Rating: 
Summary: Another fine Metallica offering
Review: Following the release of 1986's epic Master of Puppets, Metallica lost legendary bassist Cliff Burton in a tragic bus accident while touring. Recruited was now-departed thrasher Jason Newsted, and the band entered the studio to follow up on their landmark effort. Despite Justice being slightly under the standard Puppets set, it's nothing short of an outstanding release.
"Blackened", the opener and one of the few 'Tallica tracks actually penned by Newsted, ranks among the band's best songs. It's heavy, wickedly fast, and full of brilliant work by axeman Kirk Hammett and drummer Lars Ulrich. "Eye of the Beholder", though a bit repetitive, is incredibly heavy with a killer groove; frontman James Hetfield's voice sounds outstanding during the bridges. "Harvester of Sorrow", Metallica's most violent offering ever, also has a place among their best tunes. It's heavy, mean, and packed with riffs. "To Live is to Die" is another animal, however. Essentially a compilation of unreleased material written by Burton before his untimely death, it's a ten-minute opus arranged by Hetfield and Ulrich. No less than thirteen different riffs are found. The melodic interlude halfway through is vintage Burton and hearkens back to the Puppets days. "One" is a truly brilliant offering, and many consider it to be Metallica's best song ever. It begins with the sound of machine gun fire, followed by a beautiful crystalline intro. The last four minutes of the song are vintage Metallica, full of blazing speed, heavy riffing, fantastic solos by Hammett, and harmonies. Finally, "Dyers Eve" is genuinely vicious and bears comparison to "Damage Inc.", the closer from Puppets. It's five-plus minutes of pure thrash and will no doubt please fans of Kill 'Em All.
Justice undoubtedly includes Ulrich's finest work, and Hetfield's signature growl is at near perfection throughout. The song structure is incredibly complex nearly everywhere on the album, and the harmonies used by the band on Puppets are set to a meaner, heavier, faster groove here. "The Shortest Straw" is the only track that disappoints. Despite being buried in the middle of the album, "The Frayed Ends of Sanity" is an above-average offering that bests nearly everything Metallica has recently released. The title song, while a bit drawn out at nearly ten minutes, is another fine track. In short, Justice no doubt ranks among the band's top three releases.
Rating:
Summary: Tinny sounding but solid as iron
Review: Following the death of Cliff Burton there was a big question mark surrounding Metallica's future. The band wasted no time recruiting former Flotsam & Jetsam bassist Jason Newsted and churning out the covers EP "Garage Days Re-Revisited", but the issue remained just how much of an impact Burton's influence had on Metallica's material.When "And Justice For All" was finally released in late 1988 it was not only a breath of fresh air but the dawning of a new era as well. "Justice" furthers the sociopolitically charged vision of "Master of Puppets", a bit icier and more distant, but no less potent in either it's intelligent lyrics or the increasingly challenging song structures. "Blackened" is the lead off track, and despite having enough song ideas to fill an entire EP, the melange of riffs works well as a cohesive whole. Metallica weren't the first thrash band to express an environtmental lean, but with lyrics such as "see our Mother [Earth]/put to death/see our Mother die" there weren't many fans who were ready to write them off as born again hippies. The title track and "Eye of the Beholder" continue to heighten the standards for the rest of the album until we at last arrive at what is perhaps Metallica's all-time magnum opus: "One". When Lars announced in pre-release interviews that the song would be about a guy with no appendages, no sense of sight and sound, and no way of communicating with the outside world it reminded of those old jokes. Ie. what do you call a man with no arms and no legs that hangs on the wall? Art. What do you call a man with no arms and no legs swimming in a pool? Bob. Etc etc. Of course the end result turned out to be nothing so exploitative, but instead a tone poem set to the theme of the old Dalton Trumbo flick "Johnny Got His Gun". This is not only one of their more complex songs thematically but it's far from aimless art school wankering, building up to a riveting climax and a powerful denouement. As a postscript, "One" has turned into one of those oft-played tunes that has more than worn out it's welcome amongst many rock fans, similar to other songs like "Stairway to Heaven" (or "Highway to Hell" for that matter). However, that in no way detracts from the objective quality of the song, and it's only the radio programmers we have to blame for ruining all of the above examples through unmitigated repetition. The truth is, "And Justice For All" is equally as compelling as "Master of Puppets" from a songwriting and performance perspective. There is only one reason I can see that it doesn't get the same amount of reverence as its precursor, and that is the infamous production of Fleming Rasmussen. Fleming also produced "Puppets", and this would be his last Metallica production, so he has been given the blame over the years for essentially ruining what should have been a flawless masterpiece. However, with the similarly awful production on "St Anger" I can't help but wonder if the band members didn't push for this sonic experimentation themselves. Here's hoping that one day the masters will be brushed off and remixed (a la the Beatles' recent "Let It Be: Naked") and "And Justice For All" will be recognized for the landmark that it is.
