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Metallica - ...And Justice For All
1988 Elektra
Metallica '...And Justice For All'

Track Listing:
1.  Blackened
2.  ...And Justice For All
3.  Eye Of The Beholder
4.  One
5.  The Shortest Straw
6.  Harvester Of Sorrow 
7.  The Frayed Ends Of Sanity
8.  To Die Is To Live
9.  Dyer's Eve

Line-Up:
Vocals:  James Hetfield
Guitars:  James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett
Bass:  Jason Newsted
Drums:  Lars Ulrich

Website:  www.metallica.com

Horatio's Rating:  A
Overall Album Rating:  A

Also be sure to read:
 Metallica - Kill 'Em All Review by Scoots
Metallica - Metallica Review by Horatio
Metallica - St. Anger Review by Horatio

Horatio's Review:
 Before 'St. Anger' this was always my pick of Metallica's body of work.  There was always a crude delight in the thin, botched production which led Lars to declare, 'we will never work with Fleming Rasmussen ever again'.  Or perhaps the band froze out Newsted's bass themselves from the mix.  The absence of bass gives the drum sound an edge, coming off as raw and underdone.  The album was Metallica's most ambitious, with a running time of over seventy minutes, marking the first work without old Cliff and his jean jacket.  The sprawling arrangements were light years from what the other 'big four' members were attempting in 1988, comparing 'State Of Euphoria' to '...And Justice For All' nothing more than the sickest joke in metal history.  Throw 'So Far, So Good' into that list also.

I've often wondered about this album's status as a thrash album musically.  Only 'Blackened' and 'Dyer's Eve' are full on speed, but the album as a whole has the thrash atmosphere of 1988, black jeans, shitty long hair, white trainers and bay area riffs.  That Metallica were moving in a complex, technical direction probably influenced a myriad of z-grade thrashers to do the same, just as the 'Black' album forced bands to slow things down overnight.  'Blackened' is the band's greatest opener, inspiring a chicken dance in the drama theater at my college that is still going until this day seventeen years later.  The band resuscitated this for their last tour, one of their masterpieces.  Always one for lengthy compositions, the title track at nearly ten minutes is an exercise in Spartan musicianship, the shape of the track never settling.  This is proof that speed wasn't the determining factor in thrash all the time, the attitude of the music was.  Where the 'Black' album was slow, it didn't have the same ferocity riff wise that this does.

'Eye Of The Beholder' follows the same suit, while 'One' picks up speed as it progresses, the overplayed and stale track too common to be discussed here.  'Shortest Straw' is a medium-paced thrasher, and an undoubted classic with a burst of speed and riffs that deal to Kreator and Tankard.  The anger is obvious, the band's maturity showing through.  At an average age of 24 this is an amazing achievement, the progression from 'Kill 'Em All' to this a major feat.  Yes, Slayer as well, but listen to 'Fight Fire With Fire' in '84 then Slayer and 85's 'Necrophobic' and tell me who was more advanced. 'To Live Is To Die' was the then obligatory instrumental, with 'Dyer's Eve' the last of the real thrash Metallica sound.  The mammoth amount of lengthy guitar soloing and instrumental passages throughout the album were an indication of the boundaries Metallica sought to push.  Successfully also.

This album used to be dismissed as one of the band's weakest.  The production, that's all, and I enjoy it, adding a sense of raw energy that thrash thrived on.  This pushed the band into the first division permanently.  Old buggers will recall the 'Monsters Of Rock' tour the band embarked on with Van Halen, The Scorpions and Kingdom Come amongst others, which certainly Metallica stood out on like a sawn off shotgun blown off head.  More importantly, the album defines the late eighties thrash scene, making a mockery of Euro thrash and how tedious and one dimensional it was.  Some still live in 1988, every once in a while you'll see some dude wearing all black with huge white sneakers and thinning long hair, oblivious to the shame. This album was the highlight of his life.
Horatio's Rating:  A

Discography (last updated 1.27.06):
Hit The Lights demo - 1982
Metal Up Your Ass demo - 1982
No Life 'Til Leather demo - 1982
Power Metal demo - 1982
Ron McGovnev's '82 Garage Demo - 1982
Horsemen Of The Apocalypse demo - 1993
Jump In The Fire EP - 1983
Kill 'Em All - 1983
Megaforce demo - 1993
Creeping Death EP - 1984
Ride The Lightning - 1984
Whiplash EP - 1985
Master Of Puppets - 1986
Garage Days Re-Revisited EP - 1987
...And Justice For All - 1988
Eye Of The Beholder EP - 1988
Harvester Of Sorrow EP - 1988
One EP - 1989
Welcome Home (Sanitarium) EP - 1989
The Good, The Bad, And The Live box - 1990
Enter Sandman EP - 1991
The Unforgiven EP - 1991
Metallica - 1991
Live At Wembley Stadium EP - 1992
Nothing Else Matters EP - 1992
Sad But True EP - 1992
Wherever I May Roam EP - 1992
15 Pieces Of Live Shit EP - 1993
Live Shit:  Binge And Purge box - 1993
The Unforgiven II EP - 1995
Ain't My Bitch EP - 1996
Hero Of The Day EP - 1996
King Of Nothing EP - 1996
Load - 1996
Mama Said EP - 1996
Mandatory Metallica EP - 1996
Until It Sleeps:  Part I - 1996
Until It Sleeps:  Part II - 1996
Best Of Metallica - 1997
Live In London EP - 1997
Reload - 1997
The Memory Remains EP - 1997
Fuel EP - 1998
Garage Inc. - 1998
Live In London - 1998
Turn The Page EP - 1998
Whiskey In A Jar EP - 1998
Die, Die My Darling EP - 1999
No Leaf Clover EP - 1999
S&M EP - 1999
S&M Live - 1999
S&M Version:  Master Of Puppets EP - 1999
S&M Version:  Nothing Else Matters EP - 1999
I Disappear EP - 2000
Exclusive Collection - 2001
Best Of Metallica - 2003
Frantic EP - 2003
St. Anger - 2003
St. Anger EP - 2003
Some Kind Of Monster EP - 2004
The Unnamed Feeling EP - 2004
Vinyl Box Set - 2004
St. Danger box set- 2005