For fans, or at least myself, the parting of ways with lead singer Joey Belladonna seemed sudden and unfortunate. Later interviews suggested that this parting had been discussed between Scott Ian and Charlie Benante as far back as the writing stages of “Persistence of Time”. ‘Musical differences’ was the excuse bandied about at the time, and there had also been thoughts thrown around that the age difference between the older Joey and the rest of the band meant they didn’t mesh well all the time as a result. Whatever the reasons behind his exit were, losing such as high profile member of your band such as the visible and high pitched singing lead singer is not an easy thing to replace and then successfully sell to your fans.
In his place, the band brought in Armored Saint front man John Bush, having auditioned several people. Again, Bush’s name had been floated as a possible replacement in those first times that talk had begun over maybe getting a replacement, so no doubt they had been in contact prior to this occurring. And thus began the waiting game for the fans, to discover just what Anthrax could produce with their new lead singer whose former band had been a contemporary of Anthrax in the thrash metal scene. Alongside this, just how would Anthrax approach the changing music world around them in their new music, with grunge and alternative taking a hold and influencing just how many styles of music approached the 90’s decade. Many changed their style to adapt, and failed as a result. Would Anthrax hold a steady course or make further changes of their own?
Over the years, many reviewers have made the point that they feel that “Sound of White Noise” is either a darker album that the band had written before, growing in serious matters to be conversed about and with less humour or injected fun within the tracks, or that the album is more grunge and alternative related than any of their albums have been before – or in fact that this album is both and all of those things combined.
I’m not sure I have ever agreed with those sentiments. There have been plenty of serious matters made the subject of Anthrax songs in the past albums - “Madhouse”, “Indians”, “Make Me Laugh” and “Belly of the Beast” are just one example from each of the previous four albums that have a serious side to their lyrics. What was changing was perhaps the stage attire for the band, the colourful outfits with shorts and t-shirts that other bands eschewed for denim and or leather. To me, “Sound of White Noise” is a natural progression from the subject matter and heavier sound that came from “Persistence of Time”. And along with the different style of vocals between Joey and John, the songs had to be written and played differently as well, given a different tone to fall in with the way that John held himself and his singing. And that change is significant in another way as well. The songs here have a more melodic singing style about them, with different techniques in the way the vocals are recorded. As well as this, many Anthrax songs in the past had utilised the chanting and backing vocals of Scott Ian and Frankie Bello as a part of the mantra of the songs – think “Caught in a Mosh” and “I Am the Law” as examples – but here John takes on much of the role and those kind of interludes don’t appear. Certainly live they still do, but here on the album John Bush is the main vocalist throughout.
So my opinion is not that this is influenced by grunge or a desire to move towards alternative metal, it is just the natural progression of the band and its sound along with the input and requirements of the new lead singer of the band.
And what an impact it makes. From the outset, the album is pumping through the speakers. Everything is turned up in intensity and impact, from the opening “This is a journey... into sound...” of “Potter’s Field”, to the majesty of the number one single “Only”, into the hard core “Room for One More” and then the aggression and power of “Packaged Rebellion”, the album’s opening four tracks are the equal of any Anthrax album. Charlie Benante’s drumming is beyond superb, once again putting most of his peers in the genre in his shadow, and I love the symmetry between him and bassist Frankie Bello here as well, they set the bottom section in order and create the basis of each track, allowing Scott Ian and Dan Spitz to perform their guitar riffing over the top in perfect order. Even so, it is John Bush’s vocals that reign supreme here, laying to bed any doubts that he could do the job for the band. “Hy Pro Glo”, the intensity of “Invisible” and “1000 Points of Hate”, to the moodiness of the complete tack change of “Black Lodge”... all of it is immense and tremendous. “Sodium Pentothal” (not how it is spelled but it is always the name I’ve called this track) into “Burst”, and then the over-the-top conclusion of “This is Not an Exit”, makes for an amazing album, a brilliant debut for Bush, and the exact kind of heavy metal we wanted to hear at a time when so many other bands were diverging from their usual template.
It is pretty difficult to put into words just how much I adored this album when it was released. This came out around three months after I was married, and was followed a week later by Helloween’s “Chameleon” album, an episode of this podcast that follows this episode very quickly. So I listened to both of these albums together for some time. Now, without giving away the plot line for the Helloween album... I listened to this a hell of a lot more and for a hell of a lot longer. And we were living in a two room flat, struggling with very little income in our small business, so buying anything extravagant like a couple of albums at the time was not easy to do. But I still recall with fondness sitting in the sun-drenched combined lounge/dining/kitchen of the front half of that flat, looking out at the view and listening to this album at as high a volume as I dared in an effort to not have all of our neighbours call the cops at the same time. And it was just brilliant. It was a mood changer, an album that still to this day is able to take my crankiest, angriest moods and suck that all out of me, and replace it with a feeling of contentment. Because there is plenty of anger here within the confines of the album, and having this amazingly heavy album create its transition is still something to behold.
The album lasted for ever on my playing list. I’ve had it on for over a month again now in preparation for this podcast, and it’ll stay on my playlist for a while again yet. Simply because it is an amazing album. The lyrics of “Packaged Rebellion” became a kinda motto for my life - ‘I don’t wanna know how you’re so driven, I don’t wanna know your influence, I don’t need to prove myself, I just need to be myself, it doesn’t show how I’m trying to be, it just shows who I am’. At 23 years of age when this album was released, it became my mantra. And – just as importantly, this was an album of that era by a band that I loved that didn’t change, in fact almost became heavier here than they had been, whereas other bands that I loved from the 1980’s were in a mid-life crisis and suffering because of it.
I still love this album unconditionally. It is an absolute balltearer. It was, somewhat sadly, probably the last great Anthrax album. From this point on they all have their great songs and great moments, but not with the same overall and undying purpose and intent. 30 years on, and this still has it all – the heavy riffs, the headbanging drums and rhythms, the great singalong lyrics, and from all reports the song that James Hetfield called ‘a perfect song’. High praise indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment