Name of Album : ...And Justice for All
Name of Band : Metallica
Original Release date : 1988
Metallica, I must say have to be considered a great metal band. Did I say ’’Metallica’’? Sorry, I meant the old Metallica, of the 80s. ...And Justice for All was probably their last album worth buying. After this, they became commercial and the albums Load and Reload were probably the worst ones I have ever bought.
Anyway, this review is about Metallica at their best and not their sad downfall. Even when I didn’t really listen to Metal songs and had virtually no knowledge (yes, such a time did exist in my life but that was when I was less than 14 years and now a few years have passed), I was aware of a band named Metallica and a song called Nothing Else Matters. Ok, so I had a tiny bit of Metal awareness even then. So, I guess being a Metal fan was written in my destiny. Who knows, I might someday become more than a Metal ’’fan’’. (’’Wake up, Esgallindeion!’’).
Ok, I wish I could say Metallica ’’are’’ a good band but unfortunately that would only be a big lie. Now, if I said that ’’once upon a time in the 80s there was a band called Metallica which was one of the greatest Metal bands ever’’ I would be more accurate. I really think this album shows Metallica at their best. I’m not sure if I can decide which one of the two - Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All is the better one.
While the former is more polished, the latter is much more raw and angry. And it also has my all-time Metallica favourite, One. The only flaw that this album has is its production. And even that doesn’t do much harm to it.
Most of the songs are quite long but Metallica have a style in which they go through very different and distinct stages in their songs and the length is quite a positive factor. James’ voice in this album sounds quite different but I like it. Kirk shows his devastating best form in the solos of the title track, One and To Live is To Die.
1. Blackened
The lyrics are about the end of the world. But the guitar riffs, in my opinion are the best part.
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2. ...And Justice for all
An extremely heavy song, but a bit too long. But one of the best as well.
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3. Eye of the Beholder
Probably the heaviest song of the album. Its been written extremely well.
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4. One
This song, in my opinion, is by itself enough to give this album a full rating. A cool guitar riff and an even better solo is played 1 and a half minutes into the song after which the singing begins. The singing! How inadequate those two words sound to describe it. The ending of the song is really awesome. I still remember that the portion ’’Hold my breath as I wish for death! Oh, please God, Wake Me!’’ was one of my most favourite moments in any song (of course, this was before I began listening to Iron Maiden). But even now it still remains one of my favourite.
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5. Shortest Straw
I don’t really like this one. Its heavy and many Metallica (the old metallica) fans like this, I think.
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6. Harvester of Sorrow
An amazing Trash metal song.
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7. Frayed Ends of Sanity
I think it would have been a bit better it it had been a little less heavier.
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8. To Live Is to Die
An excellent instrumental. It is when I hear stuff like this I wonder the sort of music they would be making had they maintained the form shown in this album.
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9. Dyers Eve I don’t like this one at all. Rating -