Anthrax Albums (13)
'Alive 2: The Music'
Release Date 9/20/2005
Tracks 12
Label Sanctuary
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What The Critics Say
The first thing that hits you about Alive 2 is how terrific it sounds. Opening with "Among the Living," Charlie Benante's drums and the sludgy, churning guitars of Scott Ian and Dan Spitz peel out of the speakers at 4,000 decibels. It's like they're trying to make up for a decade lost. And maybe they are. Alive 2 chronicles a June 3, 2005 show at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ, and features Anthrax's classic lineup reunited for its 20th anniversary. Along with Spitz, Ian, and Benante, that includes Frank Bello on bass and vocalist Joey Belladonna. After "Among the Living" the quintet rumbles through incredibly tight versions of "Caught in a Mosh" and the double-bass-heavy "A.I.R." Anthrax goes all the way back to 1984's Fistful of Metal -- pre-Belladonna -- for "Deathrider," and the dude-heavy crowd greets Persistence of Time's "In My World" with chants of "Joey! Joey! Joey!" The set closes with "Be All End All" and the Judge Dredd tribute "I Am the Law." Fans will note that despite being a solid live album from start to finish -- it a better recording than 2004's Music of Mass Destruction, and the Belladonna-era lineup seems to be getting a thrill out of playing again -- Alive 2 only includes half of a commemorative Dredd drawing. The other half's in the Alive 2 DVD, which expands the song lineup to 13 songs and includes behind-the-scenes footage. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
'Music of Mass Destruction: Live from Chicago'
Release Date 1/1/2004
Tracks 30
Label Nuclear Blast
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What The Critics Say
Music of Mass Destruction captures a December 2003 Anthrax gig at Chicago's Metro. The band definitely hits on all cylinders during Mass Destruction's audio portion -- it runs through an athletic set of classics peppered with material from 2003's We've Come for You All, led by John Bush's powerful growl and the sold-out crowd, who the singer breaks into "Old Schoolers" and "New Schoolers" in a nod to Anthrax's newfound success at active rock radio. The single "Safe Home" is made more urgent by furious crowd participation, and "Nobody Knows Anything" -- another highlight from the new record -- features the double bass cannon fire of drummer Charlie Benante. The crowd rewards his song-ending drum solo with raucous chants of "Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!" With the audience acting as a sixth man throughout, as well as the inclusion of Bush's between-song rabble-rousing, Mass Destruction avoids the energy dissipation that often befalls live albums. Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano's guitars rip, and classics like "Caught in a Mosh," the infamous Joe Jackson cover "Got the Time," and "I Am the Law" more than make up for the few brief slips into utility metal dullness (most noticeably on "Inside Out"). Mass Destruction's audio portion wisely constricts the set that appears in full on the DVD; the minor editing makes Anthrax's gut-check warfare more visceral, tightening the grooves by excising filler. This isn't a self-congratulatory or bloated-by-fame live release -- this is a high-five to the fans, devil horns back to the throng of outstretched arms. Besides including the 16-song entirety of the Metro gig (viewable from different camera angles), Mass Destruction's DVD offers bonus tracks recorded a few days later at Flint, MI's venerable metal outpost the Machine Shop. There are also extensive and creative bandmember interviews, and an interview with comic book artist Alex Ross, who worked on the album's colorful liners. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
'We've Come for You All'
Release Date 8/27/2002
Tracks 14
Label Beyond
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What The Critics Say
The cover art of Anthrax's We've Come for You All depicts the band gripping a circle of hands, as a beam of light shines on them from behind. It can be taken two ways. Vocalist John Bush, drummer Charlie Benante, bassist Frank Bello, rhythm guitarist Scott Ian, and new lead guitarist Rob Caggiano might be pulling their fans onto an imaginary stage, to join them in the limelight. But those fans might also be pulling them back from the depths of label-derived acrimony that has plagued Anthrax in the years since Stomp 442, the band's last proper LP release. Since then, metal in all its forms rose to the top of the charts, and hybrids of rap-rock and nu-metal -- genres built on what Anthrax helped create -- came to dominate heavy alternative. With new personnel, a new label (Sanctuary), and the survival of a PR firestorm in the wake of the anthrax scare, all the pieces were in place for a comeback. Instead, Anthrax seems to have designed the pile-driving thrash and carefree rock forays of We've Come for You All to say one thing: We never left. While Anthrax famously kick-started the rap-metal genre with its Public Enemy collaboration on "Bring the Noise," it largely sidesteps the sound on We've Come for You All, opting