| "...And Justice for All" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Metallica | ||||
| from the album ...And Justice for All | ||||
| Released | September 6, 1988 | |||
| Recorded | January–May, 1988 at One on One Studios, Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | Thrash metal, heavy metal | |||
| Length | 9:46 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Writer(s) | James Hetfield / Lars Ulrich / Kirk Hammett | |||
| Producer | Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen | |||
| Metallica singles chronology | ||||
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"...And Justice for All" is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as a promo single from their album of the same name.
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The song title is the last four words of the Pledge of Allegiance. The lyrics refers to the act of social injustice, in which "Lady Justice" is "raped". Especially at the end of the verse, "Pulling your strings, justice is done" as the ultimate symbol of a miscarried justice.
Justice Is Lost,
Justice Is Raped,
Justice Is Gone.
It is Metallica's fifth longest song at 9:46. Only track 8 on the album, "To Live Is to Die" at 9:49, the song "The Outlaw Torn" (Load) at 9:48 (10:48 on "Unencumbered by Manufacturing Restrictions Version"), "Suicide & Redemption" on Death Magnetic (9:57) and "Mercyful Fate" (a cover medley of songs by the band Mercyful Fate, which was featured on the cover album Garage Inc.) at 11:12, are longer.
The song is featured in the Metallica 3-Pack that is downloadable content for the music video game series Rock Band.
Due to its complexity, the song was (at least until Sick of the Studio '07) only performed live by the band during their 1988 Damaged Justice world tour in support of the album. As lead guitarist Kirk Hammett would later say in SoWhat! magazine, "'Justice' was a bit much for me. I couldn't stand watching the front row start to yawn by the eighth or ninth minute." Also, when played live the intro of the song is played as a recording due to the intro requiring 3 guitars.
In 1997 at the Playboy Mansion Metallica performed "...And Justice for All" and when it was done they swore to never play it again. During the Madly in Anger with the World and Escape from the Studio '06 tours, Metallica would often tease the fans by playing parts of the song, with Hetfield usually saying nobody wants to hear the song. It remained to be seen whether Metallica would ever play the song in its entirety, or play it on a medley, which was the case during the Wherever We May Roam/Nowhere Else to Roam Tours in 1991-1993. Then on June 28, 2007, Metallica played "...And Justice for All" in its entirety for the first time since October 1989, nearly 18 years before, in Lisbon, Portugal on the first show of the Sick of the Studio '07 tour.
It was also played on their headlining set at the new Wembley Stadium on July 8, on July 10 at Valle Hovin in Norway, at Stockholms Stadion on July 12, at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on July 15, at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia on July 18, at Skonto Stadium in Riga, Latvia on July 20, Parco Nord in Bologna, Italy on July 22, Dublin, Ireland on August 20, at Reading Festival [1] August 24, Reading Boston on January 18, and recently at their performances such as KFMA day at the Pima County Fairgrounds in Tucson, Arizona on May 16, 2008, at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, AB on December 4, 2008, the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on January 31, 2009, at The O2 arena in London on March 28, 2009, and on June 7, at Foro Sol, in Mexico City, all four on the World Magnetic Tour.
A live performance of the complete song appears on the DVD "Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria", recorded in Mexico City during the World Magnetic Tour, and so the song does occasionally appear on the band's live setlist during their modern-day tours.
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