Anthrax: Fistful of Metal (1984)

I have talked a lot recently about my newfound love of Anthrax.  It was with this in mind that I decided to finally pick up one album from the band that I had been avoiding: their debut.  Now, I have not been actively avoiding it, just not making any special effort to pick it up.  The reason for this is that the vocalist on this album was Neil Turbin instead of Joey Belladonna, so I had no idea what to expect.  In addition, the style is not quite the same.

Anthrax's debut is a fantastic example of power/speed metal, not the hardcore-influenced thrash metal the band became known for.  The chunky riffs are not present, instead featuring much more melodic riffs that call to mind Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.  It is an upbeat and powerful album with fast-paced songs and blazing solos.

The other aspect of the album that sets it apart from the band's other releases is the vocalist.  Neil Turbin is a significantly different kind of singer than Belladonna or John Bush.  He has a wide range and is powerful and dynamic.  He is doing his absolute best impression of a NWOBHM singer on this release.  He throws everything he has into this performance and it is the big highlight of this album.

While this album is not as strong compared to the later Anthrax material or compared to the debut albums of the other members of the Big Four, it is quite a good album in its own right.  It is significantly different from Anthrax's other material, but it is still a better album than any of the John Bush albums, except for maybe Sound of White Noise.  It is an underrated album in Anthrax's catalog.

Anthrax: For All Kings (2016)

Last year, I did a post arguing that Anthrax is currently the best band out of the Big 4.  Much of that argument was based on the absolutely incredible Worship Music and their explosive live performances.  I do kind of wish that I had heard more of this album before making that argument.  I believe I heard it once or twice before writing that post, but only recently managed to add it to my collection.  I am not rethinking my position, but this album is weaker than I remembered.

I do not want to give the idea that I dislike this album at all.  I actually like it quite well and among the Big 4 most recent albums, I would place it second behind Megadeth's Dystopia and ahead of Metallica's Hardwired...to Self-Destruct.  It is a lot of fun and there are some definite strong songs here.  There just is no one single song that really captures my attention the way that Worship Music had with "Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't" and "The Devil You Know".  The album starts out strong with "You Gotta Believe" and "Monster at the End", but then it just sort of hits a wall and never really comes out of it.  Many of the remaining songs simply cannot keep the energy level up and the album sort of overstays its welcome.

There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with the album.  The guitar riffs by Scott Ian and Jonathan Donais are impressive enough and the songs are reasonably infectious while they are playing.  Joey Belladonna's voice sounds great, easily on par with anything that he performed in the band's heyday in the mid to late 1980's.  But again, there is no real huge standout track like the band had on their initial reunion album. 

Anthrax seems to have dialed back the aggression quite a bit, resulting in a very melodic style of thrash/heavy metal.  That is fine on its own, but it does not live up to the band's previous material as well.  Now, Anthrax has never been the most aggressive of thrash metal bands, even compared to the other Big 4 bands.  But there has generally been a sneering angst to their sound that seems to be a little lacking here.  These are men now well into their 50's and they really do not have anything to be pissed off about anymore.  That does not mean they can't still throw out some excellent metal, but they are not going to be as aggressive as they were when they were younger.

All that being said, I do enjoy this album, and it has been growing on me with each successive listen, which I suppose has been true of a lot of Anthrax's material over the years.  However, there have been albums (Worship Music, State of Euphoria, Spreading the Disease) that I took to immediately and completely.  This album just was not one of those.  It does not change my premise from last year, Anthrax is still putting out better music than the rest of the Big 4 more consistently since reuniting with Belladonna, and is much more fun in a live setting.  I fully believe this album will grow in my mind to be considered a classic based on how much more I am taking from it each time.  It just is not there yet.

Is Anthrax the Best of the Big 4 Right Now?

Honestly, throughout most of my history with metal, Anthrax has never really been one of my favorite bands.  They did not even make it into my 100 Favorite Bands series.  Even among the Big 4, Anthrax was rarely among my top two favorites.  They were my third favorite for awhile only because it took me a long time to start getting into Slayer.  A lot of this may have been due to the fact that when I started getting into metal, Anthrax had replaced singer Joey Belladonna with John Bush.  I do still think Sound of White Noise is a good album, but it simply does not hold a candle to the better works of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, or even any of Anthrax's earlier albums. 

