Search - Anthrax :: Music of Mass Destruction - Live in Chicago

The MOST fun I've had listening to a live CD in years...

A Man from Seattle | Bonney Lake, WA USA | 06/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This live CD was *amazing* to listen to. The hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up from beginning to end. The crowd was singing along with John Bush's vocals, Charlie's drumming was *amazing* and Frankie Bello's bass playing just knocks you on your backside. It's a shame Frankie left the band - especially after hearing this. At least he had one heck of a swan song."

Awesome Set

Jay Squier | Palm Bay, FL United States | 05/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off I have to say that my DVD/CD set is not the same as this one. The track list for Disc 1 is the same as my DVD and the music CD is identical with 4 songs cut from it. 'Belly Of The Beast', '604', 'Indians' and 'Bring The Noise' are not included on the audio cd. No big deal. Still a cool set because the DVD and audio CD are not from the the same night.
It has been my experience that watching the DVD first will make you appreciate any live show better. I've seen Anthrax several times live, but this is the closest I've come to seeing them live with John Bush. The sound on both is spectacular.
As with any band you like a lot, that has more than 10 cd's released, there will be songs you like that aren't included. I had hoped 'Tester', 'Invisible' and a couple others would've been included, but then you have to decide which songs included here should be cut....none.
If you are an Anthrax fan of the Joe Belladonna years, this is definately not for you. Bush's rendition of the old Anthrax tunes is less than perfect. If you are a Bush fan or just a hardcore Anthrax all-time fan, like myself, this set is awesome. 'What Doesn't Die' will have your ceiling fan trembling from the double bass drum and the show never slows down from there."

Something is missing

Robert Berger | 08/26/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Seeing Anthrax live in the late 80's was a truly amazing experience. To this day I have never seen a band that played tighter than Anthrax did (the Among the Living tour stands out particularly for me in this respect). Being at an Anthrax show was like hanging out with a bunch of rowdy friends and breaking stuff.



For some reason, and I don't know what it is, on the "Persistence of Time" tour, the band started sounding a whole lot less tight. If you think I'm nuts saying this, try and get your hands on a copy of their old VHS show NFV from the Among tour and then a copy of their second live VHS from their tour with Public Enemy (the name of it eludes me) and you will see what I mean. By the way, that show from NFV NEEDS to be released on DVD. It was absolutely amazing how good they sounded.



The band got a shot in the arm again when John Bush joined the band and released "Sound of White Noise", which I feel is the band's best work and the tour for that record was unreal. I saw their show in Cleveland that year and it is still one of the top 5 concerts I've ever seen... and I've seen many.



I've seen them twice since that show and both times were mediocre at best. They're just not as fun as they used to be. I attribute part of that to the loss of Danny Spitz who always seemed to be having a lot of fun when he was on stage and was a heck of a lead guitarist to boot. Why they booted him, I'll never understand.



This DVD/CD combo isn't half bad. They do seem to be playing a bit tighter than when I've seen them (most recently in '02 opening for Judas Priest), but I think the song selection is the weakest part. They seem to be picking some of their most mediocre new stuff (though What Doesn't Die and Safe Home both sound great), and the old stuff are songs that they've had in their repertoire non-stop for well over 10 years in most cases. They need to mix it up a bit. The only true stand out track on this is "Be All, End All" mainly because I haven't heard it played live in years.



I'm hoping the day will come when I hear a live Anthrax CD (or DVD) where songs like "Panic", "Gung Ho", "Among the Living", "Black Lodge", "Tester" and some of their more obscure stuff takes the forefront again instead of hearing "Metal Thrashing Mad" and "Got the Time" for the 6000th time. I think that would bring me back to the die hard Anthrax fan I once was."