Ah, with all due respect, I can't see the differences between reading this thread and reading a Sammy Hagar fan complaining about the Roth era Van Halen. In fact, it is precisely the same. All I can say is that my sentiments are irreconcilably different from yours and although I like pretty much every era and album of Anthrax and am able to admit some of the Bush-era albums are pretty great (White Noise in particular, also I really appreciate how you love the underrated We've Come), Persistence of Time is the best Big 4 album in my book, hands down.
And 90% of Anthrax fans would agree with you. I certainly understand that I’m in the minority. I just fail to see what others actually like about Joey’s voice. Yeah, he has qualities not usual heard in thrash (more melodic singing, higher notes), but never once has a single Belladonna performance impressed me. At his best, I still just think he’s “good enough” (unless we’re talking live, in which case he’s barely adequate). Bush impresses me every time.
POT is definitely the best Joey album, except for maybe the most recent one I’ll be reviewing very soon, but it still never comes close to Ride the Lightning, Puppets, Justice or Rust In Peace.
But anyway, agree to disagree and all that. You have most other metal fans on your side and I have easier access to Armored Saint tickets.
For All Kings(2016)
A massive step up from Worship Music, which was actually pretty solid, comes this beast of a record. The band continues their trend of maximizing heaviness and hookiness while updating their classic sound for the modern era. As with the previous album, the first half dominates greatly: You Gotta Believe is huge and powerful, Monster At The End and the title track are both quite good, Breathing Lightning and Suzerain are superb. Blood Eagle Wings is a stone cold classic and better than most of the tracks in the discography.
But the cracks show in the second half, starting with the quite weak Evil Twin and ending with the abysmally childish Zero Tolerance. I just cannot take these songs where old dudes swear at you cause they're maddddddddd damnit this is mETUHL! It sounds ridiculous, especially coming out of the mouth of Joey Belladonna who always seems like he's a little off-concept and out of the loop (even on his best days). As with the previous record, the band is on fire throughout. Special nods as always to the rhythm section of Benante and Bello, one of the most underrated in the genre. New guitarist Jon Donais plays very well but doesn't add anything truly memorable.
Overall, this band has been better in the last twenty years than they ever were before.
blah blah blah it's because of the John Bush era and without it they'd never sound this good and they'd still sound better with Bush singing these songs blah blah blah
If Anthrax continue in this vein with their next album, and learn to edit themselves a bit more by cutting weak songs, it's possible that their best is still yet to come.
You Gotta Believe - 10/10
Monster at the End - 9/10
For All Kings - 9/10
Breathing Lightning - 10/10
Suzerain - 10/10
Evil Twin - 4/10
Blood Eagle Wings - 10/10
Defend Avenge - 7/10
All of Them Thieves - 5/10
This Battle Chose Us! - 7/10
Zero Tolerance - 3/10
My relisten has come to an end and here's my conclusion: I like Anthrax. They'll never be as strong as Metallica or Megadeth to me, despite featuring one of my favorite singers in the genre. When they're good: they're great. When Scott and Charlie's riff perfectly blend with the rhythmic heaviness of the drums and bass and the vocals are on point, they can't be beat. But that happens maybe twice per album (if you're lucky). I think, at their core, I just don't love the way they write songs. I think I'll be putting all 8-10/10's on a playlist from here on out and probably never listening to these full albums again because there's just way too much filler.
Anyway, here's my rankings:
01. We've Come For You All - 9.1
02. Sound of White Noise - 9.0
03. Persistence of Time - 8.5
04. For All Kings - 7.6
05. Spreading the Disease - 7.6
06. Stomp 442 - 7.2
07. Worship Music - 7.0
08. Among the Living - 6.5
09. Fistful of Metal - 6.4
10. Volume 8: The Threat is Real - 5.8
11. State of Euphoria - 5.7
Band MVP: Charlie Benante
Best Vocalist: John Bush
Best Lead Guitarist: -tie- Dan Spitz & Rob Caggiano
1. It's simply awesome to see legends like Bush, Portnoy, and Skolnick playing together.
2. Watching John Bush lead the band by signaling what he wanted Mike freakin' Portnoy to do is absolutely amazing.
3. John Bush sounds fucking phenomenal on these songs.
1,000 times better than Belladonna sounds on Anthrax songs that were only released a couple years ago
His take on Murders In The Rue Morgue is less successful, though:
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