Reviews (page 7 of 15)
Not just not my thing, there also wasn't a single song that piqued my interest
Second Metallica album I’ve gotten on here and it sounds so similar to the first. Most of the songs on here are more than listenable, but i wanted more out of it.
Interesting but not what I'm usually into.
Domar’n man kan faktiskt skriva bra och kunna sjunga oxå. Lite för bröligt för min smak
3 out of 5. Technically good musicianship and some bangers here.
I finally understand Beavis and Butthead now... This RULES. A metal symphony! Half a point off because it really is long. But I enjoyed this! 3.5
Blackened: 2/5 j’aime pas le métal. pas assez mélodieux …And Justice For All: 2/5 même chose Eye Of The Beholder: ça en dit long quand je pense que la seule chose intéressante d’une chanson c’est le solo de guitare. 2/5 One: c’était bon, avant qu’il commence à chanter. 2.5/5 Les autres: 2/5 j’ai plus rien à dire. ça sonne tout pareil
So aggressive—please chill out. That guitarist is putting his life force into his job. People actually listen to this? I feel like im in an action movie training scene. Jesus christ this first song is so long. Ok, im 4 min into the first song. Now this sounds like the guitar they play in an anime fight scene. This guitarist must be so tired from carrying this band on his back. Why is this making me anxious? This definitely sounds like the intro to ZOM:100. Skipping to song two. Much calmer. Thank god. Guitar still slapping. Ok the addition of the drums was much better on song 2. Really enjoying the 2 min reprieve from that trash singing. I spoke too soon. I do not like this man’s voice. These lyrics are very accurate. Justice is gone. Seems like not much has changed from 1988. You know what? Hell yeah. Tell them king. Yet again, this guitarist is the best part of the song. This is essentially angry classical music with words Song 3’s lyrics are great; i wish the singer sounded different (anything would be better!) Guitar is great still, skipping to song 4 Guns??? Are we back in nam? Ok guitarist popping off again with those little trills. I see you, man. Oh, we are back in nam. Oh noooo Tf you mean ‘back in the womb’ This poor veteran. We shouldn’t have even been in nam. Who knew metallica could be so depressing? OK GUITARIST POP TF OFF. I googled what the guitarist looked like in the 80s. He is lowkey my type (medium ugly). Finished the album. It was ok.
Amazing, enough said
Everyone thinks this is the weird cousin to Master of Puppets' golden child role. But AJFA saw Metallica really flexing their songwriting muscles into new progressive territory. It also had the band's first mainstream hit with One, and that's humongous for extreme metal.
It would have been super rad if there was a bass player on this album
was good actually sick cover art too
UNNECESSARY YELLING. The first 3 songs are just loud. Hard to listen to lyrics as there's no inflection or emotion. One- the most popular song of the album. Early spoken word stuff is a miss on me, but guitar and lyrics at 3:05 are something special, my favorite part. 4:35 is sick and iconic. Not even motivated to listen to second half of the album. I just don't like it.
If I was new to metal this would probably have hit harder
Great music but I don’t think I’m that much of a metal guy
Njihov drugi ili treći najbolji album
It cant hold a candle to the first few Metallica records, but it's actually much better than I remembered. On a good day this might get another star.
One of the things I remember about this album was looking up the remastered version on youtube where someone had really kicked up the bass in the mix so it sounded way better than on the original. It's a common complaint that you can't really hear Cliff's bass on the album despite him being universally recognised as an amazing player. Spent a fair amount of time playing along to this one too learning the riffs from Blackened I think the first song I heard off this album was when I was watching Kerrang TV in the 2000s and the video for One was playing on there fairly regularly. Telling the story of a soldier who's left blind mute and paralysed. The video was cut with clips from a movie that, and it was pretty scary at the end, really haunting when the soldier is asking to be killed in Morse code.
One of the best metal albums ever made
Go with 3 or 4 out of 5
Lots of filler here for me. Great musicianship throughout, but trying to stand next to an absolute masterpiece like “One” makes a lot of these tracks seem like maybe they are at the wrong party. A seminal metal album that deserves its place on this list, but not as solid as I remembered.
Absolute banger of an album though it is probably too long and a little too much of the same dynamic. Still, that dynamic consistently works and produces some combustible playing and great songs. "One" is an all time great song and others like "Eye of the Beholder" and "Blackened" are fantastic as well. I like the classical guitar interludes of "To Live is to Die" as well. Docked a star because it is too much of a good thing.
Good album. Always liked Metallica but never heard this one all the way through. The mixing is a bit off, its kind of flat and I feel like it could be more dynamic, but still nice to sit back and listen to some virtuoso percussion and lead guitar. Title track hits too close to home in 2025. One is one of their best songs, love the iconic opening riff/solo and the song's progression. I did find a few songs boring though, its definitely not as consistently good as Master of Puppets
1st Metallica album I listened to back in the day.
This is the best Metallica album by far.
my beloved
Album No. 0002 on my list. I was familiar with this album before, but had not listened to it for some years, so this was a nice second item on my listening list. Unfortunately, I'd have to say that ...And Justice For All is probably Metallica's weakest album from the 80s. Its production is indeed very flat, and for whatever reason, there is too little bass. In turn, there are plenty of riffs and long, complex guitar parts. The whole album sounds like a show-off of guitar-playing abilities. That does not mean that there aren't any good songs in there ("One" being the obvious candidate here, but "Blackened", "Harvester of Sorrow", and "Eye of the Beholder" belonging to that list as well). Some songs include interesting lyrics as well. And in the end, impressive guitar skills are certainly something that should be appreciated as well. But especially compared, to its immediate predecessor, Master of Puppets, this album did just not produce as many catchy metal uber-hymns. So in the end, this is a 3/5, although I have to admit that it's maybe just the comparison to its predecessors that lowers the rating, rather than an "objective" assessment.
Badass 8/10 great rock
Chugga Chugga Chugga is what's written on a note in the Metallica exhibit at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. I do love some palm-muted chugga chugga, but not for an hour. As everyone says, the mix is really bad. Low bass with up front, mostly tinny drums. But that's not why you're really here, right? It's those chunky, thrashy guitars. Good on them for all of those insane quick changes, starts and stops. Those guitars rip it up. Just needs a little more change-up throughout. One is one of my favorite rock songs ever. It's got dynamics. ("Johnny got his Gun" is a great and horrible little movie.) Listening to this all at once, I give it a 2.5. Listening to a song or two at a time would let me give it a 3.5. Sot's getting a 3, but "One" gets a 5!
Just a good metal album I probably should have gave master of puppets a 5 by the way but it’s too late now
It's weird listening to this mostly for the first time in 2025 as it comes across as quite thin in terms of the sound - not what you'd expect. Sure it's incisive and crisp but more like an annoying wasp than overpowering textures. It's not without interest musically but unless you can make that conceptual leap to metal with all its subcultural baggage then there's not enough compensation. The singer isn't great, and it all gets very samey. Then there's One, in the grand tradition of big songs like 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and 'Stairway to Heaven'. It's a high point, but otherwise it's kind of a struggle to keep going. And I didn't. :-(
A common sentiment is that the album suffers because the bass track has been mixed so low as to be undetectable. I completely disagree, I think the guitar, drums and vocals need to be dropped from the mix as well so I can enjoy some piece and quiet. I am an unashamed fan of the more poppy Metallica offerings.
I'm surprised I didn't hate this.
Metal
Very good rhyming.
Repetitive songs, I feel like a middle aged dad listening to it. But there’s one or two gems
While metal is a genre I typically don’t enjoy, this is the second album in a couple of weeks that has me reassessing that thought. I truly did not expect to like this album, aside from the song “One” which I know and figured was an outlier. Reading about this album, with words like “brutal” used to describe it, made me very apprehensive. But I liked it. I don’t care for Lars’ drumming overall, but the rest is quite good. A four star record.
Its got a heavy beat which you expect but it lacks in places. The Riffs are there and tracks like One which is a favourite of mine are outstanding but that is One exception. It Thrashy which you expect but musically metallica are better than this. its okay however the Black Album Metallica and even the live S & M version with strings and an Orchestra offers a more sophisticated and generally better version of them. Yes its Metal but thrash thrash thrash can be lazy and with songs like One and others they are better than that.
Probably not my favorite Metallica, but still pretty good.
