Alien Ant Farm - ANThology Review

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Tracklist:
1. Courage
2. Movies
3. Flesh and Bone
4. Whisper
5. Summer
6. Sticks and Stones
7. Attitude
8. Stranded
9. Wish
10. Calico
11. Death Day
12. Smooth Criminal
13. Universe

Ranking: #170 for 2001

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3.4
great

Chart.

other reviews

Joe Denby (4)
Personal, engaging, Alien Ant Farm craft their most immature and yet most imaginative work in a comp...

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On 8 Lists

4.0
excellent

Chris Baranowski USER (38 Reviews)

2005-01-27 | 47 comments | 8,115 views

2 of 4 thought this review was well written

Artist: Alien Ant Farm
Album: ANThology
Genre: Alt. Rock/Hard Rock/Nu-Metal
Label: Dreamworks

Dryden Mitchell- Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
Terence Corso- Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Tye Zamora- Electric Bass, Backing Vocals, Upright Bass, Keyboards, Guitar
Mike Cosgrove- Drummer

Review:
Alien Ant Farm came onto the scene with the hit “Smooth Criminal," a cover of a Michael Jackson song. Though most people I talked to said they hated it, I couldn’t help but find it catchy. So when I saw their debut ANThology at the FYE near me, I decided to pick it up. I popped it in my CD player when I came home and was quite surprised. The first track, “Courage," is a blistering assault of impressive, deep bass, crunching guitars, booming drums and good vocals, both screamed and sung. This was not the Alien Ant Farm I was expecting, based off of “Smooth Criminal." I proceeded to head bang through the rest of “Courage." The next track was the more mellow “Movies," a happier song with a great bass line. Dryden’s warm vocals wrap us up. This was the Alien Ant Farm I was expecting. I’m more of a hard rock person so I preferred “Courage," but “Movies" was still an awesome track and was Alien Ant Farm’s second single.

The next track, “Flesh and Bone," starts out with an almost ska feel. With high guitar chords and thick, metal bass. The verse is a bit catchy and the chorus isn’t much more. After listening to this track for a bit I skipped it. I still skip it and it’s more of a low point on the CD. But I still had faith in AAF and they redeemed themselves with the next track, “Whisper." Whisper starts out with scratchy guitar and eerie vocals as Dryden whispers, “It’s my arms that, wrap you up nice. It’s my arms, my arms baby." The pre- chorus is a chaotic mess as Dryden explodes screaming backed by deep guitar and the chorus is a traditional, deep chord progression as Dryden shows his vocal abilities. Reading the lyrics exposes that this song is apparently a stab at the record industry as Dryden talks about producers trying to change their appearance and sound for money, as is apparent in the pre-chorus as he screams, “I’ll write your songs and make them way damn shorter." And in the chorus, he sings, “I’m so confused! This industry has made me cold!" A great song.

Next up is “Summer," an average song. The chorus uses some clever lyrics as Dryden sings, “Tried to give you summer, but I’m winter. Wish I could make you spring, but I fall so hard." I tend to skip this one a lot also. The next track, “Sticks and Stones," is an awesome but somewhat repetitive powerhouse. Built on a crunching, metal riff, “Sticks and Stones" is another favorite of mine. Dryden talks about a girl betraying him and lying. “Attitude" was next, the third single from the album. This song doesn’t appeal to me too much, though the guitar intro and chorus are quite catchy. The next song, “Stranded," caught my attention. It starts out with a siren followed by a guitar progression that will have you jumping. I don’t understand the lyrics, as Dryden keeps making references to sea creatures such as Hammerhead Sharks and such. In the chorus, Dryden shouts, “I’m feeling the sea beneath me, beneath you!"

Next up is “Wish," a song that I was happy to see was on the Tony Hawk 3 soundtrack. I was excited to see Alien Ant Farm get to show their harder song with this pounding song. “Wish" starts out with a distorted guitar line followed by muted power chords. Dryden’s chaotic vocals are the focus of this song as he grows angrier through the song and by the time the chorus rolls around, he’s screaming, “You better watch the road!" The post-chorus is a frightening moment as Dryden screams, “Chimes used to break my wish." “Wish" ends abruptly and is followed by “Calico," a weaker song. I find myself skipping this track a lot. “Death Day," the next track, is a slower track and is a decent song, but being more of a hard rock guy, I skip it often. The lyrics are very interesting though.

Ah, “Smooth Criminal," the infamous cover. I find nothing wrong with this song as all it is a rock band covering one of their favorite songs. I find it extremely catchy. Well, to each his own. The last track is an interesting one. “Universe" starts out with a softer verse accompanied by an eerie chord progression but is followed by an explosive chorus. Dryden makes references to beehives in this song. This isn’t a song I think I would like but for some reason, it’s one of my favorites on the CD. The song tends to extend a bit to long but is an amazing song. The CD ends with a “weird" hidden track. Apparently, titled “Orange Appeal." It’s a very eccentric track and weird album ender.

I think this is a fine debut from Alien Ant Farm and if people could look past “Smooth Criminal" they’d find some powerful songs, sung by one of the most underrated bands out there. Tye Zamora’s bass performance is very impressive, sporting his six string bass. Terry Corso pumps out some amazingly catchy progressions and riffs. Mike Cosgrove beats the hell out of the drum set throughout the whole CD. And Dryden Mitchell’s vocals range from frantic screaming to smooth, melodic serenades. Together these men create a great band with some potential. Though AAF’s second release, truANT, is a slight bit more solid, they mix a lot of different styles and it’s a bit more of an acquired taste. If you’re a fan of bands who mix soft and hard songs together, I suggest you look into ANThology.

Suggested Tracks: "Courage," "Whisper," "Universe," "Attitude"

Score: 3.8 out of 5

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