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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

...And Justice For All

Metallica

1988

Buy At Rough Trade
...And Justice For All
Album Summary

...And Justice for All is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on September 7, 1988 by Elektra Records. It was the first Metallica album to feature bassist Jason Newsted, following the death of their previous bassist Cliff Burton in 1986. Metallica recorded the album with producer Flemming Rasmussen over four months in early 1988 at One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles. It features aggressive complexity, fast tempos, and few verse-chorus structures. It contains lyrical themes of political and legal injustices, such as governmental corruption, censorship, and war. The cover, designed by Roger Gorman, and illustration by Stephen Gorman was based on a concept by Metallica guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, depicts Lady Justice bound in ropes, being pulled by them to the point of breaking, with dollar bills piled upon her scales. The album title is derived from the last four words of the American Pledge of Allegiance. Three of its songs were released as singles: "Harvester of Sorrow", "Eye of the Beholder", and "One"; the title track was released as a promotional single. ...And Justice for All was acclaimed by music critics for its depth and complexity, although its dry mix and nearly inaudible bass guitar was criticized. It was included in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll of the year's best albums, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1989, controversially losing out to Jethro Tull in the ill-fated Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental category. The single "One" backed the band's debut music video, and earned Metallica their first Grammy Award in 1990 (and the first ever in the Best Metal Performance category). It was successful in the United States, peaking at number six on the Billboard 200, and was certified 8× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2003 for shipping eight million copies in the U.S. The album was reissued on November 2, 2018, in vinyl, CD, and cassette formats, as well as receiving a deluxe box set treatment with bonus tracks and unreleased video footage. The reissue reached number 37 and 42 on Billboard's Top Album Sales and Top Rock Albums charts, respectively.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.46

Votes

12075
Genres
Metal

Reviews

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Fri May 21 2021
3

I just can't shake the image of goateed suburban dads rocking out to this while sitting in their garages and neglecting their wives while drinking cheap beer and wiping grease on their pants. They wonder why their wives don't want to fuck them. Maybe if you stopped cosplaying as a tough guy and embraced the life your career in dentistry has allotted you you might find a warmer embrace in bed. That said, it's still kinda fun. Very technical and clean. I dunno, maybe I should shave my beard into a goatee. I'm giving this three stars as I wipe my greasy hands on my pants and try to go pork my wife.

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Thu Aug 12 2021
5

I was 17 years old when this album came out. A friend introduced me to Metallica, via this album and also Master of Puppets. At the time, I described the experience of listening to Metallica as a kick to the gut, and I meant it in a positive way. I cannot stress this enough, how huge this album was. Among metal fans, Metallica was probably a known quantity at this point. But for the rest of us, they were new, startling and so refreshing in a sea of hair bands. It was like someone turned on the lights and everything was different after that. A freaking revelation. The intensity and the speed is obvious, the dark imagery, the social commentary, but with real musicality as well. I compare this to my experience listening to Napalm Death recently, and the contrast is worth noting. ND's music is designed to repel all but a very small audience. But Metallica had an awareness of where the boundaries were in metal at the time and they just pressed against the line constantly until they moved it. Some have pointed out that Metallica had a more progressive approach to their music, which I had never thought about but I think is correct. The complexity of the arrangements, the eschewing of traditional song structures... the band just existed in a different space from most of their peers. There are moments that are genuinely lovely, like the intros to "One" and "To Live is to Die," which makes the contrast against the heavier parts even more striking. What a great album. An hour+ of Metallica can be a little exhausting, even if you like them. But it's been a long while since I've listened to them, so today was a gift. Fave songs: One, Blackened, Eye of the Beholder, To Live is to Die

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Mon May 16 2022
1

Four albums by Metallica in this list is just a joke. Even the editors make apologies for this one (“tinny sound,” “overprocessed,”). Clearly they’re the experts on this genre and this band. Other than a very few redeeming bits (the opening section of “One,” which sounds briefly like actual, you know, music), I just hear repetitive sound and structure, grunted vocals, sophomoric lyrics, thrashy breaks with quick flips back to speed (what editors call “riff salads”). For all the extremity, it’s quite paint by numbers.

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Thu Jun 03 2021
5

\m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/

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Fri May 21 2021
2

Funny the first repeat artist on 1001 is muthafuckin Metallic-AH. Justice for All-AH. Longer tracks-AH. Bigger jams-AH. Thrashier thrash-AH. Less melody-AH. Technically precise-AH. Respect their intellectual property-AH. Vague commercial-libertarian messages-AH. I like better this Metallic-AH. Too same for too long-AH. C+

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Wed Jul 07 2021
2

Look, James Hetfield is a singularly silly man. In fact, Metallica are a singularly silly band. They'd possibly be a good one if they wore their silliness more proudly. Hell, if they wore it at all. But I was weaned on metal so I can tolerate the fundamental dumbness here (that muscly rage is the answer) so long as it's accompanied by shreddy breakdowns like the one that starts at 4:30 in One and carries on until next year, or the glorious combination of brutalised guitar and drums at the start of Harvester of Sorrow. Of the albums we've had so far, this is the one that delineates the directness of the path from Prog to Metal most clearly. Really, the differences between this and Made in Japan are negligible. So well done Metallica, you kept me chuckling, but nowhere near as much as Maddy singing along from the other room to deliberately misheard lyrics. Pride of place comes from the title track: "Pin your plimpsoles to your rear". Go on, listen again and find it.

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Fri Apr 23 2021
2

Metallica makes good pump-up and hype music for crowds, but not so much music to listen to on a regular basis, at least for me. Didn't really enjoy this, actually liked their live album much better

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Fri Jan 15 2021
5

Classic thrash metal. Doesn't have the melody or nuances of some of the other metallica record but it's all about the riffs. Solid riffage for some long ass songs. Great record but they needed to turn Jason's bass up.

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Mon Jan 18 2021
4

Never been a huge fan of Hetfield’s voice, but I do understand that lyrically and sonically Metallica is one of if not the best metal bands out there. “One” is probably my favorite track. Shocker. I also like the opening track “Blackened”. I probably just need to listen to more Metallica to get used to Hetfields voice.

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Mon Feb 08 2021
2

Couldn't get into this one... As much as I enjoy metal I find a lot of Metallica kinda dull

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Wed Jul 07 2021
2

Unfortunately this band named Metallica (repeat that to yourself a few times, really roll it around - Metal-lica, Metallica, Met-al-li-ca) take themselves too seriously to take seriously. They are really good at guitar solos, of that there can be no doubt. They are less good at… well most of the other things that make music music. Maybe that’s too harsh - but their lyrics, their delivery, the overblown length of their songs, the fun-void at the centre of it all… it all points to the same logic that propels the ever more serious, ever more gritty reboots of Batman: you cannot laugh at this thing, this is serious - look how serious it is, it’s actually making some really serious points about… serious things. Hella good solos though.

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Wed Nov 22 2023
2

Hearing tracks like "One" on this album bum me out because it shows that Metallica has the talent and the capacity to make more interesting music but just generally chooses not to, instead focusing on the monotonous every track sounds the same except for one or two on every album. Technically super talented band.

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Wed Jun 23 2021
5

A masterpiece of thrash metal. One of my favorite albums of all time. "One" might be the best metal song of all time.

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Thu Jul 15 2021
5

One of my favorite Metallica records. It's not quite my favorite, and I rated it a five probably due to nostalgia reasons, but the riffs on this are too addictive to rate it anything less. Of course, the bass could be a little more present, but that's Hetfield's problem. The lyrics on this are as poignant as ever and the drumming is brutal without sounding like garbage like it does in their later records. I highly recommend this to any metal fan that hasn't listened to it already. Highlights: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9.

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Thu Jan 07 2021
4

Crazy guitar riff after crazy guitar riff. So influential. Even though this isn't an album I will probably return to a lot, I can appreciate everything it does and created.

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Fri Feb 19 2021
4

This album felt like Metallica dropped a lot of the melodies featured in Puppets and went back to the thrash of earlier albums but combined lots of riffs and changes into longer and more complex songs. I liked it overall, the mix is weird, but the album feels meaningful and is a great listen.

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Tue Jun 08 2021
4

I think this album was Lars reaching peak narcissist- his drums are pulled far too forward in the mix, but the album still sounds fresh today. Probably my 3rd favourite album by the band

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Thu May 06 2021
2

Trop de similitudes avec Ray Charles.

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Sun Jul 04 2021
5

Because of their reputation, I had written off Metallica and was surprised by how sophisticated and interesting it was.

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Thu Sep 09 2021
5

Well, it's a classic for a reason. It's mostly fire from top to bottom. I have a few issues with the mixing (why is the kick scooped out like a used melon rind?) but not enough to take the score down from full marks.

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Mon Jan 18 2021
4

Metallica’s 4th album is refined from earlier works. It’s clear they found their footing with their new bassist Jason Newsted following the tragic death of bassist Cliff Burton in a tour bus accident. This album boats “One” which is a beautifully crafted piece of work even for being over 7 minutes long it’s easy to get lost in masterful guitar work. This is a solid thrash metal album (4th of 5 in a row masterpieces in their genre) from arguably the greatest Metal band ever assembled. Giving 4 stars, but would give it a 9.4 out of 10. “Hold my breath as I wish for death”.

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Thu Apr 15 2021
4

Very cool, but one thing I wasn't crazy about is how many of the songs had no ending, they just stopped (and sometimes changed partway through like they know how to do a transition but not at the end of a song?) Also, fun fact: Keegan's house used to be owned by Lars Ulrich, the drummer

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Tue Mar 16 2021
4

Daar was ik wel even aan toe.

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Sat Oct 16 2021
4

* not what i typically listen to * very good album, sick instrumentals * would listen to again

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Wed Nov 03 2021
4

Remember when Metallica was labeled "sellouts" for making the One video? It was a game changer. Yes, it was.

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Sat Nov 20 2021
4

This is amazing! The playing on this track is phenomenal and the energy and power off the charts. This is not a genre I’m familiar with but I get the appeal - absorbing and exciting, an incredible sound. I kind of enjoy the angry political lyrics, less so the rebellious teenager stuff (but hey maybe this is as therapeutic as seeing a therapist), but overall a musical smack in the face.

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Tue Oct 11 2022
4

All that's missing is Jason Newsted. Dyers Eve contrasts tragically with a song ten years later, "Mama Said."

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Tue Jun 20 2023
4

…And Justice for All, but Bass for None. As a teenager in the early and mid 90’s, I was a pretty obnoxious Metallica fan. They were the greatest band on earth, the band that mattered most to me. I’d stay up late nights in the summer watching Live Shit: Binge and Purge on VHS on my 13” TV with built-in VHS player (at least until 12:30, when I’d switch over to the antenna and pick up Late Night with Conan O’Brien). They’re the reason I started playing guitar. My identity as 14 year old was tied in very closely with being a Metallica fan. Justice, as us heads call it, was peak Metallica for me. It’s heavy and aggressive, technical with tons of twists and turns, and, most importantly it questioned authority - the long held past time of any American teenager worth their salt. Listening to it today, at 42, I can’t help but like it still, it’s practically ingrained in my DNA at this point, but holy fuck is this album longer than I remember. Maybe it’s just that time moved slower back then or my span of attention was longer. That there’s no bass on this record bothers more than it used to, as well. I get it and appreciate that it’s a homage to Cliff Burton, whose death left a massive hole in this band, but a lot of these songs would be better served with some kind of low end other than Lars’ omnipresent kick drum. About 40 minutes into this record, the sound of it starts to grate on your ears. In terms of runtime, less would be more on …And Justice for All. You could probably cut “Frayed of Sanity” and the record would be just as enjoyable. Conversely, in terms of instrumentation, less definitely isn’t more - this record is all high end and suffers as a result of that production choice.

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Fri May 07 2021
3

...And Justice for All, Metallica, 1988 -Starts boring and very generic (i.e. - sounds like every Metallica song ever) but I mean hey: listen to those drums, nothing not to love there. -Metallica: incredibly skilled instrumentation paired with near-total inability to make their songs distinguishable from one another. They set the bar high with their preceding album, Master of Puppets, and I'm curious what they could pull off just 2 years later. -Really loved the opening for ...And Justice for All; the song doesn't evolve into anything to write home about though. 9 minutes in and I realize: this album is going to feel long as hell. Thanks Metallica... -Eye of the Beholder is a pretty decent song but forgettable -One has some absolutely delicious guitar licks and their shot a stylistic shift in the vocals really pays off - they communicate a sentiment both hopeful and devastated. We love this one of course and it does a good job hoisting the album out of snoozefest territory. -The Shortest Straw returns the album into snoozefest territory. Like so many of their songs, we build and build and build up to some self-indulgent drum and guitar ram-jams and fall back into some repetitive lyrics. Yawn. -Yawning continues through Harvester of Sorrow as the formulaic-metal intensifies -Did I just hear the WIZARD OF OZ flying monkey chant sample used in The Frayed Ends of Sanity, like what?????? LOL sure why not. It works. -Basically zoned out the rest of the album. Snooze snooze snooze. Great instrumentation but mastery of your instrument and your genre only counts for so much.

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Fri Feb 23 2024
3

I liked Metallica a lot more before my prefrontal cortex finished developing. Since then it's . . . less.

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Mon Dec 06 2021
2

Yeah I can see why people like them, but I'm not one of those sorts of people.

