...And Justice for All (album)

...And Justice for All
A painting of Justice as a woman with a sword in her hand, a blindfold and scales in her other hand.
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 25, 1988 (1988-08-25)
RecordedJanuary 28 – May 1, 1988
StudioOne on One (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length65:24
LabelElektra
Producer
Metallica chronology
The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited
(1987)
...And Justice for All
(1988)
The Good, the Bad & the Live
(1990)
Metallica studio album chronology
Master of Puppets
(1986)
...And Justice for All
(1988)
Metallica
(1991)
Singles from ...And Justice for All
  1. "Harvester of Sorrow"
    Released: August 28, 1988[1]
  2. "Eye of the Beholder"
    Released: October 30, 1988[2]
  3. "One"
    Released: January 10, 1989[3]

...And Justice for All is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on August 25, 1988, by Elektra Records. It was Metallica's first full length studio (LP) album to feature bassist Jason Newsted, following the death of their previous bassist Cliff Burton in 1986. Burton received posthumous co-writing credit on "To Live Is to Die" as Newsted followed bass lines Burton had recorded prior to his death.[4]

Metallica recorded the album with producer Flemming Rasmussen over four months in early 1988 at One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles. It features aggressive complexity, fast tempos, and few verse-chorus structures. It contains lyrical themes of political and legal injustices, such as governmental corruption, censorship, and war. The cover, designed by Roger Gorman with illustration by Stephen Gorman and based on a concept by Metallica guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, depicts Lady Justice bound in ropes, being pulled by them to the point of breaking, with dollar bills piled upon and falling off her scales. The album title is derived from the last four words of the American Pledge of Allegiance. Three of its songs were released as singles: "Harvester of Sorrow", "Eye of the Beholder", and "One"; the title track, "...And Justice for All", was released as a promotional single.

...And Justice for All was acclaimed by music critics for its depth and complexity, although its dry mix and nearly inaudible bass guitar were criticized. It was included in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll of the year's best albums, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1989, controversially losing out to Jethro Tull in the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental category. The single "One" backed the band's debut music video, and earned Metallica their first Grammy Award in 1990 (and the first ever in the Best Metal Performance category). It was successful in the United States, peaking at number six on the Billboard 200, and was certified 8× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2003 for shipping eight million copies in the U.S.

The album was reissued on November 2, 2018, in vinyl, CD, and cassette formats, as well as receiving a deluxe box set treatment with bonus tracks and unreleased video footage.[5] The reissue reached number 37 and 42 on Billboard's Top Album Sales and Top Rock Albums charts, respectively.[6][7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Harvester2011-08-15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Beholder2013-08-13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference One2011-08-15 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ McIver, Joel (2016). To Live Is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton (2nd ed.). Jawbone Press. pp. (226–227). ISBN 978-1911036128.
  5. ^ Spencer Kaufman (September 6, 2018). "Metallica announce deluxe reissue of ...And Justice For All". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on January 13, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  6. ^ "Metallica Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  7. ^ "Metallica Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2018.