About This Site

In 1988, two years after Metallica bassist Cliff Burton perished in a tragic bus accident, the band release its final album of the '80s, ...And Justice For All. In addition to being their last release of the decade, the record marked an unfortunate turning point for the band that would lead them astray down the path of lame-ass alternative rock. ...And Justice For All marked the end of Metallica's progressive heavy metal years. The killer solos, complex song structure, and fast tempos would all be gone when Metallica resurfaced in 1991. Why the band felt they had to change I'll never know, but I and many others wish that Metallica had stuck to their guns and continued making the excellent thrash metal that made them famous.

Among the group's four albums from the 80's, this is the most peculiar. Sonically, Metallica sounds different - the heavy, thundering guitars now buzz thinly, the drums click more than pound, and newcomer Jason Newsted's bass is pretty much inaudible. Some may be turned off by the strange production, but Metallica more than makes up for it with their most ingenious and ambitious songwriting ever. This is their darkest, most intricate album, with the central theme of justice manifesting itself in James Hetfield's bleak, angry lyrics. Much of the guitar work, drumming, and songwriting on ...And Justice For All is simply unmatched. Though opinions of the album are somewhat divided among Metallica's ever-dwindling fanbase, I view the album as a masterpiece from a band in its prime. Sadly, just two albums later, Metallica had become a shadow of its former self, and has never quite recovered from its commercial breakthrough. But if all good things must end, then ...And Justice For All is the perfect way to bring Metallica's glory days to a close.

The tracks:

Blackened - After a truly excellent guitar fade-in, the opening track picks up into a headbanging storm. Everything about this song rocks. The chorus is great, the bridge is great, the lyrics and vocal delivery are captivating, and the guitars and drums are top-notch. Outstanding.

...And Justice for All - Talk about a 1-2 punch. The title track somehow manages to live up to the awesome Blackened. This song is incredible - nearly 10 minutes in length, its lyrics paint a chilling picture of a society in decay. The complexity of the song structure makes it difficult to effectively descibe, but rest assured that it is a spectacular and highly satisfying listen.

Eye of the Beholder - The band employs another fade-in here. While it's not up to par with the first two tracks, this is still a very good song. I love the chorus in particular. The solo is nicely done, too.

One - A nearly 8-minute epic, One starts off on a melancholy note as Hetfield tells the tale of a soldier stripped of nearly all his senses by a landmine. Near the end, the song becomes heavy as hell as Hetfield voiced the anger and agony of a man permanently suspended between life and death. Not only is it a superb headbanger, its powerful lyrics make it a starkly moving song. One of the band's best ever.

Shortest Straw - Listeners of Michael Savage should be familiar with this one. It's a solid track, though personally not one of my favorites. Still a good, heavy song.

Harvester of Sorrow - I love this one. A slow, menacing track about how child abuse gets passed down through the generations. The guitars are sweet.

Frayed Ends of Sanity - Another one I like a lot. It just rocks. Very cool song. I especially love the lyrics and Hammet's guitar work. Oh, and it has an amusing musical in-joke at the beginning.

To Live Is to Die - I heard the band wrote this instrumental as a tribute to Burton. Seems likely, as it conveys both sadness (the beginning, middle, and end) and anger/despair (everything in between). The acoustic guitars and strings on this song are very well done. Another deeply emotional track.

Dyers Eve - Just awesome. Hetfield screams of parental neglect and indifference as the power chords roar and the drums fly at breakneck speed. A perfect way to conclude Metallica's glory years - with a kick-ass headbanger.

And that's it. One wonders how many more great albums the band could have made if they had only repeled the forces of commercialization. What could have been...

Steve Sweeney

Another great release by Metallica

After 3 previous releases under Metallica's belt, Hetfield and company returned with an album that went much deeper lyrically and musically. During the 'Puppets' tour in Scandinavia, bassist Cliff Burton was tragically killed as the band's tour bus overturned. He was replaced by Jason Newstead. And Justice For All proved to be an album that vented out anger, sorrow and pain from the death of their former 4-string headbanger.

And Justice For all starts a little different than the previous albums with leads that progressively get louder until the listener hears riffs that Metallica were famous for! The song, Blackened is a perfect opener. Hetlfield's voice is particulary strong on this song. One of Metallica's strongest ballads ever written is 'One.' This song is a very emotional song about the horrors of war. The best song here in my opinion is Harvester of Sorrow. The riffs are amazing and I am finding myself head banging to this song all the time! Hammet's lead sounds magnificent halfway through the song. The track, To Live is to Die, is one of the most emotional instrumentals ever written. This song is nearly 10 minutes long, and it was dedicated to Cliff. He even wrote the short poem spoken by Hetfield near the end of the song. The leads will pull at your heart in this one.

Metallica has another 5-star album with And Justice For All. This is some of Metallica's most aggressive material musically and lyrically. After this album, the band never has really sounded like this. Their music was not as heavy, the songs became shorter, and mainstream was pointing their fingers to Ulrich, Hetfield and the rest of the Bay Area Bashers. One wonders what sort of legacy Metallica would've had if they kept on playing material similar to And Justice For All.

Very Decent Album!

I don't know about you, but I thought that after their oldest bassist Cliff Burton died, it was over for metallica. Boy, was I proved wrong. Not only was it a great album, it actually turned out to be one of my favorite albums of all time. The definate stand out songs on here are "blackened"(a very great opening song), "One" (one of my most favorite songs ever), and my most favorite song, "Dyers Eve". That song just lives up to metallica's thrash genre. They invented the genre, and this has some of the most fastest double bassing, courtesy of Lars Ulrich, some of the fastest soloing ever heard by Kirk Hammet(not the greatest guitar player, but decent). Also, the fact that this was the last good album metallica put out. A lot of you say this is the album they started selling out. I don't believe that, because the black album is nowhere near this album. I wonder if the only reason you think that metallica started selling out here is because the bassist died? That is still not a good reason. I love this album and it fits in with all my other metallica albums no matter what you negative f*cks say. This is very highly recommended!!! a 5/5. I would also like to point out that the only reason this album doesn't have any bass is because the bassist came in late to record this album, so instead, he played all of James's riffs, so stop complaining.

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