It is a shame about the mixing, because I feel that this is just one special sauce from being truly bone-shattering
My coworker really loves Metallica. I tell her I also do, but it just doesn’t do it for me. I like metal, but I just don’t find them that sick. Also I checked at one point to see how much was left, thinking I must be halfway through the album at this point. Turns out I was halfway through the second song. Just a frickin barrage on my brain.
Metallica's first album with Jason Newstead on bass. Over the past few years I've heard that the mix on this album intentionally drowned out his bass work because of some weird Cliff Burton honor thing or something wacky. For whatever reason, it's ALL guitar, barely hear any bass on this album at all, in fact the only bass I hear is Lars's annoying bass drums. Look, I love Metallica a lot, and this CD was the first ever CD I bought with my own money when I got my first CD player in 6th grade. I love the album but it is TOO fucking long. Every song is 5 minutes or longer. Not good for jamming in your ride. I'll be fair and say the songs are good, but length plays a factor into my rating for a song. I like 5 minute+ songs if they're fucking amazing, and my favorite song on this album got a 5 star rating, the only one, Harvester of Sorrow. The rest are solid metal songs. 3.35/5 stars = 3. I feel bad for rating this one 3 stars where as the other Metallica albums I've rated have been higher.
Very good album held back by weird production choices. The drum tone is very dull. Usually want some pummeling drums in thrash metal and these are not hitting except for some of the double bass drum parts. Also wish you could hear the bass at all. And at 65 minutes, I feel like they could've tightened it up a bit. Still a very enjoyable listen
Hour four of a band I don't really like. This is challenging. The musicianship is really good. I like the time changes. It's more thrash than pop metal, which is a good thing. I actually like this album better than the other two (black and double live album).
Not my favorite album of theirs but One locked in the 3 for me.
The first CD I ever owned. One, still love it.
Hands down one of the top albums for Mettalica and for metal fans. I can’t get enough of the mellow quitar sounds then thrusting into hard guitar riffs and lyrics. A must for anyone tired of the “system”!
Always bangers!
I can get behind this, this is more my lemon full of juice
This is talent, you can feel the synergy between instruments and the songs flow nicely
Phenomenal album, perfect example of talent, creativity and execution. One is a brilliant song, it only missed out on a 5 because as good as the album was, it didn't speak to me personally.
The last round of the prog style Metallica. Cliff's influence is sorely missed. It's no surprise that there's so little audible bass on this record. Cliff was a hard act to follow! Still, Blackened and One are among the best of the pack of Metallica songs.
I'll admit it: I'm a Black Album Only Metallica fan. I just can't get into this, not sure if that means I'm well adjusted or repressed. Don't care, i don't wanna listen to this.
Crap
The One music video is still in my head after all these years. The rest sort of sounded like generic Metallica. 4* Highlights: one
Nice
Surprisingly good. For a metal band
An hour of the same overdriven guitar and grunts. I’m good.
Probably my favorite or second favorite album by a band I just can't bring myself to care about. 3/5
One of the best Metallica albums there is tbh
I hadn't heard most of this album before but it features a lot of the Metallica you know and love. Heavy chugging riffs, tight composition, great dynamic range. One is an all-timer of course
Tripe, as all other Metallica albums.
If "One" was the only song on this album it'd be 5/5.
As a Metallica fan, this is my least favorite pre-Load album. It's just too bloated. As James Hetfield said, they were trying to be too proggy and write really long complicated songs. Sure, One is great, the rest is pretty same-y, or at least loses my attention because it just. keeps. going. That being said, this is certainly better than a lot of records on this list.
Alles lijkt op elkaar. Niet mijn ding. Muziek is opzich prima
the best songs: -one -to live is to die overall rate 2.5
A little long for my tastes. Good, not great (or very good). It's no Black Album. "One" rules. Top Tracks: "One," "Blackened"
--Blackened...pretty awesome --...And Justice for All...not impressed with the first few minutes. but it ultimately rocks --Eye of the Beholder...it's fine. James Hetfield starts to drift into parody of himself --One...nice change of pace but the lack of bass is really evident here. Great guitar solo at the end --The Shortest Straw...\m/\m/\m/ --Harvester of Sorrow...weaker than earlier tracks but still a headbanger --The Frayed Ends of Sanity...didn't care for the first half. Second half fux --To Live is to Die...the longest track and the least interesting --Dyers Eve...technically impressive. Just okay as a song. Confusing ending
Rocks.
Strong 4.5 stars
Stopped listening after the first four tracks—it's by far one of the most supremely boring albums that I've encountered on this list.
A classic. Technical but kinda raw. Metal but still melodic in a way.
Metallica has to be the most well known bands where you can say "I liked them before...". And Justice For All is before Load the album where they seemed to have lost all of their fans and is, for me, part of a holy trinity of Metallica (And Justice For All, Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets).
Just What I expected from Metallica
Bueno. Siempre defenderé que es el tercer mejor álbum de Metallica.
I'm not a Metallica fan, but I can appreciate their contribution to the Metal(TM) genre. I knew I'd eventually have to listen to some Metallica albums for this project, so here we go... A lot of this album feels like it's sticking to bread & butter metal - a wall of crunchy guitars and drums with some lyrics shouted over the top. That's fine, I don't have a ton to say about that. Where the album gets interesting is the moments like "...And Justice For All", "One", "To Live Is To Die", and "Dyers Eve" where they weave some classical guitar interludes into the standard metal structures. I don't know Metallica intimately enough to know if this was new for this album or not, but this being their first album nominated for a Grammy suggests it probably was. I do appreciate the irony of them losing to Jethro Tull; after listening to this, I feel like the two aren't as far apart as I would have thought. A lot of the guitar solos sound like recycled Van Halen solos, but maybe that's all part of the design. This feels like a bid to bring Metal closer to the mainstream, and I think that's exactly what it did. A quick look at Metallica's history of award nominations doesn't show anything before this album and a lot from here forward. This was Metallica's big crossover moment, and that's not nothing. Overall, I don't think I need to spend more time with this album, but I'm not as annoyed as I thought I would be to listen through it.
This album is amazing. Clif dies in a bus accident, so they hire Jason to play bass. It goes on to get them radioplay with One, win all kinds of awards, well except that grammy. They were robbed that year and I'm a Jethro Tull fan. Then they tour the world on it, and after they make the Black album. Completely changing their sound. So this album is the end of phase one and the beginning of phase two for Metallica. The lyrical side is great, musically it's just so dense with riffs it's wild. Every song has huge sections that make you want to learn guitar. The solos are tight. The only issue there is they decided to mess with the new guy Jason and turned down the bass in damn near all the tracks. The album suffers from this. When I want to listen to this I always have to adjust the eq far more than other Metallica albums, well except Death Magnetic. It's a great album that I wish they would remix. Great album, historic as far as music goes, one of the the best trash metal albums around.
pretty cliched and his vocals-AH are really annoying-AH but things that become cliche were usually good till everyone got fed up of them. some great music and technique but mostly sounds really thin and overproduced. felt quite jarring when 'one' popped up, which stands head and shoulders above the other tracks
one banger
The second thrash metal album in 5 days, and my second or third Metallica so far. Too much metal and punk ( and I like punk), just too much, there is more music variation than this list would imply. Thrash metal is the tedious end of the genre, it’s such a caricature of itself. I just find this so monotonous, repetitive, paint by numbers music; here’s the musical intro, song plods on, vocals drone on in that earnest way, then time change either speed up for a bit or slow down with usually a guitar/ instrumental break, then return back to plod repeating as many times as wish for minimum of 6 minutes. Nothing seems to ever go anywhere musically or vocally, and where they may be heading it’s at a glacial pace. FFS write something under 5 minutes. Long doesn’t always equate to epic, sometimes it’s just long. Think I heard they have lots of short ideas and then join them together which would explain a lot. Even when they have some variety such as the start of One they can’t stick with it and have to descend into the plod etc etc. And what’s with that simple snare sound front and centre? on every track, it’s not a great sound. I just don’t get Metallica, either on record or live ( seen a few times at festivals from bottom of bill to near the top) they just strike me as being so, so workmanlike. If it had been a couple of tracks would give this a higher score but the cumulative effect of long song after long song of rinse and repeat over an hour is like watching a film of someone laying road all day, some brief interest in what is happening at first but then tedious repetitive boredom afterwards. 1.5 Stars
Product of its time
Power chords, lots of them. Production made the drums sound like a toy drum kit. It was like listening to Spinal Taps 1st album. I'm sure they're great live but not my bag.
