Customer Reviews

All for You

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been listening to this release repeatedly over about the last week trying to make my descision on this album. and over all I would have to say that it is pretty good, but far from being Annihilator's best album. "All For You" is a varied release that showcases Jeff Water's skills greatly and he has definatly come up with his fare share of killer riffs and solos on this. as for the new vocalist Dave Padden he can actually sing when he want's too. he reminds me just slightly of Mike Patton(Faith no More) but with a more aggressive edge. actually his vocals are most impressive with the exception of Demon Dance where he nearly ruins the song by sounding like the guy from System of a Down.The music in that song is almost good enough to make up for the vocals (almost). anyway I would recommend this album to someone but check out Carnival Diablos, or Waking the Fury out first.

Annihilator arrived at the beginning of the 90s with one of the best thrash metal albums of all time. You could even say it was one of the best metal albums ever. It was and still is incredible with so many great riffs played by Jeff Waters, a guitarist with talent coming out of his ears. The next album, Never Neverland was just as good but after that many people thought the band went downhill.

If you are familiar with recent Annhilator, then you will be aware that Annihilator often mix the style of their music across an album. Carnival Diablos was a great example of this. A bit of hard rock, a bit of Heavy Metal and some thrash.
Waking the Fury was more thrash and was very fast and very heavy.

All For You, the new Annihilator disk, is to my ears, similar to Carnival Diablos, in that it mixes many styles. I think it is a great all round album.

There is a new singer in the form of Dave Padden. He can sing very well but on the first song, the title track, the verse is shouted in a rather nu-metal way, which sort of spoils an otherwise good song. It is quite a relaxed metal song, but is pretty catchy.
Dr. Psycho is a mid-tempo/fast song which really gets the head moving!!
Demon Dance starts off slowish and then goes into a very very fast thrash song!! amongst Annihilators fastest ever songs.
The picking on the guitar solos on this song are beyond belief! SO clean and precise.
The rest of the songs are either mid tempo metal or fast thrash. There are a couple of ballads thrown in as well, which might annoy some people. For me though, the album works really well as a whole, the varation of songs making it an interesting listen and not just monotonous speed the whole time.

A very good album that any Metalhead should enjoy.
IF you want balls out thrash however, check out Waking the Fury.

I've followed & supported Jeff Waters' band since "Alice in Hell". I found that after the first three albums, you didn't know what you were getting when an Annihilator cd was purchased. I'm not talking about musical style or musical abilities. Jeff Waters is probably the most diverse & skilled guitarist in the metal realm, which is why I keep shelling out cash for his music. I find myself, quite often, questioning his reasoning as far as allowing input in the song writing department. Several albums sound like ideas were repeated many times over. After listening to "Waking the Fury", I felt that perhaps Annihilator was back in full force (considering the same line-up was actually used for 2 albums in a row was another selling feature to me). I think if songs were written as a collaberated effort (whether from his band or from an outside influence) and Jeff didn't take on all aspects of the song writing process, the quality of the songs would improve immensely. I'm not slammimg Jeff Waters as a song writer considering he's written some incredible songs over the years, but he's only human. I gave the album three stars because I expected more from the songs. Once again, while the musicianship is outstanding, the overall effect of the cd was disappointing to me (especially the "Talking Head" vocal style in Devil Dance).

The other reviewers have done a great job of reviewing this disc. They are on the money with their views about Dave Padden's vocal style. He fails to deliver the goods here. His voice just dosen't seem to gel with Jeff's style. The only song in my opinion where Padden sounds great is the song "The One". But that song is peppered with "na na"!! WTF??? There ain't no place for Na Na's on an Annihilator record in my books. Musically, the record kicks ass. It is definitely not the best Annihilator record out there but it sure gets 4 stars. Jeff Waters will blow you away. The instrumental on this one is not as great as some of the earlier one's but still manages to end the whole experience well. I for one would like to see the next record with Joe Comeau manning the vocal department. He is the perfect Annihilator vocalist. Check out the awesome Carnival Diablos. Mike Mangini absolutely rocks. Great great drummer. I have followed him from his days in Extreme. Hope he is on board on the next record as well. In a nutshell "All For You"
Artwork = 10/10
Production = 9/10
Music = 10/10
Vocals = 6/10
Upsides--Demon Dance, Rage Absolute, Both of Me and The One
Flipsides--All For You (surprisingly), Bled

I've been waiting for this album to be released in the states for so long i'm so glad its finally available. anyway, this album needs time to grow on you. i'll be the first to admit that dave padden is a bit of a clown in the vocal department but if you get used to his unusual approach then you realise that he does actually deliver the goods. Jeff Waters as always is amazing, the riffs this man writes and the solos he pulls off always bring a wide grin to my face. The heavy songs on here are so fast and so heavy its sick and the soft songs are well done and dave's clean voice is really nice. Mike Mangini is the most amazing drummer i've ever heard and his playing really helps to put this album over the top. so basically if you're an Annihilator fan you'll probably like this. if you're not then this is a good place to start it'll give a good idea of the different sides of Jeff's writing.