instead for a volatile mix of thrash and conventional metal, anchored by the gruff vocals of Bush. After a brief intro, "What Doesn't Die" drops, with Bush sounding positively furious as he screams "You cannot kill what doesn't die." As the band cranks out a vintage thrash rhythm, Caggiano introduces himself with the first of many blistering solos. And if you're a fan of the double bass drum pedals, Benante's double-time outro is like a clinic for metal drumming. E-Town Concrete's Anthony Martini's animalistic roar begins the seething "Refuse to be Denied," which continues the album's theme of resolve. While the record does nod to modern production techniques (courtesy of Caggiano's Scrap 60 collective) and expands melodically, the instrumentation and rage that have always been Anthrax's hallmarks are for the most part present and accounted for, undiluted by forays into marginalized, corporatized active rock that might have sold some records, but wouldn't have won over any real fans. Unfortunately, the band chose "Safe at Home" -- one of the album's weakest tracks -- as We've Come for You All's single. Bearing a striking resemblance to Metallica's "Sad But True," the song opts for a pleading chorus that is the record's only straightforward nod to the anthemic post-grunge that has taken over metal in recent years. This misstep aside, We've Come for You All is a typical thrash metal album, in an age where such a thing no longer exists. The introspective acoustic guitar duet of "Anyplace But Here" gives way to a muscular Scott Ian riff that gives way to an effective nod to East Coast hardcore during the chorus. Though a bombastic overture slows things down ("There's ways to kill a giant"? Come on...), the song recovers with another screed from Caggiano. Though Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell stops by for the strutting '70s rock groove of "Cadillac Rock Box," the album features a more unlikely guest star on "Taking the Music Back." As Bush gives the lyrical finger to the record industry, Roger Daltrey appears to duet with him on the chorus and add a few trademark growls of his own. After another brief interlude, We've Come for You All makes its final descent with "Think About an End" and the closing title track. Once again, Bush's vocals present the band as a survivor, a unit that has always been supported by itself and its fans. At the same time, "Think" seems to lash out at Christianity. But it's strange. The song name-checks Rage Against the Machine in its chorus, uses the phrase "killing in the name" in its lyrics, and even bears a resemblance to the hard-hitting grooves of Rage's early material. It's unclear whether this reflects a positive or negative relationship between the two groups. Nevertheless, the song's meaty, churning groove slides right into the final title track. "W.C.F.Y.A."'s lyrics revel in heavy metal cliché ("The wrecking ball is here/Your chest contains no treasure"; "Patience starts to bleed/Increasing enmity/It's time to let the bullets fly"). But what is this band but a heavy metal survivor? If anyone can rely on the genre's boilerplate, it's Anthrax. A particularly nice touch is the fadeout on the song's final, titular words, as if they're still coming, for you, out there somewhere in the night. The band is sure to win back, win over, and alienate individual parts of its audience with We've Come for You All. But it's effectively reestablished itself not by embracing the recent homogenization of heavy music, but by grafting its more marketable elements onto its tried and true thrash. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
'Volume 8: The Threat Is Real'
Release Date 7/20/1998
Tracks 14
Label Tommy Boy
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What The Critics Say
Ignored by all but diehards, Stomp 442 found Anthrax in creative freefall, shackled to ideas that had ceased to be interesting years ago. Apparently, the band realized they were in dire straits -- that's the only explanation for the ambitious cavalcade of sounds on Volume 8: The Threat Is Real, the follow-up to Stomp 442. Coming on the heels of Anthrax's blandest effort, the whirling array of styles on Volume 8 is welcome, but it also hides the fact that the group hasn't exactly bounced back from a songwriting slump that first reared its head on Sound of White Noise. Sheer energy and attitude go a long way, however, and for a while the album is genuinely engaging. The speed metal has actual bite, and the departures, from the heavy percussion of the opener, "Crush," through the country stomp "Toast" to the unlisted acoustic closer, "Pieces," are nearly all successful. The problem is, the entire thing adds up to less than the sum of its parts. At first, the revitalized and newly creative Anthrax is enthralling, but soon it becomes apparent that all of the change is on the surface -- beneath the stylistic games, there aren't many memorable songs. Still, the surfaces are quite appealing, suggesting that Volume 8 is a transitional album that will lead Anthrax into new, uncharted territory. