Metallica - …And Justice for All (Remastered) (2020) [Hi-Res]

..And Justice for All is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on September 7, 1988[4] via Elektra Records. This was the last album to feature songwriting contributions from Cliff Burton, and the first to feature contributions from his replacement, Jason Newsted, following the fatal bus accident on September 27, 1986.

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, with an oft-criticized dry and bass-light mix. The lyrical themes of political and legal injustice project through the prisms of censorship, war, and nuclear brinkmanship.[clarification needed] The cover, designed by Stephen Gorman based on a concept by Metallica guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, depicts Lady Justice bound in ropes. The album title is derived from 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 was released as a promotional single.

"Having already established themselves as the streetwise saviors of heavy metal's oft-tainted legacy in the '80s, Metallica rebounded from the accidental death of original bassist Cliff Burton to produce their most thematically challenging, musically accomplished album to date. Despite James Hetfield's dank, extended portraits of a world collapsing from corruption and decadence--themes that virtually guaranteed it little radio or television exposure--the album was nonetheless a muscular commercial success. Even "One," its complex, seven-and-a-half-minute adaptation of Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun," managed to scale the singles charts. Other highlights include "Blackened," "Eye of the Beholder," and the sweeping "To Live Is to Die," tracks that underscore a sense of musical ambition that's often downright prog-centric, yet never merely self-indulgent." (Jerry McCulley)

James Hetfield, guitar, vocals
Lars Ulrich, drums
Kirk Hammett, guitar
Cliff Burton, bass

Produced by Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen

Digitally remastered