Awsome I am a Anthrax fan from way back. This is a great cd. John Bush sounds real good.
A treat for fans - 3.5 stars In the 00's when so many bands who had their genesis in the 80's are running around putting out covers albums Anthrax were one of the first. But they covered their own tunes originally recorded with earlier vocalist Joey Belladonna with current incumbent John Bush. Which is an original and intriguing idea from a long time fans point of view.
Of course one of the reasons this works so well is that Anthrax were blessed with having large scale acceptance of John Bush as vocalist as the replacement for Belladonna so this release at least had half a chance with the faithful, whereas imagine the outcry if the mighty Maiden had of done something like this during Blaze Bayleys tenure.
When it comes down to it the songs here sound great. Bush is a very different vocalist to Belladonna and some of the arrangements have been changed (I won't use the word updated) but for the most part this sounds like necessary alterations to take into account the way the band operates now and to accommodate the change in vocal stylings. The songs are still totally recognisable to the long term fan, or at least to this one. The track list is pretty much a matter of personal taste, as one of the Big 4 there will be plenty of hard core fans who might of preferred the band do this or that song but overall a chunk of the classics have been given the 2004 treatment.
This will probably come down to how big a fan you are of the band. Speaking personally I enjoyed this album but conversely don't actually play it that often. It's probably human nature to enjoy the familiar and in this case that's the original version. Yet one has to give credit to the band for having a pair of rock solid pair of you-know-whats just to attempt this and to pull it off so well.
Nicely played, nicely produced curio for the fans much like Attack of the Killer A's was all those years ago.
Metal Thrashing Makeover I'll admit was a little skeptical when the band announced plans to re-record some Anthrax classics with the new lineup. The old stuff never grabbed me, and it seemed like a bit of a cash grab. After reading some of the band members' statements about The Greater of Two Evils, I decided to give it a shot. All I can say is "I GET IT NOW". These weren't bad songs; they were just missing two very important elements. One was more modern production technology, but the main element was the right vocalist. I can hear you old school Anthrax fans having fits over that statement, but to me (and I suspect many others), the John Bush lineup is the REAL Anthrax. I'm not knocking Joey Belladonna, but all of his albums combined didn't impact me like Sound of White Noise did.
With The Greater of Two Evils, Anthrax reaches all the way back to the Fistful of Metal days and on through the Belladonna albums, giving us all a chance to experience these old songs in a whole new light. Bush's energetic and intense yet still melodic vocal style is such a better fit for Anthrax's brand of thrash, and you can tell he put 110% into recording these songs. The band also sounds amazing. The guys put so much frenetic energy into these songs that you'd never guess they had been playing some of them for two decades.
I know Anthrax got some grief over this release, but I absolutely love it. It gives me a deeper appreciation for both John Bush's vocal style and those early Anthrax albums.
Good but..... Anthrax are the soundtrack to my childhood. Listening to Bush sing Belladona tracks is a little weird, but not bad. I love this, but I think I still prefer to get out the originals. Bush just can't hit those high notes required to pull off these great tracks. The Bush era has produced some off the greatest Anthrax albums of all time (Stomp 442 is THE Best Anthrax album of all time), but there was no real need for this bar novely factor. Go get the originals, bang your head and love life as a lucky old school metal fan. P.S. New Core and Nu metal is ultimately pretty boring, go get an education in what metal is supposed to be, Anthrax is an awesome place to start
Good Re-master Scott Ian and the Anthrax crew return to the studio to release the classics re-done, and what comes out is nothing but the best. You'll notice cleaner guitars, more audible bass, better vocals (IMO), and much more of a bite to their music than they had with their early releases.
Every Anthrax fan knows these songs by now, so their is no need to go over them, but I have to say my favorite re-mastered songs are Gung-Ho and Keep it in the Family.
Although this isnt necessary, its definately neat, and is worth checking out. Also get Testaments First Strike Still Deadly, which is also re-masters.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Not Available Comics
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
