Out of all the songs on Metallica's thrash masterpiece, Ride the Lightning, "Escape" is generally considered the weakest link. Sandwiched in between iconic gems "Trapped Under Ice" and "Creeping Death," the four-and-a-half minute cut is by no means bad — in fact we think it's pretty fucking great — but James Hetfield has had a sour opinion on the song since it was first recorded, and it appears that Metallica still don't consider it a good track.
"It was the first time we wrote a song in the studio," Hetfield said in an older interview with Ultimate Guitar. "I remember we had all the songs and Lars [Ulrich] said, 'They want us to record one more, they need one more for the album'."
"I was like, 'You didn't tell me that...' So we had to write and it was really last-minute. So 'Escape' was one of those songs that was written in the studio."
Because of the last-minute nature of its creation, the band have never considered it a worthwhile composition, and famously, they never played the song live until 2012 when they shocked fans by including it in the setlist of their Orion Music Festival performance.
Regardless of what Metallica think of "Escape," there're many fans who love it, and one of them recently made a TikTok where they admit to listening to it "after many years of skipping it," and then asking, "Is Metallica's 'Escape' better than I remember it?'"
Amazingly, Metallica's official TikTok account weighed in the comments, writing, "No, it's not."
We have no idea which member of the band wrote that, but suffice to say, camp 'Tallica still has it out for "Escape." See their TikTok comment below and then give "Escape" a whirl to see if it's better than you remember it.
@shotokanguitarist Is Metallica’s Escape better than I remember it? #metallica #ridethelightning #escape #jameshetfield #larsulrich #kirkhammett #robtrujillo #rock #metal #music #rockmusic #metalmusic @caitycore @thatnerdwriter @metallica Escape (Remastered) - Metallica
