To celebrate the reuniting of the classic Anthrax lineup (1985 - 1991) the band, or could be record label, decided to release both a brand new Live CD/DVD from their 2005 tour, along with a greatest hits collection also on CD/DVD.

ALIVE 2

The “Alive 2” concert was recorded in New Jersey at the Starland Ballroom to a sold out crowd as it can be seen from the hundreds of old school, and new younger, moshers in the crowd. The setlist was all classics ranging from “Madhouse”, “AIR”, “Among the Living”, and “Caught in a Mosh”, to “In My World”. Other great tunes that I'm glad were included were “N.F.L”, “Medusa”, “Deathrider” and “Be All End All”.

Unfortunately the show did not go without technical problems as guitarist Dan Spitz occasional was not seen on stage for the whole show because his guitar kept acting up and going out. Still that did not affect the bands performance as they carried on through the setlist as if nothing ever happened. Fear not all guitar leads and riffs were fixed for the finished product on CD/DVD. Having Joey Belladonna back on vocals, along with Dan on guitar and Frank Bello on bass is the way it should be. I have not seen a crowd like this for an Anthrax show in years. This is the way it was meant to be. They say that the original, or classic, of something is the best and how true that statement really is, sometimes. The classic Anthrax speed metal style and sound needs to return instead of the hardcoreish/ modern metal direction they went for after Belladonna left. You guys aren't hardcore!

The picture is very sharp and a pro shot with the sound in 5.1 surround.

ANTHROLOGY – NO HIT WONDERS

“Anthrology” is a nice two disc collection of tracks taken from the albums “Spreading the Disease” which by the way a classic, “Among the Living”, another classic, “State of Euphoria”, and “Persistence of Time”, along with the EPs “I Am the Man” and “Attack of the Killer B's”. My only problem is why nothing from their first album “Fistful of Metal”? Who cares if Neil Turban sang on it, its still classic and old school. Aside from that, you get about six songs from each album, two from each EP, and why??? a French version of “Anisocial”. Now that's where you could have included something from “Fistful”.

Aside from the obvious fan favorites like “Madhouse”, “Caught in a Mosh”, “Armed and Dangerous”, “Indians”, “Antisocial”, and “Got the Time”, they also included other over looked gems like “Medusa”, “Finale”, “Skeletons in the Closet”, and “Keep it in the Family”.

The companion DVD is where you will get something off the Speed Metal classic “Fistful of Metal” with a live performance of “Metal Thrashing Mad” recorded in Germany, along with all the videos they released for MTV (which I bet many forgot they did a video for “Who Cares Wins”), and other live performances of “Among the Living”, “Armed and Dangerous”, and “Caught in a Mosh”.

“Madhouse” and “Indians” are easily my favorites capturing the band at their best both on wax and in spirit. The quality is very good with video mastered nicely and the sound mixed in 5.1 surround. A very well done comprehensive collection giving a thorough over look of the bands career up to 1991.