Ride The Lightning came out in 1984 via Megaforce Records, and was initially planned to be seven tracks long. According to James Hetfield in an interview with Sopitas, Megaforce didn't quite like the idea that the album was seven tracks long, and asked for one more track to be written.
Thus, "Escape" was born. A track Metallica disliked so much, or just didn't care for, that it took them until 2012 to play the song live.
"[Ride the Lightning] was the first time we wrote a song in the studio. I remember we had all the songs and Lars 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."
Personally, I don't mind the song. It's a little simpler than the rest of the album and maybe a little more symptomatic of the 1980s for sure, but it's still heavy and still classic Metallica (to me).