9/10 Climate disaster, corruption, class justice, lies, domestic abuse, religious indocrination, hypocrisy. Perfect album for the Trump era. The pretty melodic bits really stand out nicely agains the relentless guitar chugging that drives most of the album. Highlights: And Justice for All Blackened One Harvester of Sorrow
Don’t like. Not gonna listen
Not my thing tbh
Not a metal fan, gave a few songs a listen but did not finish.
Not a bad Metallica album. Not my fave though.
1. One 2. Harvester Of Sorrow 3. Eye Of The Beholder
I like Metallica but this album is overrated. Songs too long for the sake of it and solos often don't really fit the song
Ok album fra Metallica, One holder seg fortsatt bra.
Banger! Ikke alle låter som er like fete og 9 minutter låter er litt slitsomt når de ikke alltid treffer. Meeeeen, all in all very good very nice.
Pour un album sans bass, ça slap 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘪𝘴 fort. Par contre, c’est long longtemps, 1h+ de Metallica, à la fin j’étais épuisé, il me fallait une tite siesta pour récupérer
kinda all sounds the same
This is good and could probably push to 4 stars with repeated listens, there just was a lot of similarity across the tracks.
This is such a fascinating album. It's the last of their classic albums before they transitioned to a more radio-friendly version of metal and exploded in popularity, but it's also their first album without original bassist Cliff Burton, after his tragic death while on tour. Cliff was the band member most interested in music theory and who pushed them to the brink of their ability as songwriters. It's also famously the album where they buried the bass in the mix. James and Lars have said their ears were shot from the tour and they just kept demanding their own parts be louder during mixing and couldn't tell the bass had become inaudible. The result of all of this is Metallica's most brutal album. They added riff after riff to every song, featuring lots of time changes and unusual song structures. It's a difficult album on first listen but it is truly awesome and only gets better the more you listen to it. I heard it for the first time about a year ago. I only wish that the vocal performance and production style adopted for their next album (and every subsequent album) could have been done on this one, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets. But oh well. This album rocks.
я совершенно не шарю в металле, но этот альбом звучит эталонно как я бы представила звучит металл. жесткие гитары, абсолютно мощняцкие барабаны, вокалист, который рычит о чем-то своем металлическом. до конца дослушать не смогла, это для меня слишком много за один раз, т.к. песни все буквально похожи друг на друга, но для любителей жанра, думаю, это знаковая пластинка.
A little disappointed, some of these songs sounded very similar and were too much for my soft ears.
Was looking forward to finally getting a Metallica album, only to be left slightly disappointed. One is an awesome track and the riffs were cool, but there's not much else to the album.
I'm not sure I realized how bright the recording/engineering on this album was. The slappy attack on the bass drum kick that is almost snare like. I'd like to hear this on vinyl to hear how much of this is digital artifacts vs how they intended their sound. Anyway, honestly not feeling this aged as well as I'd have expected. I was expecting a solid 5, finding only a middling 3 as it drones on. "One" stands out with such an unbelievable intro and build, with "Shortest Straw" kicking hard right after. OK, the second half has been better than the first and it's creeping up to 4 with 3 tracks remaining. But alas it has ended as it began with "To Live Is To Die" being a bit of musical masturbation that lost my interest. At least it left on a high note with Dyers Eve.
I had to check if my headphones were defective, but apparently this album was recorded inside of a sardine can? The mix is bad. I'm not a metal head but I appreciate it. I can imagine when this album came out it made waves. But with 2025 ears I can't help but feel like I'm listening to Stone Cold Steve Austin's walk up music. If Napster is still around, I'd encourage you to find this album there.
Classic
Classic
Metallica was never my jam but I can appreciate their impact on the genre/industry.
It's just very edgy and faux tough guy. Still, I felt a little tougher than before.
Honestly never been a huge Metallica fan. Always preferred Slayer and Megadeth. Slayer because they're more extreme, and being a big fan of drums, Dave Lombardo is easily the best drummer in the Big Four of thrash (always hated categorizing bands like that). Megadeth because they generally just had more range in their music. Metallica kinda always felt like they fell into a formula. And I probably would say I like Metallica over Anthrax, but Anthrax is a more fun band. That said, it's been a long time since I've really sat down and listened to Metallica, so we'll see if this holds up once I get the other Metallica albums, but I always thought this was my favorite Metallica album. Everyone rates Master of Puppets higher, but I remember not liking the back half of the tracklist on that album. But this record starts off with two fantastic classics, and just keeps the quality up. Love the aggression of Blackened, and the proggy riffs and licks throughout ...And Justice For All and Eye of the Beholder. It's very lightly treading on territory Coroner laid down (probably my favorite thrash band), just more in a prog direction vs technical. Then you got classics like One which as much as I hem and haw about how Metallica has never really wowed me, is still one of the greatest metal songs of all time, and thats inarguable. Probably their opus song wise. And for better or worse, the song that they've kinda been chasing ever since. The rest of the tracklist is great too, especially Harvester of Sorrow. The only thing kind of holding this album (and Metallica) back is Lars' drumming. Not that its necessarily bad. Its fine and does exactly what it needs to do (lays down a beat, follows the guitars), but for a band that treads in a prog direction, you kinda want more interesting drumming with fills that do more than just basic snare rolls. It contributes later to the whole feeling of Metallica being formulaic, with Hammet kinda always feeling like he's trying to remake One on later albums. Will say, Lars' drumming on Harvester of Sorrow is legit good, with some nice bass kick patterns. Lars is kinda like Anthony Keidis from RHCP. Clearly the weak link of the band by a wide margin, but they wouldn't be the same without him. That said, I don't think I can knock this album for those gripes because this is just a damn classic album. Went into it thinking I'd give it a 4, but honestly feeling a 5 now.
..
Not my fav BUT I can recognize genre greatness when I hear it
look i appreciate the impact but i dont like any of the lyrics or melodies except the melody of the last song
Killer album but the production really brings this album down. Probably one of my least favorite Metallica albums because of how it was recorded. (Second to you know what.)
I think I liked Pantera more than this. One is amazing, but the rest kind of fall flat. Hot take: Metallica was better after going for the arena rock genre.
I didn't like this as much as Master of Puppets. One is a good song, but the rest of them sounded repetitive and are more aggressive than I like. This is my third Metallica album out of 200 which seems like a lot.
Blackened ...And Justice for All One
Very good
Shooting pool and listening to this cassette when it came out in the basement was the tail end of Jr High. Subsequent metal albums got a bit too heavy for my tastes. This is that nice sweet spot of loud and fast while continuing to have lyrics you can understand.
This isn't for me. It reminds me of sweaty band tshirts and dirty goatees. And something about the way this is produced and mixed is really off putting. It's too smooth and overly clipped, which makes a mockery of the vibe the record seems to be going for.
Even the tracks that should be highlights on this album (the much lauded One) disappear into a busy palate of noise and repetitive guitar and drum techniques. It’s not for me, and my feelings for this genre grow closer to disdain the more metal I hear.
You know what? I really don't like heavy/thrash/death metal (not sure which this album is). But I liked this album (as much as one could), really tried to have an open mind. Would have been 3* but a bit too long and repetitive in the end.
Now that I’m about 1/3 through these albums, it’s time to stop pretending I like things just because I think I should. I don’t like this. It’s exhausting.
Almost legendary album
Definitely one of their weaker albums. Extra star for One.
Day548 - i didn’t like it when it came out, then it grew on me and now i can listen but only a couple songs are agreeable to my ears
pretty damn good
Excellent Album, but just not the same after Cliff died. He was the heart and sole of the band.
Long and drawn out instrumentals. They are good, fun to have on in the background. This is not sitting and listening music for me.
"...And Justice for All" is one of Metallica's most acclaimed albums, for reasons I fail to understand. The guitar work is good, but overall I find the album uninteresting. The tracks don't feel different enough, the drums are tinny, and the bass is non-existent.
Wish I knew what he was singing about, can't understand anything. Vocals sound nice though, and the guitar and drums are classic decent Metallica. One goes crazy, the rest go mild at best.
