But at some point after its release in September 1988, and the tour that followed, Anthrax fell back behind the pack. But listening to this remastered album 30 years on, it's hard to understand how this ambitious record didn't enjoy a happier fate. The five-piece remained popular, especially in France, but they certainly suffered from the inevitable comparison with…And Justice For All by Metallica and Slayer's South Of Heaven. And then there was that utterly hideous album cover, which was ugly even for a genre that revels in bad taste. Like Metallica, and unlike Slayer, Anthrax were plainly moving away from the thrash genre, first of all with the more sophisticated writing on Be All, End All and the two previous albums, Spreading The Disease and Among The Living. Whereas the furious Out Of Sight Out Of Mind, Schism and Finale respected the laws of the genre that Anthrax had helped found.
Anthrax even had had the brilliant idea of covering the English version of Trust's iconic hit, Antisocial, which would prove to be the high point of this fourth studio album, and even saw Bernie and Vivi invited on board for a French "adaptation" (featured in this re-release) and a performance at London's Hammersmith Odeon. No-one but them was laughing at 13 while Make Me Laugh and Who Cares Wins, as remarkable as they were, suffered from a too-close resemblance to their competitors, who had the advantage of friends in the Bay Area. Singer Joey Belladonna has been held responsible as the main culprit in the decline; this re-release will likely serve to rehabilitate him as well as this album.
Anthrax - Who Cares Wins
AnthraxVEVOAnthrax - Be All, End All
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