Mr_D's Full Review: ...And Justice for All by Metallica
Quick Facts:
Metallica - And Justice For All. Released 1988, Heavy Metal genre. Contains "hit" song - One. 9 total songs, 65 minutes total album time.
Full Review:
1988 was in many ways, the end of the 80's Heavy Metal sound, but it was a great fanfare. Danzig released his first solo album, Iron Maiden's Seventh Son was released - Anthrax put out State of Euphoria. In late 87, Guns and Roses released the classic Appetite. 1988 was really right before the explosion of industrial metal and alternative rock that was to follow. It was an end of an era for Metallica as well, in several ways. Metallica distinctly changed their sound after the release of And Justice, finding many of the songs simply to complicated to perform live. The formula that they had used for three straight albums (Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets, and Justice) had worn a bit thin, and the band would go in a new direction with the "Black Album".
What Justice became then, was really a swan song of sorts, not just for Metallica's "old" sound, but for it would be a gravestone for almost an entire sound of music. Metallica's most complex and ambitious album, And Justice For All is both loved and hated by many Metallica fans. Some find it to be too much, others view it as a great album with a few quirks.
Something immidiately noticible is the production values. The snare drum pops out as a tad to sharp, the bass is quiet. The focus here is clearly on the guitars, which while very good, unfortunately takes some flavor out of the overall sound - which some have described as flat. Whether it was done to further the theme of the album (The ever decaying society), is uknown - but you can't help but hear it in the album.
This album will also be known for the song that put Metallica toward the mainstream, with "One" - which became a classic heavy metal hit, and got tons of radio and MTV airplay, and really introduced the band to many people who didn't catch Headbanger's Ball. While One is viewed as one of Metallica's best songs by many, this album contains a few of the bands finest works. Unfortunately, a few of the songs end up a tad bland and overdrawn - No song on the album is shorter than 5:12, and 7 of them are longer than 6 minutes. While it makes the good songs enjoyable to listen to, it makes the poorer ones tend to drag on.
Here's the track listing (Favorite cuts are *'d)
1.* Blackened
2. And Justice For All
3.* Eye Of The Beholder
4.* One
5. Shortest Straw, The
6. Harvester Of Sorrow
7.* Frayed Ends Of Sanity, The
8. To Live Is To Die
9. Dyers Eve
Blackened starts off the album, and is not only my favorite song on the album, but one of my favorite Metallica songs of all time. It starts of slow, then kicks in with a Battery-like power. Great vocals, great lyrics - and just a total power song. One of Metallica's finest.
And Justice for All is a decent tune, though at 9:44, is a bit too long and gets a bit repetitive. It has a bit of everything Metallica has to offer, but it doesn't excel at any of them.
Eye of the Beholder doesn't get a lot of kudos from most Met fans, but it really stands as my 2nd favorite tune on the release. The intro alone gets you rocking out, and then the song just continues with incredible guitar licks and a sweet chorus. I like the lyrics a lot too.
One - Most people are familiar with this one, there's not a ton I am going to say about it. I like the song, but I don't love it.
The Shortest Straw and Harvester of Sorrow both sound very similar to me - both are fair, and the flat production really shows on both of them. They feel like "going through the motions" songs, a tad to repeitious with nothing extraordinary to offer.
The Frayed Ends of Sanity stands out because of the interesting tempo the song uses, as well as the chanting introduction. Maybe it is that intro that gets you singing along, but this song really gets me into it - Some great early guitar work - and a solid song all the way through.
To Live is to Die is the instrumental offering on this album, co-written by Bassist Cluff Burton who had died on tour for the Master of Puppets album. It's actually quite musical, and very long - 9:48. But it doesn't stand out as being better than Call of Cthulu off of Ride the Lightning or Orion of of Master of Puppets, so you'll never say - "Man I gotta hear To live is to die!"
Dyers Eve finishes off the album, and is the most thrash inspired track on the album. The best part of the song is the lyrics, but the music - while fast and furious, doesn't have enough direction or good riffs to keep one interested.
Do you need what I need? Boundries overthrown, Look inside, to each his own!" (Eye of the Beholder)
What I liked:
Ambitious, musical album.
Some of the best songs written by the band.
Blackened kicks you in the teeth.
What I didn't like:
Production makes album a tad flat.
Some of the songs are too long.
A few of the songs are very bland.
Overall:
This is the last of the great Metallica albums, and the end of an era. There are several great songs that make this a "must have" album, but it's not non-stop greatness the way Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets were before it. It belongs in any Metal fans collection.
Mr_D
NOTE: This Epinion was revised 4/3/04. The original follows for comparison purposes.
***
This album was blasted by critics as being too "mainstream" with the popularity of the song "One", but probably no album from the group was more musical than this one. From the first track with "Blackened" to the instrumental by late bassist Cliff Burton "To live is to die", nothing compares to the musicianship of this quartet's fourth release. Some of the power from previous albums has become more refined, and although touches of it come out with songs like "Harvester of Sorrow", this album was clearly the end of an era and the beginning of a new one for not only Metallica, but Metal in general. However, this album is better than most Metallica fans will give credit, so do yourself a favor and check it out.
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