Customer Reviews
WEAK PRODUCTION... - By: Adam Jackson, 16 Aug 2008 
An average album let down by a very weak production - a few good songs but nothing in the same class as Master Of Puppets or Reign In Blood.
1988's State Of Euphoria & 1990's Persistence Of Time are FAR superior despite lacking the iconic status of this vastly overrated 1987 effort.
Very mid tempo with a tinny drum sound & thin guitars - not this band's finest hour...........
4 Stars for the fantastic standout tracks, still sounds fresh. - By: Michael Outterside, 30 May 2008 
This album is worth 4 stars easily for the standout tracks, which raised Anthrax above many of the thrash bands of the day. The album came out when people were buzzing about 'Thrash' & Metalllica & Anthrax graced the cover of Kerrang. There were a few big bands, some harder ones, & some serious rubbish, but Anthrax were different enough to stand out.
Joey Belladonna's vox were one of the things that did this, his style being more rock based & more flexible than many bands of the time(Metalllica, Megadeth, Kreator, Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies to name just a few), but the band still sounded harder than than the hair-bands. The playing is as tight as a Gnat's chuff, with some fantastic metal\punk drumming from Charlie Benante (who always blew Lars Ulrich off the riser), Scott Ian's rythm guitar & Frank Bello's bass chug & stomp with clenched teeth & Dan Spitz's guitar breaks are slick & not too overpowering.
More than that, the band wrote *songs*, not just riffs, so where other thrash bands forgot about things like proper choruses, we find them in fine singalong form here. There are a few less than great songs (Skeletons, ADI) but there are also some gems; Iam The Law, Indians (one of the greatest mosh breakdowns ever?!), Caught In a Mosh, EFILNIKUFESIN make this an album still worth buying.
It also has that Anthrax freshness (ahhhhhhh) that came from the band's humour & ability to laugh at themselves...great stuff. I stick this album on & it makes me feel 17 again!!
Good fun and attitude in one gem of a thrash record! - By: Tom, 21 Oct 2007 
Among the living is my personal favorite Anthrax full length. In fact, I will be so brave as to say it's in the top 5 thrash albums of alll time. Previous output, 'Spreading the Disease', was coming on nicley, hinting at what they would be fully capable of given the right budget & time to mature.
Among the Living is a landmark album in the world of not only thrash metal, but metal in general. One of the few albums where the music media have got it right about blending musical styles, in this case thrash & NY Hardcore. The music is very aggressive skater style thrash, but the attitude & mob choruses scream hardcore.
If 'Spreading the Disease' was the appatiser, then ATL was the full on seven course banquet. Rivallling alll their major peers, that being Metalllica, Slayer, Megadeth & lets be fair to them, Testament & Exodus too, ATL has soul, where 'Reign in Blood', is a less refined(but still mind bending success) opposite to Anthrax's finest momment.
The album's opener, has that classic scything guitar of Scott Ian & Dan Spitz starting with a repeated riff, that sits back on a medium paced drum beat, that after some very 'hardcore' stop starts unleashes into some of the coolist 80's thrash you'll ever hear.
'Caught in a Mosh' (Belladonna gives an amazing "Noo Yawk" performance on this track), 'I am the Law', with its light hearted look at Judge Dredd, sum up the simpler thrashy part of the album. After that, the songs take on a more complex structure, with lyrics that reflect a band trying to mature & expand their material. You'll have to just to listen to it to see what those lyrics contain.
Anthrax came of age on this album, with every member of the band putting in amazing performances.
"Cold Sweat, my fists are clenching"... Exactly !!!!
Awesome thrash record! - By: The Conman, 14 Jul 2007 I remember buying this album along with Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss in the summer last year. I had decided to boost my collection of thrash metal with these two albums & I listend to them almost non-stop on my summer holiday in Italy. I thought that both albums were great but I slightly preferred this one. Even though I have bought scores of cds since then I still hold this one in very high regard.
Among the living contains alot of sharp, forceful riffs from guitarist Scoot Ian and, true to the thrash metal stlye, very fast tempos. There are also lots of killer tempo changes & guitar solos to make the songs even more interesting.
Anthrax also ensured that their music was still fairly original. Joey Belladonna actuallly sings well on this album whereas so many thrash metal singers just shout. His voice helped Antrax create an original sound. The album also has a hardcore punk influence, noticably in the shout-along choruses, which helps mark it out from many other thrash records. It is also refreshing that the band weren't taking things too seriously here. While it is a heavy album with alll those crunching riffs & the typical thrash metal speed, the album never sounds particularly dark & is never fallls short of just being extremely enjoyable. The lyrics also help give the band a fairly original sound. A skeleton in the closet (one of my faves) & the title track are both based on Stephen King books, I am the law is a tribute to Judge Dredd & Efilnikufesin (N.F.L) is about the comedian John Belushi & his death. There are also some more political lyrics in One world & Indians, while Imitation of Life is an attack on alll the fake glam metal bands of the 80's.
So there you have it, a classic thrash record. It reallly packs a punch with its ferocious brand of thrash metal, that has Antrax's original style written alll over it. It is the most consistent thing they ever realeased too. My favourite songs are I am the law, A skeleton in the closet, Indians & the mosh pit classic Caught in a mosh. The album never gets repetitive & each song has a slightly different feel or structure to it. You reallly ought to buy this album.
Pretty good but can get boring after a while - By: Sonny Sidhu, 19 May 2007 
When I first got this album two years ago, I was only just getting into thrash metal, so at first this album seemed amazing with nearly alll the songs being superb.
But now I rarely find myself listening to it, not saying it's a bad album but since then I've got many other better thrash metal albums to give me my fix.
It's still got some good tracks such as "One World", "A.D.I./Horror Of It All" & "Imitation Of Life". Also there are lot of humorous undertones though nothing gut busting.