It's kind of incredible how often Metallica has gotten away with sound mixing that's completely ass. This album, rather infamously, has no audible bass; DEATH MAGNETIC is mixed so loudly people prefer to listen to it through GUITAR HERO; ST. ANGER... Has its defenders. But still, two nickels outta three ain't bad. And ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL specifically: you hafta feel for Jason Newsted. He had impossibly big shoes to fill being the band's new bassist after the tragic death of CLiff Burton, and on his first album outing with the band, his contribution gets mixed out entirely. James and Lars have said as recently as 2019 that they didn't do it to belittle Jason; that their hearing was simply shot during the mixing process because of touring — and from what I read, the bass parts were mostly just following the rhythm guitar anyway... But either way, sucks to be the new guy and this is the album that ends up sounding like the metal equivalent of "When Doves Cry". Which really just makes it all the more amazing that this album is as good as it is. As much as I have sympathy for Jason (and my following statements won't change that), the bass being missing in action does nothing to detract from how incredible songs like "Blackened", the title track, "One" and "To Live Is To Die" are. This is prime cut Metallica, and the last pure-type thrash thing they did before they started sliding towards more traditional heavy metal on the Black Album (which I also like a lot, but still). I mean, if the goofy-ass viking chant on the one song isn't a detracting factor, nothing can be. And I say "pure-type thrash" because this strikes me as the most prog-ish album they've ever made. Which, it's no Dream Theater, to be clear; it's more the Iron Maiden route of "longer songs" — and even in that lane, this thing's only 11 minutes longer than MASTER OF PUPPETS... But you can still tell they were going for a bit more complexity here with some of these structures and rhythms. There's even a bit more seriousness obviously apparent. It's nothing crazy, but I think it's nice to hear them trying out some new tricks. Though, at the end of the day, look, I'm a very simple girl. I hear a good metal riff, I go buck-ass wild — and I go buck-ass wild for this album. It's as good of a reminder as any that metal can be and is fucking awesome, with chugging riffs, pounding drums and seering solos. Even with the absence of a lower end, it kicks all kinds of ass, and frankly, that's all I'm here for. It's actually a little difficult for me to think of any further words I wanna say about this album as a result, because my enjoyment of this album is really just that wholly uncomplicated. The guitars chugga-chug and go meedly-meedly really fast and I jam the hell out to it — what more can I say? As I'm typing this last paragraph, I'm listening to one of the many fanmade remixes of the album that reinstates Jason's bass back into the mix. I'll admit, it does add a little something to head the gnoning of the bass back there, and if you're one of those people who can't get past its absence in the first place, or that Metallica didn't add it back in the most recent remaster, I say go seek this out. As well, I wanna admit that JUSTICE isn't my favorite Metallica album: the songs on MASTER OF PUPPETS are just that little bit better, and I'm a sucker for the commercial hooks on the Black Album. But seriously, JUSTICE is just a great time. With the mixing working against it, it shouldn't work as well as it does... And yet, it remains one of the greatest Metallica albums ever made. ST. ANGER sure can't make that claim, I'll tell yah that. So, yeah, I'unno why you're still reading me babble on. Go play this album and jam the fuck out. I know I'm gonna.
It's been said to death, but shame on the band for making the bass basically nonexistent since release. Otherwise, it's still some kickass thrash. 4.5 bumped up to 5.
I’m at a 5. The elephant in the room is of course the lack of a very audible bassline, but ignoring that (seemingly as the mixing process did), I’m just fucking annoyed at myself for not digging deeper into heavy metal & hard rock years ago. Metallica’s self-titled album proved it to me, every band & album within the genre we’ve gotten before & since has proven it to me (save for “Apocalypse Dudes”, which again, deserves a re-listen on my part), and this album has once again, really reaffirmed it. I’ve really got nothing major to complain about – I was just jamming out for 65 minutes, and I love the more political leaning bend this album takes. Everyone in the band deserves their credit, even Jason Newsted, despite his quite literally inaudible contributions to this album. Quite frankly, it’s a miracle this album is as good as it is despite a truly baffling mixing job at times. It’s not the same “commercially appealing” vibe as the self-titled is, but it’s a vibe I fuck with regardless. This is Metallica doing more of a prog rock approach on a number of tracks, letting the instrumentation set the tone even more than the lyrics & vocals already do, and showcasing it with some incredible fucking solos across the board, from a guitar & percussive standpoint. It’s just a kick-ass album, man. I fucking loved it; someone else can write the 700-word track by track breakdown & history lesson about this one, because it does deserve that type of breakdown. I’m just gonna listen to it again and rock the fuck out, because I think the music speaks for itself. A very easy 5 for me. If it had a bassline, I might be entering 10 territory, but c’est la vie.
Yeah, it's long (like a lot of Metallica's albums), and Jason Newstead's bass is inaudible, but this is a masterclass in melodic thrash with a ton of variety and some killer riffs. I am a little confused as to why this made the list and Ride the Lightning didn't, but I'm not going to complain when this list offers up albums more to my taste. 5.0/5.0: Iconic
ive heard this before and really enjoy the album. there is no bass in the mix which makes it feel thin and makes the runtime a bit of a slog. it deserves to lose a star or even two for the mixing but it still gets a five because it’s a classic and the first half of the album is so incredible
A little redundant. Songs could have been shorter. I knew One going in and that was my favorite song on the album. I did not like The Shortest Straw. They said the same thing over and over.
Not really my cup of tea. This is my second Metallica album, this being one of their earlier works. I appreciated the skill of the musicians, but I found the songs to be long a repetitive. Overall- fine, but not for me.
I have to say, I've never been a big Metallica fan, that's for sure. On the other hand, this album has always been my favorite Metallica album. It's the most progressive album of theirs, it's really really pleasant with some classic songs and my favorites from the band. The only issue is of course the lack of bass, obviously - it's diabolical. But well, to be honest, I can't deny how influential Metallica always was and how much impact on metal music that I love they had. Add that to the fact that this list doesn't have that huge of a competition of my actually favorite albums besides a few, I might aswell rate this one like that...
AJFA is Metallica at their most technical and complex. It’s long, aggressive, and at times borderline exhausting—in the best way possible. If Master of Puppets is peak Metallica, then AJFA is them flexing their songwriting and riff-crafting muscles like lunatics in a dungeon full of time signature changes. "Blackened" kicks the door open like a controlled explosion. That reverse intro into the main riff still gives me chills, especially when they open with it live. “Harvester of Sorrow” might be the shortest track here, but it hits like a tank. It’s also a sign of where they were headed—more groove, more crunch, less speed. That song crawled so "Sad But True" and "King Nothing" could stomp. Lyrically, they kept the heat turned up. If MoP flirted with political and religious themes, AJFA dives in headfirst. It’s pissed-off, cynical, and feels just as relevant today.
There's a reason that I've never listened to a Metallica album. I totally respect the obvious musicianship and talent. I just don't live in this neighborhood. I'm sure that if this is your jam, this is a really good album. Best Songs There are no notable songs for me.
Picture a Metallica album, that’s And Justice for All. Well played, gets samey after a while. One is a still a tune though
Am I not a Metallica guy? I can appreciate the talent, but man...not my style.
Long time Metallica fan and just recently discovered that since this was Jason Newstead's first record and the first record since the Cliff Burton's passing, the rest of the band mixed the bass way down so it's barely audible. This used to be my favorite Metallica record but I have to dock it a star for that.
Metallica is Metallica is Metallica
Love this one already. 5 out of 5.
Not for me
I do think the mixing doesn't do the songs full justice (heh), but the quality of the songs themselves is so high that it almost doesn't matter.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
I do not understand the appeal of Metallica. A very poor mans Megadeth.
Classis heavy, vocals are eh, but I can sense the passion in the instrumentals. Sucks that the recording doesn't feel it gives it justice, sounds flat and unexpressive. 3
Shortest Straw, Challenge Liberty 1001 Albums Generator 62 (06/27/2025) Metallica at their most progressive and technical. At least 3 absolute all time classics on here in Blackened, ...And Justice For All, and One. Harvester of Sorrow has always been a favorite of mine as well. Favs: Blackened ...And Justice For All Harvester Of Sorrow Least Fav: To Live Is To Die
Lars hates bass
i love the bass on this album!
I'm not a huge fan of metal but I did enjoy To Live Is To Die.