That has been changing over the last several years though.  First came their 2011 reunion album with Belladonna which is honestly probably the best Big 4 album of the last ten years, and only really in competition with a couple of Megadeth albums.  Then came their live show with Killswitch Engage last year.  I enjoyed Anthrax more than any of the other Big 4 bands.  I have seen Metallica twice, Megadeth three times, and Slayer once, but Anthrax blew them all away.  Their energy is infectious and they sound terrific on stage. 

So, in the last few months I have been making an effort to plug in some of the holes in my Anthrax collection.  Two of these holes have been State of Euphoria and Spreading the Disease.  I can honestly say that I should have checked these two out a long time ago because they are easily my two favorite Anthrax albums right now.  Previously, that spot was held by Among the Living, which is still a damn good album, but these are better.  "Medusa" is probably the band's best song and I heard it for the first time at the concert last year. 

That brings me to the title question.  Is Anthrax the best of the Big 4 right now?   I honestly believe that the answer to that question is yes.  Here is a look at each of the others:

SLAYER

Obviously, Slayer has recently announced that they will be retiring from touring, but even before that, they have not released a great album in a very long time.  I have enjoyed all of their albums to varying degrees over the last twenty or so years, but nothing has come close to the heights of Seasons in the Abyss, Reign in Blood, or even Divine Intervention.  That coupled with their somewhat lazy live performances (Kerry King notwithstanding), and Slayer has been in decline for a very long time. 

METALLICA

Inconsistency has been the name of the game for the venerable thrash titans in Metallica.  Their Black Album signaled the death knell of thrash metal as we knew it in the 1980's and tons of bands tried to follow suit.  Metallica themselves disappeared for a few years before re-emerging in the mid 1990's with haircuts and a completely different sound.  They released three very odd albums in a row, a covers album, and a collaboration with a symphony, before a return to form of sorts in Death Magnetic.  But after that they released a forgettable EP and the ridiculously awful Lulu collaboration with Lou Reed.  Their most recent album was decent, but bloated, and nowhere near as catchy as the Anthrax material.

MEGADETH

Probably the closest competition among the rival bands is Megadeth who at least continues to put out some quality new material.  Their most recent release Dystopia is strongly rooted in their Rust in Peace sound.  But Megadeth has put out a couple of regrettable releases as well, most notably Super Collider.  They do still put on a great live performance, but they pale slightly when compared to Anthrax.

ANTHRAX

And so that brings us here.  Since reuniting with Belladonna, Anthrax has put out two great albums and has been absolutely on fire live.  Megadeth may be close, but Anthrax has definitely been the more impressive group over the last decade or so.  That is really all that matters at this point and makes them the band to beat among the Big 4.

The Kill/Thrax Tour in Omaha: April 29

There have definitely been a lot more interesting concerts around Nebraska lately.  The latest to hit the stage in Omaha was the Kill/Thrax tour on Saturday night.  Four bands, led by Killswitch Engage and Anthrax came through town on a rare Saturday night concert.  Which meant that we could actually sleep in instead of having to get up early and go to work the next morning.  Which is awesome.

It was cold Saturday night.  And raining most of the day.  Simply miserable conditions, so we were not in a big hurry to get there.  Besides, the other band we knew were playing was The Devil Wears Prada, a band I have made my disdain for on this blog very clear.  Unfortunately when we arrived at the venue, another band that we had no idea would be playing was on stage.  It was some group called Code Orange, who play a metallic hardcore style.  That can be done well, just look at Nails among other bands.  Unfortunately, I was not at all impressed with Code Orange, and my wife pretty much hated them.  To each their own I suppose, hardcore has never really been my thing.

After that, Christian hardcore band The Devil Wears Prada started their set.  I really dislike this band.  But I was curious about their name, because of course most people are aware of the movie starring Glenn Close and Anne Hathaway, which does not exactly scream badass rock band.  Apparently the band named themselves after the novel after misinterpreting one of the messages of the novel being an anti-materialistic stance (due to not actually reading the fucking thing).  After realizing they were incorrect, they decided to keep the name and create a new definition of anti-materialism in the name of God.  So apparently, they are idiots as well and did not bother to read the book that was the source of their name.  Their set was predictably annoying.  There was the occasional decent moment and singer Mike Hranica has a pretty good voice, but there is a reason I successfully avoided them when they opened for Slayer and King Diamond and tried to avoid them Saturday.

