No album brought heavy metal into the mainstream quite like Metallica’s “… And Justice For All.” It didn’t hurt that in the golden age of MTV, the anti-war video for “One” was on HEAVY rotation and turned James Hetfield and the rest of the band into household names. But this was still a heavy metal album with all the boxes checked: dark, brooding lyrics; growling vocals; speed-metal guitar riffs; and even double kick drums courtesy of Lars Ulrich. But unlike a lot of previous metal albums, which tended to dive into the dark and sinister for the sake of being dark and sinister, “Justice” was the thinking man’s metal album with songs about loss of freedom, inequality, and, of course justice. But there was still just enough of the songs about death and anger and genocide for any headbanger to enjoy.

References in this Epipod:

• Matt’s Memory 
• Da Butt

You can buy or stream …And Justice For All by Metallica online at iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon.