ONE

Excellent Prog Metal in the late 80s.

On first listen I was perplexed as to what Metallica were doing with this track, which is vastly different from the straight forward thrash of their previous albums. One is definitely a step in the more progressive direction, something they would not return to until the superior The Black Album and Death Magnetic. This track is a very solid piece of metal with some excellent riffing. One comes complete with machine gun fire effects and machine gun grinding guitars and some voices that sound like lost souls from the the war. It stands the test of time as a classic. The concept of a dying soldier who has lost everything taken by landmine is potent and makes an effective track, that ranges from melancholy acoustic flourishes to breakneck speed thrash. The lyrics are terrific throughout this track and the 'Landmine' lyrics section adorned many backs of T-Shirts in the late 80s. Overall One is a great track and is complimented with an outstanding film clip with scenes of war and the wounded soldier screaming for mercy. As far as Metallica goes, the album ...And Justice For All that this track is taken from, was to be their best effort for years to come until The Black Album masterpiece hit the stores with a vengeance.

'One' - Metallica (Single)

Although I am certainly not a full-blown Metallica fan, I do love this song. It stands out to me as their best, most masterful, most progressive song, and it's one of the few songs they've written that I really love. Starting off relatively mellow yet dark, some good bluesy soloing plays quietly over the trademark clean riff and the vocals kick in. Before long, the metal starts erupting and things get heavy.

The original artwork isn't much to look at and there is nothing here that you couldn't hear on a more 'complete' release (like a studio album, or even a compilation) but for the song's quality, it deserves a rating of four stars. However, the single should only be sought out by collectors and completionists, simply because the album this song comes off of is among the band's best. Despite the good rating I'm giving it, the single itself isn't worth the purchase if '...And Justice For All' is also available. Buy '...And Justice For All' instead!

"One" is a single/EP release by US thrash metal/heavy metal act Metallica. The single/EP contains three tracks: The title track, A live version of "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and a live version of "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)". The "One" track is taken directly off the "...And Justice for All (1988)" album, so it´s the two live tracks that are the most interesting songs on this single/EP. Both are well played and the sound quality is good. Back when "One" was released there were not as many live releases available featuring Metallica as there are today and I remember being pretty thrilled about this release.

The "One" single/EP is also included in the "The Good, the Bad and the Live (1990) " vinyl box-set. While "One" is mostly a fan release I still think the two live tracks makes this a worthy purchase and I will rate this single/EP with 3 stars.