Eye of the Beholder (song)
| Eye of the Beholder | |
|---|---|
| Metallica | |
| publication | October 30, 1988 |
| length | 6:29 |
| Genre (s) | Thrash metal |
| Author (s) | James Hetfield , Lars Ulrich , Kirk Hammett |
| album | ... And Justice for All |
Eye of the Beholder ( English for: "eye of the viewer") is a song by the US metal band Metallica . The piece was released in North America in 1988 as the second single from their fourth studio album ... And Justice for All .
Emergence
Eye of the Beholder was written by James Hetfield , Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett . The song is based on an in staccato played E major / G major / F-sharp major - Sequence and is played in mid-tempo. The text speaks out against legal restrictions on freedom of expression .
The song was inspired by the censorship proceedings against the album Frankenchrist by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys . The album was accompanied by the poster Landscape #XX , also known as "Penis Landscape" by the Swiss artist HR Giger . The picture shows several erect penises which in vaginas penetrate.
"Freedom of speech
Speech is words that they will bend
Freedom with their exception"
"Freedom of Expression
Language are words that bend them
Freedom with their exception"
As the B-side , the band recorded a cover version of the song Breadfan , which originally comes from the Welsh heavy metal band Budgie .
Live performances
Eye of the Beholder was only played live on the Damaged Justice tour . The song was last performed at a concert on July 14, 1989 in Middletown . Since then, Metallica have played parts of the song as part of a potpourri . A live recording of Eye of the Beholder was released on the limited EP Six Feet Down Under in 2010 .
reception
Borivoj Krgin from Metal Forces magazine described the song in a review as an epic song with a strong chorus that stuck in your head the first time you listened to it. British journalist Joel McIver described Eye of the Beholder in his band biography Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica as the weakest song on the album.
The single could not place in the charts . Eye of the Beholder ranks 65th in a list of the 100 best Metallica songs by Guitar World magazine .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Joel McIver: Justice for All: The truth about Metallica . Bosworth Music, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86543-368-8 , pp. 248 .
- ↑ Mick Wall, Malcolm Dome: Metallica - story and songs compact . Bosworth Music, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-86543-273-5 , pp. 54 .
- ↑ Michael Rensen: Thrash, Grief & Triumphs . In: Rock Hard , Metallica special , p. 39
- ↑ Eye Of The Beholder . metlists.com
- ^ Metallica - ... And Justice For All . metalforcesmagazine.com
- ↑ The 100 Greatest Metallica Songs of All Time. ( Memento of the original from July 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. guitarworld.com
