No it’s not an official album either.
It’s a live concert [June 23, 2012 Orion Music + More – Bader Field, Atlantic City, NJ] where they revisited and played their “Ride the Lightning” masterpiece in it’s entirety. Yes folks, you read that correct. Never say never.
For those who did not get to attend the show live, watch the You Tube clips later or even knew about the LiveMetallica.com download site – I’m officially declaring this as historic | EPIC or monumental [laughs].
To set the record straight, they sandwiched other songs before and after the actual run through of the RTL LP…which is cool. But I will leave those out for sake of clarity in this special post. And believe it or not Lars actually played pretty good during this show, which really surprised me.
Set list:
Creeping Death
*Escape
Trapped Under Ice
[Kirk Solo]
Fade to Black
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Ride The Lightning
Fight Fire With Fire
Show Notes
- This was the 17th show that Metallica performed in 2012.
- This was the first of two shows at Orion Music + More, which is a festival curated by Metallica themselves.
- This was the first time that Metallica performed in Atlantic City, NJ.
- This was the first time that Ride the Lightning was performed in its entirety.
- This was the first time that “The Call of Ktulu” was performed in New Jersey. This was the fourth performance of the song in the US over the last 10 years.
- This was only the second time that “Creeping Death” was performed in 2012.
- This was only the seventh time that “Trapped Under Ice” was performed in the US.
- This was the first time that “Fade to Black” was played in 2012.
- Metallica performed 18 songs off of five albums and one EP: Kill ‘Em All (3), Ride the Lightning (8), Master of Puppets (2), The Black Album (3), …And Justice for All (1), Beyond Magnetic (1)
The Art
Original
Fan Art: zepeda
Demolish Magazine 
Haha–You almost had me there. I thought you were going to say their new song “The Lords of Thunder” was the best thing Metallica had put out in 26 years, and I was preparing to for a fight!
“Ride The Lightning” is to me one of the most epic metal albums in history. I actually hadn’t heard “Kill ‘Em All” prior to it so RTL was the first of Metallica I’d ever heard, and I was BLOWN AWAY. Call it sentimentality if you want. Even with great consideration to “…And Justice For All” and “Master of Puppets” I feel it is their signature album (yes, you read it right) for that reason and because 30 years later, it’s still every bit as fresh and EPIC as it was the first time I heard it.
Metallica have done some…interesting…things in their career, but I feel this was by far one of their smartest moves.