Return of the Killer A's

Well, it's weird to say considering this is a compilation album of various Anthrax hits, but this is the first metal album I ever listened to. And, frankly, it's not entirely metal. Between the first rap metal song ever made, "Bring the Noise", the groove metal/hard rock songs featuring John Bush as vocalist, and the thrash metal classics, this album is more of a conglomeration of thrash metal, groove metal, and rock, putting the rock/groove metal tracks on the first half and the thrash metal songs on the second half. I was 9 when I got this album, and let me tell you, it changed my entire life. I wouldn't be here writing reviews for metal albums if it wasn't for it. I remember it like yesterday- walking into a public library, going through cd's that they had, and finding this. The cover of a massive bug with its giant eyes and the "mad man" face in its pupils just drew me in. I had to get it.

And boy, did I love it. I kept the album locked up in my cd player way past the time it needed to be returned. And, when I returned it, I immediately bought the album from a CD store- in fact, this was definitely one of my first albums I ever purchased. I still own the fuckin' thing, and jam it to this day.

So, is this album good? Well, I mean, for me, it's a fucking gold mine of tunes. Frankly, as you get older, good music is just as much about reminiscing on the time you first heard it as much as it is about whether the songs are quality compared to other material out there. For practically every song on this album, I have a distinct memory that goes with it. I can't hate any song. But putting that aside, yes, Anthrax put a number of solid tracks on here, and the band's overall talent throughout the years really shines through.

Starting with the more hard rock/groove metal material, I think it's fair to say that Anthrax did a great job creating some groovy and heavy pieces of work with John Bush as the vocalist. It all sounds like a 10x better version of Pantera, without the disgusting redneck personalities and country influence. John's got a great dirty singing voice while the riffs are catchy and remain stuck in your head for hours. Charlie Benante's drumming give an incredibly vibrancy to a lot of it, making songs like "Only" or "Crush" really come to life. The remix of "Potters Field" is an absolute mind fuck, arguably better than the original by incorporating very intense explosion samples. And, of course, there's "Bring The Noise", which is probably the best rap-metal song that will ever exist. Seriously, Public Enemy with Anthrax puts the entire Nu Metal genre to fucking shame. The thrashy guitar tone of Scott Ian's guitar mixed with Chuck D's rapping is like peanut butter and jelly, and no one has ever been able to make a rap metal song better than this.

The second half features the thrash metal classics that Anthrax is best known for, everything from "Among the Living" to "Madhouse" to "Antisocial". Admittedly, the change up of vocals from the first to second half of the album (switching from John Bush to Joey Belladonna) used to really throw me off, because they certainly do feel like two completely different bands. However, that doesn't mean either version of Anthrax is better or worse than the other, just different. As any Anthrax fan would know, Joey brings a cleaner voice to the table, which means more of an overall "punch" in the sound is given by the guitars and drums. As always, Charlie brings an incredible amount of groove to the band through his drumming, but his performance really sticks out on both "Indians" and "I Am the Law”. The sudden slow down of tempo during “Indians” and the beginning two-step during “I Am the Law” still make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The mix during this half of the compilation is more reminiscent of 80’s thrash metal (obviously), allowing the guitar tones to breathe through a bit more than they do with their groove metal material. The drums are mixed to be a little bit more in the background, while the bass guitar is mixed with substantially less bass in the EQ.

I definitely recommend anyone trying to get into Anthrax to start with this compilation. This album gives a great synopsis of where the band came from and where they went. Of course, since this release, they have gone back to their thrash roots and reunited with Joey. Nevertheless, both styles that Anthrax developed shine through really well on this release.

Why the hell would you come out with three best of's in a row? It honestly amazes me! So the big story, or so I have heard, around this album was, which songs are going to be on it? To decide this the band threw all there songs into a hat and Scott pulled out the names of the songs that go on there. Musically, the songs are all the same on the originals, what makes this album unworthy in some areas and great in others is the way the songs are displayed. One thing that can automatically go wrong with a compilation album is to put all new stuff on it. Hat my ass Scott, why the hell are there eight new songs in the beginning? First off they open up with Bring the Noise, which probably was never a good idea of making in the first place. Then until track ten, we have all the new stuff with Bush singing. I have nothing against him, but most of these songs are shitty ones I have never heard of. Some of them even sound punkish! The only two songs worth mentioing from the Bush area is Only and Inside Out. Then we start to get better with the old thrash days. Among the Living, Indiands, Antisocial, Madhouse, I am the Law; all classic thrash songs that are probably worth being on this album. And of course what Anthrax album would not be complete without some kind of version of I'm the Man? Of course on this version all the swear words are blooped out. Yes blooped out, with some weird wistley noise. Overall this cd has some great songs and some really shitty ones. A compilation of Anthrax songs, but definently not a best of!!!