Released: 1991
Tracks: Milk (ode to Billy); Bring the Noise; Keep it in the Family (live); Startin’ Up a Posse; Protest and Survive; Chromatic Death; I’m the Man ’91; Parasite; Pipeline; Sects; Belly of the Beast (live); N.F.B. (Dallabnikufesin)
Best track: either Bring the Noise or I’m the Man ‘91
Track to skip: none really
Not a ‘real’ Anthrax album, this is more a collection of B-sides and fun stuff that the band released to hold things over until they could make their follow up to Persistence of Time. As it turns out, the guys used this EP (with 12 songs!) to borrow time until they could find a new vocalist, as this was the last album with singer Joey Belladonna. For something that’s mostly not very serious, it’s the perfect album for showing that Anthrax wasn’t just a thrash band. The thrash is more than covered on here (Milk, Protest & Survive, Chromatic Death), so the main revelation is the band’s sense of humor and its versatility. Yes, humor has always been a part of Anthrax, but except for the original I’m the Man in ’87, the humor only came out in very small & occasional doses. On this EP though, you can say that 4 of these songs are what some would call ‘comedy numbers’. Doesn’t mean they suck or are useless, it just means they’re more on the silly side.
I’m unsure of my favorite track on here; it’s between Bring the Noise and the revamped version of I’m the Man. Bring the Noise was originally a Public Enemy song and for this the guys in Anthrax pretty much merge with PE and remake the track into something totally original. The first ‘rap-rock’ song is usually delegated to Run DMC/Aerosmith’s Walk This Way (that could be argued though) but Bring the Noise I’m willing to bet was the first ‘rap-metal’ song. This was 1991, *way* before Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park and all that. And as you can probably guess, I totally prefer this kind of rap- metal to the newer stuff. For starters, Anthrax is miles better than those two groups and they can’t even come close to Chuck D’s rapping ability. For I’m the Main ’91 the guys almost totally reinterpret this goofy song and make it a hundred times better. I love Charlie Benante’s drum groove on this. It’s the most important part and the perfect foundation. On top of that groove we get some new lyrics and some great vocal bits on the chorus from Scott Ian, not to mention the totally cool extension at the end. Like I said, a total reinvention of this track.
For the rest of the album we’re treated to just a whole mess of great stuff. Some excellent covers (Kiss’ Parasite-which kicks the pants off the original, the Ventures’ Pipeline and Trust’s Sects), a couple of great live tracks from Persistence of Time (Keep it in the Family & Belly of the Beast), the short thrash tunes I mentioned above, the tongue in cheek power ballad NFB and the countrified anti-censorship anthem Startin’ Up a Posse. I know this song isn’t as radical as it was when we first heard it, but it still makes me laugh…and with the evil FCC still being the Nazis they are, the song’s message hasn’t lost any of its relevancy. Whether with the covers or the originals, Killer B’s shows that there was a lot more to Anthrax than most people ever gave them credit for. This is an enthusiastic and eclectic album that still puts me in an excellent mood, 13 years later. This thing rocks.
Rating: 93
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