Next, Killswitch Engage played.  I will admit to not paying much attention to them for over a decade.  I honestly had no idea Jesse Leach was back with the band, and apparently that has been the case since 2012.  I was a little surprised then that the band played so many songs that I recognized from The End of Heartache and As Daylight Dies, the only two albums from the band I owned.  Leach sounded great singing them though, very similar to previous vocalist Howard Jones.  KSE was very charismatic on stage and definitely got the crowd going, a large number of whom were apparently there just for that band (lots of people left after their set without staying for Anthrax).  Overall I was pretty impressed with the band's set.  The highlight was them closing things out with a cover of the Dio classic "Holy Diver" which even featured Anthrax singer Joey Belladonna coming out and providing lead vocals.  That was definitely my wife's favorite moment as well.

Finally, Anthrax came out.  Anthrax was the last of the Big 4 thrash metal bands that I had yet to see.  I first discovered Anthrax during the John Bush years, and I still think that Sound of White Noise is an underrated album.  But nothing really compares to their earlier stuff with Belladonna and they played a lot of the classics.  They took the stage playing "Among the Living" and followed that up with "Caught in a Mosh", which got the crowd going.  They played a couple of newer songs, including the infectious "Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't" which is my personal favorite track off of Worship Music, their reunion album with Belladonna.  After that they ran through a number of other classics before closing out the set.  Honestly, I was even more impressed with Anthrax than I was with Slayer in concert.  I have developed a newfound appreciation for the band now.  I am going to have to dig out my old Anthrax albums now.  Even my wife enjoyed them more than she thought she would.  I had second thoughts at one point about going to this one, but I am definitely glad we went.  

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 33

ARTIST:  Anthrax
ORIGIN:  Yonkers, NY (United States)
TITLE:  Stomp 442
LABEL:  Elektra Records
YEAR:  1995
GENRE:  Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Random Acts of Senseless Violence"
NOTES:  Anthrax's second album with John Bush singing is one of the band's most reviled albums.  I never quite got why.  It definitely does not hold a candle to their early material with Joey Belladonna, and it is not as good as their first album with Bush, but I do not think it is a terrible release.  There are some pretty good tracks here, such as the song listed above, "Tester", and a few others.  That being said, I do not listen to this as often as some of the band's albums.

Your Hard Rock/Metal Grammy Nominees Are...

Anthrax: "I'm Alive"
I actually really like this song and I like the latest Anthrax album a lot.

Halestorm:  "Love Bites (So Do I)"
I have never heard of this band.

Iron Maiden: "Blood Brothers" (Live)
The live version of a poor song originally on an album released twelve years ago.

Lamb of God: "Ghost Walking"
Have not heard it.  Nothing from Lamb of God has been worthwhile in several years.

Marilyn Manson: "No Reflection"
See Lamb of God.  I had no idea Marilyn Manson was still around.

Megadeth: "Whose Life (Is is Anyway?)"
I did not care much for this track, though I do love Megadeth.

Now I am not going to claim I really give much of a damn about the Grammys.  That being said, Anthrax would be my preference to win based on these tracks, but I would guess it will go to Iron Maiden or Megadeth.  Possibly Halestorm if I had any fucking clue who they were.

Flashback Song: Anthrax: "I am the Law"

This is the song that inspired my subtitle.  Yes the whole song is about Judge Dredd, not really a character I am well familiar with.  I have never read the comics and I have only seen parts of the Sylvester Stallone movie.  I do plan to check out the Karl Urban movie released this year.  But no, I am not greatly familiar with Judge Dredd.  That said, I do love Anthrax, especially the early stuff.  And "I am the Law" is one of my favorite Anthrax tracks, and a great subtitle for a metalhead lawyer.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 14

ARTIST:  Anthrax
ORIGIN:  Yonkers, NY (United States)
TITLE:  Sound of White Noise
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1993
GENRE:  Thrash Metal/Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Hy Pro Glo"
NOTES:  Maybe it is because it was my first Anthrax album, but I really like this one.  Maybe it would have been different if it was heard after some material with Joey Belladonna on it, but it does not really matter at this point.  This was Anthrax's first album with former Armored Saint wailer John Bush behind the mic.  His voice never quite fit the typical Anthrax sound, but the band sounds a little different, a little more serious this time around.

