Published on Nov 30, 2004
You’ve got to hand it to John Bush and the boys in Anthrax —
they’re not ones to play it safe.
Coming off of a live CD/DVD combo
Music Of Mass Destruction, one would have expected the band
to burst forth with a collection of new songs. Instead, the band
turned to their fans, asked them for their favorite songs from the
pre-Bush era of the group, then went in and re-recorded those
songs.
The end result,
The Greater Of Two Evils, dares the older Anthrax fan to see
how the music has grown in nearly two decades while staying true to
the structure of the songs made famous by vocalists Neil Turbin and
Joey Belladonna. While these songs will never take the place of
their original counterparts, they do hold up surprisingly well.
First things first: Bush is neither Turbin nor Belladonna. His
vocal style is in a much lower range, so anyone expecting to hear
Bush go for the high-pitch screams in songs like “Panic” and “Metal
Thrashing Mad” are going to come away disappointed. And, I admit, I
included myself in that category at first; it seemed like Anthrax
was daring to disinter the corpses of their past and try to make
those old skeletons dance — never mind the fact many of these
songs have been part of their live repertoire for some time
now.
In the end, the listener comes to realize that Anthrax doesn’t
want you to forget about the original songs — after all, those
were the ones that put them on the map. If anything,
The Greater Of Two Evils is a disc that tries to show
respect to the past while bringing it into the present. In that
regard, they do succeed, as Bush does put a respectable stamp on
such classics as “Among The Living,” “Caught In A Mosh,” “Madhouse”
and “N.F.L.” (Listen close at the end of the disc for the “hidden”
track, “Lone Justice.” Kudos to Anthrax for not burying it with
minutes of dead air — not that there was much time left on the CD
anyway, clocking in at over 78 minutes.)
Yet there is still something missing in these arrangements. No
disrespect meant to lead guitarist Rob Caggiano, but his solos just
aren’t up to the caliber of those laid down by departed guitarist
Dan Spitz. He would have done better trying to stay closer to what
Spitz played than to create his own unique take on them, as heard
on songs like “Be All End All” and “Madhouse.” (Playing devil’s
advocate for a moment, I can imagine that even if Spitz had stayed
in the band, he would have made changes to his solos along the
way.)
This disc also serves as a farewell to bassist Frank Bello, who
left the band a few months after these sessions were recorded. Joey
Vera, Bush’s bandmate in Armored Saint, is presently handling the
bass duties for Anthrax. Nothing against Vera, but I am sad to see
Bello no longer in the band for both his skills and a
tight-but-loose attitude in his performance style.
The Greater Of Two Evils was a risky project to undertake as
it could have alienated older Anthrax fans from the present-day
band with their takes on old material. Fortunately, the end result
is one which should be pleasing to all sides, and illustrates that
bands don’t grow old, they just grow musically.