Rating:
Summary: Metallica's Swan Song
Review: "...And Justice for All" was Metallica's best and last great album. They mastered their unique blend of heavy metal, hardcore, and progressive rock and produced one of the greatest albums of all time.
The darkness and doom come through with deafening clarity. This may be due to the recent loss of their friend and bass player, Cliff Burton. The pain of that loss may have been channeled into the song writing and lyrics. The sadness and depression are converted into a passionate rage. "Energy derives from both the plus and negative" shouts James Hetfield in "Eye of the Beholder." That statement defines the whole purpose of anger and depression-based music. This album is a great example. Love songs and party songs that are considered uplifting are usually based in denial and mindlessness.
"Blackened" blasts off the album at hyper speed pummeling. The title track builds up and crumbles just like the statue depicted on the cover. "Eye of the Beholder" is an in-your-face, methodical stomping.
Unfortunately, Metallica released their first music video for the song "One." It put the song in the Top 40 singles at the time and pointed the masses in their direction, which eventually helped corrupt them. However, it's one of the greatest metal songs of all time. Like "Sanitarium" and "Fade to Black" it was a ballad turned into a vicious assault. When they speed up half way through the song, it's one of the most furious few minutes in the history of rock and roll.
They continue buzz sawing right through your head with "The Shortest Straw," a nihilistic provocation. "Harvester of Sorrow" chops down anything standing in its way without hesitation. The sinister "Frayed Ends of Sanity" is a violent warping of the mind. "To Live Is to Die" cuts right into the bone and is chilling and beautiful at the same time. "Dyers Eve" closes the album with the most manically angry song Metallica ever wrote. Hetfield's sandpaper voice spews the very definition of angst.
People complain about the low production value of this album. Metallica didn't need high quality production to make this album stand up. Their music and emotion were more than enough. That's the mark of a great album by a great band.
Rating:
Summary: Its no Apetite For Destruction, but maybe Metallica's best
Review: After recruiting Jason Newstead from Flotsam and Jetsam to replace Cliff Burton, Metallica released an EP of covers (Garage Days Re-Revisited) and then this 65-minute monstrosity (a common running time now but almost unheard of for a single album back then). Rather than rest on laurels or repeat past formulas, the band delivered their most ambitious and least accessible album yet. Metallica shoots for epic sounding songs here (even more so than usual, which is saying something!), thereby showing off their massive technical prowess over songs that often approach eight and even 10 minutes in length. Unfortunately, a few of these songs probably should've been cut considerably, though most of them earn their longevity and all have their moments. Lars Ulrich's skin bashing will drop your jaw, propelled by an electronically enhanced drum sound that soon became widely imitated (just ask Pantera), though producer Fleming Rausmussen's much criticized mix unfortunately shortchanged Newstead's contributions. Fortunately, the indomitable Metallica crunch abounds, and when they stay focused on songs such as "Blackened," "Eye Of The Beholder," and "Dyers Eve," this band's best moments remain remarkable. The ironically titled And Justice For All is perhaps the band's darkest effort to date, as it contains scathing commentaries about a rotting world and an unjust society. But, as with all of their albums it's the music that matters most. On that front, "The Shortest Straw" and "Harvester Of Sorrow" are disappointingly straightforward and unspectacular, and the interminable instrumental "To Life Is To Die" too often falls flat. Other indulgent epics, such as the title track and the strange "The Frayed Ends Of Insanity," are more successful and are intermittently brilliant. However, the album's real eye-opener is "One," a gripping and harrowing tale of the ravages of war on the human body and psyche. Arguably Metallica's finest moment, the awesome video (the band's first) started bringing the band into the mainstream, where their popularity would soon explode.
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING ALBUM!!!!