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Anthrax replaced longstanding vocalist Joey Belladonna with John Bush (of Armored Saint) and released the surprisingly melodic and predictably pummeling Sound of White Noise. Producer Dave Jerden, who had worked with Bush on the last Armored Saint disc as well as releases for Alice in Chains and Jane's Addiction, helped Anthrax channel its energy into the shape of the post-Seattle metal sound. This ostracized some fans and attracted others, but the change is incidental; the music is relentless, like a brigade of tanks, and chances are you'll be too busy running for your life to worry who's at the wheel. Sound of White Noise cudgels the listener like nothing since Among the Living; Charlie Benante's drums are everywhere they want to be, a hailstorm of thundering blows backed up by Frank Bello's basslines. The guitars of Dan Spitz and Scott Ian forsake their usual showmanship for a sludgier attack that's downright brutal, although some will miss the solos that were often the highlights of their earlier work. And many enjoy the vocals of Bush; he has a lower-register voice than Belladonna, and the result is menacing, premeditated, and sinister. When he sings on "Hy Pro Glo" that "I'll beat you into overload," you know he and the band will carry it through. There are so many good songs on Sound of White Noise that no two fans seem to agree on their favorites. "Only" is the obvious choice, "Invisible" and "Room for One More" are hard to argue with, "Hy Pro Glo" and "1000 Points of Hate" are too hot to contain, and even the cooled-down "Black Lodge" has its admirers. The infusion of melody into their metal gives the material a lot more personality than their last effort, Persistence of Time, though the lyrics are just as dark. True, Sound of White Noise isn't a peerless, groundbreaking album like Among the Living or I'm the Man, but it does return them to the esteemed state of metal masters (alongside Metallica and Megadeth) that is their birthright. ~ Dave Connolly, All Music Guide
'Persistence of Time'
Release Date 1/1/1990
Tracks 11
Label Megaforce/Island
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What The Critics Say
Persistence of Time rivals Among the Living as Anthrax's best album and might even be a clear-cut favorite if some of the songs had been trimmed a bit. The more cartoonish side of the band is missing here, trimmed in favor of a dark, uncompromising examination of society's dirty underbelly -- nearly every song rails against hatred and prejudice, but without an excess of optimism. The standout track is, once again, a cover -- Joe Jackson's "Got the Time" -- but the rest of the album is strong enough to hold its own. This is the album for those who want Anthrax's serious side without any of the pop culture references and tributes; others might miss those elements, particularly since there has always been a sort of clumsiness to some of the more intellectual lyrics. However, Persistence of Time is their most lyrically consistent album, and the music simply rages. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Before they started incorporating hardcore punk and rap into their thrash sound, Anthrax pumped out Iron Maiden-inspired metal that only hinted at their future. With the album split between vocalists Neil Turbin and Joey Belladonna, one can see why the latter got to keep his job. Turbin's high-register yelp is an acquired taste, lacking the emphasis that the material needs. He can hit the notes, but he lacks the presence that would make Belladonna more effective. Luckily, he is only present on the last two tracks, which were not originally on the album but made it onto the CD release. Belladonna's clear wail would be more suited to power metal à la Helloween, but it was his voice that also differentiated Anthrax from their thrash contemporaries. This is his first recorded appearance, and he displays more personality and range on his five songs than most of his post-1986 output. Giving the cover of "God Save the Queen" a sarcastic snarl, unleashing his banshee wail on the title track, making the remakes of "Metal Thrashing Mad" and "Panic" twice as good: these are the reasons why he was the obvious choice for their '80s material. It would be years before the band's direction clashed with Belladonna's abilities, but here they found the perfect singer for what they were doing at the time. It may not be their best work, and they may have even started the annoying trend of heavy metal Sex Pistols covers, but Armed and Dangerous was the first sign that the band was going to be one of the major forces in the emerging speed metal scene. ~ Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide
'State of Euphoria'
Release Date 1/1/1988
Tracks 10
Label Megaforce/Island
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What The Critics Say
The proper follow-up to Among the Living was somewhat inconsistent...There are some good moments -- "Be All, End All" is one of the band's most melodic moments, and several other tracks catch fire -- and the best thing here is a cover of Trust's "Antisocial"...The lyrics continue the self-consciously intellectual, P.C. approach begun on Among the Living... ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
