Customer Reviews

Madhouse: Very Best of Anthrax

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

 

 

DO NOT BUY THIS ALBUM!
This album is NOT sanctioned by the band, it is simply Island Records attempt to milk money from the bands name. The band had no input about the song selections or release of this album. Island records dropped the band cold and has the nerve to release this album! LEECHES!
DO NOT BUY THIS ALBUM!

After the last greatest hits compilation of Anthrax material, "Attack of the Killer A's", didn't go down so well with older fans of the band due to a surprising lack of older material, another compilation featuring only older material was pretty much a no brainer. "Madhouse: The Very Best of Anthrax" may be no more than a record company's attempt to cash in, but it does offer a fine selection of some of the band's best older material. Yes, "Ball of Confusion" isn't here, but we get "Antisocial", "Caught in a Mosh", "Indians", "I Am the Law", "Belly of the Beast", the uncensored version of "I'm the Man", and naturally "Bring the Noise". If you already own all of Anthrax's older albums, there is no point in owning this; however if your looking to get into the band, this along with "Attack of the Killer A's" is a good place to start.

I'm a huge Anthrax fan. Always have been. But I was kind of conflicted with this one. I knew that this CD was a big faceless corporate record label trying to cash in on a great band. But what did I do? I cracked and bought it.

Here's my approach: I accept the record for what it is. It's a compilation with a bunch of great songs on it. It may be missing "Ball of Confusion," as so many here have noted, but I'm thinking of what it does include.

It's got "I Am the Law," "Indians," and "Caught in a Mosh," from arguably one of the best metal recordings ever, "Among the Living." It also has the uncensored version of "I'm the Man," which I so enjoy. And probably my two favorite songs the band has done, "Antisocial" and "Belly of the Beast." And it's got that great cut with Public Enemy, "Bring the Noise."

I give it four stars because it's not officially licensed and it's not 100% comprehensive, so in theory it should be a three star recording, but the quality of the songs chosen warrant an extra star.

MOSH MOSH MOSH MOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is definatly the purpose behind this cd. Don't think of it as island's way to get spare change from old school thrashers. Instead think of this as the most kick @** Joey Belladonna Anthrax songs crammed into one cd for your moshing pleasure. But even though it's not that long as AOTKAs and doesn't contain "Ball of Confusion". It does contain "A.I.R."*, "Armed and Dangerous", "Caught in a mosh"*, "I'm The Man (the def uncensored version)", and more than one song from "Persistance of Time". In my opinion this cd contains THE BEST era Anthrax there is. But if you disagree get AOTKAs. I know I did and i'm happy both ways around.

since all my anthrax lp's have had it, i'm glad this cd was released. i do note:that not all their best songs are on this.

a very good collection of the classic Anthrax line-up. If you are not a hardcore Anthrax fan then this and "Return of the Killer A's is all you really need. One weird thing is that on my copy it says that "Got The Time" is included, but the song "Time" is what is actually included. I am guessing this is some production error, but it is worth noting for those of you buying this for that song. Hopefully this will be corrected. The songs are all remastered and sound great, I am hoping they will remaster the whole Anthrax catalog!!!!!!

Of the Big Four thrash bands, Anthrax seems to be the most underrated. Everyone loves Metallica, a lot of people love Megadeth, Slayer is renowned as the most hardcore... and then there's Anthrax. But despite being the least-revered of the group, Anthrax still managed to make excellent songs during the heyday of thrash and beyond.

All of these songs are pure thrash, from the catchy "I Am The Law" and "Armed and Dangerous" to their best-known song "Caught In A Mosh" and "Antisocial." Scott Ian's guitar work sounds like a saw (in a good way of course) and Joey's vocals are great. I suppose the album could have had more songs, but it's still enjoyable.

If you're trying to get into thrash metal and Anthrax, this album is a great stepping stone. If you enjoy metal or hard rock, you will rack up the play counts for the songs on this album.

So it's a record company release...'whatever' I say it's got one of my fav songs in "A.I.R" on it, plus most of their major 'hits', so this is a nice comp of their early days as one of the top tier of thrash bands of the 80's. "Indians", "Bring The Noise" (Public Enemy), and "I'm The Man" plus a slew of other classix that put them firmly on the map as East Coast Thrash that was as fun as it was good.

One of the things most interesting about Anthrax was their sense of humour and 'not' taking themselves so seriously, they dressed like regular people, borderine on tourists it seemed at times and really weren't the type to pose for 'mug shot' type photos, or stand around with their arms crossed looking all evil, they could rock as good as any band at the time, but used so much positive energy and quality musicianship that it was no wonder they were so popular back in the day. They never seemed to gain the popularity of Metallica and Megadeth, and at the time none of these bands were being played on the radio (80's) so it was pretty much all underground for the most part, being so goofy at times perhaps covered up how good they were? Not sure, but it was the real deal and these songs here in this collection were a nice chunk of thrash that was as relevant as anything else out there at the time.

Next to "Attack Of The Killer B's", this is a great "Best Of" collection from the NYC thrashers. It includes some of their greatest songs from their early days (with Joey Belladonna and Dan Spitz), from the albums Spreading The Disease, Among The Living, Perception of Time, and others. All of the songs have been remastered and they all sound GREAT. I think this is a great CD to buy if you're just starting out on Anthrax, or want to hear what they sound like remastered. Yeah, it was released by Island, but so what? If you like bands in the vein of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. It's a good best-of from one of the most underrated bands in history. Recommended.

Madhouse is an attempt at a greatest hits album for anthrax but falls short because many of the bands greatest songs like antisocial and ball of confusion are missing. Try getting Attack of the Killer A's instead.