You know how I swapped to reviewing in title-order instead of in artist-order to prevent artist burn-out? Well look at me reviewing two Metallica CDs in a row, and in release order. Magic!
What: Metallica's fourth album. The first with replacement bass player Jason. The first without major song-writer Cliff Burton. The first where James' voice almost matures. The first with a music video. Their first mega single. Their first almost Grammy win. The last before they sold out. The last before they spawned an album that almost ruined metal.
Why?: When I first gained a disposable income I visited JB HiFi (strategically placed across the road from work) and bought all of the albums of the bands I liked. "...And Justice For All" was in that pile, having listened a couple of versions of it to death on cassette.
Tell Me More: I've always held out this dream that one day we'll get a 10th or 20th or 30th anniversary edition of "...And Justice For All" fully remastered with the bass added back in. I had thought it was merely a rumour that Jason's bass was deliberately removed from the final mix, but Mike Wall's recent biography of Metallica practically confirmed it. I had always thought that Jason's bass must be awesome and one day we'll hear it. Mike Wall quotes someone (engineer?) who says there is some amazing bass playing buried in there somewhere. Recent interviews with Jason (who has come out of hiding after years of physio to fix his body after too much brutal rocking... no really) have him admitting his bass playing on "...And Justice" wasn't too special. He claims he recorded it all by himself and just "played what James played". This is too hard to believe... one day I hope to hear it to judge for myself.
I recently re-listened to all of Metallica's albums chronologically, just to remind myself of their 30 year legacy, and to torture myself with Reload (easily their worst album by far). So I've heard "...And Justice For All" quite recently, but regardless, I listened to it again in full for this review.
"Justice" is one of those albums that I've heard, and loved, for so long, that I really struggle to listen to it. I know it so well, I fade it out without thinking, like the sounds of my breath or heartbeat. I find myself zoning out, waking up ten minutes later surprised that the title track is still going.
I tried really hard, listening three times in a row, to objectively listen to "...And Justice For All" again. Blackened is still brilliant, the introduction one of the best metal album introductions ever. The title track, while possibly a little long, is still great. One, obviously. And the album ends with my favourite metal double act, "To Live Is To Die" and "Dyers Eve".
The other tracks aren't terrible, but they suffer slightly from length, or sunburn from the brilliance of the other tracks. I love intro to "Eye of the Beholder", the way the melody fights its way through the rhythm. I love pretty much every guitar solo. I love every riff! The Thin Lizzy harmonizing guitars. The fact the whole album is slowed down, clearly played metal riffs, deliberately not thrash.
Yes there is no bass, and yes that was deliberate, but the mix is one that heavily influenced my guitar playing. The constant bassy palm muting filling the space bass should have been confused the heck out of me for years. I could never figure out how their guitars sounded so awesome.
Listening again carefully I notice all sorts of things I'd forgotten. Harmonising vocals in "One". The silly demon howl at the start of "Harvester Of Sorrow". The great little drum highlights Lars throws in every now and then.
Trying to be deliberately negative I can find a lot wrong with this album. James sings like a teenager trying to sound tough but somehow gets away with it. Lars' drums are SLOPPY by any modern standard, especially the kick drum, and you feel he could break his kick down to a kick, a snare and he'd be happy. Many of the songs suffer not from one-too-many-verse syndrome but one-too-many-minutes-of-that-riff. They're lucky the riff is so brilliant... They repeat the exact same sin on "St. Anger" and "Death Magnetic" and on those albums it is unforgivable.
Lars' drums may be rough, but he often plays with the guitars, emphasising the riffs, making them the kings of the album. Even James' vocals and lyrics, which are the last time we'll hear his voice sound remotely like this, are playing second fiddle to the riffs.
I could try to put myself in the shoes of an early fan and think of this album as a sell out, but it's hard. Such thoughts are easy for the Black album, but less so with Justice. Perhaps if I really wanted thrash I'd hate the slow tempos. Obviously Cliff is severely missed, the lack of his bass melodies completely changes Metallica's sound.
It's a surprisingly under-produced album, and it works well. Most of the time it sounds like two guitar players, singer and drummer, with occasional backing-vocals, jamming in a hut. The sound is easily reproduced live, the bass player can take an opportunity to have a nap.
8/10: I love this album, more than I let myself remember. It's full of flaws, but it influenced everything ever since, maybe as much as the Black album.
