10 Best Metallica Running Songs

Are you laced up and ready to sweat out that 6-pack you downed last night? If so, start your run off with ‘Hit the Lights,’ the opening cut on Metallica’s seminal debut album, 1983’s ‘Kill ‘Em All.’ The track’s Motorhead-like riffing and quickly paced tempos are the perfect way to get your heart rate rising for your mission. Just make sure you don’t start head banging since that could cause some serious neck damage during a run.

Not that you’re moving, keep the speed steady with Metallica’s raw cover of Diamond Head’s ‘Helpless.’ The original Diamond Head version appears on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal pioneers’ ‘Lightning to the Nations’ album in 1980. Metallica’s take on the track stays pretty loyal to the original, albeit with a meatier guitar tone. Lars Ulrich’s relentless drum attack on ‘Helpless’ can be a great guide for you to time your movement to on your run.

Staying in the same wheelhouse, speed wise; continue your run with another killer cover from the Bay Area greats. This time, Queen’s ‘Stone Cold Crazy’ is given the thrash treatment, taking the original’s already revved-up energy and spiking it up. In a discography littered with fine cover songs, Metallica’s version of ‘Stone Cold Crazy’ is one of their best. The song moves quickly, but it’s not so fast that you’ll burn out this early in the run.

This is the part of the run where you really begin to pick the speed up. The opening track on the Bob Rock-produced ‘Reload’ album, ‘Fuel’ should help you quicken your step. NASCAR has used the song a few times in the past to help promote their brand, fitting since it features lines like: “And on I burn / Churning my direction / Quench my thirst with gasoline.” Just make sure you substitute the gasoline with Gatorade or water.

With its lyrics about revenge and Armageddon, it’s no wonder Metallica deliver ‘Fight Fire With Fire’ with one of the most intense performances of their career to date. At this point in your workout, the perspiration beads are snaking their way down your face, while your leg muscles are starting to burn. But that’s why you throw a track like ‘Fight Fire With Fire’ on your playlist. If you need inspiration, just focus in on the song’s driving arrangement and vitriolic lyrics.

You’re halfway there, so keep moving! While Metallica have famously avoided performing the technically challenging ‘Dyers Eve’ in their concerts, the song is still beloved in thrash metal circles. Its technical feats aside, ‘Dyers Eve’ is a ferocious bastard of a track, never truly letting up in its aural onslaught. It’s the kind of song that keeps you charging ahead with purpose despite what your body might be telling you.

OK, one more fast one before you start the wind down. Fast-forward through the first minute and twenty seconds of ‘Damage, Inc.’ to reveal one of the thrashiest cuts in Metallica’s arsenal. It’s also a mean one, with James Hetfield barking “We chew and spit you out / We laugh, you scream and shout” during one part. Whether you hone in on the words or the guitar riff assault, ‘Damage, Inc.’ is going to take you to the next part of your run.

The third cover song on the playlist, ‘Blitzkrieg’ was originally a 1981 B-side by a little-known British band of the same name. Rescued from obscurity by Metallica via a cover three years later for their ‘Creeping Death’ single, ‘Blitzkrieg’ is a smart track to play during this point -- when you’re beginning to slow your speed down -- since it finds the group rocking things out in a mid-paced tempo.

Why now? Because even though you’re not there yet, you can still see “the end of the line.” Produced by Rick Rubin (Slayer, Danzig), the guitar riffs and Hetfield’s authoritative vocals are front and center in the mix on ‘The End of the Line,’ and sound massive when you listen to it on a pair of headphones. The newest song on the playlist, it also packs just enough speed to push you in the last few minutes of your run.

You’ve made it! You’ve just crossed the finishing line. You’re feeling a mix of exhaustion and elation. Now you need a song that you can stretch to and not only is ‘Wherever I May Roam’ an ideal choice for that, the lyrics also fit the momentous nature of the run’s completion. Once you’re all stretched out, crack open a cold beverage, but don't start negating all of the hard work you just put in by scarfing down half a pound of hamburger meat.