Anthrax, Among the Living

I first heard this cassette in Phoenix, AZ, after reading about them in RIP magazine (rest in peace, ha)–( “…just listening to this record will make you break out in a sweat”*) in the summer of 1987.

I didn’t get the breakneck (i.e., fast as shit) tempo at all; it sounded like noise to me. I listened to it over and over and over and over again until it “clicked.”

And– it really did click.

I love this cassette (which still works in my 20-year-old-caddy and its cassette player);

A quarter century later, I hold that this is better than all the other “big four” and their commonly-held best (meaning Reign in Blood and Peace Sells…) except, (I hate to add) than Master of Puppets.

And I love those other albums. Their cassettes still work and I still play them when I’m MP3-less.

And I hate Megadeth and Mustaine– but from someone who still begrudgingly loves Peace Sells…?

Among the Living is genuinely better.

Now don’t get me wrong– I’m a full-on genuine Anthrax fan (I fully believe they’re the only member of the “Big 4” who continued to evolve over 20 years; I love Persistence of Time (as their #2 album) and Sound of White Noise (as #3)– but Among the Living should be (and mostly is) legendary.

Megadeth disappeared behind Mustaine’s junkie/Christian persona; Slayer couldn’t give less of a shit about musical evolution; and Metallica… well… you know.

But Anthrax, even when they fail, are still obviously trying to change and become something more. They’re true artists, to me. They risk.

True story: “A Skeleton in the Closet” was the first riff I learned to play completely correctly.

This album is still just as fast and mean and stuff released decades (literally!) later… “I am the law,” “Indians,” and “A.D.I./ Horror of it All” are still genuine metal monsters, and Scott Ian’s tone and Charlie Benante’s simple yet-metronome-like drum parts are their perfect foil.

Listen

*I still remember the add copy, 25 years later!

Megadeth, Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?

For better or worse, Megadeth, not Anthrax or Metallica or Slayer, was my gateway drug into thrash metal, metal in general, and metal guitar playing.

For many, many years, I had this poster on my walls while I played:

Pretty much still the greatest poster ever.

And the fact is, although in every album since this one (even including Rust in Peace), Megadeth de-volved.

But as an eternally-hopeful early-adolescent, this album was my high-water mark. I still aspire to be as badass as I perceived Dave Mustaine to be on this record, particularly in the “Wake Up Dead” video, then a staple of the new “Headbanger’s Ball,” in the title track, in the side two opener (ha! remember that shit!? SIDES and all that nonsense!), and in the album closer “My Last Words.”

amazon.com link to remastered album

Top 8 Guitar Tones

(In no order:)

Stevie Ray Vaughn: heavy gauge strings (the low E is around .54), tuned down to Eb, barely distorted, but heavy and instantly recognizable (he starts playing around 0:54):

Dimebag Darrell: Randalls, solid state, high gain. Sounds great even in standard tuning: