September 7, 1988 - ...And Justice For All

A month after my last release and two years since the amazing "Master Of Puppets", Metallica released their fourth album "...And Justice For All" on September 7, 1988. While touring for their previous album in Europe, Metallica's tour bus crashed in a tragic incident that ended up killing bassist Cliff Burton. This is some tragically awful news that is unbelievably upsetting. Cliff was such an amazing bassist and he will be dearly missed. Metallica will never be the same, but they soldiered on and did the unthinkable by replacing the irreplaceable Burton with new bassist Jason Newsted, formerly of the band Flotsam and Jetsam. Newsted is a good bassist, but James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich were still not really comfortable with him and they purposefully decreased the bass sound on this album greatly. Metallica also made their most progressive and longest album yet at 65 minutes, with several very long songs. I am very sad that Burton is no longer with the band, but I'm also excited to hear some new progressive metal from the rest of these amazing musicians. Let's check it out!

The album kicks off with "Blackened" and it begins with a slow fade-in as we hear some guitars slowly get louder. Once Lars comes in on drums they shift into the main riff and Hetfield plays some cool guitar to lead the way as this "rhythm" guitar riff would easily qualify as a lead riff with most other bands. Kirk Hammett ends up playing the same riff so I guess it's both! Everything sounds nice and loud and heavy and Hetfield finally comes in to sing the first verse. James does a pretty good job singing with a bit of a heavier voice and he ends the verse with a nice long "neveeeeeer" yell. Things then roll into the chorus where the guitars slow down in pace but still sound nice and heavy and Hetfield continues to sound great yelling the lyrics. The pace speeds up again as we return to the main riff and after another cool verse and chorus they really slow things down as they nicely segue into a new riff. This new part is way slower, but it's driven by some great, groovy guitar by Hetfield and Hammett. James sings a new verse overtop this riff and his yelling vocals sound very clear as it seems like he continues to become a better singer on every album. He leads this cool new verse and after a short guitar bridge he sets the stage wonderfully for Hammett to go on a solo. As usual, Kirk does a great job with the solo as he works his way into it and increasingly plays faster and crazier stuff. This solo ends and the rest of the band return to the speedy main riff, but before we get to the final verse Hammett has another solo to play and this one has a much faster backing riff. And with the faster "rhythm" part" comes an amazingly fast solo by Kirk as he really delivers on this one with several different wicked parts to it. After this longer and awesome solo they do return to the main riff for a final verse and a couple final choruses to round out this pretty sweet opening song. Up next is the title track "...And Justice For All" and it's just under 10 minutes long after a near 7 minute opener. It begins with a light guitar riff by Hetfield that leads the way and Hammett comes in and out with other cool guitar licks. After this light opening Lars loud drums signal a shift to a much heavier version of the same riff. They quickly return to the light and quiet part and it sounds great how they shift seamlessly between the light and heavy versions of this riff. They elect to stay electric and heavy after a couple times and speed things up in a great segue that brings us to the main driving riff of this song. Lars plays a pretty cool drum beat and Hetfeild and Hammett are both playing some cool and catchy guitar. Burton's bass playing is certainly missed and they turned Newsted's bass down REALLY low as he's pretty much non-existent. Despite the complete lack of bass, things still sound really great! After over two minutes Hetfield sings the first verse and he does a nice job once again of yelling in a great voice that sounds metal but also quite clear. Hammett does a nice guitar bit that connects the verse to the chorus and I love when Hetfield sings "justice is lost, justice is raped, justice is done". It's a solid chorus that is pretty tame for Metallica but still sounds good and it leads perfectly back into the main riff. After another verse and chorus it's solo time and Hammett starts things off slow, but as usual he eventually gets to some pretty sweet stuff! Most of the solo is pretty awesome and he ends it emphatically as they return to the main riff once again. It seems like we're headed back for the typical verse/chorus, but instead they shift back to the opening riff as Hammett and Hetfield both play some great slow guitar. They jam this out for a minute or so and then we do finally get to another verse and chorus. They jam out the main riff for another minute while Hammett plays some cool guitar overtop before this 10 minute epic finally comes to an end. Track 3 is called "Eye Of The Beholder" and it starts very quietly with a fade-in as a catchy guitar riff by Hetfield gets louder and louder. Lars plays a solid drum beat to match and eventually things reach full volume and sound nice and heavy. Hammett adds some cool lead guitar that fits with the riff wonderfully and after a minute of building we reach the first verse. James sings in a lower voice in this verse but things still sound pretty good as he leads the way. Hetfield switches to a cool different guitar riff in this bridge to the chorus and he returns to his yelling vocals, shouting the lyrics nicely, and I especially like the paradoxical line "you can do it your own way, if it's done just how I say". This brief bridge brings us to a slower chorus as James continues to yell nicely overtop some fairly simple guitar for Metallica. They repeat this process of verse, bridge and chorus before Hetfield sets the stage nicely for a Hammett guitar solo. It reminds me a bit of an Iron Maiden solo as it sounds very epic and repetitive, but the following solo is much more