Ride the Lightning

Ulrich chose Flemming Rasmussen as producer because he liked his work on Rainbow's Difficult to Cure and wanted to record in Europe. The band rehearsed in Mercyful Fate's practice room in Copenhagen and began recording on 20 February 1984, with European shows booked 29 days after they entered the studio. Hetfield and Ulrich assembled songs from riff tapes of jam sessions. They recorded the basic tracks together, rhythm guitar and drums, with Hammett and Burton adding their parts later. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Trapped Under Ice and Escape were written mostly in Copenhagen, while Fight Fire with Fire, Ride the Lightning, Creeping Death and The Call of Ktulu were already in the live set.

The band could not afford a hotel, so they slept in the studio by day and recorded by night. Hammett took the title from a passage in Stephen King's novel The Stand. The cover, an electric chair among lightning bolts, was conceived before recording began. A planned deal with Bronze Records collapsed when its executive Gerry Bron wanted the American edition remixed by Eddie Kramer. The planned budget of $20,000 grew to more than $30,000. Elektra signed the band on 12 September 1984. It was the last album with writing credits for Dave Mustaine, on the title track and The Call of Ktulu, and it was certified 6x Platinum in the United States in 2012.

The drums were recorded in an empty warehouse behind the studio that was not soundproof, and some of the band's gear had been stolen three weeks before they reached Copenhagen. Music for Nations paid the studio costs. The album stood at number 100 on the Billboard chart on release and later reached number 48. Elektra reissued it on 19 November 1984 after signing the band.