Customer Reviews

Live: Island Years

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

 

 

I remember when I first got my copy of this disc,as I just assumed the label wanted to simply ca$h in on the Anthrax days long gone.This twelve track offering is rather decent,specially if you ever got to see the band when former vocalist Joey Belladonna was fronting them.Notable cuts include the opener "NFL"(remember what that stands for?),"Parasite",(still like seeing the video on VH1 Classic),their signature song "Indians","I Am The Law","Caught In A Mosh" and "Anti-Social".Opposed to all the long time Anthrax fans that SAY they like John Bush as their vocalist,I like Belladonna better.A good thrash metal catalog title.Great cover.

Being a HUGE Anthrax fan, I decided to buy this 1994 live album from Anthrax. As many already know, Joey Belladonna was fired and replaced in 1992, so already you can tell this album's release was decided on by their old record company. It even has the name of the record company in the title!: Island. So how is the album?

Pretty bad. It was recorded at the end of a long 2 year tour supporting the album Persistence Of Time. Because of this, the performances are tired and sometimes sloppy. Though the thing that hurts the album most is the terrible mixing job. The sound quality is muffled and very muddy. Joey Belladonna's vocals, and Charlie Benante's drums are mixed up front, along with Scott Ian and Frank Bello's backing vocals. Everything else goes to the wayside. The guitars and bass are barely audible.

Some of the tracks are even split in the wrong places! The last four tracks were performed for a radio show. The sound quality is excellent, but they're played almost exactly the same as the studio versions. Why bother? I cannot recommend this CD to anyone but an Anthrax die-hard. The only song that you might want to buy the album for is a blistering performance of "N.F.L. (Efilnikufesin)".

I wouldn't go as far as saying that this is a must-have CD by the great band, but there are some tracks on it that are outstanding.

The quality is certainly not the best for a live album (for a lesson in quality live recordings, look at Iron Maiden's Live after Death), but there is still some killer tracks here.

However, I am still wondering my Among the Living is not on here - in my opinion, this is one the best songs they ever did as a live set.

I love the live version of Bring the Noise with Public Enemy - these guys pioneered alot of the sounds that you hear now with bands like Limp Bizkit, Korn, POD etc and you can hear that in this track - simply awesome.

The crowd/live atmosphere is not really transferred onto this recording, especially with those recorded in the studio with a "live" audience.

Still, this is an Anthrax album so that alone gives it some merit !!!

I want to be real honest here; this is not a four or five star album. I'm a huge Anthrax fan and think this album is a lot of fun. But four or five stars should be for excellent or essential albums and this just isn't up to that level.

Produced to fullfill contractual obligations with Island records, this live album captures some of the fun of the band just prior to Joey Belladonna leaving the band. So if you want to hear Anthrax live with Belladonna and Spitz, then this is for you. The first 2/3rds is a live venue in California and the sound quality is merely good - not perfect. The last four songs are from a live in the studio session for a radio program. Sound quality is better on these.

This is not bad! If you already love Anthrax then don't hesitate! But it's not a good selection for the first Anthrax album you buy. For that, I'd recommend, Among the Living, Spreading the Disease, Persistence of Time or Sound of White Noise.

the Best of Anthrax.. <N.F.L.> <I am the low><Keep it in the familly> thrash me mad! but this is not all.. <Bring the Noise> featuring PUBLIC ENEMY! Good thrash metal live album

Standard record company procedure: Dump band and then try to wring a few more dollars out of them by releasing a best of or some equally 'catch all' retrospective. In this case a live album. Then again the companies lose a heap of cash on failed acts so perhaps we shouldn't be too hard on them.

This Anthrax live recording is gleaned from two sources and it all sounds pretty good. The Anthrax fan should direct themselves to the track listing and weigh up how badly they need live versions of stuff they already own. The tracks are quality thrash metal with the band firing fairly well. The atmosphere here isn't electric but it serves the purpose, actually my preference is for the liver version here of Metal Thrashing Mad than the studio version (go figure). But better live versions of I Am The Law and Caught in a Mosh are to be found on the I'm the Man EP.

In summary, this gets 3.5 stars due to; cool cuts played well, a coo band caught in front of a couple of loving audiences and its a handy career retrospective up to the point the band left Island records. The downsides are the rip-off factor, the lack of input by the band and it's not as good a career summary as the Connoisseur collection Moshers 1986 ... 1991.

This low-priced live CD was obviously Island's method of squeezing one more album (and a few extra bucks) out of Anthrax after they'd moved on. At least they had the decency to get tracks from some different venues.

Essentially, this sounds like Anthrax, up to the early 90's and you can feel the heat of some of these tunes, same way you would if you saw them. "Efilnikufesin," "Keep It In The Family" and "Indians" are all good, and the cover of "Parasite" was a welcome surprise, being they and I were KISS fans from way back.

The track I really wanted was the duet with Public Enemy on "Bring the Noise." Chuck D. called those shows with Anthrax as some of the hardest, and the collaboration was awesome, especially this live one. Also like the tracks culled from a show before a radio audience at the end. Good stuff.

Yeah, a bit of a rip, I suppose, but at least these were good live tracks. Perhaps not definitive, but alright for me.

I think this is one of the best CD's I own, it's a great live album and most of Anthrax's classics are included.The sound quality is pretty good, some people think it's not so good,but I think it's fine.The first 8 tracks were recorded live in Irvine Meadows, California in 1991, the last 4 tracks we're recorded live at Electric Lady studio in 1992.If you like Anthrax then you owe it to yourself to pick this CD up!

New frontman John Bush is not featured on this CD which captures the Anthrax of old. Classic songs like Parasite, Antisocial, and Bring the Noise are found, but the recording is not of the highest quality. Lesser known tracks like I am the Law and In My World were recorded in a small club and sound awesome.

Many Anthrax fans dismiss this album because of the lack of the band's involvement and the sound quality among other things. I think that this is a GREAT album regardless, showing Anthrax in the band's prime. Vocalist Joe Belladonna gives a great vocal performance on all the tracks (Anthrax NEVER shoulda replaced him!!!), while Scott Ian (Best rhythm guitarist EVER!!!!!) and Dan Spitz show why they were one of the best guitar teams in metal (Anthrax NEVER shoulda replaced Spitz either!!!). Charlie Benante beats his kit into submission, playing AMAZING FILLS, and Frank Bello gives a GREAT performance on the bass, throwing in licks here and there. The first 8 tracks were recorded live at Irvine Meadows CA, October 1991, and the last 4 tracks were recorded "Live infront of really cool WSOU listeners" in January of 1992. Highlights include (Efilnikufesin) N.F.L., Parasite, Keep It In The Family, Caught In A Mosh, Antisocial, Bring The Noize w/Public Enemy, I Am The Law, Metal Thrashing Mad, and In My World. Buy it NOW!!!