1988 - ...and justice for all

THEY WERE THE REIGNING KINGS OF METAL.
And Metallica got there without the help of MTV or radio.  
For once, it was the music that did the talking.  
That, and the loyalty of a million acne-faced teens who didn’t give a flying f*ck about trends.  
In 1988, Metallica dropped the much-anticipated ...And Justice For All,
a horse pill of an album featuring songs that were too long, and a bass guitar that was non-existent.  
Nonetheless, it was a massive load of AWESOME.  
Oddly, Metallica felt as if they had to prove themselves technically —
so they got a little more complex, progressive, and long-winded.  
But the tunes ruled!  
Thrashterpieces like Blackened, … And Justice For All, and One highlight this juggernaut of injustice.  
Metallica debuted their first video ever with their disturbing promo for One —
a video that, despite some of the band’s hardcore fans crying “sell-out”, was just as cool as we could have hoped.  
(The lyrics to One pretty much sums up my worst nightmare!)  
At the time, Metallica bowed to nobody.  
… And Justice For All was at once sprawling and overindulgent, but except for the boring (and seemingly endless) instrumental track,
there isn’t a song to be missed on this weighty slab.  
When the dust cleared, Metallica walked away, still kings.  
But heavy lies the crown.  
It turns out … And Justice For All was Metallica’s final statement on thrash.  
As if they had nothing more to say on the subject, Metallica’s next move was to streamline their sound on 1991’s Metallica album —
abandoning thrash and taking with them the commercial viability of the entire genre —
essentially killing off the hopes and dreams of all the other thrash bands that followed the trail Metallica blazed.  
What Metallica once built, they knowingly destroyed (for better or worse).  Metallica giveth, and Metallica taketh away.  
After the exhausting  … And Justice For All, Metallica thought it was time to move on.  
Justice was DONE.