Review: For me,this is the best Metallica album, slightly better than RIDE THE LIGHTNING and MASTER OF PUPPETS. Perhaps the drums doesn't have the correct sound but, nothing's perfect. Well, the album seems to have a dark line that the listener must follow to understand it, because most of the songs are quite complex.
The album starts with BLACKENED, which has nice riffing and a stunning solo. Great opener to a great album.
ONE is awesome, a powerfull "ballad" which talks about war. It has a rhythm change that drives me mad, while Kirk is soloing and Lars is breaking the gound in that incredible and trashy instrumental ending.
THE FRAYED ENDS OF SANITY is one of the most underrated Metallica songs. At first sounds a bit jokely, but the middle sections is amazing. The solos on this album are fantastic!
The sad and psydelic feel of TO LIVE IS TO DIE is followed by a more in your face metal song, DYERS EVE.
The rest of the songs, AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, THE SHORTEST STRAW and HARVESTER OF SORROW are truly great songs too.
So, there's no excuse for no buying this album. It's a MASTERPIECE and a must for any metalhead.
Rating:
Summary: 1 of their 2 true classics
Review: This is a fully matured but still speed metal version of metallica. Coming off the release of their best album Master of Puppets, metallica had alot to prove. Could they progress once again and release another thrash classic. The answer was yes. I often have a tough time deciding which album is better, master or justice. Master may be just a bit more essential but Justice is definately a close second and a must own for any metal fan. Blackended starts it all off and totally shreds, pure sonic assault. the first song written by Newsted which proved he had song writing capabilities to help the band. Too bad they couldnt have produced this album better so you could actually hear what he had to offer on bass. The title track is another classic, lengthy but effective. The song One is there breakthrough and a real breakthrough for the whole metal genre. The first real speed metal video that got substantial air time on Mtv. Still love that video today. Shows the tallica boys before the commericial fame and haircuts and napster bs. Harvester of sorrow also stands out as one of their best, captivating mid tempo track. To live is to die is probably right behing orion is thier best instrumentals. To end the album, what could have been better then the menacing Dyers Eve. Probably one of their fastest speediest masterpieces of all time. A rebellious track about parents putting to much stress on their kids. Gotta love that. Love this album. Good starting point for any metallica fan.
Rating:
Summary: Hi
Review: I am totally obsessed with this cd, and you will be too. Its Metallica's best. Buy it. Now.
Rating:
Summary: Pulling Your Strings Justice is Done
Review: This is by far one of the best Metallica albums ever, this album takes a look at how messed up the world is today and how the society is a money hungry monster. The music here is intense, much faster, louder, and thrashier than the first 3 albums; the lyrics are also pure gold and well written. The best songs on this album are Blackened, One, The Shortest Straw, and The Frayed Ends of Sanity. This album is a must have album for any Metallica, or thrash metal collection, even if you're not a big fan of Metallica, you won't be dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Metallica's greatest album, with their greatest song
Review: This album is not perfect sonically, as you've heard. However, the clanging drums, and absence of gritty bass guitar make it unique and pleasant. You know a song from "...And Justice for All" when you hear it. Contrary to others' opinions, I think that the guitars sound awesome. As a guitarist, I find the guitar recordings on this album to be the best I have ever heard in the metal genre. The guitar sounds warm, smooth, deep, with just enough edge. As for the music, these other clowns will tell you how remarkable "One" and "Dyer's Eve" are (and they are!), so I am going to focus on the less popular, but just as good if not better songs. The album starts with the coolest sounding introduction ever in "Blackened". An ensemble of reversed guitar melodies fades in to reach a powerful climax at which the really heavy stuff begins. "And Justice for All" is Metallica's most underrated song. The guitar riffs are phenomenal. After a breathtaking solo, the band cuts to a high-energy drive that backs down to a beautifully heavy melody. It becomes thicker as more guitar layers pile on. Finally, a rich climax of no less than four guitar parts blasts at you. I get chills and an amazing high every time I listen to this song. All metal albums sound pretty much the same. Metallica was always different, and this one is the most unique and epic. Even if you hate metal, but you like classical, this album will astonish you. Pure genius.
Rating: 
Summary: Metallica matures and goes political.
Review: '...And Justice For All' shows Metallica maturing and exploring political issues. This album has one of the greatest songs of all time. Everyone knows what that song is and it is called 'ONE'. It is one of the great masterwork songs in any genre of music of any time and place.
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