They chose Bob Rock because he was capable of giving them the exact sound that they wanted, which was a clean sounding metal album for the masses and to be be fair they succeeded. Before that album Bob Rock had shown what he could do with "Sonic Temple" by the Cult and "Dr.Feelgood" by Motley Crue so they knew what they were getting. Flemming Rasmussen besides already being known to them, had done good production jobs with Morbid Angel and Blind Guardian. As far I know and have read, a lot of the fault for AJFA is down to both Jason Newsted and Rasmussen not getting the bass mix right, personally I always felt Newsted was made a scapegoat for the **** up largely because he was the new boy.
That aside, I still think AJFA is their most interesting album and one of my favs by the band and definately agree with it being cited as a flawed masterpiece.
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