Metallica's Reviews
...And Justice For All (Average Rating: 9.18 out of 10)
A solid metal album (Rated this album with 8 out of 10)
Reviewed by
Mark Sasaki
from Sydney, Australia
This is a great album and is, for some reason, heavily criticised by many metal fans. Perhaps because its release came after 2 blockbuster albums, this one appeared to be substandard. Alright, its no Master of Puppets or Ride the Lightning, but it ain't bad just the same. I one thing I don't like about this album is the sound quality. It is a step down from its predecessors, with the guitars lacking the same punch, and the drums sound quite poor, especially the snare. Apart from this the album is quite well structured with some great metal moments.'Blackened' opens the proceedings in style - excellent guitar harmonics in the introduction lead to strong, fast riffing. I really feel that the sound of the drums degrades the quality of this song significantly, and it could have been a hell of a lot better with drums more like Master, or Ride. A pretty good solo with a great mid section speed up. '...And Justice for all'- I loved this very long track the first few times I listened... unfortunately it got old pretty fast. Its a personal thing, because I just dont find the subject matter (lawyers/judges/justice in the courts etc) that interesting. A great solo is in there but the whole track is a little repetitive and the trademark Metallica tempo change only seems to deflate the track's momentum. Overall I found the title track disappointing. 'Eye of the beholder' - A tight metal track, the meaning of which I am yet to ascertain. Good, but nothing special. 'One' - A famous song, and the first of its type to really do well in the charts, and come attached with an MTV music video. To many true hard core metal heads this was the beginning of the end in terms of Metallica's heavy realeases. A good ballad, with an effective change in tone near the end leading to a blistering guitar solo. The energy in the latter part of the song is quite strong, with vivid war imagery created via strong lyrics. 'The shortest straw' - Terrific intro, a solid part thrash part heavy metal track. 'Harvester of sorrow' - A plodding track, with heavy, power riffing underlying the slow delivery of the lyrics by Hetfield. Quite a downbeat song, with a very negative feel to it. Well executed by the boys 'the frayed ends of sanity' - It is from this point I feel the album really picks up. This is an awesome track, one of those that you want to play really loudly in the car to let everyone hear it. It rocks with fast tempo throughout, with brilliant lyrics. The backing vocals are particular effective in this track. A terrific solo and pounding ending makes it one of my all time favourite Metallica tracks. VERY underrated. 'To live is to die' - A great instrumental, however an underlying theme/feel of morbidity and sorrow is detected. I often wonder if this track expresses the band's sorrow on the death of Lance Burton, as it does contain a brief verse of poetry written by the former basist. Stong emotions are conveyed in this song with little lyrics. Relatively complex guitar work a great fade in/fade out. 'Dyers eve' - Still dont quite understand the title, but probably the one pure thrash song on the album. Blistering speed, with a rapid fire guitar solo. James really screams the lyrics into the mike with passion on this one. Abrupt ending... don't blink or you'll miss it. Overall a very good album, just not as good as their earlier stuff. It probably is one of the deeper albums they have realised in that each track can be analysed to find the true meaning hidden away somewhere in there, and there is a definate feel of emotional pain/suffering/sadness in all of the songs. Not a headbangers essential, but good to listen to just the same.
Buy this album on Amazon at $13.99
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