"For Whom the Bell Tolls" is a song by
Metallica, the third track from their second album
Ride the Lightning. The song was composed by
Cliff Burton,
James Hetfield, and
Lars Ulrich. The chromatic introduction (which is usually mistaken for an electric guitar) is in fact Cliff Burton playing his bass guitar through distortion and wah-wah. The intro was written by Burton before joining Metallica. Burton plays it in a 12-minute jam at a
battle of the bands with his first band "Agent of Misfortune." After the introduction, the bass settles into a steady triplet rhythm. The guitars in the song sound slightly sharper than a standard-tuned guitar should sound. However, this may not be intentional, as it is rumored that the song was sped up after recording. If the song was sped up too much or was sped up using low quality means, it would raise the pitch of the recording, thus apparently sharpening the guitar's tuning.
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