AJFA is my favorite Metallica album. RTL is my 2nd favorite. I think RTL is more accessible partly from more melodic material, but AFJA imo was heavier and far more distinctive and just better sounding to me (less dated too) and a lot more interesting rhythmically
Dyers Eve and Blackened especially have some of their most iconic moments for me. I love RTL too, but was never a fan of the bloated midrange sound and overdone reverb (very ‘80’s sounding to me, a bit dated). I feel AJFA soundwise held up better for me and its strongest moments for me are Metallica at their best even though numerically RTL I feel has more good songs