad Ryan.

However, the album I feel loses steam with Escape and Trapped Under Ice. Track for track Master if Puppets I feel is more consistent and brilliant.

None of the songs on MoP compete with that track 3-4 one-two punch of For Whom the Bell Tolls and Fade to Black. But the openers are equal, the track 2 matchup goes to MoP, the track 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 matchups all easily go to MoP in my opinion. Orion is a much better song than the Call of Ktulybto my ears. And yeah overall Master of Puppets is Ace straight through. And I do have a heavy sentimental connection to it as well, even if not to Ride the Lightning levels.

Master of Puppets is on my chart now. But that flips with RtL every few months.

The winner as of now for me is MASTER OF PUPPETS.
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-Ryan

ONLY 4% of people can understand this chart! Come try!

My Fave Metal - you won't believe #5!!!

[Tha1ChiefRocka]

Ride the Lightning was the only Metallica album that my Dad owned, and it was the only one I listened to for awhile. Still like it more.

Although, I think "Disposable Heroes" is my favorite Metallica song.

Obligatory Lars failing at playing "Disposable Heroes".


Link

[mickilennial]

This is to say that I've kinda fallen out of love with Metallica for the most part. They were an important part of my formative phase when I didn't know anything about Metal (Ride the Lighting, Sonic Firestorm, and The Arrival were my first metal albums). Generally, I just prefer pretty much every other thrash metal "classic" or staple over the big Metallica records. Still fun to listen to Metallica up to The Black Album though regardless of them not just doing a lot for me anymore.

[LedZep]

Justice.

Let me elaborate with a huge chunk of text ala Skinny (but not as well written of course).

I’ve fallen out of love with Metallica several times, and yet every time I pick one of their old albums I still seem to enjoy it a lot. Like I may not listen to Fade To Black, Master Of Puppets or One anymore ‘cause I’ve overplayed them, but every once in a while I find rejuvenated enthusiasm for one or more of those. They’re all fantastic songs, that’s probably why.

That being said I thought for the longest time that Ride the Lightning was the best. Which is funny considering that early high school was my “prog phase”. Then I went through the “second Metallica appreciation phase” where they were one of my favourite bands in the later high school. That’s when I started to question whether RtL is still the best. And... Escape is just not good enough, while Master doesn’t have a weak track, which is a huge deal for me. But I preferred (and still do) several of the key tracks to Master of Puppets key tracks (Fight Fire > Battery, The Call Of Ktulu > Orion) while the rest were almost evenly matched. Disposable Heroes has some of the coolest and angriest Metallica lyrics, Ride The Lightning has probably the best solo section. For Whom The Bell Tolls (although somewhat overplayed) is one of their best riffs, but so is The Thing That Should Not Be. Creeping Death is immense, but guess what? So is Damage Inc. Both Leper Mesiah and Trapped Under Ice are 2nd tier Metallica, but both are solid album cuts. Ok, I may like Lepper Messiah slightly more for that neck injuries inducing breakdown.

In the last few years as I’ve become more and more fascinated with various metal styles, I’ve concluded that I can confidently add ...And Justice For All to the discussion. It has been a stone cold number 3 for a long time, with some of their best moments but the least consistent tracklist and all of those well known mixing issues. I guess that 2 things have changed. First is that when I started to appreciate lo-fi metal (and music in general), the issues in the mixing department became less of a deal breaker. And in fact, apart from the bass, that album sounds exactly how it’s supposed to: compressed, heavy and bleak. Second thing is that I started liking a few of the weaker cuts much more. Is it because my ear has become more refined when it comes to (tharash/progressive) metal? I don’t know. But suddenly Eye Of The Beholder and The Shortest Straw didn’t feel too long and bloated anymore. Some other factors may include my love for the title track (if I was to name 1 favourite Metallica track, it’d be it) and To Live Is To Die (Is it better than Kthulu? Possibly.), as well as the fact that it has the least songs I’ve overplayed throughout the years. And it could just be the heaviest they’ve ever sounded, with Dyers Eve, The Frayed Ends Of Sanity and Blackened.

At the moment, the things I’ve mentioned make Justice the Metallica album I’m the most likely to play at any time. Its ATP (any time playability) coefficient is the highest if you will. So I consider it my favourite currently. It’s very tough to evaluate a band that you’ve known for so long, grown tired of them multiple times but still occasionally bump in the queue.
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Overall chart
Fake overall chart

2020s

[Repo]

[Spyglass]

Alright, I've heard both and listened to the contender again yesterday and I have my choice. But first let me compare them.

Ride the Lightning: Ride the Lightning is pure raw energy, so much that throughout my life I considered it inferior to Master of Puppets and even And Justice for All because the raw edge was overpowering, much like many punk albums. But the lyrical content and Hetfield's vocals display a range of topics and delivery styles that overpower those same traits of Master of Puppets, which sticks to a concept concerning control or slavery. Ride the Lightning also has the two weakest songs of either album: "Trapped Under Ice" and "Escape." But 99.9% of all albums have a weak spot, right? Raw energy is a metal staple that acts as a necessity for many forms of metal, and the album builds itself on that staple while featuring the early stages of Metallica's signature traits. One more thing: that noisy production is perfectly metallic.

Master of Puppets is the album where those signature traits had fully matured, and the track-by-track average is typically viewed as higher than that of Ride the Lightning. In my earlier stages of metalmania, it was very easy to compare progressive instrumentals to raw thrashing and pick a choice from there. Master of Puppets also bears the cleaner, clearer production that defined many of my favorite metal albums. Master of Puppets also has what I considered for a long time to be the best song on either album (and maybe their career): the title track. It also helps that of the two ballady-intros two both album's openers, the opener for "Battery" was easily better than that of "Fight Fire With Fire." But I always knew that the album was just a little too long, but considering the new attempt at structuring, I forgave it.

So I've made my decision. We're comparing two iconic metal albums here, so the defining factor is simple:" which is the more metal album?

Ride the Lightning

RtL might not have the progressive and mature traits of MoP, but it doesn't bloat itself with anything more than necessary, and the polished production overpowers the clear production of MoP because it adds a lot to the atmosphere. RtL has more energy, just as much evil, and no filler except for maybe the first two songs on side B. MoP's lyrics might be more poetic, but the straightforwardness of some of the songs of RtL like the title track bring more out of the album's themes than MoP and RtL has the occasion poetry as boasted in songs like "For Whom the Bell Tolls."

I'd like to thank the members of Besteveralbums for commenting on this thread and helping me with my decision. Master of Puppets is staying on my top 100, but it's taking a huge drop. I've added Ride the Lightning to a spot that even surprises me. I've added another new album there as a little surprise as well. https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=58336

Edit: It looks like I'm not in the minority. Despite the positioning of Metallica's top two albums on Besteveralbums, the opinions here differ greatly.
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Do it yourself and let me play my music: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=61802

[CA Dreamin]

Ride the Lightning is better. MoP, while still good, was the beginning of their decline, as song structures were becoming increasingly long-winded, bloated, and predictable, steering away from the elements that made KeA and RtL so enjoyable to listen to. RtL is straightforward, fun, and raw. It's shorter and tighter than MoP. I prefer Tracks 2, 3, and 4 off RtL over anything on MoP. RtL is better, that's a no-brainer for me.