Among the Living is the third studio album by Anthrax, released on March 16, 1987, by Megaforce Records in the US and by Island Records in the rest of the world. The album is dedicated to Cliff Burton of Metallica, who died in a bus accident six months before its release while Metallica were on tour with Anthrax as the opening act.
Veteran engineer Eddie Kramer, at his first venture with a thrash metal act, co-produced the album. Recording proceeded smoothly, but different visions for the sound of the final release created disagreements between Anthrax and the producer during the audio mixing.
Anthrax members described the album as their major breakthrough, as it marked the progression from the band playing in small clubs to arenas and stadiums. The album was critically acclaimed, and promoted the band among the “Big Four” of thrash metal. The band’s second gold record, Among the Living was certified gold by the RIAA on July 31, 1990.
The music press largely considers Among the Living one of the strongest thrash metal albums ever recorded. In comparison with Spreading the Disease, the songs on the album generally feature faster rhythms granted by Benante‘s double-pedal bass-drum beats, stronger hardcore influences in the frequent gang choruses and a more aggressive vocal delivery by Belladonna.
According to Ian, the general sonic approach of the songs is similar to “A.I.R.”, the opening track of Spreading the Disease. The structure of the tracks is conventional and sometimes inspired by other rock songs, such as AC/DC‘s “Whole Lotta Rosie” for “Caught in a Mosh”, but with many rhythm changes and melodies that sometimes yield to the aggressive and dry sound.
One critic considered this last feature a probable carryover from the Stormtroopers of Death project, a seminal crossover band formed in 1985 by Benante, Ian and original Anthrax bassist Danny Lilker, that had combined metal riffs with hardcore on an album of short, fast and satirical songs titled Speak English or Die.
The cover art is by illustrator and painter Don Brautigam, a cover artist since the early 1970s, who worked on both Among the Living and Metallica‘s iconic Master of Puppets.
The painting of Among the Living has been the subject of discussion, because it was long believed to depict the character Rev. Henry Kane, the antagonist from the film Poltergeist II: The Other Side, while others thought it depicted Randall Flagg, the subject of the album’s title track and the antagonist from the Stephen King novel The Stand.
Drummer Charlie Benante, who conceived the concept for the cover, explained:
“It was just about how much evil there is amongst us. I wanted to show just the same type of person on the cover. The same type of people and then, the one person that was sticking out kind of giving you a wave, like a ‘hi!'”.
In 1988, Brautigam was the cover artist for the following Anthrax album State of Euphoria.
Tracklist:
Side One
- Among the Living
- Caught in a Mosh
- I Am the Law
- Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
- A Skeleton in the Closet
Side Two
- Indians
- One World
- A.D.I./Horror of It All
- Imitation of Life
Anthrax
Joey Belladonna: lead vocals
Dan Spitz: lead guitar, backing vocals, acoustic guitar on “A.D.I.”
Scott Ian: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Frank Bello: bass, backing vocals
Charlie Benante: drums
Production
Eddie Kramer: production, engineering, mixing
Chris Rutherford: engineering
Francis McSweeney: assistant engineering
Chip Schane: assistant engineering
Paul Hamingson: mixing
George Marino: mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
Jon Zazula: executive production, management
