...And Justice for All

…And Justice for All
Studio album by Metallica
Released	August 25, 1988[1] or September 6, 1988[2]
Recorded	January–May 1988 at "One On One" Studios in Los Angeles, California[3]
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	65:34
Label	Elektra, Vertigo
Producer	Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Kerrang! Metal Hammer Rolling Stone link Q
Metallica chronology
Master of Puppets (1986) …And Justice for All (1988) Metallica (1991)
Singles from …And Justice for All
"Eye of the Beholder" Released: 1988 "Harvester of Sorrow" Released: 1988 "…And Justice for All" Released: 1988 "One" Released: January 1989

…And Justice for All is the fourth album by American heavy metal band Metallica. Elektra Records released the album on August 25, 1988. This is the first Metallica studio album to feature bassist Jason Newsted, since the death of the group's former bassist Cliff Burton.

The album's dark subject material, featuring references to injustice in the legal system, limited freedom, war, insanity and hate, is accompanied by what may be the most complex song structures in Metallica's discography. The album is also noted for its nearly-inaudible bass guitar and dry, sterile production, and therefore has been called a "slightly flawed masterpiece and the pinnacle of Metallica's progressive years" by AllMusic.com.^[4]

The front cover depicts the statue of Lady Justice cracked, bound by ropes, and both of her scales filled with dollars. The words "…And Justice for All" are written in graffiti to the right. The cover was made by Stephen Gorman after a concept by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.^[5]

Reception

The album has sold over 8 million copies in the US according to the RIAA and was the best selling Metallica record upon its release. Metallica released four singles, "Eye of the Beholder", "Harvester of Sorrow", "…And Justice for All" and "One".

...And Justice for All was Metallica's breakthrough album and reached #6 in the Billboard charts.^[6] Though it would soon be over-shadowed commercially by the band's following album (1991's Metallica), this album nevertheless confirmed Metallica's large-scale arena status.

The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance in 1989, but with much controversy, it lost to Jethro Tull's Crest of a Knave. In 2007, the win was named one of the 10 biggest upsets in Grammy history by Entertainment Weekly.^[7]

In 1990, "One" received the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, Metallica's first Grammy Award.^[8] The guitar solo of "One" was ranked #7 in Guitar World's compilation of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of all time.

The album was ranked at number nine in IGN's Top 25 Metal Albums.^[9] The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Metallica released their first music video for "One," after years of resisting pressure to release videos for their tracks^[10]. The video incited controversy among their fans, who had valued the band's apparent opposition to MTV and other forms of mainstream commercial metal. "One" entered the Top 40 on March 25, 1989 at #35.^[11]

Live performances

Hammett noted the length of the songs being problematic for fans and the band. "Touring behind it, we realized that the general consensus was that songs were too fucking long," he said. "One day after we played 'Justice' and got off the stage one of us said, 'we're never fucking playing that song again.'"^[12] He is also quoted in an interview for SoWhat! magazine as saying "'Justice' was a bit much for me. I couldn't stand watching the front row start to yawn by the eight or ninth minute."

In spite of this, the song "One" quickly gained a permanent fixture in the band's live playlist since the release of the album ^[13]. The only other song from …And Justice For All that has come close to this is "Harvester of Sorrow," a song that was played live heavily after the album's release but has only begun to be played again recently.

When the song "One" is played live, the war sounds heard at the beginning of the song are often lengthened to sometimes around two minutes instead of the original twenty seconds. Also, when the war sounds have reached a conclusion, after having a pitch-black stage, fire will erupt from various points of the stage.

16 years after "Dyers Eve" was recorded, on March 5, 2004, the band performed the song in its entirety for the first time ever on the Madly in Anger with the World Tour, at the The Forum in Inglewood, California^[14].

On June 28, 2007, Metallica played the title track for the first time since October 1989, in Lisbon on the first show of their Sick of the Studio '07 tour^[15] and made it a set-fixture for the remainder of that routing. In 2008, "...And Justice for All" was played again during their 2008 Tour.

To date, "The Frayed Ends of Sanity" and "To Live Is to Die" remain the only songs from the album that have never been performed live in their entirety. Instead, the band played segments of them during solos or impromptu jams.

Personnel

• James Hetfield — lead vocals, rhythm guitar; acoustic guitar on "One" & on intro and outro of "To Live is To Die"
• Lars Ulrich — drums, percussion
• Kirk Hammett — lead guitar; acoustic guitar on intro and outro of "To Live is To Die"
• Jason Newsted — bass, backing vocals
• Produced by Metallica & Flemming Rasmussen

Track listing

"The Prince" was also released on the "Harvester of Sorrow" and "One" CD singles, and later on the Garage Inc. covers album.

*"The song is credited to Burton, as the bass line was a medley of unused bass recordings Burton had performed prior to his death. While the original recordings are not used on the track, the compositions are credited as written by Burton and are played by Metallica's bassist of the time, Jason Newsted.

Charting positions

Album

Singles

Certification

References