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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hell yeah, November 23, 2004
Well, reviewing this is a little pointless, I suspect, as I think pretty much all the Anthtax fans out there are gonna know whether or not they're interested in an in-studio re-recording of some of the Belladonna and Turbin era material. But, for what it's worth, I think this is a great disc, and absolutely worth the cash. The only bad part about this album is how it illustrates just how dead thrash is, as it completely obliterates all the so called returns and re-births of thrash that we've heard over the years, both in terms of quality,(which they can't really be expected to match in a single album of new material) and sheer metal thrashing madness. (Which they can be expected to match. Well, Overkill still thrashes it up very well, but that's about it.)
Lousy production was a problem for pretty much all thrash bands back in the day, but Anthrax took it especially hard, I think. And, although I knew that this would sound better than the old stuff, I was a little worried that it would integrate production styles of the newer Anthrax material, which wouldn't be quite appropriate for pure thrash.(Louder vox, less harsh guitar tone etc.) Well, I was quite a fool for doubting them, as the production and mix of this album are absolutely perfect. The guitars are incredibly thick and crunching, and pushed way to the front of the mix, and the drums sound great too, particularly the powerful, thudding bass. The vox are right in the center, and relatively quiet, just as they should be. The bass guitar isn't as prominent as it was in classic Anthrax, but you can still make it out well enough, and you get plenty of extra heaviness with the new production. The only complaint I can imagine is that the back-up/gang vox aren't quite as loud as they ought to be, but this is a tiny matter. And the instrumental performances are pretty much flawless. Bush does a nice job with the vox, naturally. I've grown quite fond of the quirkiness of Belladonna's vox, but most of the time Bush is probably more suited for the job. However, it's the change in the production of the instruments that matters, far more so than the different vocalist.(I can't compare him to Turbin, as I'm ashamed to say that I don't own Fistful of Metal) The songs are generally extremely faithful(though not utterly) to the originals, other than some changed solos, which are still generally quite good.(Anthrax was never really about the solos, to me, anyway. Naturally, this comment might not apply to FoM, as I haven't actually heard it, and wouldn't know)
As I presume most people will, I have some very minor quibbles with the song selection. Simply put, Persistence of Time is underrepresented with only 2 tracks. But, the fact of the matter is that there are 12 Belladonna era tracks on this album, and every last one of them is an absolute classic.(Lone Justice is a bonus track) So I can't complain much.And the Turbin material, while not up to the level of the later stuff, is still good, and definitely deserves it's place due to historical significance. And it provides some nice variety as it's very old-school. sorta like the faster material on Kill 'em All with more melodicism and a stronger, straight up speed metal feel.
Well, that's it. Awesome album right here.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Why the One star reviews???, July 26, 2005
OK, some people totally missed the point of this album completely. You guys are so busy comparing John Bush's singing ability to Turbin's and Belladona's that you don't realize that these songs aren't supposed to be exactly like the originals. It would be pointless for Anthrax to rerecord these with Bush if he was supposed to sing like Belladona and Turbin and hit all those high notes. This is an album for the fans that want to hear classic anthrax songs sung by Bush, who had been their singer at this point for about as long as Belladona was. Maybe Bush isn't technically as good of a singer as Belladona but he does have a good singing voice and a completely different style. And as far as Neil Turbin goes he was a ridiculously horrible singer anyway with no real talent other than screaming and TRYING to hit Halford pitched screams, which would never happen. Turbin was only good for getting Anthrax going and provided some decent over the top metal vocals that caught the attention of a few metal fans back in the early 80's and if he had remained their singer Anthrax would never had been able to evolve into the great band that they became. So stop your bitching and comparing this to the originals and enjoy it for what it is. A collection of great thrash and heavy metal classics updated for fans of the John Bush era Anthrax!!!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm impressed, December 16, 2005
When I found out that anthrax redid some of their best work I wasn't to sure of how it will come out. But I gave this album a shot and man I loved this album when the first track started. I like the sound and they didn't ruin any of their songs. Tracks that blew me away are Keep it in the Family, Indian, and I am the law. I do recommend getting their first albums instead but this album is just fine and keeps the thrash metal still alive.Keep it up Anthrax. It's the best thing I have heard in a while.
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