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Rating:
I don't understand the people who go around saying that "Among The Living" is Anthrax's best album. This is one of the most thrash albums I've ever listened to. And I could stop reviewing right here, every comment is superfluous...
Alright, no nonsense, this is American street thrash and sloppy: by this I mean sharp guitars, extremely fast rhythms, unstoppable riffs, and solos that last until Tuesday. This is one of the few albums with which I feel obliged to crank up the treble on the stereo, specifically on the song "Panic," and even more specifically in the second part of the solo. Damn, every time I listen to it, I get chills down my spine.
The album is the first of the Anthrax bandwagon, and it's recognizable by the fairly monothematic and youthful lyrics (run, run, and run again). And with that, I'll emphasize again that this is their best work. The slow track of the album (hahaha, if only all slow tracks were this way, damn!!) is a cover of Alice Cooper's famous "I'm Eighteen," rearranged in an almost thrash key, therefore faster and more killer than the original.
Other standout tracks on the album include the opener "DeathRider" and the already mentioned "Metal Thrashing Mad" which alone is worth the price of the album. Other songs worth mentioning are the "title track" and "Howling Furies," which highlight the abilities of DANNY SPITZ and SCOTT IAN in creating ingenious riffs and blistering solos!!!
This is the classic album to play in the car, roll down the window, crank up the volume, and drive around the country roads with your arm dangling out the door and dark sunglasses on your face. Beware of headbanging, sometimes it's unstoppable, and with this album, you can't help but bob your head in sync with the music.
Take note of Neil Turbin on vocals, Anthrax's first singer, (and frankly I don't even understand why they kicked him out!!!!) delivering a standout performance... In fact, the way he sings, it seems like they’re being ripped off.
On bass, there's Dan Lilker, whose replacement with the legendary Frank Bello is more than understandable... Since Frank is one of the best in the thrash scene and beyond!!!!
In conclusion, a contraindication/warning: KEEP AWAY FROM DRIVERS!!!!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Deathrider (03:09)
Riding hard, high in the saddle
Winged steed of unwearing flight
Sweeping through air just like fire
Swift of the foot, great of might
Hear the screams
Feel the bite
We ride with death
Tonight
Here it comes
You better hide
Shoot the guns
You're gonna die
Conquering all, spreading terror
Hoofs gallop in thunderous pound
Devouring the souls of the wretched
Trampling them down to the ground
Gripping the reins of destruction
Made of steel on his hands
Holder of forces immortal
Slaughtering all in his path
02 Metal Thrashing Mad (02:42)
Racing down the road
In a street machine of steel
Gears are jammed in full
I'm the madman at the wheel
Got my foot pinned to the floor
You can feel the engine roar
I got thunder in my hands
I'm metal thrashing mad, yeah
Metal thrashing mad, yeah
Driving like a maniac
Can't go any faster
Burning up the road
Headed for disaster
Got my foot pinned to the floor
You can feel the engine roar
Got thunder in my hands
I'm metal thrashing mad
03 I'm Eighteen (04:02)
Lines form on my face and hands
Lines form from the ups and downs
I'm in the middle without any plans
I'm a boy and I'm a man
I'm eighteen and I don't know what I want
Eighteen, I just don't know what I want
Eighteen, I got to get away
I got to get out of this place
I'll go runnin' in outer space!
I've got a baby's brain and an old man's heart
Took eighteen years to get this far
Don't always know what I'm talking about
Feels like I'm living in the middle of doubt
'Cause I'm eighteen, I get confused ev'ry day
Eighteen, I just don't know what to say
Eighteen, I've got to get away
Lines form on my face and my hands
Lines form from the left and right
I'm in the middle, the middle of life
I'm a boy and I'm a man
I'm eighteen and I like it
04 Panic (04:01)
Move it to the front
Reaching for the light
Loosing all control
Using all your might
Wheels are gonna spin
Asses gonna shake
We are gonna kick
Walls are gonna break
The road is hard
The fight is tough
Gonna play it fast
She likes it rough
With my strength
With all my soul
Makin' love
I'm losing control
Guts begin to churn
Minds are in haze
Hell is gonna burn
Axes in a blaze
Go in for the kill
Always on the run
Fighting for you life
The battles never won
Move it to the front
Reaching for the light
Losing all control
Using all your might
Wheels are gonna spin
Asses gonna shake
We are gonna kick
Walls are gonna break
Backs are turned
Rock and roll
To the wall
I'm losing my mind
Yeah!
Hey, hey!
05 Subjugator (04:42)
Out in the streets
We're fighting tonight
We're dirty and mean
So run for you lives
We stand side by side
With our fists in the air
We live for the night
On the razor's edge
Unleashing the sound
Lashing out, striking down
All those who stand in the way
Taking their lives
Crushing them just like flies
The cries of the wounded in pain
Fighting the fight as we race through the night
With power like never before
Hammering, bashing them, pounding and smashing them
Hard so we won't take a fall
Like a raging inferno
We'll torture and burn (you)
Up in a sea of flame
We'll beat you and whip you
Of honor, we'll strip you
Down on your knees and beg
We're fighting it out till the end
We're living our lives for the sins
Fighting the fight
As we race through the night
With power like never before
Hammering, bashing them
Pounding and smashing them
Hard so we won't take a fall
07 Death From Above (05:10)
Like the screaming eagle
I'm on the run
I blaze through the sky
I kill for the fun
No reason, no warning
Nor shadow be found
Got you in my sights
And I'll shoot you down
Jet fighter, jet fighter
Turbo jet engines ignite
Jet fighter, jet fighter
Death will filling the sky
Jet fighter, jet fighter
An airborne assault and attack
Jet fighter, jet fighter
A cold blooded stab in the back
Vengeance is calling on you
And there's nothing that you can do
Brings you the thing you deserve
Death from above!
08 Anthrax (03:28)
Steel shattered in the night
Soldiers racing to the fight
Bombs waiting to explode
Fear is cast up on your soul
Wooh!
It's just around the corner
For those who dare to see
With eyes of fire
The burn right through me
Blood painted on the streets
Metal cutting into meat
You can see it in my eyes
Pain that never will subside
And you can feel the power
On evil it will feed
The force that surrounds me
It brings me to my knees
We better run for cover
There's no time to waste
'Cause if you turn your back now
It'll blow you away, yeah!
10 Howling Furies (03:52)
Abandon all hope for those who enter
Cause there ain't too much of that down here
A clouded mist in a darkened tunnel
And twisted screams are growing near
Now you're down here, you're gonna all stay
Cause the howling furies wanna come out and play
You're headed for doom, you'd better prepare
Cause in this part of the woods almost anything's fair, yeah
You lied and cheated in your miserable life
You met your end with a butcher knife
We laughed when you died, you sit in your grave
Just waiting to turn into satan's slave
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Other reviews
By sofficino
This record takes you back to the 80s when the Bay Area was dominant and the sounds were raw and rough, synonymous with musical beauty.
I put on the CD, turned the volume up, shaking like few others for the entire duration of the CD.