First impression pre listen: As someone who's enjoyed Metallica quite causally over the years this has never been my favourite album from them. If we disregard the memes about them mixing out the bass, my main complaint about this album comes down to how seriously it takes itself. Even on the best songs on this thing they sound like they're trying a bit too hard. However it is Metallica after all so the riffs and solos are gonna shred like hell. As it is a relisten, I know that I'll at least enjoy most of it. Also I can't really complain when I finally get a rare metal album on this list. Individual song notes. Blackened Off to a great start with a very memorable guitar riff. The drums are really flat. James Hetfield's vocals are perfect for this sound. There are a few cool images in the lyrics. Awesome solo. Decent. 3.5/5 ...And Justice for All Really like the intro. Love when the heavier section comes in to contrast with the more soothing opening guitar. A bit too edgy. Kind of don't love the chorus, lacks a certain kick to it and the lyrics are kinda dumb. The overall groove is pretty good, but the track takes a bit too long to change it up. Fine guitar solo. Goes on for a bit too long with an aimless instrumental section. Ends strongly. Fine. 3/5 Eye of the Beholder The intro has a great buildup with the fade in. You can actually hear the bass on this song which is a plus, though it still doesn't sound great. Decent chorus. Wonderful guitar interplay. Fine. 3/5 One There's an argument to be made that this is their best song. With the iconic intro and the harrowing lyrics I can definitetly see that, though I still don't agree. The anti war messaging is strong, and the chrous is very effective. Especially with the heavy distortion supporting the vocals. Love the interplay between the two guitars. Awesome breakdown near the end. Ends with a blazing guitar solo, which is just really satisfying. The lyrics are a bit heavy handed, the drums sound just kinda empty and I find James Hetfield's performance on the vocals a bit too much at times. While the song is still good it's in my opinion a bit overrated. Good. 4/5 The Shortest Straw The main riff is kinda boring, kinda lacks the desired energy. Very standard chorus by Metallica standards, doesn't really do much to stand out. The bass sounds like the sound you get when blowing into an empty bottle, it's very distracting. Cool instrumental bridge. Average. 2.5/5 Harvester of Sorrow This song kicks ass. Love the intro, and the main guitar riff is so effortlessly cool. The background effects really add to the fantasy of the track. Dark and ominous lyrics. Great guitar solo. Love when the intro riff comes back into the song at the end. Great detail. Great. 4.5/5 The Frayed Ends of Sanity It's a fine enough Metallica song. Has all the building blocks to succeed with its particular sound. Great thrash metal riffs and a solid solo. The lyrics are whatever, but no one is here for lyrics anyway. The longer instrumental sections provide some very satisfying grooves in a stimulating high tempo which is really fun to listen along to. Decent. 3.5/5 To Live is to Die Very pretty intro. Really like how structurally different it is from the rest of the tracks on the album. Has some great progressive metal moments that are really interesting. The overlapping guitars make for a good partnership, and are especially powerful when played in tandem with each other. Kinda meanders a bit towards the end. The spoken word is also a bit weak. Doesn't have the intended effect of being dramatic. Goes on for too long without introducing new ideas. Fine. 3/5 Dyers Eve I appreciate that it gets straight into the action. It's heavy and it's raw. Love the speedy tempo. Awesome energy. Great solo. I like the sudden ending. Decent. 3.5/5 Final review: In a bit of a mixed discography ...And Justice For All stands out as one of the better albums in there. However out of the five big Metallica albums this one is in my opinion the weakest. While the riffs and solos are up with their best there are issues in other parts of the process that brings the quality down a bit. The way the vocal parts are written is one of these factors, where they often feel like they stay in one singular lane making them feel repetitive. You also have the infamous mixing issues where the way both the bass and the drums sound have been critisized to death by now, to the point that it's become a bit of a meme. And if you listen closely you can see why. There are also songs that do feel a bit aimless on here, that while still having cool parts here and there just seem to lose the plot completely after a while. And while all of these issues do remain, this album also has some really strong parts. The lyrical writing is at points very evocative, and some songs contain very vivid images and portray strong emotions. There are also moments that evoke very strong atmospheres where you can really feel the dark and ominous powers they're trying to paint with their instruments. And as you'd expect by Metallica the energy and drive behind these songs do reach high levels of infectiousness to the point where the riffs are impossible not to nod along to. It remains a bit of a mixed bag, not great, but not awful either. As a plus there are live versions of these tracks that blow the studio versions out of the water. So if the production gets on your nerves at least you have that. 3.5/5 begrugingly rounded down to a 3/5.
While some sections of music did tweak my interest, overall, I'm just not a metal fan. I recognize Metallica's importance, but I don't appreciate their music.
Kind of ok. Hardcore
I don’t get what everyone loves about Metallica
Technical and mainstream metal. It rips, but not as hard as Megadeth. I don’t feel like there’s too much that’s special here, even One (shout out guitar hero III) is one of their less good hits IMO. It doesn’t even fully have the boomer with a bench press in his garage sound. My personal top Metallica songs: 1. Master of puppets 2. Fade to Black 3. Enter Sandman 4. Their cover of Whiskey in the Jar (my all time bench press PR was to this song) 5. The Call of Ktulu (live w/ San Francisco symphony orchestra)
too rowdy for me
One of the best metal albums ever.
Bien de cañero pero me suena todo igual. Para hacer deporte como loco está bien
This or MOP are GOATS of their discog, check earlier albums for confirmation
One was my mom’s favorite Metallica song. The album holds up very well.
Complex & aggresive album that showcases Metallia's technical prowess and darker, more political themes. It's raw and intense, but famously known for missing depth with a thin bass mix.
I'm just not enough of an alpha male gigachad jock to tolerate music this macho
listened to before
Es un disco grabado mal a propósito. Nunca entenderé por qué cojones no tiene bajo y las canciones suenan tan débiles por ello.
Classic! One is 👌
I love this album cause listen to it as a kid on loop. Being a bit more objective the melodies are very similar in a lot of the songs and too many instrumental pieces that makes it seem less hardcore than it was when I was a kid. Not a perfect album like I remembered.
This is definitely not as great of a Metallica album as their other ones that we've had on here - the songs sound great, and I wish we could give half ratings, so I would give this 3.5 stars but I've been rounding things down. Their solos are great, so despite the meh overall vibes, I would say that this would maybe get a 4, even though I think I rated the other albums 4s because they were not absolutely perfect.
honestly, it's a great metal album. To a certain level, the tone on the guitars and James Hetfield's voice makes me zone out between songs until the guitar solos
To paraphrase The Onion: Humanity still producing new arts as though Metallica’s ‘...And Just for All’ doesn’t already exist
A masterpiece. Although my least favorite of the three album run of Lightning - Puppets - Justice - it's still OBVIOUSLY a five star album. So much unparalleled riffage in a five year period from a group of drunk guys in their 20s. Still can't wrap my mind around that. Their last great album.
