Song of the Week – Dyer’s Eve
…And Justice For All is probably the one album I would love to see remastered right now. There’s something about the sound of the recording that just doesn’t fill my ears the way current production practices maximize both sound and volume. I would re-buy this album in a heartbeat along with many of the 80′s era Thrash albums. I don’t think there is a bad song on this album. Dyer’s Eve along with The Shortest Straw are my favorites.
Dyer’s Eve, from what I understand, is not played live very often. Of the four times I have seen Metallica, I have never seen it live. Here it is for your Song of the Week live from France…lucky fans! Have a great day.
Posted on August 15, 2012, in Song of the Week and tagged And Justice For All, Dyer's Eve, Metallica. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Good call. ‘…Justice…’ suffers somewhat from being sandwiched between ‘…Puppets’ and ‘Metallica’ , both – rightly – revered as classics of the modern rock canon. It’s musically indulgent to a degree and rigidly follows a formula established since ‘Ride…’ – Thrashy openers followed by epic title tracks, (similarly-themed) power ballads closing side one, epic instrumentals followed by thrashy closers on side two; and what can I say about the dry, bass-less production/mix that hasn’t already been said. I think it needs remixing more than remaastering to bring Newkid’s bass back into the picture, add some natural reverb and give a bit more ooomph to that irritating ‘clicky’ kick drum sound that was so popular back in the day (Testament and Pantera being other prime culprits). Gripes aside it’s a far stronger album than I remember it being. I’m listening to the album now for probably the first time in ten years and there are some killer songs on here. ‘Blackened’, ‘One’, ‘The Shortest Straw’, ‘Harvester of Sorrow’ and of course, ‘Dyer’s Eve’ are all highlights and much of the rest isn’t too shabby either. And the artwork deserves mentioning too – my favourite Metallica sleeve for sure.
The above is a good recording too. James’ vocals are spot on – not always the case – and Lars’ drums – which seem to come in for a disproportionate degree of criticism these days – sound great to me. Nice to see that tunes from this – occasionally underrated – album still get a bit of live exposure.
Justice is my personal favorite Metallica album and don’t understand why they haven’t done a remaster/remix yet. The fans certainly want it and it would sell like hot cakes. It’s not like it’s not famous for the lack of bass on it.
I remember reading somewhere that James doesn’t play this song live often because of what it means to him. Paraphrasing “It’s a song about a person I no longer am and don’t want to revisit”
Great tune nonetheless.