In the new Wikimetal poll, Metallica's second album "Ride The Lightning" was voted the best second album ever released with 29% of the votes. In second and third place were Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" with 21% and Iron Maiden's "Killers" with 12%.
Released in 1984 and produced by Flemming Rasmussen, "Ride The Lightning" is considered a musical maturation for Metallica, featuring more complex melodies and varied instrumentation than its predecessor, "Kill 'Em All".
The album sold over 6 million copies in the United States alone and is frequently cited as one of the most important thrash metal albums. Commenting on the album's songwriting process, Lars Ulrich said:
“It was the first time the four of us wrote together and had a chance to broaden our horizons. I don’t think it was a conscious effort to get rid of anything musically. Obviously, listening to songs like 'Fight Fire' or 'Trapped Under Ice', we were clearly still immersed in Thrash. But we were realizing that we needed to be careful not to become limited or one-dimensional.”.
