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Wpnfire · 08-31-2014, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

If you've never heard their Nordland I album, then "Nordland"'s main riff is required listening for any fan of slower riffs.

I listened to it, and while it is epic, I don't think it comes close to "Enter the Enternal Fire." You did remind me though, that I should probably listen to the rest of Bathory's albums sometime.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Nice. "Last Rites/Loved to Deth" is quite possibly the highlight of Mustaine's career for me. Nothing he's done since is so pissed off, not even on the same album, and being pissed off is what Dave Mustaine is about. Even the piano is hateful. I also love that they lyrics are a thinly veiled, and rather threatening, attack at his former band.

I agree, the aggression is pretty unmatched with that song. The piano is very sinister as well.

MetallicA - ...And Justice For All

Rating: 4/5

I'm very uncertain with my rating of this album, and equally uncertain about giving it a rating at all. It's a challenging album to listen to at times for the oft-cited complaints of poor production, and the deliberate removal of Jason Newsted's bass by the rest of the band. While it's certainly flawed, boring at times, and I'm not the biggest fan of "One" or some of the progressive sections on the album, there are two features of this album that make it one of my favorite albums, and a quintessential metal album.

The first, and most important thing I like about this album is the guitar riffs. As usual with Metallica, most if not all of the riffs are downpicked--that's nothing new--but what is new is the sheer number of riffs in the songs. James Hetfield said it best, "We've jammed six riffs into one song? Let's make it eight. Let's go crazy with it." There's fast riffs like in "Dyers Eve," there's slow riffs in "To Live Is To Die," there's melodic riffs like in "One," and there's riffs that are thick and brutal like most of the riffs in "...And Justice For All." It's just my kind of album with all of these riffs. I love it.
Side Note: oddly enough, I actually do NOT like the riff for "Blackened." More on that later.

The second thing I like about this album is just the heaviness of some of the songs. The guitars sound very clean and simple on some tracks, (i.e., "One") but they also sound rough and buzzy at other times. While this is most likely a byproduct of the sub-par production, the strange, pseudo-lo fi guitar sound somehow manages to work very well on a few tracks. "To Live Is To Die" is an example where the production compliments the downpicking barrage, and goes beyond just sounding heavy: it's edgy, brutal, and the guitars even manage to somewhat mask the absent bass. Despite this highly unusual screechy, shrill heaviness, the song still manages to remain close to a technical thrash sound, and not just bland noise. It's all just completely unlike any other thrash metal album in the sound, and it really makes ...And Justice For All sound like both a technical progressive thrash album, but also a technical brutal thrash album.

It's not all good though. The production hurts some songs as much as it helps others. "The Shortest Straw" is almost unlistenable to me. The song structure isn't very complex, which would sound fine, if it wasn't for the fact that without audible bass and high fidelity production, the song sounds very 1-dimensional and affords no chance for an atmospheric or engaging sound.
I also want to take a moment to discuss (ugh) "Blackened." Coming of the heels of great opening tracks like "Battery," "Fight Fire With Fire," and "Hit The Lights," it's really comparatively abysmal compared to those three. And it has such a stock thrash riff that's only calling card is that it's just played fast. It's really boring for me. I expected better from you Metallica.

Anyway, that's what I think of this album.