Written by Immortus on 02.08.2019 at 02:49
Rendering the bass inaudible created a flat mix/production and you can hear the lack of depth in music.

That's something I'll never understand. I know stylistically sometimes it makes sense depending on the genre to muffle the bass a bit or even a lot, but a thrash album needs that foundational weight to support the galloping guitars, otherwise it just sounds thin and hollow.

I wasn't there to witness the reactions of fans at the time of its release but I can't imagine people didn't notice the massive red flags waving all over this.

As long as I can remember knowing Metallica, people have always been talking about the first four albums being the absolute masterpieces and how after that everything went downhill fast. After owning and listening to this band and these exact albums for more than 20 years for now, I can finally come clean with this unpopular and incorrect opinion of mine: make it three for me.

How and why is this album so revered I will never understand. From what I have read, they tried to make this more ambitious and complex than anything they had tried before, even if their most talented members had either died or been kicked out already. What this means in action, is overlong and boring metal album trying to sound more sophisticated and smart than it actually is. And yes, I said that: ...And Justice For All is just incredibly boring, way too lengthy and flat-sounding record I have never been able to listen through in one sitting.

Honestly, I'm not even exaggerating this. I can totally understand why they decided to simplify their sound after this even if I'm not a huge fan of that stuff either.

Definitely better than Master of Puppets at least.

God I wish it had bass though.

Written by [user id=220667] on 20.02.2020 at 21:46

Definitely better than Master of Puppets at least.

God I wish it had bass though.

If you have a genuine copy of the album I highly recommend you track down the bootleg release "And Justice For Jason" which was remixed and remastered to restore the long absent bass without losing any of the dynamics. It's a superior listen. You'll never want to hear the original again.

Written by Mark Ayoub on 04.05.2020 at 14:22

Written by [user id=220667] on 20.02.2020 at 21:46

Definitely better than Master of Puppets at least.

God I wish it had bass though.

If you have a genuine copy of the album I highly recommend you track down the bootleg release "And Justice For Jason" which was remixed and remastered to restore the long absent bass without losing any of the dynamics. It's a superior listen. You'll never want to hear the original again.

Is that right? I'll be sure to check this out then.

I enjoyed this album but it's far from their best. The Black Album makes sense after hearing this one for so many years.

Seeing fights going on here between 6-ratings and 10-ratings I feel the urge to make it easy and bring it to the point, as I see it.
Superb songwriting
Atrocious production (minus 1 full point)
Overlong songs (minus 1 full point)
Equals an 8.0 in my books.
Not even close to their best, but far away from their b..l s..t either.

This is definitely one of their worst when it comes to nonsensically long songs. But hard to overlook some of the absolute bangers like Dyer's Eve. Can you imagine how good Metallica could be with an album full of Dyer's Eve? I'm wet just thinking about it.

It's good in parts, the blackened was a good opener, eye of the beholder is quite a good song, the title song is ok but gets a little bit boring, one seems to be a very popular song choice for most fans, but I never thought it was anything that great tbh. This was the last decent album they did Imo, downhill from here.

One of the first metal albums I ever bought, and still one of the strongest to this day. When I first played it on a school CD player, I was confused why there was no music, until Blackened faded in and hit the album off to a heavy start.

'Blackened', '...And Justice For All', 'One', 'Harvester Of Sorrow' and 'Dyers Eve' are all perfect 10/10 songs IMO.

9.8/10 for me, their tied 3rd best with the black album.

Far from a perfect album, but some of my favorite songs are here.

I just listened to this again and wow - it's better than I remembered! This album has Metallica's heaviest riffs and greatest lyrics!
It's of course disappointing to not hear any bass. But once you get over that, it's a really great album!
Blackened, Harvester of Sorrow, To Live Is To Die, and Dyers Eve are my favorite tracks - but actually all of them are fantastic (Eye of the Beholder is very underrated - the lyrics about censorship and freedom of speech are amazing) with complex lyrics, so many heavy riffs, and Hetfield's angry voice!
Overall, it's Metallica's second best album - after Ride the Lightning (which has the added benefit of bass and more concise songs).

Written by Boxcar Willy on 30.10.2020 at 23:50

Can you imagine how good Metallica could be with an album full of Dyer's Eve?

So basically Rust in Peace?

Written by F3ynman on 06.07.2021 at 15:46

I just listened to this again and wow - it's better than I remembered! This album has Metallica's heaviest riffs and greatest lyrics!
It's of course disappointing to not hear any bass. But once you get over that, it's a really great album!
Blackened, Harvester of Sorrow, To Live Is To Die, and Dyers Eve are my favorite tracks - but actually all of them are fantastic (Eye of the Beholder is very underrated - the lyrics about censorship and freedom of speech are amazing) with complex lyrics, so many heavy riffs, and Hetfield's angry voice!
Overall, it's Metallica's second best album - after Ride the Lightning (which has the added benefit of bass and more concise songs).

