The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 plus 5 letter word HEAR BOTH SIDES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
H
E
A
R
B
O
T
H
S
I
D
E
S
More clues leading to the result HEAR BOTH SIDES
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Listen to the complete record/attempt to reach balanced view" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case listen to the complete record/attempt to reach balanced view = hear both sides.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.