Never the biggest fan, but I've been revisiting State of Euphoria recently (which is better than I remember, but still kinda off compared to the stronger albums that surround it).

Pros: Charlie's drumming, Ian's rhythm playing and tone (both top drawer). Spitz also underrated.

Cons: Too much "proper metal" in the mix, (esp with the vocals) so quite a bit of cheese to contend with. Lapses into faux-worthiness and goofiness have also aged badly.

Also weird how they got the 90s so right on Sound of White Noise and got so lost thereafter.

Also, Speak English or Die > Anthrax (though not by quite the margin I once believed).

I say, N.C, but only just. Yrself?

I'd agree with your assessment, I always liked Scott and Charlie, could never stand Joey Belladonna. I don't know any of the 90s records and I never listen to the 80s ones, last time I gave ATL a shot I wasn't too into it.

Saw them live a few times back in the 80s and they always put on a good show. The goofy stuff was....goofy, but it was a nice change from the usual metal macho tough guy bullshit, which I could never stand.

I think Metallica wrote better songs and Mustaine wrote better riffs, but I still give them a NC.

The SOD record has always been a favorite, my teenage metal band used to cover United Forces, so fun. "Charlie!"
I think that record sounds way better than ATL, and they made it in a weekend.

Never connected with their 80's stuff, but sound of white noise is decent and Stomp 442 is full of bangers. Than John Bush guy can sing.

NC with some waffles.

I'll defer to the experts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwDNoKUIY7Q

I still revisit Spreading the Disease and Among the Living. Never really listened to anything after that. I mainly listen to them for Charlie’s drumming. He’s my second favorite drummer of the big 4, behind Lombardo.

Not crap for those two albums alone

my wife and i love watching “metal mayhem” on the mtv classic channel on youtube tv. always have it on over the weekend in the evening while playing gin or playing with the dogs.

one thing that has become apparent to me is that Anthrax certainly became popular due to the fact that they simply made more videos than anyone else. it seems like starting with State of Euphoria they were putting out at least 2 or 3 videos per 10 song album. i bring this up because to me, the songs don’t really hold up. i definitely enjoy a few of the tunes especially on Among the Living, but overall it’s very mediocre. i also never understood the love for the John Bush era. his vocals sound very try hard to me and lame. the songs are definitely weaker too. trying to be “heavy” but lacking any of the charm of the bands they were trying to integrate with (helmet, quicksand, etc)

all signs point to scott ian being a turd in real life as well.

akosinski wrote: Sat May 03, 2025 2:01 pm all signs point to scott ian being a turd in real life as well.

?

Never got too much into Fistful of Metal and Spreading the Disease but I loved Among the Living. Never cared much after that. The genre-busting with PE felt genuine which made Ian's pivot to the "in-joke" racism of S.O.D. worrying (par for the course for a Gen X black kid into metal). I guess I just didn't get the joke but I did understand the monster riffs and back-breaking grooves. Never seen them live. Odd! The funnest metal logo to draw.

Not Crap

I will always think of them as a novelty act. They're too goofy to be really heavy, but they do just fine when they embrace that goofiness with tracks like "Startin' Up a Posse" and "I'm the Man." Riffwise, sometimes they make some lazy or pedestrian melodic choices, but Scott is such an influential rhythm player that I gotta give him credit (even though he was kinda douchey when I met him). They would be cooler if they didn't have hair metal style vocals, because when they do manage to put a good riff together, the vocals whiz it right down their legs.

I do miss the days when the biggest problem in the world was Tipper Gore putting stickers on naughty music.

M.H wrote: Sat May 03, 2025 2:37 pm

akosinski wrote: Sat May 03, 2025 2:01 pm all signs point to scott ian being a turd in real life as well.

?

Yep, a lot of fans have said he's an asshole