Lack of bass has honestly never been something that's bothered me on And Justice. It's not as if the three Cliff albums are abundantly full of bass. Flemming Rasmussen has always buried the bass in the mix. The difference here is that James guitar tone is sick as fuck. The original vinyl version is the best IMO and always will be. The recent remaster did nothing to improve it.

Some of the tracks slightly outstay their welcome but it's still the last great Metallica album.

I've revisited this album - and it's still excellent! However, I find myself always skipping the title track and Frayed Ends of Sanity. Those two songs kind of annoy me because they're too long and the riffs aren't that interesting (although the first solo on the title track is great).

But other than that, the album is still my second favorite Metallica record after RTL. The heavy riffs are some of their best and James's angry voice singing about injustice is perfect

This album is so frustrating. It has so much potential to be soooooo good. Ruined by the production, and song wandering. Some of the riffs here are god tier. Especially the title track. Goodness.

Written by Boxcar Willy on 20.04.2023 at 15:50

This album is so frustrating. It has so much potential to be soooooo good. Ruined by the production, and song wandering. Some of the riffs here are god tier. Especially the title track. Goodness.

Agreed 100%
Frayed Ends also has some absolute killer Hetfield riffs. That part during the solo for instance. I never even noticed how great that riff was until a guitarist Youtuber pointed it out.

The good songs are GREAT (Blackened, And Justice for All, One, Dyers Eve) but everything else blends together and sounds too similar to be distinguishable. Load, Reload have songs that sound different compared to this album. It’s a chore to listen to. Also, no bass and it sounds very “thin”

"One" - it's a great song! Other stuff is okay. 7/10 -1 point for stupid bassless mixing. And justice for all, except Jason...

I was close to giving this album a 10, but I chose to give it a 9 because of some minor issues. I never felt that the lack of bass was a major problem, and it was even a feature of this album. I really like this dry and grainy sound. Of course, this is a purely musical comment, and I will not discuss the issue of respect for Jason here. This album is their most progressive work, and Lars' drums are also at his peak level, which was ahead of the times at the time. But then again, their works since the second album have been more progressive, until the black album they threw into the arms of the public... Well, I think the biggest problem with this album is that some songs are a bit bloated and should be properly streamlined. Apart from that, it is really overshadowed by their first two albums.

Written by Crawltipede on 31.10.2024 at 09:55

Apart from that, it is really overshadowed by their first two albums.

Are you discounting Master of Puppets?

Written by gavdann on 31.10.2024 at 13:14

Written by Crawltipede on 31.10.2024 at 09:55

Apart from that, it is really overshadowed by their first two albums.

Are you discounting Master of Puppets?

You may have misunderstood me, because most people generally rate this album far worse than their first two. I just want to say that this album is another masterpiece that is no less than their first two works. Although there is a slight gap, it is not too much. I certainly will not discount their first two works. Lightning and Master are the few that I give a 10.

Written by Crawltipede on 31.10.2024 at 14:00

Written by gavdann on 31.10.2024 at 13:14

Are you discounting Master of Puppets?

You may have misunderstood me, because most people generally rate this album far worse than their first two. I just want to say that this album is another masterpiece that is no less than their first two works. Although there is a slight gap, it is not too much. I certainly will not discount their first two works. Lightning and Master are the few that I give a 10.

So, that is rather discounting Kill 'Em All then.

Written by Redel on 31.10.2024 at 14:10

Written by Crawltipede on 31.10.2024 at 14:00

Written by gavdann on 31.10.2024 at 13:14

Are you discounting Master of Puppets?

You may have misunderstood me, because most people generally rate this album far worse than their first two. I just want to say that this album is another masterpiece that is no less than their first two works. Although there is a slight gap, it is not too much. I certainly will not discount their first two works. Lightning and Master are the few that I give a 10.

So, that is rather discounting Kill 'Em All then.

In fact, not only this album, but all their subsequent albums were overshadowed by Lightning and Master. Even though many of their albums were not that bad, people would lose their rational evaluation of the later albums because of the gap. For example, Load, Reload, Magnetic and even St.anger. As for their debut, the high evaluation of it is mostly for its historical status. As far as the music itself is concerned, it is neither overrated nor underestimated. For me, the overall maturity is indeed not as good as the latter two. Of course... this is not to discount it.

Written by Crawltipede on 31.10.2024 at 14:27

In fact, not only this album, but all their subsequent albums were overshadowed by Lightning and Master. Even though many of their albums were not that bad, people would lose their rational evaluation of the later albums because of the gap. For example, Load, Reload, Magnetic and even St.anger. As for their debut, the high evaluation of it is mostly for its historical status. As far as the music itself is concerned, it is neither overrated nor underestimated. For me, the overall maturity is indeed not as good as the latter two. Of course... this is not to discount it.

That is all fine. The point we are trying to make (I guess) is that you were talking about ....And Justice (their 4th studio album!) and then kept referring to "their first two works", whereupon mentioning Lightning and Master (their 2nd and 3rd studio albums!). That is where "the gap" is.