...And Justice For All Review

TerminalDeath This is my review post for Metallica's...And Justice For All - The fourth studio album of the most recognized Heavy Metal band. It seems like Metallica's sorrow for the loss of their partner Cliff Burton - the band's earlier bassist and backing vocalist, has been translated and converted in the form of raging, emotional music. Lars's drumming performances are stunning wild and Kirk Hammett's guitar solos are amazing, wild and furious. Hetfield's riffs are brutal and his songwriting is perfect. The complexity of their songs have reached whole new levels.

My opinion on the ordering of the original list: The original list has a near perfection in its ordering.

One - There is no need for explanations why this a great song (although I'm gonna do it). One is an anti-war song that instantly became one of the best heavy metal songs ever created in heavy metal history. The song was written brilliantly by James and Lars. Before the clean toned guitar by Kirk and before the clean-toned solo by Hetfield, a series of sound effects related to war is played to focus on how terrible war is. The music video for "One" is good taken from the anti-war film called "Johnny Got His Gun". I'll tell a little about the video a little later. The diversity of acoustics are great and the rage sealed beneath the song is impressive. The riffs are catchy and amazing. The guitar solo by Kirk is impressive and the drumming is absolutely stunning. The speed of the song is great and every about the song makes it very catchy and very awesome. Its no wonder that One is still considered one of the finest pieces of music so long. Now about the video - It portrays a World War I soldier who is severely wounded—blind and unable to speak nor move—returned home as a supposed vegetable case to wait helplessly for death. His only hope is to devise a way to communicate with the hospital staff.

Blackened - The song, emphasized with traditional existential themes, show concerns about the environmental plight of the planet. Let's be done with that intro and get to the song. The song is powerful and crazy. The song sets the tone of the album. The emotion of the song alone drives you in. The main riffs are wildly played and they are fast which is exactly what contributes to the awesomeness of the song. Kirk's solo is stunning and raging. James' songwriting is complex and good. No. Its great. The intro is one of Metallica's best. Being the first track in the album, Blackened does attract any metal (or rather thrash) metal fan into loving the album. Lars' drumming was good. The backwards guitar solo displayed in this fine work of art, is crazy and brutal. Blackened is perfect seated at #3 on the original list as is...And Justice for All and One.

...And Justice For All - As I commented on the original list,...And Justice For All is one of my most favorite Metallica songs. Now for the song:
The song proves worthy enough to become the great album's title just like Master of Puppets or Ride the Lightning. As I keep mentioning in every song here Kirk's solos are awesome.The heavy metal / thrash metal song is perfectly well done with the lighter intro and then proceeding heavily. And Metallica's heavy riffs and the speedy ones too are great. The growls by James Hetfield are impressive. The interlude in the middle of the song where everything breaks down is fabulous. I would call that my favorite part of the album. The song is long enough to enjoy with an amazing 9 minutes and 46 seconds of greatness.

Dyers Eve - Dyers Eve has a great solo and good riffs and lyrics. It is brutal and full of power. Dyers Eve is fast enough to be Metallica's fastest music piece. Dyers Eve has a touch of badassery attached to it which makes it awesome and lovable. We need to specially honor Kirk for his absolutely stunning performance in what has to be his great best. The song starts with badass, chaotic drumming by Lars and then as the beats slow down, its all KIRK! The breathtaking performance deserves my applaud. The song has no bass playing but is still good. I've heard people comparing this song a lot with Damage Inc. (probably because of the no-bass playing), but its nowhere close. I say Dyers Eve is better than Damage Inc.

Frayed Ends of Sanity - Well, on the original list, Harvester of Sorrow took the place of The Frayed Ends of Sanity but not in my remix. The song is clearly more badass than Harvester of Sorrow. Here's my review on the song.
In my book, Frayed Ends of Sanity is a very underrated Metallica song. The dark, mysterious, mystical background is created as the chant from Wizard of Oz plays. It makes the song badass and truly awesome. After the unusual chant and intro, the main riff takes over and the stage is torn apart when the splendid verse comes in. Kirk and James played awesome and unforgettable riffs after the second chorus of the song. And that's just one more reason why it is a great music piece.

Harvester of Sorrow: The force of brutality that the song carries is cool. The drums are great and the clean riffs create a mystical background and setting. The song is raging and brutal. Its all about the E Power Chord here. And there is no denying that Harvester of Sorrow is an amazing and very badass song.

To Live Is To Die - Well, as I have stated before all the songs on the album are good and nothing goes unnoticed. To Live Is To Die is another one-of-a-kind song that impresses emotions on the listener. The blend of sadness and fury all the same time - its impressive. The song starts with a beautiful acoustic intro which is pushed away by a great distortion and then sets in the main riff. The tone of the song instantly changes to make a more raging and furious mood. The song gets sad and all down during the interlude by the miraculous guitar playing by Kirk. The sadness is again broken by the powerful music and towards the end, we're exposed to pleasant acoustics once again.

Eye of the Beholder - Well, its been my favorite song in...And Justice For All. I still don't understand why but I was driven to hearing the song more than I can remember. I added a comment on the original list as well on this song:
"Eye of the Beholder is a masterpiece with great lyrics:
Do you see what I see?...
Do you hear what I hear?...
Do you feel what I feel?...
Do you take what I take?...
I admired this song and I still do. Metallica produces the best songs ever flawlessly. And that may be the reason why there is difficulty in ranking the best. Well, leave alone the lyrics. Maybe, its totally subjective that I love this song. But, I will have to admit that this is another underrated thrash song.

The Shortest Straw - The songwriting is done well yet again.The main focus of the song is the epic riff. Totally catchy and badass. The song is energetic, heavy, cool and underrated. Kirk and James all-together make this song very badass.

Comments