Metallica – ...And Justice for All (1988)

This is one of my first CDs ever. I must have been around 10 years old when I got this CD. Metallica was one of the first bands I was a fan of. Metallica must also be one of the heaviest bands I've ever really liked. Growing up in Espoo, Finland, metal music was really popular. Lots of young people were wearing black band T-shirts, they had long hair and all the other characteristics of heavy metal fans. All the young boys around there were impressed by the visual side of metal music. Monsters and skulls were considered cool. Even I had many band T-shirts with skeletons or monsters on them and I remember drawing Metallica logos into my notebooks in school. I was never into "growling" and thus Metallica was one of the heaviest bands I was into. I have also always wanted music to have good melodies. ...And Justice for All is among my favourite Metallica albums.




At some point towards the end of the 90's metal music became uncool. Also, I started to appreciate more modern bands and metal music went too rough for my taste anyway. There was a long period that followed where I didn't really listen to Metallica at all. More recently I have kind of discovered them again. I like their precise rhythm guitars and organic production that allows you to hear all the individual instruments. Even the drums actually sound like drums, unlike on some metal albums.

Being older, I've realised how political their lyrics are. Back in the day I was just intrigued by their violent lyrics, but I didn't see the politics behind these lyrics. ...And Justice for All is almost like a theme album about injustices in society. They sing about war, nuclear weapons, censorship and surveillance.

One was definitely the biggest hit from this album, and I can totally see why. I've always liked Metallica songs that combine quiet and melodic sections to their trademark rhythm guitars. I'm sure everyone can remember the machine gun sounding guitars in the end. The music video for this song was played on MTV over and over again when I was young. The black and white video with war sequences was impressive to a young boy. In addition to One, I really like Eye of the Beholder. I even learned to play this song at some point. It's one of the more melodic songs on the album. Also, the instrumental song To Live Is to Die is nowadays one of my favourites. It has long guitar solo sequences.

One thing that's different on this album compared to previous albums is that Metallica's iconic bass player Cliff Burton had died in a car accident in Sweden and had been replaced by Jason Newsted. Newsted's bass playing doesn't show up on the album that much. It just keeps the rhythm on the background, but it's difficult to even hear what he's playing. Compared to Burton's melodic bass this was quite a change. It gives a certain sharp edge to the songs though and gives even more room for the brilliant rhythm guitars of James Hetfield.

I occasionally do come back to Metallica albums even nowadays. Their aggressive sound is appropriate to some moods of mine that cant be satisfied by the usual indie bands I listen to. Metallica will always have a special place in my heart, since I've listened to their songs for over 20 years.

Listen to the album on Spotify.