Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Metallica - Metallica (1991)

All good things must come to an end they say.  Too much of a good thing is bad for you, etc, etc.  Quotations aside, Metallica had actually peaked for me before they went all accessible on this record.  The technical thrashing agility of ...And Justice For All was the band at the pinnacle of their powers, showing their maturity as a group and promising yet bigger and better things to come.  And then came their self-titled release...

I actually don't think it is a bad record and would actually go as far as to say that anyone would be hard pushed to find many other albums that unleashed such a perfect blend of thrash metal and more traditional metal influences so effortlessly.  At the time of the release I was actually playing the record like five times a day and had no qualms about the ballads or more commercial aspect of the album overall.  I stand by those sentiments somewhat to this day, albeit with acknowledgment that the impact of it has diminished somewhat now I am the proud owner of each album that came prior to this.

Although nowadays it comes up short in comparison with anything the band did before it there's no denying that there's tracks here that are forever engraved in the ridges of my memory.  Whether it is the riff to Enter Sandman or the eastern style promise of the guitar on Wherever I May Roam or even the chopping rhythm of The God That Failed there's stuff here that has quality if not edge.  It is precisely the kind of record that gets recorded that sends bands stratospheric (due in no small part to Bob Rock's input) and ticks all the boxes for that journey.  There's not one song on here that wouldn't sound just as good live as it does in the studio.

As I mention above, there's just too little in the way of comparison to previous output to benchmark this record as being that good a Metallica album.  It sounds like Metallica most definitely but it lacks for me the cut and thrust of a thrash metal band.  It could be the polish of the production job but I get no real feel from the album nowadays ulike when I am listening to the potent rage of Master of Puppets for example.  If like me, you believe the band might as well have split up after this release then it is not a bad record as such to hang your hi-top trainers up on but in some ways I would have been happier to see them call it quits immediately after ...And Justice For All and protect their legacy somewhat better.