They're Loose (Anthology - Alien Ant Farm)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	Anthology - Alien Ant Farm
Date:	02/11/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of bangers

Disadvantages: A couple of average tunes

"ANThology" was released in 2001 as the major-label debut form the Alternative Metal band Alien Ant Farm. It finds them bringing a mixture of the contemporary Metal sounds in addition to things such as Post-Grunge to compliment it all for additional effect and show where their influences have came from.

1. "Courage"

They kick the album off with a straight banger of a tune and one that hypes things up from the second it all gets underway as you see that here we get a joint filled with them bringing the sorts of things that you really wouldn't have been able to get enough of if you were into the Metal trends of the period when Nu-Metal was at the height of popularity and needed some sort of role in Metal albums of the time.

**Five Stars**

2. "Movies"

They move it on a little more with another tune that I felt was able to do a lot for them as we find that here, the band that broke through with their "Billie Jean" cover (found towards the end of this record) offer another of their singles, and in this case we see that they come out with a lively Metal tune and one that has them throwing down a nice little love song to appeal to the mainsteam audience too.

**Five Stars**

3. "Flesh And Bone"

I felt as though I needed a little more time to adapt to this one, with things stripped down quite a lot in order to give them the chance that there's much more to what they do than simply with the straight Metal stuff that may have been a bit too overpowering if it had been put in at every stage through the record. This one is much more melodic and so seems to grow as it goes along with its freshness.

**Five Stars**

4. "Whisper"

They get back to much more intense Metal with this one and a tune that I didn't expect to get from them, especially after the last one when they calmed things down much more. From this one we get a grungy tune that I felt added massively to show just how far they are willing to go with their music in order to show the depths that they are willing to go to put their messages across in the tunes that they perform.

**Five Stars**

5. "Summer"

Coming right off the last one, they decide that it's about time to calm things back down again to showcase the fact that the general feel of this album is rather mellow and they only tend to go for the more intense ones on the odd occasion (leading to those tracks feeling much more impactful when they drop). This is another that I felt took some time to get into, but can't be ignored.

**Four Stars**

6. "Sticks And Stones"

They kick another heavy one here and a jam that I felt that it would be extremely difficult to have any problems with if you were down for anything that Limp Bizkit, Disturbed or Papa Roach were laying down around these times. You get a little more Grunge coming through with this one and it seems to add to the power of the jam when you consider the sorts of themes that come through in its lyrics.

**Five Stars**

7. "Attitude"

This, I felt, was a strange track on the release as it was one that I felt had a lot of potential early on as we get some funky breaks being given for its introduction, but as it goes along it doesn't quite meet the expectations that you'd expect it to reach (when you look at how exactly it grows along the way and becomes increasingly emotive. The percussion here is hardcore and seems to come out of nowhere.

**Four Stars**

8. "Stranded"

The quality levels are seen to remain high as they go into this one and they perform another one that I could here lots of Alternative Rock influences in and one that I felt was able to grow with you as time goes along as it brings in a little something from lots of familiar acts that are bound to keep you excited for the way that it seems to change up at every turn to add massively to the diversity here.

**Four Stars**

9. "Wish"

They start to get some of that raw stuff back into action with this one and I felt that it was placed perfectly to once again remind the listeners they most powerful stuff and how much in contrasts from the kinds of things that are prominent on this release. I felt that it was composed well and has them once again taking the time to add in a little more of the darker Metal elements to appeal to a deeper audience who are more in-tune with the contemporary Metal trends.

**Five Stars**

10. "Calico"

I felt as though this one sounded like a bit too much of an attempt to get over with the mainstream crowd, once to contradict what had just occurred on the last tune and so it didn't feel as though things went as they should have and it didn't seem to be as satisfying as the kind of tunes that came before it and resultantly held things back for a short while here and showed that they weren't quite able to carry it all.

**Two Stars**

11. "Death Day"

I felt that things stayed on a relative low here as they come with another tune here that seemed to be really lacking in what it offers in comparison to the rest of the tracks that we get from the album. They do a rather plain one here and a tune that has them moving right away from the Metal end of things (not even bringing that in for the choruses as they had previously) and so it drags it down further.

**Two Stars**

12. "Smooth Criminal"

Bringing it in at the time I would consider to be the best, here we get the Michael Jackson cover being thrown into the mix. I felt that it was a banger of a tune and one that I can't see any room for complaints in. They do a great job of putting a raw metal twist on a 'perfect' Pop song and altering the compostion in as many ways as possible to make it sound as original as they possibly could.

**Five Stars**

13. "Universe"

They bring the album to a close with this one, a track that lasts over nine minutes and has them going for a final burst of energy that I felt was able to drag in the various levels of depth that the band's music offers. It seems to calm things down nicely here and it sounded like the perfect way to draw it all together here and give a nice lasting impression of what the band and their music is about.

**Four Stars**

Had it not started to lose it a little towards the end, this would have been a very strong album from them. However I can't say it is anywhere close to being considered to be a good start for them in the mainstream's attention. The album offers a lot and is seen to develop frequently to keep you interested throughout.

Summary: Alien Ant Farm's debut album