METALLICA “…AND JUSTICE FOR ALL”

…And Justice for All is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on August 25, 1988, through Elektra Records. It was the band’s first studio album to feature bassist Jason Newsted after the death of Cliff Burton in 1986.

The band recorded …And Justice for All during early 1988 at One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Musically, the album is progressive, with long and complex songs, fast tempos, and few verse-chorus structures. It is noted for its sterile production, which producer Flemming Rasmussen attributed to his absence during the mixing process. The lyrics feature themes of political and legal injustice seen through the prisms of censorship, war, and nuclear brinkmanship. The album’s front cover, designed by Stephen Gorman on a scheme by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, features a representation of Lady Justice, bound by ropes, with two breasts bare and its scales tipping toward one plate filled with money. The phrase “…And Justice for All” appears spray-painted in the lower right corner. The album title is derived from the American Pledge of Allegiance. Three songs from the album were released as singles: “Harvester of Sorrow”, “Eye of the Beholder” and “One”; the title track was released as a promotional single.