Which band released the 1984 album 'Ride the Lightning'?

The band that released the 1984 album Ride the Lightning was Metallica.

Ride the Lightning is Metallica’s second studio album and was released on July 27, 1984, through Megaforce Records. The band recorded it at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen with producer Flemming Rasmussen. Its songs showed Metallica expanding beyond the raw speed of its debut album, Kill ’Em All.

The record includes major Metallica songs such as “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Fade to Black,” “Creeping Death,” and the title track. Its electric-chair cover art reflects the album’s dark themes and the title’s imagery. Although it initially received little radio exposure, the album became highly influential in thrash metal.

Listeners sometimes confuse the answer because Megaforce Records issued the original release, while Elektra Records later reissued it after signing Metallica. The label was not the band. Ride the Lightning also predates Metallica’s better-known 1986 album Master of Puppets.