... And Justice For All 1988

"While all of Metallicas first four albums were really good, they were all pretty different. If you ask me, this is the one that stands out the most, as the production is much different and the material is even more different than what Metallica fans might be used to. First of all, as you can see on the track length on all of the songs, Metallica kind of "progged" it all up a bit. And if you ask me, this is a very good thing. I feel that the songs on this albums are much stronger than the songs on the previous Metallica albums.

To begin with, Blackened might be one of the strongest songs Metallica has written to date. The intro to the opener was typical for Metallica, they wanted to open up the album quitely as usual. (It's the same with the openers on Kill 'em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets. All quiet intoductions to the album.) However, once the song get's going, you're in for a joyful proggy thrash ride. The album continues with various strong numbers, including the famous One which is my favourite song from Metallica.

The titletrack is probably the progiest and most interesting song on here, but Metallica weren't skilled enough in those areas of songwriting to make the song as good as it could have been, so it may seem slightly disappointing. And after the marvelous One the albums two weaker tracks follows.

The Shortest Straw is an average metal song following in the veins of Trapped Under Ice or one of the weaker tracks from Kill 'em All. However it is still an ok tune. Harvester of Sorrow is without doubt the only really disappointing song here. It seems very out of place and pretty much showcases how much worse Metallica would sound in the future.

Then we get three more great lengthy numbers. Dyers Eve is a fast thrashy song and kind of the only real headbanging material on this album. I've heard they can't play it live because Lars can't drum it.

So overall, what are the pros of this album? There are many of them. Metallica plays more complex here than ever and it sounds great. The songwriting was definitely on top here, and most of the songs are stunningly good.

And the flaws? Unfortunately, while this meets many of the criterias for a masterpiece, it also has many flaws. For one, the production. This album lacks the great production on Master of Puppets. The listener longs for clearer bass. And even though most of the numbers are lengthy and good all the way through, some of them are very repetitive, such as To Live Is to Die which is actually a great song, it should just have been shorter.

This is my favourite Metallica album. I just can't bring myself to give it a better rating because it could have been better. It was still a bold album though, and the songwriting is on top so four stars it is, an excellent album."