In a new interview with Vulture.com, Lars Ulrich was asked to name the METALLICA song he never wants to hear again. He responded: “There’s a song called ‘Eye Of The Beholder’ on the ‘…[And] Justice [For All]’ album. Wherever I hear that song, it sounds kind of like — I guess we don’t want to be super-disrespectful to it — but it sounds really forced. It sounds like you put a square peg in a round hole. It sounds like it’s got two different tempos. There’s kind of a 4/4 feel in the intro and on the verses, and then I think the choruses are more like in a waltz tempo. It literally sounds like two different worlds rubbing up against each other. It sounds very awkward to me. I’m not a huge fan of that song.
“I guess the asterisk is that, to me, we did the best we could each moment. So of course, sometimes you sit down and go ‘Huh?’ or ‘That could have been better’ or ‘That was a little awkward’ or ‘That feels a little silly or easy’ or ‘That feels over-thought-out’ or whatever. It goes back to that whole thing about the past is the past, and I don’t spend a long time back there. And there’s not really much I can do about it [laughs] and honestly, I don’t listen to them. I don’t listen to a lot of METALLICA music. Part of it is because I’m sort of overly analytical [about the details]. It’s basically almost impossible for me to listen to a METALLICA song without going, ‘Okay, how are the sonics, how’s the mix, how does the guitar sound? The vocals are too loud, the bass is too boomy.’ It becomes this exercise in analytics. When you hear your favorite band — like if I listened to RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE or something, I just fucking let myself go. But when METALLICA comes on it’s like, ‘Huh?'”
“…And Justice For All” was originally released on September 7, 1988 on Elektra Records.
While “…And Justice For All” is considered one of METALLICA‘s classics, it has been criticized almost since the day it was released in 1988 for the lack of any bass guitar on the record. Jason Newsted‘s playing is virtually buried in the mix — and many fans feel that Ulrich, who had very specific ideas for how he wanted his drums to sound, is to blame.
“…And Justice For All” was Newsted‘s first full-length album with METALLICA after he replaced late bassist Cliff Burton in 1986.
The album was the first by the band to sell more than a million copies and featured their first radio hit, “One”, which was also the basis of the group’s first music video.
The record was nominated for the first-ever Grammy for “Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance”, but infamously lost to JETHRO TULL‘s “Crest Of A Knave”.
