#441: Metallica - ...And Justice for All (1988)

Zack: I’m not going to look it up, but I think we last listened to Metallica in the summer of 2011, because I think I had just moved into my apartment on 8^th St. before junior year of college. So we’re just getting back to Metallica like 6 years later, which is crazy. But it does make me a bit nostalgic, and that gets me thinking about how far my musical tastes have developed since then and how big a role this blog has had in that. When we started this endeavor, I would have said that I hated metal and country music. And while neither are my favorite genres by any stretch, I now have a more nuanced view based on subgenres and eras. On the country front, I spent this past week obsessively listening to Jason Isbell’s newest album and trying to figure out how difficult it would be to go to Columbia, MD to see Sturgill Simpson. And on the metal front, there’s how much thought I put in to deciding when to listen to …And Justice for All. Occasionally, I get into certain moods where I crave Metallica (and one or two other similar bands). I’ll listen to Ride the Lightning and the Black Album two or three times in a row and it’ll just feel perfect. But if I’m not in one of those headspaces, the music just doesn’t do the same things for me. And I really wanted to like this album, so I put off listening to it for well over a week, just waiting for the right time. Well, on a lazy Saturday afternoon, the time was right. I hit play, and I’m so glad I waited. I liked …And Justice for All a lot. Not more than I like the two other Metallica albums I listed above, but more than enough. It was kind of rough sounding, but sometimes that is exactly what you need. The guitar work was frequently exquisite, flipping between rumbling and growling and more virtuoso segments. It was a very dynamic album. My main complaint is that a number of the songs go on for a minute or two too long. They’re not overly repetitive – Metallica are always changing things up throughout the course of each song – but they just feel like they’ve run their course, and then just keep trucking on. That point's minor, though, as overall …And Justice for All really stood out as a powerful piece of art…if the mood is right anyway.

Favorite Tracks: One; To Live Is to Die; Blackened

Emily: I took a quick look back at my previous Metallica review (Zack was right - it was from August 2011) to see what I thought about the band before. I basically described it as kinder, gentler metal music than some of what we had experienced before, which greatly improved my listening experience. I think the same holds true for ...And Justice for All. The songs are tightly constructed with intricate guitars, and the sound is powerful enough to fill a stadium without feeling like your head is getting screamed off. It's no wonder that Metallica is still going strong today, and that One - the standout track on this album - is a permanent fixture in their setlist.

Favorite Tracks: One; Blackened; Eye of the Beholder

#374: Anthrax - Among the Living (1987)

Zack: Of the Big 4 thrash metal bands, Anthrax was the one I was least excited to listen to. Metallica and Megadeth are just such big names that you want to see what all the fuss is about, and the few Slayer songs I know pique my interest enough that I want to know what a whole album of violent pandemonium (is that redundant?) sounds like. But I’ve got nothing on Anthrax, other than Scott Ian always seemed pleasant when he was giving commentary on VH1 shows and that time he was in a band for a reality show (also on VH1) with Ted Nugent and a bunch of other seemingly insane people. Also, they had a song called Madhouse on one of the Guitar Heroes, although I don’t remember really liking that song and it isn’t on this album anyway. Having officially dumped all of my Anthrax-related knowledge on the table, I found Among the Living to be kind of dull. It didn’t really have the same weight or ferocity that other thrash metal albums we’ve come across have. If you’ve read my reviews for lots of those albums, you’ll know that that could easily end up being a good thing. But here, it really just felt a bit too tame.

Favorite Tracks: One World; I Am the Law; the A.D.I. half of A.D.I./Horror of it All

Emily: Much like Zack, my main exposure to Anthrax was Scott Ian's near-constant presence on VH1 countdown and nostalgia shows throughout the mid-2000s. He usually had reasonable stuff to say, but his weird pointy beard is the main thing I remember about them. Has anyone else ever grown just the bottom of their beard out like 2 feet and then dyed it in various colors and stripes? Doubtful. And it turns out that Ian isn't even the main guy in Anthrax! He just plays rhythm guitar and sings backup. I guess an unusual beard and an appreciation for pop culture can really send a guy to the forefront. Anyway, Among the Living has absolutely nothing to do with any of that aside from the fact that Scott Ian is a member of Anthrax and played on the album. For a thrash metal album, I found it surprisingly listenable. There's loud and fast guitar and some screaming, but there's also some melody going on in there too. I'm not sure how actual metal fans feel about that, but for me it was a welcome change of pace.

Favorite Tracks: Indians; I Am the Law; Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)

#294: Megadeath - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? (1986)

Zack: I liked Peace Sells a lot and I can easily see it slipping alongside Metallica’s Black Album and Ride the Lightning (not on the list but damn good) as something I throw on every once in a while to get pumped. That’s pretty much been the ceiling for any metal album we’ve come across, so you should take that as a ringing endorsement. They’re clearly one of the big four thrash metal bands for a reason. That said, I want to point out that Peace Sells seems to have earned Megadeth a reputation as a metal band that writes socially conscious songs. That’s utter bullshit. Admittedly, I’m only going off one album, but there is only one song on this entire thing that doesn’t have to do with the occult, satanic rituals, or being exiled to Devil’s Island. Maybe the bar is a tad too low when 12.5% of an album needs to have some sort of political message to it and that qualifies as socially conscious.

Favorite Tracks: Good Morning/Black Friday; The Conjuring; My Last Words

Emily: Zack has put this album on our potential listen-to list for a while now, and I never picked it. I'm not exactly sure why, but subconsciously I think the combination of "mega" and "death" indicated music that I didn't exactly want to spend 45 minutes of my life listening to. This time, perhaps influenced by Zack bookending it next to Venom and Slayer, I picked Megadeath for this metal album go-round. Turns out that Megadeath is significantly less scary and obnoxious than their name implies. Yes, it's a thrash metal album through and through. However, the music is melodious and the singing is actually singing (rather than glorified screaming). Peace Sells moves swiftly and caught my ear, even as a non-metal fan. I doubt I'll add it in to my rotation of music, but it wasn't the worst way to spend 45 minutes.

Favorite Tracks: Peace Sells; My Last Words; Good Morning/Black Friday