Some might find it odd that an album by the inventors of speed metal is included on my list, especially this high. Most do not consider speed metal to be an important genre of music, and the audience of this type of music is usually your stereotypical teenage male stoner. And I suppose that was the way I thought until my junior year in high school as well.

I remember clearly ripping on my good friend Mark Feldman for listening to this type of music one night at church youth group. I grabbed his headphones away from him and listened to "Blackened" for about 30 seconds before handing his Walkman back to him and letting him know that I would never understand his taste in music. Shortly thereafter I became one of the first people in my class to purchase a CD player and Mark, wise beyond his years, took it upon himself to force me to give Metallica and speed metal another chance. Standing at my locker one day I was proudly presented with a brand new CD of... you guessed it... Metallica's ...And Justice For All. This CD promptly went home with me and went straight to the bottom of the pile. Of course, with only ten CD's it didn't take me long to give it another chance. I started just listening to the first fifteen seconds of each song... then just putting it on as background music... and before long I was hooked.

The problem with most speed metal is that the lyrics are very juvenile and violent, and Metallica was guilty of this early in their careers. However, the words on Justice, while still by no means award-winning, are quite a bit more mature. And it’s not only the words that are powerful but the way that they are sung. Lead singer James Hetfield’s growls and grunts fit closely with the rhythms and dark chords prevalent in the music. These songs are full of angst and madness. There are songs of self-destruction, destruction at the hands of others, broken bodies, broken lives, hypocrisy, and sorrow. There are no answers provided here, only a very accurate portrayal of life as seen through the eyes of those who have no hope.

In other words, perfect for a 17-year-old boy.

Would I be a huge fan of this album if I discovered it today? Probably not. I have probably regressed back to my stage where I would not give the 1987 Metallica a chance. It would probably go straight to the bottom of my pile if I were given this album for a gift.

But I still listen to this album and appreciate it for what it has done for me in the past: give me an open mind. A favorite lyric from another Metallica album says just that: "Open mind for a different view." I pride myself in my open-mindedness and I credit Justice for helping me attain that state of mind.

This album is the pinnacle of excellence for the genre it represents. Even if you don’t agree with the musicality of that genre, it’s hard to ignore perfection, no matter what it is.

Metallica's early work is excellent, if taken as a lead-in to Justice. The first three albums are all very high in energy and it's amazing to see how the band worked together as a cohesive unit. Some of the lyrics are very weak (songs about sea monsters and such) but some of it is very good as well. It is some of their early work, though, that lends itself to the theory that "all their stuff sounds the same."

After Justice, Metallica found an audience, and unfortunately this audience was the MTV audience. Their subsequent albums became more and more radio friendly, and they tried to create an image that they thought would sell more albums. While there are some great songs on Metallica (it's always an obvious indicator of a band trying to re-invent themselves when they name a new album like it's their debut album), Load, and Re-Load, there is no real moment of greatness on any of them.

One of the amazing things about seeing Metallica in concert is the fact that they can still play some of their old songs. These songs are so fast and furious and require such precision, I am surprised that they don't just scrap them all and do sets of all of their easier-to-play songs. However, it shows great respect to their fans that they know people listened to them before they became mainstream. While they play their new hits at every show, they have a great mix of the old songs as well.

Metallica is always guaranteed to put on a good stage show. On their Justice tour they created an ancient Roman setting, slowly building the state of "Lady Justice" before tearing the whole thing down at the end of the concert. The last time I saw them they put considerable time and effort into coming up with the most creative way to destroy their set. It was impressive.

I will continue to go to Metallica any time it is convenient for me as long as they continue to play "One" every time. This is one of the best songs ever to be seen live and it will always be worth the price of admission to see this song played.