āDyerās Eveā capped a roughly 5-year stretch when Metallica was absolutely untouchable, both as writers and players. Ā For better or worse, the band would ascend to astronomical commercial heights soon after, but they would never sound quite like this- this hungry, this purposeful, this committed- until āSpit Out the Boneā closed Hardwired⦠To Self-Destruct almost 30 years later (sorry, ātallica apologists: Death Magnetic was a nice try, but was overly self-conscious and didnāt come close to recapturing what made Metallica a singular force in music). Ā To be fair, James and Lars first showed their strange penchant for self-sabotage by ruining ā¦And Justice for Allās mix, and āDyerās Eveā did initially suffer as a result. Ā However, once Jason Newstedās bass was re-introduced (as on the highly circulated bootleg version presented here), the song straight up destroys, showing Metallica in full flight and recovering nicely from the shattering loss of Cliff Burton. Ā Jamesā yarling was prime Hetfield, Larsā drums sound less tinny, and the dynamics register more profoundly. Ā And unlike the rest of Justice, āDyerās Eveā was able to cover a lot of ground without stretching into the 7-minute zone. Ā If Metallica had to change their approach after taking their groundbreaking sound- and thrash metal as a whole- as far as it could go, this was an incredible way to end an era.