Wow this took me back….to the year I was born. And my whole childhood of my brother blasting Metallica and practicing solos on his guitar non stop. But I’ll always have a soft spot for this band even though I was waterboarded with their music for so long. Thoroughly enjoyable listen :)
3.5
Interestingly, this would be fairly far down the list of metal albums I’d choose to listen to, but it appears to me today like a crisp Sir Bobby B (Canadian 100 dollar bill) in the pile of steaming manure I’ve been wading through for 11 months now. Criticisms of the production and lack of bass sound already pushed aside (for now) I’m thrilled to be able to have some riffs and grit ahead of me. Step aside Kraftwerk. Outta my way Drive By Truckers. It’s time for music. At last. Blackened - One of the last great thrash songs penned by this band. The blistering opening, the driving riff during the verses and the sick breakdown near the middle make this an excellent piece of late 80s metal. I don’t always love his vocals but that opinion is coloured by what they would become rather than everything here. This song is a monster. …And Justice for All - All that clamouring for metal and I’ve forgotten how to review it. I hate even putting it on the same scale as some of the other stuff because I’d just rather listen to this much of the time. I will say this song has interesting lyrics, and some excellent moments but it’s let down by being far too long and meandering at points. Eye of the Beholder - Metallica became really really good at writing “catchy” thrash and were a big reason I, like so many others, ventured further into metal from this point. It’s a catchy track, but it’s missing some of the punch I expect. Where I am now, this song is just ok. One - I mean everybody knows this song. It’s played so well, the lyrics are still somehow relevant, as the rich march to war on the backs of modern day serfs in increasingly screen-laden armour. Thankfully it’s all in defense of uhhh well you know, there’s the uhhh hmm. Anyway. The aggression at the midpoint hits so hard and this song goes down as a “pop/metal” classic. One of those songs that sacrifices nothing and ends up receiving plaudits from the mainstream regardless. The Shortest Straw - I never noticed the Pantera-esque feel that this song has. Metallica really did have so much influence on how metal would sound to the masses for years and years. This song has a pretty sweet groove and keeps that righteous anger. Harvester of Sorrow - How does one harvest sorrow. I’ve been playing a ton of farming simulator so I am intrigued and will be attempting to sow some sorrow seeds upon my next login. Not a huge fan of this song’s plodding. Frayed Ends of Sanity - I thought the beginning was cheesy but man did this kick into gear. One of my favourite songs from this project. Very riff heavy from start to finish. Classic. To Live is to Die - I think they got really good at their instruments and wanted to show everybody. A lot of bands do that. Whilst technical playing can be fun once in a while, this instrumental “song” is a whole bunch of nothing for me. I like the talking portions near the end but this is bloat. Dyers Eve - Prepare your paints. Prepare your clothes. Hell. Prepare your finest ties. For the grateful dead enter Milwaukee tomorrow, and we the noble tie-dyers of the Midwest must tie until our fingers bleed, for it is dyers eve. That’s all I got. Listen. Pretty intense closer. Enjoyable and heavy. I’ve gotten too philosophical today. It’s metal. It’s not that complicated. If an album was new to me and sounded like this? I’d probably break my keyboard giving it five stars. Which raises questions about this whole endeavour, but I digress. This is a good album. There are meaningful lyrics aplenty, expert playing, and catchy, aggressive songs. There is also needless bloat and some pretty tinny production at times. This album does feel thin to this day. Metallica ruled the 80’s from a mainstream metal perspective and their influence is as far reaching as it gets. The end of a classic quartet of albums. Metallica didn’t go quietly into the doldrums of the 90’s, but maybe they didn’t go quite loudly enough. 3.5 HIGHLIGHTS: Blackened, One, Frayed Ends of Sanity
2 Metallica albums in one week! This one is slightly better than the self-titled but still not as good as earlier albums. Seriously where tf is the bass?
This has a couple of really good songs on it but I found it less good than the self titled album
Probably skipped over this one in the past cos while the cover art goes hard, it’s not comparable to ride the lightning or master of puppets. Some incredibly lars drumming going on. So lars. Secretly math rock? Is math rock not a thing?? Idk What are Hetfield’s political beliefs????? Huge question I will not be seeking answers to as this bangs. Why get into it?! One was always confusing to me but it works really well in album context. Ooooh long clean intro oooh lovely. Just found out Hetfield’s current political views are “divorced.” Love Harvester of Sorrow chant at the end. Frayed ends of sanity is goofy. V goofy! Fade from acoustic intro to half time riffing on to live is to die rocks. Best solo on the record? That or One idk Really glad they go out on thrash note, slow sad ballad would be odd at this point. That said, this album is a bit one note? Isn’t all Metallica? I have a tummy ache rn. If the scoring system allowed half stars this would be at 3.5 x
I first heard this riding home in a buddy's Camaro. It hasn't changed one bit. One was their breakout hit, wasn't it? Meathead central. If I'm going to listen to over an hour of Metallica again, it damn better well have Lou Reed on it.
Heb het tot en met 'The Shortest Straw' volgehouden, en dat was voor mij the straw that broke the camel's back. Wat een hel is deze muziek. Het album beweegt in eindeloze cirkels, met haperende melodielijnen en zenuwachtige drumsounds. Dan heb ik het nog niet eens over het doelloze gegrom van de zanger. Nee, dit genre gaat mij nooit naar 'the dark side' trekken. 'One' was nog even een herkenningsmomentje, wat je snel wil verwarren met dat het dan ook direct goed is, maar ik kwam snel genoeg bij zinnen om te concluderen dat dat ook gewoon een paupernummer is. 4/10
Ik moest rennen om mijn trein te halen. Dus Metallica paste best goed toen ik hordes mensen op Amsterdam Centraal opzij beukte. Toen ik eenmaal weer zat werd One ingezet. Dat vind ik echt een overrated nummer die regelmatig verschijnt in de top100 lijstjes van rockmuziek. Irritant. Ik geef twee sterren omdat dit album nog wel echt een album is. Er zit lijn in de nummers en ze passen bij elkaar. 5/10
The last Metallica album worth listening to. Maybe there was still some Cliff Burton magic left for this one. Somehow the weird bassless mix works as kind of a tribute to Cliff.
A kind of landmark album. Needles to say more.
Arms crossed and approving nodding beside the mixing booth. I still have a deep love for this album, even after it’s spun through my players more times than I can count.
Ah, 'tis is my youth. When Justice came out I was already going deep into the Death Metal hole. After Master of Puppets I'd found the joys of Slayer, Venom and Celtic Frost, now I was plunging into Napalm Death, Morbid Angel and Bolt Thrower. I remember being at the stadium gig for this album and thinking how it's not working for me any more. This album has thinnest of thin soundstage, buried bass and the snap of the drums is really annoying to me. I still can't understand why they ruined this album with sounds like this, and, AND, I listened to the 2018 remastered version. I shudder to put on the original one. I recommend checking out "...And Justice for Jason", a fan made edit with enhanced bassline.
I found this album less interesting than the black album.
There are much better Metallica albums
Prefer the black album but but this one was worth the listen 3/5 #albumsky #musicsky #musicchallenge
loved it as a teenager
MASTERPIECE
I know some consider it the weakest real Metallica album, but I love it. The bit where they turned Newsted's bass way way down in the final mix is hilarious, though.
Disco difícil. "One" e "To Live Is To Die" são as únicas faixas que conseguem atrair minha atenção, as únicas que apresentam nuances agradáveis e cativantes. Faixas com algum esmero e variação de tons. No restante é um desfile de baterias alucinadas e guitarras ferozes, além de um vocal que não dá pra ser levado a sério, numa repetição enfadonha e cansativa, que torna a audição um processo que me exige muito esforço.
O auge criativo da banda. Composições bem estruturadas, riffs memoráveis, e um trabalho de guitarra de alto nível como um todo. James também estava inspirado como vocalista nesse disco.
Yup, this just really isn't my thing. Can't believe there are 4 Metallica albums on here. Quite like One and Justice for all but as far the rest, meh!
Blackened One And Justice for all Frayed ends of sanity Dyers Eve
I just don't love it. What can ya do?
Awful
Hard driving. This was my first exposure to Metallica and it blew my socks off. Such a cerebral song in "One". Its so scary that a soldier thought to be a "vegetable" could have full faculties and no way to communicate. Great album.
One of my all time favorite albums. I started listening to these guys with Ride the Lightning in the mid-80s. At the time, they were some great thrash metal. With this release they really graduated into speed metal. Precise, complex, deep lyrics, the whole show. After this they devolved, in my opinion, into more straightforward rock. And they never recovered. After this album, and maybe the black album, the only thing they've done well since it Death Magnetic. But this is peak.
This isn’t even Metallicas best album.
Ik heb hier al drie Mutallikuhhhh albums gehad en bij deze vierde begin ik te denken dat ze misschien iets te vaak in deze lijst staan. Zou het voor deze lijst niet beter zijn om één van de Metallica albums te vervangen door iets van Dying Fetus of Cannibal Corpse ofzo? Even de rafelige randjes van het genre aftasten i.p.v. nog meer James Hetfield speelt James Hetfield? Aan de andere kant heb ik het eigenlijk elke keer verrassend naar m'n zin gehad met hun albums en ook deze keer is dat weer het geval. Meer dan ik zou hebben met die teringherriebands die ik hierboven noem, dus we kunnen het oom Robert niet volledig kwalijk nemen dat hij hiervoor kiest. Soms is de boel wat overdreven langgerekt, maar ondanks dat vind ik dit geen vervelende huiswerkopdracht. Ik mis wel wat herkenbare nummers, op het fantatische 'One' na natuurlijk. One is het overduidelijke hoogtepunt dus daarna wordt het bij zo'n album automatisch een beetje uitzitten geblazen. Toch houden ze de boel tot aan het einde keurig bij elkaar. Ik geef 4 sterren, al heb ik na dit uur m'n portie Metallica wel weer gehad voor de komende paar weken.
