Metallica's 'Escape' Played Live Once and Became One of Their Least-Loved

When Metallica released Ride the Lightning in 1984, the album produced several classics — 'Fight Fire With Fire,' 'For Whom the Bell Tolls,' 'Fade to Black' and the title track. One track, however, has rarely been embraced by the band: 'Escape' was performed live only once, on June 23, 2012, when Metallica played Ride the Lightning in full at the Orion Music + More festival.

The song was written under time pressure and label demand and ended up as a last-minute, more radio-friendly addition that departed from the band's early intensity. Hetfield recalled: "[Ride the Lightning] was the first time we wrote a song in the studio. 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.

metallica, escape, orion festival, june 23, 2012, 1984, james hetfield, lars ulrich, radio friendly, label demand