(Rated this album with 8 out of 10) Reviewed by
HeadbangerDuh
from Los Angeles, CA
The music is superb. If it had been as masterfully mixed as Ride The Lightning or Master Of Puppets, this would have been a five-star album. But, unfortunatly, the production is atrocious. There is no bass whatsoever on the album, the guitars sound thin, and Lars Ulrich's drums have this irritating clicky sound that can get on your nerves. Oh yeah, James' voice. On the previous 3 albums James had a nice voice, but on this, it's just bad. But the songs are great. Blackened kicks the album off with a tale of the destruction of the world. Then comes the nine-minute-plus title track, with its tale of corruption and greed in the government. Eye of the Beholder, which comes next, is the best song on the album. The semi-ballad, One, was Metallica's first ever Top 40 hit, and the band's first ever music video. The music goes slightly downhill after that, but don't worry, the songs are still great. The album ends with the powerful, headbanging tale of James Hetfield's childhood, Dyer's Eve. Dyer's Eve is probably the next to best song on the album, after Eye Of The Beholder. This would probably be a thrash metal classic if it weren't for the production quality. But it can still wallop ya good.
