Ride the Lightning: why Metallica put an electric chair on the cover
Lightning shoots out of the band's logo and hits an empty electric chair. No faces, no guitars, no band photo. Just one idea, and it came from a horror novel.
Most metal covers of 1984 were crowded. Monsters, flames, swords, the band in leather somewhere in the corner. Ride the Lightning has almost nothing. A purple sky, one electric chair, and a bolt of lightning shooting out of the Metallica logo straight into it. It is one of the simplest covers in metal, and one of the most recognised.
A title from Stephen King
The phrase comes from Stephen King's novel The Stand, where a character uses "ride the lightning" to mean execution in the electric chair. Metallica liked it enough to write a song about a man waiting to die, and to put the chair itself on the sleeve. The idea for the cover was the band's own and it was ready before they even started recording.
Three weeks in Copenhagen
The album was made at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen with producer Flemming Rasmussen, between 20 February and 14 March 1984. It did not start well. Shortly before, the band had their gear stolen before a show in Boston, and James Hetfield later said that losing everything was what pushed him to write Fade to Black, the band's first real ballad.
A slow fuse
Ride the Lightning came out on 27 July 1984 on the small label Megaforce. With no radio play at all it first reached only number 100 in the US charts. Then it just kept selling, year after year, and it is now certified multi-platinum. The empty chair turned out to be a very patient kind of hit.
About the poster
This is the Ride the Lightning sleeve printed as a 50 × 70 cm (20 × 28 in) portrait poster, from 2024. It is an original magazine insert, never hung, with no staple holes, folded three times as issued. The sheet is double-sided, with W.A.S.P. on the back.
Browse all original Metallica posters.
Quick answers
Why is there an electric chair on the Ride the Lightning cover?
The title comes from Stephen King's novel The Stand, where "riding the lightning" means execution in the electric chair. The cover idea was Metallica's own.
Where was Ride the Lightning recorded?
At Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, with producer Flemming Rasmussen, in February and March 1984.
When was Ride the Lightning released?
On 27 July 1984, on Megaforce Records.
How big is the poster?
50 × 70 cm (about 20 × 28 inches), portrait. It is a separate insert, so it has no staple holes, and it is folded three times as issued.
What is on the other side?
A W.A.S.P. poster. The sheet is double-sided, so you choose which side goes on the wall.