(Rated this album with 10 out of 10) Reviewed by
Michael K Middleton
from Muzak City USA
And if you disagree with me..that's okay. But you're wrong. But seriously, I find it quite odd that me, a bassist, would feel that this is even the best Metallica record ever, let alone the best metal record. This is the first post-Cliff Burton Metallica effort, and new bassist Jason Newsted can't be heard anywhere on it. But the wierd thing is, everything fits together on this album so well, you don't miss it at all. "Blackened," a classic Metallica thrasher, opens the record and immediately commands your full attention. "One," the band's first single and video, might have become their signature song had the band not taken a radically different direction on later albums. The massive length of the songs, coupled with the listener's total lack of desire to hit the skip button, says a lot about the songwriting skills of these guys. The music of "....And Justice For All" is more closely related to classical pieces than standard heavy metal. And though a lot of people bemoan the unorthodox sound of this record, I think that it works beautifully for these songs. I can't very well place this one above "Master Of Puppets," but given a choice, "Justice" will always be the one I put in my changer.
