Review Summary: Sharpening the band's sound with excellent production and increased emphasis on speed and aggression, Among the Living is the finest album of Anthrax's career with many a memorable refrain, fantastic riff, and tasty solo, sporting fantastic lyrics on top.
Fistful of Metal showed that Anthrax had something to offer, although they needed some polish. With Spreading the Disease, that polish came, not only in the form of better songs, but also better production and the addition of Frank Bello and Joey Belladonna. How much further could they go?
Enter their mighty third LP, Among the Living. Sporting some of Anthrax's best known songs, awesome production, and increased aggression from both the instrumental and vocal front, their 1987 thrashterpiece Among the Living is the defining Anthrax album and, in my opinion, the album that truly solidifies them as deserving of being crowned a member of the thrash pantheon that is the Big Four.
Let's talk about some of the wider differences between Among the Living and their previous work. The production here is much better. Yeah, StD certainly sounded better than Fistful of Metal, but here it truly sounds great. The guitars are sufficiently thick, carrying enough edge to leave the album sounding pretty aggressive. The drums sound more natural here than on previous releases, and they certainly pack a punch. Joey's voice carries greatly, and Frank's excellent bass playing is definitely loud enough to be appreciated.
Speaking of Joey, there's a certain edge to his voice not present in Spreading the Disease. You can spot many an unhinged wail in songs such as the title track, I Am The Law, and Imitation of Life. Fitting, as this album definitely showcases an increased tendency towards towards all-out thrash. Perhaps it was Scott and Charlie's experimentation with rougher stuff in Stormtroopers of Death that inspired the faster, heavier sound showcased here, but every song here, including the more reserved NFL, has at least one moment where the band trails along at full speed. Scott Ian and Dan Spitz are certainly a formidable guitar duo here, certainly delivering the riffs---be they breakneck thrash chugging or delightful mosh sections---very well and serving up tasty leads and solos. Frank Bello is a master class metal bassist here, some particularly awesome moments being towards the beginning of Caught in a Mosh and the brief pause in A Skeleton in the Closet. Charlie Benante's speedy and enjoyable drumming is no slouch either, doing well to match the fast and heavy music here with swift precision.
Enough about the those aspects and comparisons to Spreading the Disease. Time to talk about the songs themselves! The opening title track is certainly immense. Anthrax may be known for bringing a fun time to the table in comparison to other thrash bands, but the introduction to this track is outright menacing. The ominous slow intro builds up before exploding into high-speed carnage, complete with rapid double-bass action from Charlie. Joey's more aggressive style is showcased here. "
DISEASE! DISEASE! Spreading the disease! The chorus also exemplifies the hardcore influence gang shouts that would go on to characterize many tracks here, including the next one, Caught in a Mosh. This number, with lyrics that personally bring to mind a spat with a bad roommate (not a personal experience, just what the lyrics make me think of), is one of the band's most known tracks. This one opens with a slow intro before changing to the main chugging riffs and then finally speeding up. True to its name, this song features an awesome slower mosh section halfway through before speeding back up and leading to one of the record's most memorable guitar solos. I Am The Law seems at first to be a pummeling slow tempo crusher featuring lyrics about Judge Dredd. But after two repeats of the huge chorus ("
I AM THE LAW!"), it's back to rapid-fire mayhem soon enough, which of course leads into another excellent dual guitar solo.
N.F.L. (not about the National Football League, but rather John Belushi; to see the title's meaning, spell "efilnikufesin" backwards) is probably my least favorite song here, but a hell of a chorus with even more excellent gang vocals (By the way, almost every song on here features them) and some pretty cool riffs still make it worth a listen on occasion. A Skeleton in the Closet is a personal favorite, although it doesn't seem to be a particularly popular song. Don't ask me why, because this song is where it's AT! Excellent leads and riffage from both the Ian/Spitz duo AND Frank Bello, memorable and excellently performed vocal lines, this raging thrasher almost couldn't get any better! What if, following impressive soloing, the song broke out into a heavy goddamn
riff that got heavier as it slowed down? That's what happens here, and it's one of the best parts of the album. Occurs about three and a half minutes in, if you're interested. Super memorable chorus, too. "Any skeletons, any misfortunes, any skeletons
HIDING IN THE CLOSET?"
Next up is Indians, a very popular 'Thrax tune basically about how Native Americans got pretty screwed. Joey Belladonna is pretty proud of his native heritage, and this song shows it. Cool tribal intro with that kickass dual guitar opening, this song seems to be a pretty nice little mid-tempo thrasher featuring an absolutely gigantic chorus and occasional bouts of blinding speed thrown in. But then one of the most memorable moments in the history of Anthrax occurs. Just after the second chorus, there's that long sustained note, and then a shouted "
WAR DAAAAAANCE!" opening the amazing breakdown/mosh section/whatever you wanna call it. If you aren't moshing and slamming around your room or at least headbanging with max intensity, you just might lack a soul. Boasting great riffs throughout, Indians deserves its spot as a popular thrash metal song and Anthrax anthem.
Instead of slowing down, they head straight into One World, another fast number with lyrics dealing with then-current Cold War paranoia and bearing an pro-peace message. This one features some awesome memorable gang shouts. "ONE TWO! NOT! THREE FOUR!
DIE!" There aren't really that many riffs here, so some may call this song repetitive, but I like it a lot. A.D.I./Horror of it All is an epic, immense cut. It sports a very cool acoustic guitar intro (I've heard that "A.D.I." either stands for "Arabic Douche Intro" or "Arabian Douchebag Intro") before going into some riffing and ultimately leading to the main slow, heavy song. Speed isn't their only trick on this album; this song delivers a nice, hefty crunch until the six minute mark. Right then, things suddenly explode into the fastest part of the whole album! The lyrics for this song are pretty good, dealing with the loss of a loved one.
The final track, Imitation of Life, actually has roots in an S.O.D. song entitled "Aren't You Hungry?" For whatever reason, this song wouldn't make it to the studio until their 1999 release Bigger than the Devil. But here, we're discussing the Anthrax version. And what a monster of a song this one is! Like with their last album, Anthrax chose to end this one with a really fast and aggressive track, and what a really fast and aggressive track this is! With angry lyrics about "posers" (more than likely referring to hair metal bands of the time, as well as smarmy, smug record company execs), this song flails along at full speed before slowing back into a memorable slower section that opens with some shouts from Joey. "Did you ever think for yourself? Just once, did you ever think? That's all I wanna know!" The solo in this song is really good, too, but with another hoarse yell not normally characteristic of Mr. Belladonna, the song speeds back up before concluding.
Among the Living is a mammoth of an album, super intense from beginning to end. Anthrax was right to add a more aggressive edge to their sound, because it definitely suits them well as seen here. There isn't as much to be found of their NWOBHM influences here, compared to previous Anthrax records. In its place is a sharpened hardcore-inspired potency that mixes well with their well developed metal sound. An absolute must-have for thrash metal fans or really most metal fans in general. 5/5.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS/BEST OF:
Among the Living
A Skeleton in the Closet
Indians
Imitation of Life