typical Kirk Hammett. He plays some pretty great guitar as we've come to expect, but this one seems to have some feeling behind it as he expertly slows down and speeds up at just the right moments. The end rolls smoothly back into the main riff as well as we hear a final verse but then they switch it up and go chorus and then end with the bridge in a nice little change-up. The next song is "One" and it would go on to become one of Metallica's best-known songs. It begins with the sound of gunfire and helicopters and we also hear a soldier screaming as it sounds like we're in the middle of a warzone. Out of the Chaos comes Hetfield with a slow but really amazing guitar riff that just sounds really great. James continues his epic riff and Hammett plays some quiet but really cool lead stuff overtop and together these two guitarists sound just plain awesome. Lars joins in next with a light drum beat and it's almost unnoticeable when Newsted finally joins in. If you really listen for it you can hear when he comes in, but it gets immediately lost behind the epic guitars. Hetfield begins the first verse after the main riff is fully established and the lyrics of this song are all about a wounded soldier who've returned from war and is missing body parts, among other terrible tragedies he endured. James delivers the lyrics really nicely as he sings overtop the catchy main riff and the verse suddenly shifts to a heavier part as Hetfield holds a nice long "please god wake meeeeeeee" at the end of it as they nicely segue back to the quiet but epic main riff. There is so much amazing guitar work from both guys as they play another verse and after another cool heavy part Hammett goes off for a light solo. I say light because it's not distorted or loud but Kirk still delivers a really great solo with some pretty fast parts to it. The solo leads back into the heavy end of the verse and after James sings "please god help me" they segue nicely into a new riff. They slowly blend their way out of the old riff and into a similar but different new one in a cool segue and it eventually brings us to a new, much heavier part. Lars plays some nice, fast double bass drums to signal the shift and the guitars soon follow with a speedy and heavy thrash riff. This becomes the riff for a new verse and Hetfield does a great job yelling along with the heavy riff: "darkness, imprisoning me. All that I see, absolute horror". Those are some very metal lyrics that sound pretty awesome and I love this whole thrash-metal part. After a couple great verses Hammett goes off on another solo and right from the get-go he is shredding the hell out of that guitar! This might be one of Kirk's best solos ever as he goes above and beyond even what his normal solos are like. It's truly amazing and it leads back into the cool thrash riff briefly, but it's not long before we get a third solo! This one isn't quite as good as the last one, but it is still pretty freaking awesome as Hammett continues to play some spectacular guitar. After this solo they jam out the thrash riff a bit longer before ending this epic song with an appropriately epic ending. Bravo! What an awesome song! Track 5 is "The Shortest Straw" and after a slow but heavy opening they settle into a catchy and cool guitar riff led by Hetfield. After a couple rounds of this they switch to a new riff with Hammett playing some cool lead guitar and Hetfield finally begins the first verse. He sings aggressively along to the fast main riff and it turns out the opening riff is actually the chorus riff as they switch back and James sings the chorus. He sings the name of the song lots in this chorus and things sound pretty good, it's just that the line "shortest straw" doesn't sound particularly metal. They play another solid verse and chorus before Hetfield plays a cool little bridge that takes us to Hammett's guitar solo. This solo is nice and long and Kirk does a phenomenal job as usual with all kinds of amazing, shredding guitar. The solo leads back into the bridge which is followed by a chorus, and then it's solo time again! This one is shorter and less awesome than the last one, but still a good solo for sure! This leads seamlessly back to the main riff for a final verse and chorus and they end the song with a final bridge part for a decent ending. Up next is "Harvester Of Sorrow" and we hear an epic light guitar riff leading the opening but things quickly shift to a more typical-sounding Metallica guitar playing the same epic riff. Lars plays some cool epic drums as well and after a minute and a half of instrumental stuff they finally settle into the main riff. It's slow but sounds nice and heavy as Hetfield and Hammett sync up on guitar and James yells a nice slow verse to match. The verse rolls right into the chorus and while the slow and heavy music remains James just yells the name of the song a few times in a slightly uninteresting chorus. After another solid verse and repetitive chorus it's solo time and Hammett delivers a typically awesome solo. It's on the shorter side, but the end of it fades nicely into a new part as Hetfield and Lars continue the epic guitar and drums. Hammett plays short licks of sweet guitar alternating with matching Hetfield's riff in a pretty cool melodic part and the end of this ties perfectly back into the main riff. They play a final verse and Hetfield continues to yell the name of the song several times as the light opening riff plays overtop everything else until the song eventually comes to an end. Track 7 is called "The Frayed Ends Of Sanity" and it opens with a marching beat and some distorted and pretty cool guitars. It sounds like an evil army is marching to war in this pretty metal opening until everything suddenly stops and Hetfield alone cues up a catchy main guitar riff. The rest of the band joins in to complete another cool main riff and Hetfield sings a couple lines at a time with lots of heavy guitar inbetween lyrics. The guitar speeds up a bit as they move into the chorus and Hetfield has a nice evil edge to his voice as he yells about schizophrenia, dementia and paranoia in this pretty cool chorus. The end leads right