The first four Metallica albums are heavy metal perfection, but the cost of that achievement is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, those thrash metal masterpieces are so immaculately crafted and timeless, that it's still pretty much universally accepted that they're four of the best metal albums in existence. The flipside is comment sections around them regularly turn into Royal Rumbles about which is the superior album, with fans ionately splitting heirs about four 10/10 masterclasses.

James Hetfield picked his favorite Metallica album back in 2017, entering the chat with more authority than just about anybody on the subject (seeing as he wrote them). Hetfield mentions Ride The Lightning as his favorite Metallica album when asked by Newsweek, citing the band's ability to be in total control of their music for the first time as the primary reason, as management kept them from the mixing and mastering process on Kill 'Em All. Only Hetfield's favorite Metallica album also contains his least favorite Metallica song, a tune so despised by the band that it's only been played once in over 40 years.

Metallica Disliked One Song So Much They've Only Played It Live Once

Ride The Lightning's "Escape" Holds Significance In Metallica History

Revisionist history is quite popular in this era, but Metallica are in no mood to rewrite their feelings on "Escape". When a comment on the band's official TikTok read "Is Metallica's "Escape" better than I it?", the band's official simply replied "No, it's not". This comment came after "Escape" made history at the band's shortly-lived and self-funded festival, Orion.

At Orion in 2012, Metallica included "Escape" in the set as part of playing their Ride The Lightning album in full for the first and only time. Gearing up to play the much-maligned song, Hetfield said to the crowd "This is groundbreaking, right here. This is historical, for those of you who might know what's coming up next. The song that we never wanted to play live, ever, is now on the setlist". The significance of being a part of Metallica history made the crowd at Orion's reaction pretty emphatic, but the jury is still very much out on the song.

Metallica Never Intended To Record "Escape"

Communication Breakdown Causes A Stink On Their Sophomore Album

Spontaneity in the recording studio is responsible for some of rock's biggest hits, from Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" to Oasis's "Live Forever," but to rely on that is risky business. As legend has it, Metallica had seven songs originally written for Ride The Lightning. The band considered the body of work necessary for their second album complete, only the wise men in suits at the record label had a differing opinion.

Recounting the tale, James Hetfield told LoudWire: "[Ride the Lightning] was the first time we wrote a song in the studio. I 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." Fans and the band consider "Escape" a mistake, but this story isn't quite as simple as it seems at the surface.

Lars Ulrich Doesn't Actually Hate "Escape"

The Danish Drummer Is Happy To Set the Record Straight

A formerly fiery and confrontational interviewee, Lars Ulrich has spent the last 15 years being much friendlier and a complimentary commentator on art, music, and Metallica's place in both worlds. That said, the veil sometimes slips and the Lars of yesteryear delivers with a glint in his eye. On the press cycle for the legendary metal band's second symphonic foray, S&M 2, Ulrich told Vulture that his least favorite Metallica song is actually "Eye Of The Beholder" from the ...And Justice For All album.

"It got a bad rap, and I don’t know why. I don’t have a particular problem with it." Lars Ulrich on Escape in Metal Hammer

Defending his stance on 'Escape' to Metal Hammer, Ulrich said "It’s become this folklore that I hate 'Escape.' It’s not true!", he protests. "It was the last song that was written for the Ride The Lightning sessions, and it was purposely kept a little shorter. We thought of it in the spirit of Iron Maiden’s 'Run To the Hills' or Judas Priest’s 'Living After Midnight' – dare I use the words ‘radio songs’?" It is safe to say "Escape" did not become Metallica's "Run To The Hills," as it has still only been played the one time the band had literally no choice, given the circumstances of the show. Metallica have sold enough records and played enough stadiums to dry their tears about "Escape", but the debate about the song is sure to rage on forever.