AWESOME record! This is by far THE best Anthrax album ever! Yeah, you heard me. Usually Anthrax fans would say stuff like "Oh, but it's not Joey singing, it's different, it doesn't sound like Anthrax, blah, blah, blah........." Hey IT'S COOL. This album is thrashy as hell and God, it's heavy! It's got really heavy guitars and hard vocals. Much, much better than Joey as much as i like him. I don't think Joey's voice was made for this kind of music. I can not believe this album is out of print. Once again this record rocks!
Anthrax's new era continues Originally released in 1995, Stomp 442 was the second album of "the Bush era". I was always aware of Anthrax growing up, but aside from their goofball "I'm the Man" single, the band never really made much of an impact on me until they replaced vocalist Joey Belladonna with Armored Saint's John Bush. Bush's energetic and intense yet still melodic vocal style just seemed like such a better fit for Anthrax's brand of thrash, and I still view that lineup's debut - 1993's Sound of White Noise - as the best Anthrax album ever.
Stomp 442 carries on the same tradition of Sound of White Noise. It's great to hear an album so unrepentantly metal at a time when metal had become a 4-letter word to most music buyers. This was not some weak attempt at grunge. Despite the absence of founding guitarist Dan Spitz, Stomp 442 had all of Anthrax's signature thrash style, but with an intensity that would have been right at home on a hardcore punk album. Songs like "Riding Shotgun" and "Drop the Ball" are just punishing. Bush's vocals are as good as ever, and seem to me to be the glue that holds the whole album together. Stomp 442 doesn't have the immediate impact that Sound of White Noise had, but it doesn't take too many spins before you realize you're getting a first-rate metal album, and one that is more than worthy of the Anthrax name.
Careful now... I don't like this stuff. In fact, I hate it when I have to tell my neighbors to turn their music down constantly when they blast it through their stereos, as I can't concentrate when this is blasting. It is so grating to my ears, I would rather listen to a fire alarm.
In fact, this is the album that David Merrell used when he did his study on mice and music. For the hard rock, he used this album. The mice had difficulty with it--not only did the mice exposed to this music have more difficulty going through the maze than the other mice, after the study was over the mice turned bitter toward each other and killed themselves!
If you like this album, or hard rock music in general, that's fine, but please be careful. This album may be hazardous to your health!
A shot of Petrol Damn this album is good. I am biased because I dig the John Bush era of Anthrax so much - but still this album smokes. Why is this album so underrated? I think Elektra buried this album after it was released because Elektra was going in a new direction and Anthrax got thrown under the bus.
Anyway Dan Spitz gets booted and the band brings in part time guitarist Paul Crook and the band does not miss a beat.
Tons of hooks, heavy riffs, melodies and it all comes together. Totally missed by most people because it came out when Metal was not surging in popularity. Anyway this album still rocks - even if the reunited Anthrax sucks.
The bridge between heavy metal and hard rock I have no doubt: After listening the entire Anthrax catalog, my conclusion was instantaneous: Stomp 442 is the best Anthrax effort. I guess why many people (religious metalheads) overlooks this album: it's not thrash (like Anthrax 80's model) but heavy hard rock (really hard)... ready to smash your head. This album was the best moment of Anthrax, the most original... there is no similar album on the genre (except "We have come for you all"). And John Bush... he is a true hard rock singer.
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Trevor
Megaton Man