I've been a fan of Annihilator for a while now, and this disc didn't really impress me. There are a few songs - "Demon Dance", "Both of Me" - that managed to do their job as being good thrash (which is what I expected). But songs like "The One" and "All For You" are just sappy songs I'd expect to hear on the radio or something. If you were expecting the earlier CDs like Alice in Hell and Set The World on Fire, this disc isn't for you.

A nice album by Annihilator. In some tracks it reminds me Korn a Little bit (i dislike Korn) but the guitars are doing a good work. The solos in some tracks are very fast. What i don't like in Annihilator is the vocals. I never liked the vocals. A must for Annihilator fans

Annihilator albums are always hit and miss. There are those that thrash and have little melody: Walking the fury, Schizo Deluxe (most recent and really tuneless); then there are those with some really nice mixes of metal and melodies, Set the world on fire, King of the Kill and this release. Listening to the first track is a clear example. 'All over you' has some really thrashy parts, then a really melodic chorus and a fantastic bridge. I think 'The one' is a fantastic commercial ballad with excellent vocals. 'Holding on' is really melodic and soft and sung by Jeff, really nice arpeggiated guitars. I also like the schizophrenic nature of some of the other tracks. Very good release.

If I'm not mistaken, this is Annihilator's 10th studio release. The truly amazing thing about this is not that the band still exists after 15 years of activity, but that the band has never again reached the quality or creativity that their debut album possessed. 1989's "Alice in Hell" may have dated somewhat, but it's still an excellent example of guitar driven thrash, showcasing the breathtaking instrumental talent that is guitarist Jeff Waters, and subjecting listeners to a wicked nightmare world. The band has gone through many line-up changes over the years, but Jeff Waters still remains, which is why I find it so hard to understand the varying degree of quality on all proceeding albums. "All For You" is a fairly good representation of an Annihilator album. It contains three common ingredients. Some ripping thrash songs, a few immature comedic moments and a couple of soppy love ballads.

Let's start with the good. Annihilator have always been able to thrash. The majority of the tracks on "All For You" have some great moments of ripping metal, with "Both of Me", "Demon Dance" and "Nightmare Factory" being solid examples. If the band could focus its energies on creating a 40 minute thrash-fest, I'd probably be telling you all to go buy the new Annihilator album. Unfortunately, they choose to inject some truly childish behaviour into their music just when things are going well. Now I'm all for having fun and experimenting in the studio, but singing "Baa, baa black sheep..." at the very end of what would otherwise be an album highlight track ("Nightmare Factory") is just ridiculous, not to mention the "dance, pooh, dance, pooh" section at the end of "Demon Dance" (I must admit to finding this amusing a couple of times).

Then there are the ballads. "The One" is perfectly listenable and in fact, I think it's one of the better parts of the album. "Holding On" on the other hand is atrociously soppy and cliche. So I guess all of this leads me to the conclusion that Annihilator is just not happy to be a thrash metal band and I guess I respect that. It's just really unfortunate that being a thrash metal band is what they do really well. The other aspects of their music, be it rap, nu-metal, pop or sesame street garbage, just don't work very well.

Now where did I put that "Alice in Hell" CD?

I've followed & supported Jeff Waters' band since "Alice in Hell". I found that after the first three albums, you didn't know what you were getting when an Annihilator cd was purchased. I'm not talking about musical style or musical abilities. Jeff Waters is probably the most diverse & skilled guitarist in the metal realm, which is why I keep shelling out cash for his music. I find myself, quite often, questioning his reasoning as far as allowing input in the song writing department. Several albums sound like ideas were repeated many times over. After listening to "Waking the Fury", I felt that perhaps Annihilator was back in full force (considering the same line-up was actually used for 2 albums in a row was another selling feature to me). I think if songs were written as a collaberated effort (whether from his band or from an outside influence) and Jeff didn't take on all aspects of the song writing process, the quality of the songs would improve immensely. I'm not slammimg Jeff Waters as a song writer considering he's written some incredible songs over the years, but he's only human. I gave the album three stars because I expected more from the songs. Once again, while the musicianship is outstanding, the overall effect of the cd was disappointing to me (especially the "Talking Head" vocal style in Devil Dance).