Trevor Zahn

Metallica's first masterpiece album, and the first of what I would consider the holy trinity of thrash metal. The entire album is fueled by the wonderful songwriting of Cliff Burton, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, and then pushed even further with Kirk Hammet's scorching guitar solos. The album starts off with an acoustic guitar, and quickly transitions into Hetfield's breakneck-speed downpicking riffs in "Fight Fire With Fire". "Ride the Lightning"'s intro gives me goosebumps every time I hear it, and "Fade to Black" is an absolute masterpiece of a ballad, this album is a must listen.