While metal, especially in its early stages, is known for being pretty complex at times, Metallica's fourth album, ...And Justice for All, is where this complexity reaches new labyrinthine highs.

The band’s first album to be recorded after the tragic death of talented original bassist Cliff Burton (although he does receive a songwriting credit on "To Live Is To Die"), Justice saw the band whiningly preach and philosophize about war (the smash hit "One"), paranoia (“The Shortest Straw”), censorship ("Eye Of The Beholder"), the fall of mankind ("Blackened"), and the like. This ridiculously overbaked songwriting is helped in no way by extremely excessive music (most songs nearly clock in at 10 minutes) and weirdly tinny production.

Despite Justice’s self-indulgence and flat sound, it stands as perhaps Metallica’s most underrated (and ultimately rewarding) set. Indeed, it was the last thing the foursome (including new bassist Jason Newsted, who bizarrely was almost entirely mixed out of the album) recorded before leaping headfirst into the mainstream with the non-thrash mega-hit “Enter Sandman” and its accompanying album, Metallica. For that reason alone, ...And Justice for All is highly recommended for thrash historians and hardcore enthusiasts, though everyone else should start with the classic Master of Puppets instead.