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Tue Jan 11 2022
2

It's so...edgy. Not really a fan.

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Wed Nov 22 2023
2

Metallica is the Elvis Stojko of metal. This album in particular is straight ice dancing. Yes, like Olympics ice dancing. Everything is excessively choreographed, rehearsed to oblivion with the goal to be as robotic as possible and all the audience is waiting for is for you to fail. No failures here, congratulations, you're all robots.

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Sat Mar 02 2024
2

Nr. 145/1001 Blackened 3/5 ... And Justice For All 2/5 Eye of the Beholder 2/5 One 2/5 The Shortest Straw 2/5 Harvest of Sorrow 2/5 The Frayed Ends of Sanity 2/5 To Live is to Die 4/5 Dyers Eye 2/5 Average: 2,33 Not the biggest fan of metal. Combined with the great lenght of the songs, made this not really fun to listen to.

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Mon Apr 25 2022
1

Guitars, guitars, for adolescents only

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Thu Sep 15 2022
1

Metallica is an iconic band in the overall metal style, there's no arguing about that. But let's try to be honest for a second: generally speaking, James Hetfield's delivery of his bland vocal lines is totally dull and unimaginative. Another guy actually *really* screaming his lungs out would have taken those songs up to another level. As for the music itself, it sounds way too paper-thin on this particular record compared to a lot of stuff that was later done in said genre, including Metallica's own "black album" (yep, a lot of critics were right: where's the goddamn bass?). So I guess that as far as albums go, you can keep *Master Of Puppets* and *Metallica* in your list of potentially essential LPs, if only for their cultural importance, and throw everything else into the "thrash" can. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 798 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 106 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 50 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 46 (including this one)

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Sat Dec 02 2023
1

сука как же скушно, сухо, нудно муторно

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Fri Jan 22 2021

Just a bit dull really - too much grunting and gnarling.

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Sat Jan 02 2021
5

Greatest metal album of all time.

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Sat Jan 30 2021
5

Fantastic album, peak Metallica, my favorite, and possibly their best

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Thu Mar 04 2021
5

Another excellent album from this great band

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Wed Feb 17 2021
5

Will never complain about a Metallica album, especially not this one.

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Sun Jun 06 2021
5

#1 metal record of all time.

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Sat Jul 10 2021
5

One of the best metal records ever.

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Sat Jan 16 2021
5

Very trippy sounding and definitely interesting. This seems like it could use another listen to really hear the words.

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Wed Jan 20 2021
5

I don't know how many times I've listen to this album, but it's enough.

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Fri Jan 15 2021
5

A good record, easily the fourth record by this band.

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Fri Feb 05 2021
5

Incluye la mejor canción de Metallica

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Fri Jan 29 2021
5

Quintessential heavy metal album.

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Mon Feb 22 2021
5

One of my favorite bands. 'One' is still magnificent. Wasn't sure to give 4 or 5 as it's somewhat in between

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Tue Jun 08 2021
5

Just a few days ago we had the previous Metallica album Master Of Puppets. I gave that one a 4 and liked this one a bit better. It's more straightforward and more focused & relentless. Also, Master Of Puppets came across as somewhat pretentious at times, while And Justice For All doesn't. There were a few really good tracks but One and the instrumental track To Live Ist To Die in particular were excellent. 4.5 rounded up because of how fantastic To Live Is To Die was.

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Tue Apr 06 2021
5

Joya. Siempre es agradable recordar un discazo musical, de lo mejor del thrash.

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Wed Jun 23 2021
5

Sorry Jason Newstead but this album is front to back a BANGER

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Fri May 14 2021
5

Almost a perfect album. Love it!

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Tue Jun 22 2021
5

-"Blackened" is totally jamming -Nice, solid Metallica album

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Wed May 12 2021
5

Absolute metal masterpiece, and perhaps Metallica's best album.

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Mon Jun 07 2021
5

Absolutely fantastic. The best album by Metallica in my opinion.

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Mon Jun 28 2021
5

One of their best. And they have had some great albums. This was the first one I bought from them. I have them all now, It is pretty great, start to finish.

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Thu Aug 12 2021
5

Incredible from start to finish.

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Tue Aug 24 2021
5

Els primers 5 discos de Metallica són tan increïbles que és difícil trobar-lis flaquesses. En aquest cas, disc de transició entre el trash metal dels començaments i el metal més clàssic dels propers treballs, proposen temes llargs, barrocs, complexes, però tots ells dos esglaons per sobre de la resta de millors bandes del període. A l'últims temes afluixen una mica, però la seva gran part és tan excel.lent que es fa difícil no donar-li les 5 *...

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Sun Sep 05 2021
5

This was the first tape I ever bought. Got it second hand from some shop in Kempsey, in about 1991. I'd heard a couple of the radio hits from the black album already, but nothing before that - I was 7 or so. When I first heard blackened I didn't even know how something so cool and heavy could exist. It legit blew my mind, it seemed next level in a way that nothing ever has since. The rest of the album really doesn't dip much in quality - I couldn't say shortest straw is something I ever get a hankering to hear on repeat, but even that as the album's lowest point is a fuckin' statement and a half. It's not my favourite Metallica album, but it's still the band at pretty much their peak, their live shows from this time are 110% by far as good as Metallica ever got, and I can't listen to it without just thinking about RIFFS and that brutally dry guitar tone for a good 20min afterwards. 5/5.

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Fri Sep 10 2021
5

reminds me of going to goodwill as a kid

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Sat Sep 11 2021
5

Great album - more "prog" than I remember, with shifting time signatures and elaborate arrangements. Dueling guitar harmonies are nice, but that chunky palm muted E is never far away.

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Mon Sep 13 2021
5

I’ve never listened to this the whole way through. The hits are still as epic as ever and I found a lot of the in betweens to be really good examples of highly technical metal. I think Metallica will always have the crown for me of king. Not only did they help establish the genre, they did it with clean intentionally played music, not just noisy shredding. Every note has a purpose. This one isn’t my personal favorite of theirs but it’s inpossible to deny the influence and lasting quality. I’d do 9/10 if we were on that scale, but it will be a 5.

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Fri Sep 24 2021
5

Great album, perfect start to this insanity! One (obviously) and Frayed Ends of Sanity were particular highlights

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Mon Nov 08 2021
5

Brilliant evolution of their sound - amongst their greatest

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Mon Nov 08 2021
5

Horrible mix but doesn't stop this being an absolute monster.

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Wed Nov 10 2021
5

Metallica at their most progressive and arguably their most aggressive. From a musical perspective this is them at the top of their game; the compositions, time signatures, tempo changes and guitar harmonies are all next level and it's clear to see how the band thought they'd taken this approach to songwriting as far as they could with this album.

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Thu Nov 11 2021
5

Metallica at their most technical, as lover of all things bassy I have to admit, the lack of bass is really felt in this album but ultimately it doesn't get in the way of some truly masterful songs

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Thu Nov 11 2021
5

Heavy, awesome, really enjoyed it

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Wed Nov 17 2021
5

great high school throw back

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Tue Nov 23 2021
5

Awesome awesome album. I just miss the bass.

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Wed Nov 24 2021
5

Grateful for being in a lifetime where this album exists

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Sun Dec 05 2021
5

listened a million times already

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Wed Dec 22 2021
5

This album was my introduction to metal and I will always have a soft spot for it. Classic album even without the backstory.

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Fri Dec 24 2021
5

The essential metal album. Not exactly my type of metal but I cannot disrespect the greats

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Fri Dec 31 2021
5

10/5. In 4th grade I had a mullet and an ....And Justice For All glow in the dark tee shirt; I rocked the shit out of that thing. This album complemented my panty dropping style.

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Tue Jan 04 2022
5

Arguably the end of Metallica's thrash metal era, and what an end it is. Of Metallica's classic thrash metal trio (Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and ...And Justice), I'm inclined to say Master of Puppets is the best album, and yet, there's a certain 'maturity' to these songs that really demonstrates just how much the band had grown as songwriters and musicians since 'Ride the Lightning'. While my opinion might change from day-to-day, 'One' is probably my all-time favourite Metallica song and just one of the best songs I've ever heard. Never has a 7.5 minute song felt so short - the beautiful guitar work in the song's first half, the face-smashing heavy-ness of the song's latter portion, Hammet's legendary solo, the lyrics; it's all just so damn good. And yet, there's so much more to like on this album than just 'One'! Blackened, the title track, The Shortest Straw, Dyers Eve - these are brilliant songs, each of them on their own the sort of songwriting that the majority of musicians can ever hope to achieve, and Metallica has them all featured on one album. So yeah, 5 stars.

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Thu Jan 06 2022
5

I may be the only person on the planet that loves the production on this album and i'm not sorry. 5/5

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Thu Feb 24 2022
5

This is still in my running rotation and is probably still my favorite Metallica album due to the sheer artistry and ambition of every track. There's a lot of virtuosity here, great messages, and it holds together as a full album.

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