Have Anthrax been forgotten?

It seems like we never hear much about Anthrax anymore, even from the fans. Other "legacy" acts like Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, even less mainstream acts like Exodus and Overkill still have a big following, but Anthrax seem to have faded (though they are still active).

I never got into them. I prefer the Bay Area style.

They were too popular to begin with and have now fallen below Testament and others where they always belonged.  Too many crappy albums and a craven reunion with a singer they don't like and who doesn't like thrash.

For All Kings is a great record. I'm on a FB thrash site and they talk about them quite a bit.

I certainly haven't forgotten them

I’m still waiting for a good album since they released Persistence of Time.

Only a few good songs scattered on the albums since then… no pun intended.

Even though they're from my area, and I knew guys who were in the band in their early days, I could never really get into Anthrax past the 1st album...

Although I also liked that first album with John Bush ("Sound Of White Noise").  That had some classic 90's material.  Also "Armed & Dangerous" is a great song.

Other than that, just not into their style or song-writing, I find much of it too tedious and dull to listen to.

TZ75 wrote:I’m still waiting for a good album since they released Persistence of Time.

Only a few good songs scattered on the albums since then… pun not intended.

Sound Of White Noise is incredible.

Black Rider wrote:

TZ75 wrote:I’m still waiting for a good album since they released Persistence of Time.

Only a few good songs scattered on the albums since then… pun not intended.

Sound Of White Noise is incredible.

I never owned SOWN. I know the song “Only” and I’ve heard a couple others… but I’m not into it like Persistence.

Maybe I should listen to the album and give it another try.

They blew it when they got rid of Neil Turbin. Their stuff after that is oddly boring. Spreading the disease is ok but it can be a chore to get through it in one listen.

They had some lucky breaks like being on Married with Children or a well-executed Public Enemy colab but their music is not as good as a majority of 2nd and 3rd tier speed thrash acts.

What?

Bronze Age wrote:They blew it when they got rid of Neil Turbin. Their stuff after that is oddly boring. Spreading the disease is ok but it can be a chore to get through it in one listen.

They had some lucky breaks like being on Married with Children or a well-executed Public Enemy colab but their music is not as good as a majority of 2nd and 3rd tier speed thrash acts.

Imagine not liking StD, AtL, or PoT...

StevenCressler wrote:

Bronze Age wrote:They blew it when they got rid of Neil Turbin. Their stuff after that is oddly boring. Spreading the disease is ok but it can be a chore to get through it in one listen.

They had some lucky breaks like being on Married with Children or a well-executed Public Enemy colab but their music is not as good as a majority of 2nd and 3rd tier speed thrash acts.

Imagine not liking StD, AtL, or PoT...

It’s crazy talk (in my book). 

StD, AtL and PoT are their prime years! It’s those albums that validated their membership as part of the Big 4.

State of Euphoria also had some good stuff… but it mostly was carried by their semi-hit cover of Antisocial. It also was their “silly and cartoony” era with the colorful clothes and comic book imagery.

I don't know what to tell you guys. I tried to like them. I really did. Keep in mind I did say Spreading the Disease was ok.

Bronze Age wrote:I don't know what to tell you guys. I tried to like them. I really did. Keep in mind I did say Spreading the Disease was ok.

You are entitled to your opinion. At least you’re being honest. 

I guess it’s kinda like how I’m not a huge fan of the John Bush era. 

He’s a good singer, but I like Belladonna the best. Joey was the singer when I discovered the band. Maybe it’s nostalgia… but I think it’s the combination of his very clean melodic voice against the heavy music. I like the contrast.

Bronze Age wrote:I don't know what to tell you guys. I tried to like them. I really did. Keep in mind I did say Spreading the Disease was ok.

Ofc, it's your opinion. I respect that. I just don't understand it

StevenCressler wrote:

Bronze Age wrote:They blew it when they got rid of Neil Turbin. Their stuff after that is oddly boring. Spreading the disease is ok but it can be a chore to get through it in one listen.

They had some lucky breaks like being on Married with Children or a well-executed Public Enemy colab but their music is not as good as a majority of 2nd and 3rd tier speed thrash acts.

Imagine not liking StD, AtL, or PoT...

I can understand not liking Persistence of Time. I love the first three albums but I find Persistence of Time and State of Euphoria quite boring. The choruses on Euphoria were really annoying to me. Persistence didn't have that problem but the songs just were pretty meh.

Airola wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

Bronze Age wrote:They blew it when they got rid of Neil Turbin. Their stuff after that is oddly boring. Spreading the disease is ok but it can be a chore to get through it in one listen.

They had some lucky breaks like being on Married with Children or a well-executed Public Enemy colab but their music is not as good as a majority of 2nd and 3rd tier speed thrash acts.

Imagine not liking StD, AtL, or PoT...

I can understand not liking Persistence of Time. I love the first three albums but I find Persistence of Time and State of Euphoria quite boring. The choruses on Euphoria were really annoying to me. Persistence didn't have that problem but the songs just were pretty meh.

