Anthrax
Live: The Island Years

THE REVIEW

Album recorded live in 1991 and released in 1994, often forgotten by fans due to limited distribution in stores or mail-order.

The recording is good, of course, you have to get used to it a bit at first, but musically this lineup doesn't make any mistakes, wisely distributing the songs from the works done from '84 to '91 with the exception of "Armed and Dangerous".

With their tracks, it starts with "(Efilnikufesin) N. F. L. " introduced by the applause of the wild audience, continuing then with "A. I. R. ", "Keep it in the Family", "Caught in a Mosh", "Indians", "Antisocial", "I am the law", "Metal Thrashing Mad", "In My World" and "Now it's Dark". Additionally, in the eighth track, there's "Bring The Noise", a small rap interlude performed together with Public Enemy that breaks up the pounding metal concert halfway through.

You can hear a true mastery in playing tracks from recent works like "Persistence of Time" or "State of Euphoria", but the tracks speak well, most of the songs come from the masterpiece "Among the Living", while the very first albums "Fistful of Metal" and "Spreading the Disease" are barely touched on with two songs. I would add, fortunately, since "Metal Thrashing Mad", in the way it was performed by Joe Belladonna, is the only blemished apple in the entire album. Another tribute is to Kiss, with the cover of the song "Parasite" played as the third track.

The album, as I mentioned, is well-played and gives a clear idea of the live power of Anthrax, Scott Ian and Dan Spitz are impeccable, not to mention the precise drumming of Benante.

"Live: the Island Years" is one of the few official live albums by the band, so I recommend it to all fans of this lineup.