back into the main riff and they play another solid verse and chorus before moving into a new building riff. Hetfield and Hammett play some really impressive harmonized guitars considering how fast the riff is and together they pack a serious punch with some really great stuff! It gets even better as Hetfield continues the riff but Kirk breaks away to solo overtop! This is some pretty fantastic stuff as the lead and rhythm guitar are both playing some incredible stuff! After the solo they return to the harmonized guitars for a bit longer until around the six-minute mark they nicely segue back to the heavy main riff. A final verse and chorus ensues before they nicely jam out the end with some fast guitars in a nice finish to yet another pretty great song. Track 8 is the longest song on the album at just under ten minutes and it's titled "To Live Is To Die". Most of the song was put together from riffs that Cliff Burton had written before he died and this would be Cliff's final writing credit for the band in this largely instrumental, progressive epic. The song begins with a slow fade-in as Lars is playing a light drum beat and we hear some pretty cool acoustic guitar leading the way. This light opening fades out after a bit and as it fades out a new riff fades in as they nicely segue into a much heavier part. It's still a very slow pace but this main riff is driven by some low and heavy guitars by Hetfield that sounds like very old-school, almost Sabbath-like metal. The slow chugging riff speeds up at the end and then they repeat the process, staring nice and heavy and slowly speeding up. After a couple goes through Hammett finally joins the riff as he plays a new lead guitar riff overtop, but it's not overpowering and meshes nicely with Hetfield's main guitar riff. They jam through a couple more cool lyricless verses until the speedy ending sends us into the song's first solo. Kirk gets lots of time to solo here and he takes his time at the beginning with some slower but pretty cool stuff. He beautifully picks up the pace as he goes and unsurprisingly plays some pretty fast and amazing parts. After the solo they return to the main riff for one verse and then things get very quiet as Metallica show off some nice progressiveness with another seamless segue to yet another new part. A cool acoustic guitar riff is the sole instrument at first and it sounds really cool and epic just by itself. It drives this new riff as we also hear some more light guitars in a part that certainly doesn't sound like typical Metallica, but they do an excellent job with this slow melodic part as well. James plays a rare solo overtop of this light part and he does a pretty great job at the helm, playing a smooth and pretty cool solo! This leads nicely back into the heavier, electric part and we finally come to the only lyrics of the song as James speaks (not sings) a few lines that Burton had written down. "When a man lies he murders some part of the world. These are the pale deaths which men miscall their lives. All this I cannot bear to witness any longer. Cannot the kingdom of salvation take me home". Some pretty deep stuff and it sounds pretty epic overtop of the heavy main riff. They have more yet to play as they segue into yet another new part with some cool electric guitar and this part eventually fades out and they do another cool switch as the original riff that kicked it all off fades back in and we're serenaded by some final cool acoustic guitar to finish off this epic song. We've finally reached the end of this long album and the pace returns to a fast normal with the last track "Dyers Eve". It begins with a fast and heavy guitar opening and Lars follows it up with a pretty cool drum roll that gets really slow at the end. From this slow fill emerges a dangerously fast main riff as this speedy guitar sounds like it could be off their debut! Metallica have been experimenting a little bit throughout the album, but this seems to go back to their roots as I love this super fast main riff. Hetfield begins the first verse with a nice yell of "dear mother, dear father!" and his yelling vocals have improved immensely since "Kill 'Em All" five years ago as James sounds great! They briefly slow things down a bit (but it's still pretty fast) for the chorus, but it's a short one and then it's back to the lightning fast main riff. After another wicked verse and brief chorus it's solo time and after 60 minutes of this album Kirk melts off whatever face you might have left with a blistering solo! Even for him, he's going ridiculously fast as he masterfully shreds his guitar and it sounds simply amazing! This phenomenal solo leads right into a new riff that is also pretty damn fast and Hetfield sings a brief new verse before they segue nicely right into a final main verse. They finish off the song the way it began with a cool fast and heavy riff, an appropriate way to end another great Metallica album.

That is the end of "...And Justice For All" and I thought it was another spectacular effort from Metallica, especially considering the loss of Cliff Burton. Burton was such a great bassist and on this album at least, they chose to basically not replace him and have almost no audible bass the whole album. Despite that, they still delivered a fantastic album with several really great songs. But how does it compare to their other albums, which are all also fantastic? "Kill 'Em All" is a great album too, but the whole album has the same thrash-metal sound and I think the variety on "...And Justice For All" puts it above their debut. Both albums had lots of great music, but Metallica went in some different directions on this album and I think for the most part it worked really great for them. However, their other two albums "Master Of Puppets" and "Ride The Lightning" are in a league of their own and now that Burton is dead I would doubt they will ever be able to surpass those two amazing albums. So really, third place is pretty damn good praise still! And hopefully once Jason Newsted is more of a regular member of the band there might even be some bass to hear on their next album! I'll be there to find out!