...And Justice For All: 20 Years Later

Hetfield did a 180 on many of his old opinions - reading the lyrics to Ride The Lightning it's pretty clear:

Guilty as charged, but damn it, it ain't right
There's someone else controlling me
Death in the air, strapped in the electric chair
This can't be happening to me

Who made you God to say
"I'll take your life from you?"

lol

I wrote about the 10th anniversary of Death Magnetic for Stereogum, and talked about ...Justice a little. In there, I call it their first comeback album, since they were re-asserting themselves after Burton's death.

I vaguely remember reading something in the past few years where Hetfield said that his political views changed while on the Justice or Black Album tours, as a result of travelling around America so much and learning how people lived outside of California or something? I'll try to dig it up.

I interviewed him for 30 mins in 1997, and got in a question about his about face re: politics. the black album has "Don't tread on me" which I said to him was unmistakably a pro-Gulf war sentiment. He denied this somewhat unconvincingly, but went on to say that his travels around the world made him appreciate what he understood as American values, and that his lyrics afterwards were about "what you feel inside" (paraphrasing here) and no longer the result of watching CNN with Lars and saying lets be topical. So the band's orientation initially was to be anti-authoritarian in the manner of many of the non metal bands they liked, but clearly this was posturing on his part: when he became an older guy, late 20s-mid 30s, he reverted to the quasi-Nugent views that he probly would have had were he never to have heard Crass or Anti-Nowhere League.

Also, he got rich.

Lars is the cool one, confirmed yet again

But Echobrain remains ... the future.

So the band's orientation initially was to be anti-authoritarian in the manner of many of the non metal bands they liked, but clearly this was posturing on his part: when he became an older guy, late 20s-mid 30s, he reverted to the quasi-Nugent views that he probly would have had were he never to have heard Crass or Anti-Nowhere League.

I don't think it's fair to call it "posturing." Hetfield grew up in Downey, California, an aerospace industry town, and his parents were Christian Scientists, so he rebelled against all of that pretty hard when he was growing up, as one does. But as he got older, and richer, he got more conservative, which happens to about 75% of human beings. Some of it's not even "conservatism" in the red/blue Republican-Democrat sense, it's just old-guy thinking.

Many xxps - The lack of bass never bothered me on this album, but there are these annoying little oomph sounds in the negative space between two guitar notes that I find very irritating. It's very clear right after the intro of the title track, as soon as the drums kick in, but once you hear it, it's all over the record. Anyway, excited for the rough mixes.

I get the impression Hetfield's lyrics on the thrash albums were written to provide an atmospheric context to the music rather than because the issues massively converned him. In a way I think his songwriting's grown more personal as it's got worse.

I could watch Kirk Hammett open boxes all day.

the result of watching CNN with Lars

I mean, this would probably make me go MAGA too.

That may have been what I was thinking of. Thank you, veronica.

man I doubt very much that what you read was my shit. Was for Timeout NY in 1997, which is not archived online. But he has said as much very widely.

thread has sent me to listen to Hardwired for the first time…four songs in, I got bored with the album per se and went to the Dio/Rainbow, Maiden and Deep Purple covers. Gotta say that I liked mid 90s Metallica just fine ("the Unforgiven II" is one of my favorite things they ever done) and don't think much of 00s material.

The ultimate in vanity
Exploiting their supremacy
Obama's birth certificate's fake
I can't believe, I can't believe the price
He paid

Your best friend is dead
You know there’s not an answer in Budweiser
What do you do?

the drums on this record kick ass

Yes they do!

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the songs or the performances but the record definitely could’ve sounded better.

no it couldn't!

there's no bass tho

also drums sound kind of funny

To ease my misgivings over the bass/other misc. issues, I like to think of AJFA as sonically one big rhythm guitar

i mean i like it!

I enjoy this album very much

anybody have a parametric equalizer hooked up to their stereo?

Lars on fire

Helluva way to deal with Jaymz's recent news

Shortest Straw ftw

This album

Anyone complain about the bass sound above?

What bass sound?

Oh wow, they actually played my favorite song once, in its entirety, and did it justice (lol): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF5OHUXamFQ

Which is the one that was supposedly "unplayable," due to punch-ins and overdubs and stuff?

I know it's traditionally metal and all, but I guess James still gets a pass for the Iron Cross?

That's Dyer's Eve. They've now played it, with Lars gutting the drum part.

XPS

Iron crosses have a long history in California Biker/Surfer/Hot Rod culture. One of the times he cleaned up, Hetfield really got into Hot Rods, which I imagine informed both the cross and pinstriping on his guitar.

https://www.hotrodders.com/forum/maltese-cross-14960.html

Just searched "Dyer's Eve demo" on youtube on a hunch, and there you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXtSwgCEktE

See, Lars used to be able to play that ridiculously fast & long double bass part in the verse even without punch-ins.

But the Maltese cross is not the Iron Cross. That's an Iron Cross, which is associated afaik just with Germany. Right?

(Not picking a fight with James, who already has a history of being associated with or saying questionable stuff about a bunch of bad shit.)

I remember hearing this version on a bootleg in a used CD store listening station when I was a kid, and realizing that the best riffs are the actually the ones under the solos (maybe because James doesn't have to sing, or even lock in with another rhythm guitarist): https://youtu.be/WAfcp54co4M?t=257

I don't hear any double bass on that demo in the verse? Sounds like a simplified drum beat compared to the studio recording? Unless that was the joke...

Or it could be the shittiness of the recording and my waning hearing. I hear something approximating double bass but it's faint

I hear something approximating double bass but it's faint

That's our Lars ....

;)

I'm on headphones and can definitely hear it throughout (not a lot of attack on that demo recording), and his time is super tight compared to most live shows.

Lars rules

Lars is like Ringo: love him or not, I can't imagine anyone else in his place.

Or I guess I can imagine it, but wouldn't want it.

Protect Lars

Imagine being in your 50s and having legions of lunkheads caring about your double kick skills

Seriously, not least because all the young guns trigger anyway.