Off topic, don't care much about double posts, added everyone on first page, working my way through.
No other guesses on the 948?
If I google "Metallica 948" all I get is ebay listings for Kerrang 948 with SOAD and Metallica in it which I actually remember buying in 2003...
My mind is drawing a blank, and I would consider myself a decent Metallica fan.
The 948 has to do with a specific song.
Years ago when I made my started my first email account back in 97 or so, I used rocket mail. The name I wanted wasn't available so I used 948 for the number. The 948 is the length of the son To Live is to Die. This was my favorite son on the ...And Justice for All album. The song is essentially a tribute to Cliff Burton, their former bassist who died in a bus accident on Oct 27th, 1987. The songs bass line has a lot of Cliffs influence and is essentially an instrumental, but with James Hetfield reciting a poem that Cliff had wrote.
"When a man lies,
He murders a part of his world.
These are the pale deaths which men miscall their lives.
All this I cannot bear to witness any longer.
Cannot the kingdom of salvation take me home."
This song is also the longest song on the album with the title track coming in at a close 9:44.