Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo revealed “The Frayed Ends Of Sanity” is his favorite deep cut of the band's to play live. Trujillo appeared on MMA Junkie and explained why the 1988 . . . And Justice For All track tops his list, saying, “That is a song I think we've played twice, maybe — not more than three times. We did play it a couple of times on tour, but it is a rarity. That song is probably the craziest of the Metallica archive or catalogue. What I like about that particular song is that it has all the ingredients that I like about Metallica. It has the power grooves, the stuff that makes you headbang, but at the same time, it gets crazy in the middle section.”
He went on to say, “It feels progressive like that, and that's what I actually like about it because there's something that's loose and reckless, but at the same time it's tight, so it has to be a conceived body of music in that section. . . I don't know if we will play that one again, but I hope so. That's the one for me right there.”
While . . . And Justice For All is considered one of Metallica's classics, it has been criticized almost since the day it was released in 1988 for the lack of any bass guitar on the record. Jason Newsted's playing is virtually buried in the mix, which many fans and recording mixer Steve Thompson blame on drummer Lars Ulrich, who wanted the drums to sound a certain way even at the expense of the bass.
Ulrich told us a while back that fans were extremely vocal about the sound of the album at the time of its release: “I mean it was unbelievable, y'know, . . .And Justice For All. People were saying, 'That's the worst-sounding record, where's the bass, and it sounds like it was recorded in a garage, and. . .' But, y'know, listen, you do the best you can in the moment and then you move on.”