Background Information
Metallica released
Master Of Puppets,
Megadeth released
Peace Sells But Who's Buying and
Slayer released
Reign In Blood (probably the greatest thrash album ever). Why do I mention these albums? Because these are considered to be thrash-metal's classic albums, but there is one album missing though, and I'm talking about
Anthrax's Among The Living. All the other bands were very serious in their music, with their music having aggressive tones and most of their lyrics being based on evil and satanic stuff (
Slayer) and other violent themes (
Megadeth /Metallica). But
Anthrax was probably the only band from
The Big Four who had a sense of humour, and this band was a funny band (like
Nuclear Assault), mostly because of their lyrics and the music had a groovier flow while still having great ingredients from thrash-metal. All the other bands were also considered to have ''bad singers'', though they were not so bad after all (except
Tom Araya) as their vocals were somewhat unique but
Anthrax really stood out with their highly skilled singer
Joey Belladonna, who was probably one of few great metal singers in the thrash scene.
Anthrax was the first band to have mosh pits on the east coast (New York) and they were the first metal band to mix hip-hop with metal; a genius move for others but also pissed off a few people as well. The band is still active today but
Anthrax was unfortunately infected by the mainstream and their thrash roots have almost disappeared, but they managed to create a thrash-metal masterpiece that still rings from stereos after nearly twenty years from now.
The Crew
Anthrax already had a good singer from the beginning but he was eventually replaced by the new vocally talented
Joey Belladonna, he does a great performance on this album, his vocals really shines and makes a great contrast to their other thrash companions. The album becomes very enjoyable with
Joey as a singer, he only uses one certain formula of vocals but they are still very effective.
Scott Ian, rhythm guitarist and nearly a shredd master, maybe not in this album but he really puts up a fight with his guitar. The riffs are addictively catchy, most of them are very heavy and most of all, unique. While bands like
Megadeth could deliver blistering guitar work
Anthrax was not as ‘'complicated'', the overall guitar is not so highly complex in this album but it is effective, it is not as intimidating as
Slayer's music, this is a listener friendly album, play this album to any person and they will like it. Enough of that, lets have a look at
Dan Spitz, lead guitarist but not a great lead guitarist though, he can deliver some nice sounding solos but he does not deliver any blistering lead work. He plays basically in the same level as
Scott Ian but he does a good job, tight and skilful guitar work.
Frank Bello, one of my favourite bassists and why? Because his bass shines compared to other bands bases, the only band with a clear and out standing sound compared to the other bands from
The Big Four. But
Overkill would be the only thrash-metal band with a massive bass, anyway,
Bello picks with his fingers, sometimes it turns out great while bad for others but
Frank is great with his fingers. Bass lines and standout performances shines in this album, bass riffs are clearly heard and the overall bass clings in every song, it is things like a great and clear bass that makes an album interesting.
Charlie Benante is the drummer here, according to facts
Charlie was one of the best drummers except for
Slayer's
Dave Lombardo who was considered to be the best drummer (at the time). This is an awesome performance though, the level of drumming is way over basic,
Charlie delivers maniac fast beats, slower heavy-metal patterns and other types of drum patterns, he plays with great precision and skill and all songs has a catchy drum moment.
Album Information
A classic thrash-metal album, but perhaps not the best album in the thrash-metal genre but definitely the finest in
Anthrax's resume. Packed with catchy metal moments, I immediately noticed that there two different types of songs: there were some really fast and intensive ''real'' thrash songs here and there were other songs that had slower tempos but they were way more catchier. My love fell upon the slower songs,
Caught In A Mosh,
Indians,
Among The Living and
Efilnikufesin (NFL) became my ultimate favourites of this album, as all of them were extremely catchy and they all hade like ''magic moments'' and all of them felt very unique.
I Am The Law,
One World,
A Skeleton In The Closet,
A.D.I/Horror Of It All and
Imitation Of Life were not as captivating at the time when I got the album but they have been growing on me and they sound very good actually. Most of these songs are true shred-fests, but they are quite unique too, although I think people would still prefer ''the other songs''.
Anthrax's choice of lyrics were different from the other bands, and this album displays lyrics inspired from books of the world known writer Stephen King, the action movie called
Judge Dredd (
I Am The Law), political themes (
Indians) and life styles of celebrities (
Efilnikufesin). I read the booklet once and then I noticed this little sentence in a corner:
This album is dedicated to Cliff. The only person I know of is
Cliff Burton from
Metallica so I assume that this album
was dedicated to
Cliff when they heard that he had died in a bus accident, R.I.P.
My Conclusion
Here are my opinions of this album; I think this album deserves to be called as a true thrash-metal classic. This album has nearly everything: catchy and unique riffing, great variety in the drum work, a standout bass and shining vocals. You can become happy while you listen to this album, and you don't get tired of it so fast either. Every time I put this in my stereo I always play songs like
Caught In A Mosh and
Indians and I never get tired of them. If you are looking for some great and shining thrash-metal you have to search after this album, fans of
Anthrax must have this album, and same does for thrash-metal fanatics! The important thing is that you have to listen through the entire song before you can judge it, but I'm sure that once you have heard all the songs of this album you will remember most of the songs. I hope you enjoyed this review and critics are most welcome.
Pros
+ Outstanding vocals
+ Tight and catchy guitar work
+ Great variety in the drum work
+ Energetic and unique material
+ The overall material is heavy and very enjoyable
Cons
Its true, I can't find any negative things about this album
Recommended Tracks
(
My favourite slow songs)
-- Caught In A Mosh
-- Indians
(
My favourite fast songs)
-- A Skeleton In The Closet
-- One World
This album is a true classic thrash-metal album and it is
definitely Anthrax's finest moment, this album will get a full score 5/5