Some solid songs, some really long and uninteresting ones (shortest straw! Shortest strawww!)
5 Stars but not perfect, because BASS. AND JUSTICE FOR JASON.
The last great Metallica album and a masterclass in thrash. It's a shame Lars sucks and insisted the bass basically be removed from the mix. Fuck that guy. My favorite story about this recording (whether true or not) is the engineer having to literally cut and splice the tapes hundreds of times to make it seem like Lars could actually play One in time. Despite all this, I still love it.
i'm still a bit new to metal as a whole and still finding my footing in an appreciation for the genre. i am finding i like metallica (hot take, i know) but i think between this album and my previous listens, this one ends up more in the middle. the musicianship is great and i like the vocals well enough, but the songs here did not grip me as much as others. i still enjoyed it to a certain extent, but it didn't wow me as much as 'master of puppets' did, for example. not bad! just not my favorite either.
I am not a Metallica fan, can't stand their guitar sound. only have the black album, and that takes cares of that.
From a musical point of view this, like a lot of the metal albums on this list, was a fascinating listen. Time signatures, variety of theme, musicianship etc. But it just lacked enough cohesion in the songs to keep me interested. Ultimately it just lacked a few songs.
Metallica's Black Album received a lot of flak when it was released because it featured a more "watered-down" Metallica sound that went away from the thrash roots they once had. I can see that argument. The Black Album was also a gateway drug for others to get into Metallica's back catalog and that holds true for me. Without the Black Album, I probably would not be as familiar with ...And Justice for All and Master of Puppets. I call this Jam Thrash Metal because it often feels like they are just jamming at times and the song lengths reflect that. One and Eye of the Beholder are two of my favorite songs on here and One may be my favorite Metallica song overall. ...And Justice for All does get a bit lengthy towards the end which is why I probably can't give it five stars but it's been on my personal playlist for a while now and will continue to be there.
‘TALLICA RULZ!!!!!
Not bad
Great album, but somehow lacking in soul. The previous 3 had it in spades, but it's somehow more "by the numbers" here. "One" is a truly great track, but so many of the solos across the album reminded me when first I heard them of Tetris music, and I can't get that out of my head. It's only a 3-star. Its predecessors were monster albums, and deserve to be placed on a pedestal. Its successor, despite being so radio friendly, is also a cracker, but this just falls a bit flat.
Chica yo que se, One está genial. El resto es un 5. Vamos con 3.0
This is a heavy metal classic. Although their popularity was rising at this time, there was still a feeling that this band and music was just for us. Everyone wants to be an expert and trash the mix, but this super dry recording was so influential and defined metal afterwards. The riffs are so sick! Eye of the Beholder is a great example. The drums don’t just keep time, they are amazing parts to the song. Guitar solos are on point. Lyrics are not Metallica’s strong point, but on this record they are what they need to be to support the songs. And to end on Dyers Eve. What more do you want from an album? It might actually be their best one.
Metallica’s final thrash album. The songs are great, the production is okay. It’s a still a good workout album that I revisit often.
One step closer to poppier Metallica albums
One is an epic tune
Great riffs, syncopation. Good era for metal.
Not for me
I can understand why Metal like this is so popular so I don't want to knock this album too much, but it just isn't for me. One is the standout track here which is probably my favorite Metallica song of all time. The rest of the tracks sound pretty similar to one another and I can't get fully into it. Nestles into a 4/10 spot for me
I tried getting into this music but I find it hard to move beyond the atrocious vocals - not so much sung as snarled in a quite repetitive and brain numbing fashion. Sorry, this would be zero stars for me...
Not my favorite Metallica album. A lot of the tracks felt disjointed and not crisp
Love Metallica! Damaged Justice Tour 88-89 was my 1st concert! July ‘89 in CT with Stepmom, younger brother, and family friends. This is a no skip album, a fitting tribute to Cliff.
Good.
I've moved on and find this quite tiresome as I've gotten older. Can't deny their impact though.
I think a 3.5 would be pretty bassed.
Too heavy for me.
Two Metallica albums in the first two months, this is not justice. That said, I found it marginally more tolerable than the previous one. Until they started singing.
Fun Metallica sounds if that’s what your looking for, but not sure if the social themes carry through
I am not learned enough in Metallica to differentiate this from the previous Metallica album, so, 3 stars.
Goddamn, this thing is an hour? I can see why they made their butt-rock turn away from thrash - this feels like when hardcore bands stopped doing as much hardcore because it got boring - and yet it's still an hour. And hten all the songs are like 6-10 minutes long? Jeez. I dunno, this has the problem that a lot of these middling albums have where it's good all the way across, but not great, and it doesn't do anything to hold my interest for all the good it is because it's too damn long. Whatever, put a couple of songs on and PR your deadlift, but compare to Sepultura who had, in my opinion, a lot more musical variety, a tighter runtime, and shorter songs. Feels like less than the sum of its parts.
I enjoy rock but I did not favor this album, but I understand its footprint it had for other artist.
Love this album, amazing instrumental, amazing vibes Fav song - One 5/5
3 estrelas
Metal!!
From the surface, I thought of Metallica as a talented band that played music that I wasn't so interested in. Thrash metal always sacrificed depth for intensity in my opinion, but I think I've come to be fairly surprised. This album has plenty of depth in its composition which was great to hear. I hear slices of other works that I've heard in the past. King Crimson, Rush, early Phish and Slint to name a few. The real highlights of this album had me deeply engaged into what they offered. For one thing, hearing different time signatures and complex moments during songs had me interested from the get go. I'm a sucker for that showing of band chemistry. There's a mixture of impressive and beautiful moments (the tribute to Cliff Burton near the end). And then there's the lack of bass and some "ok" songs down the line, but I think the good overshadows the bad here. I don't know if I will return to this project in a full listen again but now I know that Metallica isn't all speed and fingers. There's something here to appreciate, but I haven't heard it all yet (Master, Ride). (Blackened, And Justice For All, One, The Frayed End, To Live Is To Die, Dyers Eve, 7/10, 4/5 on this scale)
Justice is served
This is the 127th album I’m rating. I've never liked Metallica but maybe I just haven't listened to enough of their songs. Adding to my Playlist - Nothing. Not Adding to my Playlist - Blackened, ...And Justice for All, Eye of the Beholder, One, The Shortest Straw, Harvester of Sorrow, The Frayed Ends of Sanity, To Live is to Die, and Dyers Eve. All in all I liked 0/9 songs. Metallica is really really bad. I cannot believe people love this band. Some of the worst music I've ever heard in my life.
This album has so many fond memories for me so there is only one rating I could give this
The last time Metallica actually made something that was worth listening to. I like the technicality here and the album feels pretty consistent in general. I do think "One" is a bit overrated. Lyrically it's great but musically it's lacking 8/10 Favourite: Blackened Least Favourite: The Frayed Ends of Sanity
Great album!
Perfect album for me.
Kinda just loud metal overdriven guitars. Not my thing.
I can listen to this if someone I’m with really wants to, but I don’t think I’d put it on for myself.
The final album of Metallica's golden era succeeds in spite of itself. The band moves away from the verse-chorus-verse song structure of previous albums in favor of longer songs with less singing and more intricate time signatures and playing styles. It's not my favorite Metallica, but it's a solid release, and I'd be lying if I didn't catch myself humming "...And Justice For All" at work, but the lack of Cliff Burton (and any audible bass in general) leads to a diminished sound. Edit: I've been listening to this more and I don't know why I didn't just give it a 4. 80's Metallica rules
As a bass player, I wanted to hate this album, and while I do think the album sounds very thin, there's some really cool guitar parts on here.
