...And Justice for All, Metallica's fourth studio album, found the band exploring long complex song structures and ever faster tempos. It was the first album they recorded with Jason Newsted on bass after the death of Cliff Burton in 1986. The album's dry, sterile production is notorious amongst fans of the band and has been attributed to producer Flemming Rasmussen's absence during the mixing process. Still it is a favorite amongst fans and helped the band crossover from underground metal act to arena rock gods. The title song, along with "Harvester of Sorrow," "Eye of the Beholder," and "One" were all released as singles, with "One" getting heavy rotation on radio. That song's success was helped along by Metallica's first ever music video which stirred some controversy amongst their long time fans. In the end it even got the band their first Grammy. The music comes across as precision honed aggression, the band's skills heavily evident. Hetfield's vocals seem to be harsher than on previous albums as the band plows through riff after riff. There's no doubt that Metallica were destined for greatness, ...And Justice for All is just one more piece of hard evidence.

• music label: Blackened Recordings 2014

reviewed by Hank Ohs 09/2014