...and justice for all
The first thing a listener will notice about ...And Justice for All isn't the ever-growing sophistication of Metallica's compositions or the chilling, apocalyptic lyrics -- it's the terrible production, which unfortunately overshadows some of the band's brilliance. The guitars buzz thinly, the drums click more than pound, and Newsted's bass is nearly inaudible. That said, ...And Justice for All is Metallica's most complex, ambitious work; every song is an expanded suite, with none clocking in at under five minutes. While not as consistently focused as Master of Puppets, the best moments here are at least its equal. Based on Dalton Trumbo's anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun, "One" is a tour de force and possibly the band's best song, combining spooky arpeggios, an oddly haunting melody, and a structure building up to the pummeling "machine-gun" section and wild guitar solo that close the track. The abundance of good material here makes the poor sound that much more frustrating.
1. Blackened - 6:40
2. And Justice for All - 9:44
3. Eye of the Beholder (Hammett/Hetfield/Ulrich) - 6:25
4. One - 7:24
5. Shortest Straw - 6:35
6. Harvester of Sorrow - 5:42
7. Frayed Ends of Sanity - 7:40
8. To Live Is to Die - 9:48
9. Dyers Eve - 5:12
