This is the first album by Metallica that I really heard. I was in the lower sixth form at secondary school and was already into Iron Maiden and AC/DC. Someone introduced me to the song “One” from this album and I never looked back. I have a copy of “One” the single on music cassette (cassingle) the cover of which might have a burn hole in it!
This was Metallica’s first studio album since their bassist, Cliff Burton, died. Although they released an EP and it had a good mix with the bass nice and loud this album turned Jason Newstead down. You can barely hear him. It’s a shame as he’s a good player.
“Blackened” is your classic metal/thrash environmental protest song. Hey, it happened a lot in the 80s, we were concerned about that sort of thing. Not that anyone actually did anything. It’s surprising how far humans have come in the last 30 years. Now we have people denying it actually is happening!
The song “. . . And Justice For All” is alright but I find the opening quite childish. “One” is brilliant although just an updated “Fade To Black”. I really like “Harvester of Sorrow”, just really appreciate its pace and riffs. The last three songs I can live without. I’m pretty sure they only wrote “Dyers Eve” so that they still sounded fast. The problem is the best songs are written at the end of your teenage years and after that it’s all about growing up! The anger gets replaced with money and comfortableness!
It’s not a bad album and not Metallica’s worst but it’s not in the top four.