ANTHRAX The Greater of Two Evils
Sanctuary
2004
www.anthraxtheband.com
www.sanctuaryrecords.com
1 Deathrider
2. Metal Thrashing Mad
3 Caught In A Mosh
4 AIR
5 Among The Living
6 Keep It In The Family
7 Indians
8 Madhouse
9 Panic
10 I Am The Law
11 Belly Of The Beast
12 N.F.L.
13 Be All End All
14. Gung-Ho
I was very excited when I heard that ANTHRAX was going to rerecord a lot of their older songs with John Bush singing them. Then that excitement waned a little bit. That recording session has culminated with the release of The Greater of Two Evils, which is basically this: ANTHRAX recorded these songs live in the studio with very little overdubs, and you know what, they came out pretty damn fantastic. Now, of course, with the songs being played live, you are going to hear some imperfections, and that is what gives it that little extra flavor, if you will. Now, I will admit straight up, this comes nowhere close as to even touching what TESTAMENT did with First Strike Still Deadly. Pardon the pun here, but that was a pure testament to what a thrash band can do with the right equipment and recording devices later in their career.
I was very skeptical with how these songs would sound with Bush singing. Sure, I have heard Bush doing some of the repertoire over the years in a live setting, but how would he handle them on this recording? John Bush, as a vocalist, definitely has a more gruffer style to his vocals and a little slower delivery than was accomplished by Joey Belladonna, who was more of a melodic, conventional vocalist back in the day. And, I do hear Bush struggling here and there to keep up, but it never deters from the overall songs. The production is really raw, and not overly polished. This is great for a variety of reasons. The production really makes the album stand out that much more. Sure, they could of done this in a studio the old fashioned, boring way. But then it would be just that, boring and really presumptuous. The way they chose to record it, live in a studio, with fans there to boot, makes it that much more effective. The sound really is monstrous, especially jamming from my truck speakers and the power of two 12 inch speakers. Rumble rumble. Also of note is that this marks, well at least for now, the very last recorded session with longtime bass player, Frank Bello. His bass lines are dominant throughout the course of the songs. Ive always dug this aspect of the band, and any other metal band that has the balls to use the bass as another instrument and not play along to the exact same notes of the guitars. Charlie Benante pulls out some amazing drum work on this one; complete with some killer blast beats. Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano, shred on their guitars throughout the whole album. The only major complaint is some of the overuse of guitar noodles here and there that overwhelm the actual song. I think these could have been mixed down a little bit better, as to more enhance, and not deter from the songs. Tracks from most of the albums from their early career are included here. They range in songs from Fistful of Metal all the way to Persistence of Time in the early 90s, and yes, this does include the seminal Among the Living. Now, thats not to say that the songs havent changed over the years. After playing something for so long, it is only natural for some kind of progression in the way the songs are played. It would get really boring otherwise.
The artwork is very strange in that off the wall Japanese art type of way. But, it actually fits pretty well with the classic feel of the album. Behind the actual cd tray is a pretty cool mosaic of a lot of different people showing off their ANTHRAX tattoos, myself included. This is one of those pictures where they all form together to make one bigger picture. This is just one of those albums that I can never find myself tiring of. These are, for the most part, all classic Anthrax tunes, and deserved to be heard by the modern masses. Now, Im not going to say that this wasnt done in any sort of way to cash in on what the fans want, and thankfully they obliged. In fact, the actual songs on the album were hand chosen by the fans on their website. Can you ask for anything more? 2004 brought us two releases from ANTHRAX, this release and the live album earlier in the year. Now, how is that for dedication? Now, this is probably not going to win over any new fans, as this album was really done for the hardcore fans. And, unfortunately, some of this will go right over the heads of most of the metal, or what they seem to call metal these days, fans out there today. This is really a fan affair, and if you can dig in on that, then welcome. If you like your metal thrashy and catchy in all the right places, you will not go wrong with this release. Even at the end of the day, as much as I am enjoying this release, there is still a little part of me that is screaming, Why? Did these songs really need to be rerecorded with Bush? Not really. I would have much more enjoyed actual remastered versions of those albums with original vocals intact. But I am still very happy that ANTHRAX decided to use Bush to pull these classics out of their 20 year plus library. You could almost call this a greatest hits retrospective of the early years of the band, just redone for a new age. Or something like that. If you like Anthrax, or thrash metal in general, then you will not go wrong this album. Mosh it up and bang your head like the 1980s, my friends. Rating: 8.7 /10