2011 in Review: Best Reunion Album

It was an interesting year for reunions as we got long-awaited new material from Pentagram and Autopsy, but the one that really surprised me was Anthrax's new album. With all of the drama leading up to its release, this one really looked like the thrash metal version of Chinese Democracy. I was morbidly curious about it so I checked it out on a whim, and I am very glad that I did. This album sounds great. It's particularly surprising given that I have never really been that big of an Anthrax fan in the first place.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Autopsy

Initial Impressions: Anthrax: Worship Music

I can't believe I am saying this, but what a shocking and pleasant surprise we have here. The trials and tribulations of Anthrax recording this album had taken on an almost Chinese Democracy scale. The revolving door behind the mic was a soap opera in itself with both of the band's major former singers coming and going a number of times each and the band seemingly settling in with unknown Dan Nelson for a time until the stress became too much for him and he left. That was quite a run-on sentence but it pretty adequately depicts the weirdness of the whole situation. Of course Joey Belladonna came back once more and took over for good.

But enough of all that. When it came down to it, Anthrax has returned with their best album since probably Sound of White Noise. I liked John Bush as a singer, but he never really seemed to fit into what Anthrax was all about and was a much better fit for his other band Armored Saint. That said, the first album with Bush was pretty good and it was not until later that the band had a precipitous fall from grace.

As for the music itself, Anthrax's trademarked crunch is back in full force. The songs for the most part are fairly melodic, but Scott Ian and Frank Bello complement the melody nicely with some heavy rhythmic riff work. While this is not as heavy of a thrash metal album as the band's early material, it still fits in nicely as a melodic thrash metal album in the vein of Testament's work.

Joey Belladonna actually seems to sound better with age. I have not been a big fan of his style, but his work on this album is smoother and not nearly as shrill. He does some fantastic work on these songs.

There are a few missteps along the way. The track "Judas Priest", despite a decent riff ultimately comes off clumsy and the album does drag a little at times. But overall, this is an extremely impressive return by one of the Big Four. It is the band's best material in a long, long time.

Thoughts on the New Anthrax Song

Go here to listen for yourself.

I was not originally planning on checking out the new Anthrax album too much. I have not liked anything the band has done for about fifteen years and I was not expecting to like this either. Anthrax has never been one of my favorite bands, and in fact they did not make it into my Top 100 at all, despite my secondary title being the name of an Anthrax song. However, this song is awesome. Maybe not as great as their mid 1980's material, but it's pretty damn good. It's upbeat and heavy, but still catchy. Anthrax is not trying to be a modern rock band here. This is the thrashiest I have heard them in years. I may have to check this out after all.

Year in Metal: 1987

Let's keep this going, shall we?

ANTHRAX: AMONG THE LIVING
I have never been a big Anthrax fan. In fact, of the Big 4 of American thrash, Anthrax is my least favorite. However, this is undeniably a great album from the band. Anthrax has always been lighter-hearted than their more serious brethren and this album definitely demonstrates this. This is a fun, catchy album that is essential for any thrash metal fans. That's not to say that it is not a heavy album, Anthrax shows off some great riffs and has always had a gift for speed. If you only get one Anthrax album, this is the one I would recommend.

BATHORY: UNDER THE SIGN OF THE BLACK MARK
Here we have what is quite possibly the first fully-formed black metal album. Bathory had been pushing the boundaries for a little while, but this is one album that can be heard today and easily identified as black metal. Bathory took thrash metal riffs and made something unholy out of them. Many black metal bands that emerged from Norway in the late 1980's/early 1990's modeled their sound after this album. Kind of odd, considering Bathory was Swedish and there was such a backlash among Norwegian artists against Swedish artists.

DEATH: SCREAM BLOODY GORE
From the first black metal album to one of the first death metal albums. This is the debut album from Death. Even at this early stage in the band's career, it was clear that Chuck Schuldiner was calling all the shots as he played guitar, bass, and provided the vocals. This album took thrash and played it with more distortion and it clearly defined what death metal was to sound like. Bands in previous years had come close, but this album was the breakthrough. This is the band that truly kickstarted the genre.

HOLY MOSES: FINISHED WITH THE DOGS
Holy Moses is a massively underrated thrash metal band. Coming from Germany around the same time as Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction, somehow Holy Moses got lost in the shuffle. It is possible that they were not taken seriously due to their vocalist, Sabina Classen. It's not a gimmick, Classen is a terrific frontwoman and one of the very first women in extreme metal. Her snarling vocals really matched with the razor-sharp riffs and blazing solos. Holy Moses is one of the best bands from the German thrash scene but have unfairly not been given the attention they deserve.