Just not really my cup of tea
The lack of bass kills most enjoyment I get from this otherwise amazing album
yep
This album is the sound of Metallica pushing themselves to the brink structurally complex, brutally cold, and unapologetically heavy. It’s also the last time they really earned the “metal” in their name before things got, well, lets just say radio-friendly. There’s an urgency and anger running through these tracks, from the relentless gallop of Blackened to the towering, doom-laden sprawl of One, all held together by relentless riffing, labyrinthine arrangements, and the kind of songwriting that dares you to keep up. The production is shocking though the infamous near-absence of Jason Newsted’s bass still raises eyebrows (or blood pressure), and Lars Ulrich’s drums sound like someone hitting a wet cardboard box. But somehow, that dry, abrasive sound suits the atmosphere: there’s no warmth here, just machinery grinding through themes of corruption, control, and the breakdown of justice itself. The title track and Dyers Eve in particular stand out as brutal showcases of technical thrash, loaded with vitriol and precision. It may not be their most accessible album, but it’s arguably their most ambitious. You can feel the band teetering on the edge of collapse under the weight of their own intensity and that’s what makes it so captivating. After this, the sharp edges start to smooth out, and Metallica shifts into stadium-rock territory. But here, they’re still snarling, still complex, still uncompromising. The last truly great Metallica metal album before they start to suck and their “rock band” era begins.
Long story, but when I first started playing guitar in my mid-teens I used to think that to qualify to do so, you HAD to wear black, listen to metal and play very fast and very loud, with the goal being to nail loads of widdly widdly solos. I don't think that any more and, while I can still listen to some metal, a lot of it just hasn't aged that well for me. And Justice For All falls into the latter category, I'm afraid. It's just too one-dimensional. It hasn't it's moments, melodically, but it is all secondary to the style of music which is mostly rhythmic, aggresive and repetitive.
Couple of good hits on this album - most songs sound the same, unfortunately.
Doesn't need a review, this is clearly one of the best thrash albums! Haters gonna hate. 'tallicA are kings, yeah I said it, what?! Am I biased? Yes I am!
Noniin räimettä taas sitten. Onhan tämä "kalssikko" mutta soudit on kyl parjattuja eikä turhaan. Bassoo ei juurikaan kuulu. Tykkään ekoista kolmesta M -levystä enemmän kun tästä mutta avausraita on kyl stydi! Menee kolmoseen kyllä, mutta ajan saatossa ei tätä niin paljoo oo jaksanut fiilistellä. Kyllä Puppetsi on Puppetsi. 3/5
Jotain tuntuu että jää Metallicasta aina puuttumaan. Meneehän se mut ei ihan kuitenkaan.
Never known much about Metallica but know they are very popular. A sound ahead of it's time. I get the hype. Listening to them as I continued cleaning my shed on a cold, rainy winters night.
I thought I wasn’t going to like this, I had never heard a full Metallica album before. I absolutely loved it. This is amazing. I can’t explain it, I just loved it. The opening track, Blackend, blew my mind. What a great way to start an album. 10/10.
Not for me but... yeah, not for me
At its best, this album is powerful and cathartic. The rest of the time it feels redundant and boring.
Aggressive and progressive Thrash metal with long-form songs utilizing complex riffs, shifting parts, and varying time signatures. It’s thrashy riff galore for both leaf and rhythm guitars - sick riff changes to heavier riff to shreddier riff seamlessly. Some decent lyrics broadly focusing on injustice and pain through war, environment, and other sociopolitical topics. The album absolutely rips…I just wish you could hear the damn bass.
Meh, the Black album is better. One is really the only standout here.
bit shouty
An interesting listen given the current geopolitical and environmental development. I like the lyrics and it works well with the music. Can't believe this is from '88 - how would they draw Lady Justice today then?
I think what this list is doing to me is mostly showing me a bunch of stuff that I rate 3 and that ends up pushing me to want to rate the few albums that do stand out 5 just because they are a breath of air. This is one of them... I don't think this is a 5/5 album, but I still had the impulse to give it a 5 anyway Standouts One The Shortest Straw Harvester Of Sorrow 4/5
Lots of guitar riffs. Lots of them. Feels like metal equivalent of a jam band. Still rocks
Enough riffs for the rest of your LIFE
A bit too much Metallica on this list, but this is my favorite album of theirs, so no complaints here.
4.7
🎧There is too much Metallica on this list
It rocked. I don't much get the HELL YEAH BROTHERRRR feeling that’s satisfied with simple melodies so long as they're built of power chords. So it dragged by the end. Bet a live show would set me straight.
The anti-Amy Winehouse: all substance, no soul. The album screams truth from a concrete bunker. Admirable, but not loveable. "One" is a banger though
Enjoyed it more than I thought. Sounded kind of flat though.
Gøy å jogga til, evt vaska hus
OK 2.8/5
I just had another Metallica album 2 days ago. 😵💫 This one not quite as grating.
Nah. I've heard enough Metallica over the years to know that they aren't my cup of tea.
Everytime I listen to Metallica, I like them more. This album did not disappoint.
no no no bad no more of this stuff
Pre-listening thoughts: Bro this is album 300 😭 what the hell we just got Metallica not even a week ago! And we've gotten a ton of 80s/90s metal and heavy rock recently. I thought we were breaking the streak with Alanis Morissette and Michael Jackson but it's right back to bite me in the ass. Post/during listening thoughts: I DON'T DO METAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: NO Fav tracks: i am so sick of Metallica bro. like maybe One was decent but it's the same stuff over and over and every song is over five minutes and it's infuriating Least fav tracks: ALL OF THEM!!!
Seeing that it was a metallica album I was expecting to like it more than the two I've heard so far, and I was right. This is the first one I felt so far of actually wanting to listen to the whole thing, which i did. I felt that the songs were more interesting than the ones of the other albums but on this album the songs are a little too long and drawn out for me to want to add them to my playlist. I'm being serious when I say that it is very pleasant. 7/10
Just noise and aggression for the most part.
Extraordinário, poderoso e vitalizante. Não sou fã de metal, mas gostei da produção, dos temas retratados (políticos, sociais e existenciais), vocais e conjunto final. Tudo funciona muito bem! 5/5
i'm not listening to any more of this bullshit
im not listening to that
Oh dear. Another "Classic Metal" album. Not really different from hundreds of other heavy guitar rock LPs from soundalike. Uninspired, turgid, poorly produced. I was counting the minutes until it ended.
Ok let's get rid of the ELEPHANT 🐘 in the room, Lars fucked up the production, even when given a chance with the remaster he fucked it up, but even he couldn't kill off what is a great collection of songs. One of my all time favourites, I saw them on this tour at Sheffield city hall, fucking awesome, at their prime. Stage set unbelievable, the first of 7 times that I saw them. 💀. 💀 💀 💀. 💀💀 💀. 💀. 💀. 💀 💀. 💀. 💀. 💀 💀. 💀💀. 💀 💀. 💀
3.5 Stars (and that half star is mostly because of One)
OG Metallica fans will, to a person, list Justice as their best work, and I agree. Those same fans would say it is their last good album. I include the Black album as a good album, even though it launched them into the mainstream and they've been wilting since. This is their opus.
One is iconic, and I enjoyed the increased politicization in focus. Riddled between the Grammy controversy and fucking over their new bass player, it wouldn't be a good Metallica album without controversy
un poco casposete, pero par de temazos
2.5… I’ll round up
It's trying to make a statement too much. Too much anger in their sound, not enough refinement and what you would call a "work in progress". I did like some of the ideas in the songs but they weren't executed with expertise and therefore lacked attention grabbing skills. I'm not a big fan of metallica
I like my metal well mixed, this ain't it. Jason deserved better, the songs are allright, however due to it not having bass at all it can be a tiring experience. Highlights: The first 2 minutes of One, the acoustic bits of To Live Is to Die. Had potential to be rated higher, but listening with a headache isnt good.
Not really my thing. I like tracks on other albums.
Metallica has taken soul taken my hearing taken my heart taken my penis left me in a world of pain
YEYEYEEAHAHHHHOHHHHHHHWWOOOAOIIIIHHHHHHH WOMMAAANNNNN Where's the bass??? Has anyone seen the bass??? Where's the confounded bass??
Nice and heavy, a lot of stuff I hadn’t heard before so it was nice to hear something new that was good after every track
This album sounded like any of the previous metal albums on this list. Rate a 3 just to acknowledge their accomplishment.
This record still has some of what made Metallica great in the early years and on Masters of Puppets, but they are starting to wain and you can tell they are moving away from the thrash metal. The mix on this record sucks, no low end at all. It seems like that is a well documented nit that has been picked though.
Good gym music but songs r too long
And I thought The Cure was dark. 3 stars.
Justice for Metallica v napster
I like a few Metallica songs, but the general genre is not my style.