Evil C
Sanctuary
2004
www.anthraxtheband.com
www.sanctuaryrecords.com
1 Deathrider
2. Metal Thrashing Mad
3 Caught In A Mosh
4 AIR
5 Among The Living
6 Keep It In The Family
7 Indians
8 Madhouse
9 Panic
10 I Am The Law
11 Belly Of The Beast
12 N.F.L.
13 Be All End All
14. Gung-Ho
I was very excited when I heard that ANTHRAX was going to rerecord a lot of their older songs with John Bush singing them. Then that excitement waned a little bit. That recording session has culminated with the release of The Greater of Two Evils, which is basically this: ANTHRAX recorded these songs live in the studio with very little overdubs, and you know what, they came out pretty damn fantastic. Now, of course, with the songs being played live, you are going to hear some imperfections, and that is what gives it that little extra flavor, if you will. Now, I will admit straight up, this comes nowhere close as to even touching what TESTAMENT did with First Strike Still Deadly. Pardon the pun here, but that was a pure testament to what a thrash band can do with the right equipment and recording devices later in their career.
I was very skeptical with how these songs would sound with Bush singing. Sure, I have heard Bush doing some of the repertoire over the years in a live setting, but how would he handle them on this recording? John Bush, as a vocalist, definitely has a more gruffer style to his vocals and a little slower delivery than was accomplished by Joey Belladonna, who was more of a melodic, conventional vocalist back in the day. And, I do hear Bush struggling here and there to keep up, but it never deters from the overall songs. The production is really raw, and not overly polished. This is great for a variety of reasons. The production really makes the album stand out that much more. Sure, they could of done this in a studio the old fashioned, boring way. But then it would be just that, boring and really presumptuous. The way they chose to record it, live in a studio, with fans there to boot, makes it that much more effective. The sound really is monstrous, especially jamming from my truck speakers and the power of two 12 inch speakers. Rumble rumble. Also of note is that this marks, well at least for now, the very last recorded session with longtime bass player, Frank Bello. His bass lines are dominant throughout the course of the songs. Ive always dug this aspect of the band, and any other metal band that has the balls to use the bass as another instrument and not play along to the exact same notes of the guitars. Charlie Benante pulls out some amazing drum work on this one; complete with some killer blast beats. Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano, shred on their guitars throughout the whole album. The only major complaint is some of the overuse of guitar noodles here and there that overwhelm the actual song. I think these could have been mixed down a little bit better, as to more enhance, and not deter from the songs. Tracks from most of the albums from their early career are included here. They range in songs from Fistful of Metal all the way to Persistence of Time in the early 90s, and yes, this does include the seminal Among the Living. Now, thats not to say that the songs havent changed over the years. After playing something for so long, it is only natural for some kind of progression in the way the songs are played. It would get really boring otherwise.
The artwork is very strange in that off the wall Japanese art type of way. But, it actually fits pretty well with the classic feel of the album. Behind the actual cd tray is a pretty cool mosaic of a lot of different people showing off their ANTHRAX tattoos, myself included. This is one of those pictures where they all form together to make one bigger picture. This is just one of those albums that I can never find myself tiring of. These are, for the most part, all classic Anthrax tunes, and deserved to be heard by the modern masses. Now, Im not going to say that this wasnt done in any sort of way to cash in on what the fans want, and thankfully they obliged. In fact, the actual songs on the album were hand chosen by the fans on their website. Can you ask for anything more? 2004 brought us two releases from ANTHRAX, this release and the live album earlier in the year. Now, how is that for dedication? Now, this is probably not going to win over any new fans, as this album was really done for the hardcore fans. And, unfortunately, some of this will go right over the heads of most of the metal, or what they seem to call metal these days, fans out there today. This is really a fan affair, and if you can dig in on that, then welcome. If you like your metal thrashy and catchy in all the right places, you will not go wrong with this release. Even at the end of the day, as much as I am enjoying this release, there is still a little part of me that is screaming, Why? Did these songs really need to be rerecorded with Bush? Not really. I would have much more enjoyed actual remastered versions of those albums with original vocals intact. But I am still very happy that ANTHRAX decided to use Bush to pull these classics out of their 20 year plus library. You could almost call this a greatest hits retrospective of the early years of the band, just redone for a new age. Or something like that. If you like Anthrax, or thrash metal in general, then you will not go wrong this album. Mosh it up and bang your head like the 1980s, my friends. Rating: 8.7 /10
Evil C