KING DIAMOND: ABIGAIL
Wow, I keep managing to get King Diamond/Mercyful Fate in here. That's how massively important that the man, King Diamond, was to the metal scene in the 1980's. This is the solo band's second album and the measuring stick against which all other albums from the band would be compared. This is King's greatest horror story, a story about the evil spirit of a child planning to be reborn again. The music is terrific once again, marked by more melody than Mercyful Fate previously had. King's vocals are once again the focus and they remain incredible.

Honorable Mentions: Death Angel: The Ultra Violence, Dio: Dream Evil, Exodus: Pleasures of the Flesh, Helloween: Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1, Kreator: Terrible Certainty, Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King, Suicidal Tendencies: Join the Army, Testament: The Legacy, Voivod: Killing Technology.

Bands that formed in 1987: Alice in Chains, Asphyx, Autopsy, Burzum, Cynic, Danzig. Darkthrone, Deicide, Entombed, Meshuggah, Nitro, Primordial, Therion.

Anthrax Reunites with Joey Belladonna?

Okay. Anthrax has been pretty bad for a long time now, but I'm pretty sure Belladonna has been as bad or worse. I'm not sure what the deal with the revolving door of lead singers is with Anthrax, but they have now hired and fired Belladonna on multiple occasions. What makes anyone think this will work? Belladonna's work with Anthrax was decent enough and he was the singer when they got big, but John Bush has been a more stable vocalist. Belladonna's something of a drama queen and paired with the attention-hogging antics of Scott Ian, this only spells disaster. Good luck Anthrax.

Dusting Off a Cassette Pt. 22: Anthrax: Sound of White Noise

This was the first Anthrax album that John Bush appeared on as vocalist. The singer for Armored Saint joined the band after Joey Belladonna left. This was also the first Anthrax album I ever heard or owned. This was the Anthrax that I was initially most familiar with.

Anthrax is one of the Big 4 of U.S. thrash, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer. After checking out the band's earlier material, I realized I had missed out on most of their best material. Anthrax in the 1980's was fun, catchy, and fast. They were not nearly as serious or disturbing as the other members of the Big 4. However, when Belladonna left, the band's tone changed. Sound of White Noise is an angrier, more aggressive album, but it is also slower with more added groove. The band's riffs are heavier, but not as fast.

I covered John Bush in the Armored Saint post. My feelings about him as a singer have not changed. He sounded much more at home in the traditional, melodic heavy metal band Armored Saint than he did here. Bush is a better singer than Belladonna, but he doesn't match the atmosphere of the band as well as Belladonna did.

This is not a bad album and I do still listen to it frequently, however, it is the only decent album the band ever did with John Bush. The Belladonna material was much more consistent. A lot of metalheads hate this album, but this is just because the band sounded so different. It is a good album, it's just unfortunate that the band's style was forced to change so much.

Dusting Off a Cassette Pt. 5: Armored Saint: Symbol of Salvation

John Bush was one of my first favorite singers in metal. I first heard him on The Sound of White Noise, Anthrax's attempt to stay relevant in the mainstream. The band had shed a lot of their thrash sounds and went for a more modern, streamlined sound. They also brought in Bush to replace Joey Belladonna. Bush had a more serious, less playful voice than Belladonna and he matched the new sound well. Of course the new sound was a slap in the face of old fans. Bush would record a few more albums with Anthrax, however the band never sounded quite right with Bush. I always believed Bush was better suited for a more melodic, traditional heavy metal band, much like Armored Saint, his band before joining Anthrax.

Armored Saint has much more in common with American power metal than thrash and John Bush's voice perfectly complements the sound. His soaring vocals are the best part of the album, even though the guitar work is very impressive in its own right. The songs for the most part are catchy. "Hanging Judge" is a great song with an extremely catchy chorus. I first heard this song on Hellraiser 3, in which Armored Saint had a brief cameo.

Unfortunately not all of the songs are great. It starts to drag a little toward the halfway point, but that's where "Hanging Judge" kicks in.

Armored Saint broke up when Bush left for Anthrax but recently got back together. Let's hope they have some more of this style of metal in them.