Metallica, ...And Justice For All
I was beginning to feel like I had to listen to something interesting or risk losing interest in this project altogether, and this album fit the bill nicely. This was the album that first got me interested in heavy metal, in large part because it was so much more intelligent than I imagined heavy metal to be. Musically, it's complex enough to be interesting but still tremendously energetic. Lyrically, it tackles some weighty issues: the environment, censorship, and of course, the justice system. But most of all, it just rocks. I'm not familiar with much of Metallica's work after the self-titled album that followed this one, but I have to believe that this is the magnum opus of one of metal's greatest bands. (Buy)