Review Summary: While Among The Living gets all the credit, and deserves it, Spreading just might be the real defining release of the band’s career.
The 1980’s were probably the most significant decade ever where rock music is concerned. Sure, the previous 30 years had spawned the genre and seen it get progressively heavier, darker and more complex; but it was in the 1980’s that the myriad sub-genres we know and fight over today were born. One such genre was thrash metal, which had a dual spawning ground in Eastern Europe and, more significantly, the US. Within the US strand, San Francisco’s scene was probably the best known, but New York also had something to offer, in the form of power-thrashers Anthrax.
Staking their claim by being both more melodic and more fun-loving than their Bay Area counterparts, Anthrax were responsible for a slew of genre-defining records in the middle years of the decade.
Fistful Of Metal saw their incipient debut in 1983, while the first real musical and technical leap would come two years later, with
Spreading The Disease.
Among The Living completes the trilogy of mandatory Anthrax albums, although we will leave that one for some other time. Today, we shall be discussing
Spreading, an album just as good, if not better, than its successor.
Spreading The Disease saw Anthrax come into their own as musicians. With the few personnel changes working for the better, the band assumed themselves as a thrashing force, while at the same time injecting a sense of melody which set them apart from their somewhat cruder peers. Most of this melody comes from replacement singer Joey Belladonna, whose pitch is unusually high for thrash metal, sometimes sounding like a less technically gifted Bruce Dickinson. When coupled with a few more “traditional” songwriting tricks, his voice contributes to bring Anthrax closer to traditional metal than to the full-blown, all-out thrash of Slayer or Exodus.
In fact, the band’s early stages are usually referred to as speed/thrash, a denomination which generally indicates “lighter”, more melodious bands within the thrash genre. And, for the Anthrax of
Spreading, this classification is indeed accurate. The crushing riffs, storming percussion and fan-baiting mosh parts of songs like
S.S.C./Stand Or Fall, Aftershock or
Gung-Ho are undeniably and unmistakably thrash, with the latter in particular coming close to early Metallica, Exodus or even the odd German band. However, songs like
Armed And Dangerous or the awe-inspiring
Lone Justice bring steadier tempos, melodious leads and sing-along choruses that would make Metallica blush. The unifying trait between both strands is how uniformly excellent it all is.
Effectively, on
Spreading The Disease the band excels in both the musical and songwriting chapter. Musicianship is tight, with lead guitarist Dan Spitz being the absolute standout – his solos are melodic, shredding and absolutely awesome. However, the rhythm section does not go to waste either, with bassist Frank Bello – who replaced the legendary Danny Lilker – providing a fat Burtonesque low end and drummer Charlie Benante having some standout moments as well. Throughout all this, the weakest link ends up being founding father Scott Ian, whose solos are much simpler and much less exciting than Dan Spitz’s, a trait for which the band’s sound would suffer in subsequent decades. However, as a backup to Spitz’s antics, Ian works well, helping shape the Anthrax sound.
But more important than the performance is the songwriting, and fortunately, that aspect is also very strong. Quite simply, there are no weak songs on this album, although later stages do bring a couple of more pedestrian cuts. However, for the first six songs or so, this album is rocketing to a 5/5 rating.
A.I.R, for example, is the perfect opener; while not a standout, it is sufficiently attractive to drag us in and keep us pumped for the first killer blow.
Lone Justice is probably the best song Anthrax ever wrote, edging out even
Indians with its fat bass, driving rhythm and shout-worthy chorus. It’s five and a half minutes of pure bliss which will get you thrashing every time.
Fortunately, the band doesn’t waste all its standout cards on the second track.
Madhouse and
S.S.C./Stand Or Fall continue to keep the record’s quality on high until
The Enemy provides us with our second award-worthy track. This one is a slower track, with a stomping atmosphere and soaring vocals from Belladonna, as well as another excellent chorus. It’s no
Lone Justice (what is?), but it’s another fine thrash track.
After
The Enemy, the album takes a slight dip.
Aftershock is a fun song, and the crushing, oppressive
Medusa is our third standout, with another awesome chorus; but the balladesque
Armed And Dangerous is an uneven song, with its ups – the acoustic intro, the chorus – being offset by somewhat more pedestrian sections. As for
Gung-Ho, it’s a simpler, more straightforward thrash song, where the main point of interest comes toward the end, with a fun little guitar doodle. However, when put in context, these two songs barely decrease the album’s quality, instead serving as dignified padding for it.
All in all, then,
Spreading The Disease is an all-around success. Anthrax don’t do anything different from their peers, but they do it all well. The lyrics, for example, deal with the usual thrash topics – lunacy, violence, freedom of expression – but are generally very good, even when they follow a simpler pattern, like on
Madhouse. Sure, there’s the odd clunky line (
”trapped in this nightmare/I wish I’d wake/as my whole life begins to shake”), but the overall quality is very high, serving as a good complement to the attractive musical side. And in the end, while
Among The Living gets all the credit, and deserves it,
Spreading just might be the real defining release of the band’s career. If you can, get both; but if you’re in doubt, start with this one. You won’t regret it.
Recommended Tracks
Lone Justice
The Enemy
Medusa
