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Track Listing: Blackened ...And Justice for All Eye of the Beholder One The Shortest Straw Harvester of Sorrow The Frayed Ends of Sanity To Live Is to Die Dyers Eve

Following up their astounding 1986 album Master Of Puppets was never going to be an easy task, but having to follow it up without a key member of your band seemed damn near impossible. On the 27th of September 1986, bassist Cliff Burton was killed in a bus accident near Ljungby in Sweden whilst on tour with the band. Replacing such a gifted bass player and songwriter must have seemed like such a daunting task but a man named Jason "Newkid" Newsted bravely stepped up to the task.

Opening with the classic Blackened, the intro fades in until it blasts you with its complex main riff. Similar in structure to that of Master Of Puppets opening song, Battery, both feature layered guitar intros that build up into their blistering main riffs. The main difference with Blackened's intro is that the guitars are actually coming in backwards! This creates a very unique and interesting sound. Although I wouldn't have said this song was particularly well known amongst the more casual Metallica fan, I always find that this is the song which causes the most pits and movement in the crowd. A fact which always surprises and delights me. It was used as the opening song on the majority of Metallica's 2004 tour and never failed to get the crowd whipped into a frenzy right from the get-go. This song was also Jason Newsted's first writing credit with the band, only of only three he ever had in his time with the band.

Metallica were becoming much more complex on this album and the songs were getting longer, with two songs touching the 10 minute mark. The first of those songs is my personal favourite, the title track. Another layered guitar intro which gets heavier and heavier as it goes on. A song about the injustices of the legal system, James spits out the lyrics with real hate and venom. Kirk always said that he didn't like to play this one live so much as it was too long with too many riffs. He also joked that people were falling asleep in the front row because of the length of it. Having been lucky enough to witness it live many times since it was brought back on the 2006 tour, I can assure you Kirk, that certainly isn't the case now.

The second 10 minute song is the incredible To Live Is To Die. Written using many riffs that Cliff had come up with prior to his death, it is mostly instrumental with the only words being a small spoken passge near the end of the song. This song contains the highlight of the entire album for me. Around halfway all the instruments stop in unision and a single guitar played by James plays one of the most beautiful, haunting melodies I have ever heard in my life. It is just dripping with emotion and conveys so much sadness. This song has never been played live but has been jammed on during the Justice tour during Jason's bass solo.

The "man of the match" award for this album goes to Lars Ulrich. Although never the most technically proficient drummer, but he always did what was best for Metallica. There's nothing more annoying than a drummer who overplays all the time, but Lars never does - he just provides an solid, powerful beat to the music. My favourite drum work on here is contained in the title track, Eye Of The Beholder and of course, Dyers Eve. Harvester Of Sorrow would probably feature in my list as well.

One of my favourite Metallica solos of all time is in this album. The main solo from the song The Shortest Straw. Precise and lightning fast, this solo is most definitely one of Kirk's best but sadly, he never plays it the same live as he does on the record, probably due to the difficulty of hitting the harmonics near the beginning which typically is my favourite part of the solo. All the songs on here have been played live apart from the aforementioned To Live Is To Die and The Frayed Ends Of Sanity. Featuring a chant from The Wizard Of Oz, this song is actually regluarly jammed on live with the band encouraging the crowd to sing the chants. I can only imagine one day they're going to shock us all and continue to play the rest of the song.

The single One was Metallica first foray into the world of music videos and what a video to start off with. Using footage from an obscure war film called "Johnny Got His Gun", it intercuts film footage and dialogue with the band playing the song in an abandoned warehouse. The song about a solider who's life is shattered in a landmine explosion, leaving him unable to see, hear, speak and without any arms or legs. The song is written from the solider's point of view and the video just helps bring the horror and sheer helplessness that the solider went, and is still going through, to life so vividly. This song is a huge crowd favourite and probably the best known from the album. Is it always played live, accompanied by an impressive pyro show.

The sound of this album is very raw and agressive. It was recorded with producer Flemming Rasmussen who had co-produced Master Of Puppets and their 1984 album Ride The Lightning. Whether it was done conciously or not, the bass is almost non existance in the final mix of this album. Some fans have been calling out for years to get it remixed but I think the lack of bass just adds to the charm and uniqueness of this album. Definitely not an album for the casual listener as I think the length and sheer amount of complex riffs and solo would be alot for someone unfamilar with the band to get accustomed to. For thrash enthusiasts however, this is a must hear album. This is Metallica's last all out thrash album before they chose a more melodic path on their 1991 self titled record and I think it definitely stands out as one of the greatest metal albums of all time.