Amazon.com: If Metallica and Slayer invented speed metal, Anthrax brought it to the East Coast and imbued it with the attitude and excitement of New York hardcore. Among the Living is, without a doubt, their finest hour--a roaring, adrenaline-pumped collection of flailing beats, precise, razor-edged riffs and shout-along refrains. Unlike most full-throttle metal vocalists of the era, Joey Belladonna chose to sing as well as shout, giving songs like "Among the Living," "Indians" and "Efilnikcufecin" ("nice fuckin' life" spelled backwards) a decided melodic edge. Yet Scott Ian and Dan Spitz's buzzsaw guitar flurries, and Charlie Benante's insistent drumming, prevented the songs from ever degenerating into the run-of-the-mill heavy metal they so despised. --Jon Wiederhorn
Maybe a masterpiece, but a very dated one... "Among the Living" just hasn't aged very well. Charlie's drumming has always been a personal favorite, and the bass and rhythm guitar work of Anthrax has always been well above par. But Dan Spitz has always been, well... lacking, as a thrash solo guitar player. He's not bad, just not all that great. Certainly better than the pre-marty Friedman Megadeth days, and at least on a par with Kirk "don't ever step off that wah pedal" Hammett... Kerry King's and Jeff Hanneman's maniacal mayhem solos are of a whole different caliber...
That, and, I hate to say it... but I just don't like Joey Belladona as a vocalist. He doesn't have a bad voice, just one that has always seemed out of place with the music, at least to me. And lyrics... well, we all knew Anthrax was far sillier than the rest of the 1980's thrash legends... but that has been a large part of their downfall over time. Seriously, listen to "Indians" or "I Am the Law"... they're a little TOO silly for a thrash band, at least for me.
Still a classic, still a must own, and definitely still a landmark among 1980's thrash, just a bit dated and flawed.
A Solid Realease by 'Thrax!! This album is the best of Anthrax. Belladonna's high flying vocals, Benante's pounding drums, and Scott Ian's punch you in your face guitar work make this a thrash metal classic!! Classic songs like Caught In A Mosh, I Am The Law, and the title track are speed metal anthems!! Enjoy!!, I sure as hell did!!
Nothing To Brag About! Anthrax has to be one of the most overrated thrash bands to come out the '80s and this ablum is a prime example.
Charlie Benante is probably the best musician in the band but I can't say much for the rest. Scott Ian and Dan Spitz have good main riffs but there is no skill whatsoever in lead guitars. Anthrax's solos just suck, period! Joey Belladonna is OK but his whinning voice just gets irritating after a while.
In terms of lyrics, this album shows a talent of close to zero. In "Indians" Belladonna sings 'Cry for the Indian!'; please! Cry for the Indian? This is thrash! You don't sing about crying for anything unless it's about some pioneer woman crying for mercy as she's getting raped and scalped by a pissed off Comanche. A sad excuse for an Indian Apology song compared to Maiden's 'Run to the Hills' and that's not even thrash metal. If I'd want to hear a song asking me to cry about something I'd be a Bon Jovi fan instead! "Efilnikcufecin." Wow! You can recite nice f***in life backwards: creative backward messages there dude! If I want to know more about Belushi's life I'll just watch 'Animal House' as that sums it up quite well and is a lot more entertaining than this song. "Caught In A Mosh." I can see the creative flow for this song, "Dude! Let's write a mosh song about a mosh and call it 'Caught in a Mosh'!" Wow, there's genius talent for you! For mosh songs I prefer more creative stuff like Pantera's 'Death Rattle' from Reinventing the Steel or just Slayer's 'Angel of Death' will do. "I Am The Law." Oh please not a comic book character song! It's about as exciting as the original Batman TV title song and about as bad as the Dredd movie that followed with Sly. The album came out when I was a teen and I thought this song was infantile even then! 'Skeletons in the Closet' is probably the best song on this album.
Anyway, Anthrax had a good start with Spreading the Disease but just became one of the most overrated thrash bands in history and this ablum is proof. Good riffs; decent vocals and drums; dum lyrics; and, simply lousy solo work. Makes me think of a decent garage band you invite for a summer block party with beer kegs. After a few beers the music starts sounding really great for a mosh with friends but that's about it.
Classic Anthrax! This was (and still is) one of the greats in my library of thrash music. Anthrax really got into their groove on this album and everyone in the band was firing all cylinders. Heavy guitars, drums, and bass, along with Belladonna's vocals = excellent release.
Drawing themes from the horror fiction of Stephen King ("Among the Living" and "Skeletons in the Closet") and Judge Dredd comics ("I am the Law"), the band presented here a lively, unique metal sound that was quite infectious and energizing to listen to. This was one of my favorite morning wake-up calls before school, along with a Mountain Dew or a Jolt Cola (when we could find them). Good stuff!
One of the Best Very simply put, this is one of the best metal albums by one of the best metal bands of all time!
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