What about One Man Stands? That's prolly my fav song on Persistence.

Fascinating to see people's opinions on this band. I only know Spreading the Disease and Among the Living. I really love StD but AtL never clicked with me somehow.

OK story time: Back in the day I was uncool because me and my family went to the local free evangelical church (in Europe that's enough to be ridiculed), and I never listened to Anthrax because I was not allowed to listen to secular music. All my classmates had Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica T-Shirts etc.  I nagged my mum long enough to agree to buy me a metal T-Shirt. The only one that was acceptable was the Anthrax Euphoria shirt with the cartoon character because all others had skulls and demons and stuff. So I got this one, hoping I would now be accepted by the cool guys. Little did I know they all hated that record because Anthrax had veered off of the pure thrash path so I continued to be mobbed. This time not for my Christian faith but for my poor music taste. For a while, I even went by the nick name of "Anthrax heavy". If that was not enough, my chemical class teacher singled me out to point out what evil stuff Anthrax was and why I would want  to wear a shirt with such hideous word on it. To this day, I have not heard a single tune by them.

StevenCressler wrote:

Airola wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

Bronze Age wrote:They blew it when they got rid of Neil Turbin. Their stuff after that is oddly boring. Spreading the disease is ok but it can be a chore to get through it in one listen.

They had some lucky breaks like being on Married with Children or a well-executed Public Enemy colab but their music is not as good as a majority of 2nd and 3rd tier speed thrash acts.

Imagine not liking StD, AtL, or PoT...

I can understand not liking Persistence of Time. I love the first three albums but I find Persistence of Time and State of Euphoria quite boring. The choruses on Euphoria were really annoying to me. Persistence didn't have that problem but the songs just were pretty meh.

What about One Man Stands? That's prolly my fav song on Persistence.

That and H8 Red got the worst score from me. They are the only songs I gave 2/5.


This is how I ranked the songs:

Time ***½
Blood ***
Keep It in the Family **½
In My World ***
Gridlock ***½
Intro to Reality **½
Belly of the Beast **½
Got the Time ***
H8 Red **
One Man Stands **
Discharge ***

Raegoul wrote:OK story time: Back in the day I was uncool because me and my family went to the local free evangelical church

HA!



But seriously, sounds rough (the rest I mean)

Airola wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

Airola wrote:

StevenCressler wrote:

Bronze Age wrote:They blew it when they got rid of Neil Turbin. Their stuff after that is oddly boring. Spreading the disease is ok but it can be a chore to get through it in one listen.

They had some lucky breaks like being on Married with Children or a well-executed Public Enemy colab but their music is not as good as a majority of 2nd and 3rd tier speed thrash acts.

Imagine not liking StD, AtL, or PoT...

I can understand not liking Persistence of Time. I love the first three albums but I find Persistence of Time and State of Euphoria quite boring. The choruses on Euphoria were really annoying to me. Persistence didn't have that problem but the songs just were pretty meh.

What about One Man Stands? That's prolly my fav song on Persistence.

That and H8 Red got the worst score from me. They are the only songs I gave 2/5.


This is how I ranked the songs:

Time ***½
Blood ***
Keep It in the Family **½
In My World ***
Gridlock ***½
Intro to Reality **½
Belly of the Beast **½
Got the Time ***
H8 Red **
One Man Stands **
Discharge ***

Only 2.5 for Belly of the Beast? 

That’s always been one of my favorites! It’s a solid 5/5 in my book! 

The rest of the album is all 4/5 (with the exception of Got the Time). Although I like the music of that song, some of the vocal parts annoy me a bit. I give that one a 3/5.

I love the production of PoT! 

Frank Bello’s bass sound is awesome! Producer/engineer Mark Dodson captured a great tone and it can be heard nicely with the guitars. All the instruments blend together perfectly. 

Pot and Overkill’s Under the Influence are my two favorite albums that have a prominent bass guitar sound. Both are NY/Jersey area bands. They apparently appreciated a good bass sound more than their California counterparts. 

Although Cliff Burton is my favorite thrash bassist, he was always a bit sonically buried in the mixes. He was only heard loud on Kill ‘Em All (and it was ironically recorded in NY).

Andreas89 wrote:

Raegoul wrote:OK story time: Back in the day I was uncool because me and my family went to the local free evangelical church

HA!



But seriously, sounds rough (the rest I mean)

It was a bit humiliating. One day the gnarliest dude (the one with the Morgoth shirt) wanted to make me kneel before an upside down cross. But it never really got out of hand. 

Anyway since we‘re at it, here‘s how I got cool eventually: there was this party at a boy scouts‘ hut. At one point one of the oldest and strongest dudes comes to me and goes: the next song will be Sink The Pink by AC DC so I will take you on my shoulders and we‘ll barge into the moshpit with you headbanging. He picked me because I was the smallest kid. So we did this and everybody thought it was cool. From then on, I was more or less accepted.