...And Justice for All

"...And Justice for All" is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on September 7, 1988, by Elektra Records. It was the band’s first full-length studio release to feature bassist Jason Newsted, who joined following the death of Cliff Burton in 1986. Burton received a posthumous co-writing credit on "To Live Is to Die", as Newsted followed bass lines that Burton had recorded prior to his death. The album was recorded with producer Flemming Rasmussen over a four-month period in early 1988 at One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles. It is characterised by complex song structures, rapid tempos, and a minimal use of conventional verse–chorus formats. Lyrically, the album explores themes of political corruption, censorship, and social injustice. The cover art, conceived by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, was designed by Roger Gorman with illustration by Stephen Gorman, and depicts Lady Justice bound in ropes, cracked and leaning forward as dollar bills pile upon and fall from her scales. The title derives from the final words of the American Pledge of Allegiance. Three singles were released from the album: "Harvester of Sorrow", "Eye of the Beholder", and "One", while the title track was issued as a promotional single. Upon release, "...And Justice for All" was praised by critics for its musical ambition and technical precision, though its dry production and nearly inaudible bass guitar attracted criticism. It appeared in The Village Voice’s annual Pazz & Jop critics’ poll of the year’s best albums and received a Grammy Award nomination in 1989 for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental, losing to Jethro Tull in a result that was widely regarded as controversial. The single "One" was accompanied by Metallica’s first music video and earned the band their first Grammy Award in 1990, for Best Metal Performance. The album reached number six on the Billboard 200 and was certified eight times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2003 for shipments of eight million copies in the United States. It was reissued on November 2, 2018, in multiple formats including vinyl, CD, cassette, and a deluxe box set containing bonus tracks and previously unreleased footage. The reissue charted at number 37 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales and number 42 on the Top Rock Albums chart. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.