Flaccid as an Ex-President (Sound Of White Noise - Anthrax)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Sound Of White Noise - Anthrax
Date:	23/01/08 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: If you're desperate for more generic early-nineties hard rock/grunge.

Disadvantages: Doesn't sound like Anthrax, and John Bush doesn't impress.

It was a disappointing inevitability that Anthrax would follow the trend of their thrash contemporaries in the early-to-mid nineties and drastically alter their sound to something less intense, more hard rock influenced and ultimately more in line with the popular grunge movement, but unlike other sell-out releases that still managed to be surprisingly good ('Metallica,' 'Countdown to Extinction,' 'The Ritual'), there really is nothing to praise about this album. 'Sound of White Noise' is competent nineties hard rock that never escapes sounding distinctly like a sub-par Alice in Chains or Stone Temple Pilots, and is the clear point of slump in the Anthrax discography that would never recover.

It seems that in attempting to match the heavy sound of the previous 'Persistence of Time,' all melodic elements derived from classic heavy metal that formed such an essential and distinctive part of the Anthrax sound have been completely excised, which robs the band of its identity and leaves no clue that this is the same band, something exacerbated by the firing of talented but allegedly unreliable singer Joey Belladonna and his replacement with John Bush. Bush's arrival didn't necessarily have to be like this, a low grunge croak in the style of Kurt Cobain, as he had already displayed considerable talent with a wide range in the early Armored Saint albums, but of course that would be incompatible with the band's new, bland-nineties sound.

I don't have anything against Alice in Chains and those bands who enjoyed such a boom of popularity in the early nineties (indeed, they did a great service in finally putting an end to hideous glam metal acts), but this same popularity expanded to engulf these artists who were continuing to perfect their metal sound just as metal became distinctly unpopular, and that's a real shame. The problem with this album in particular is that it's completely boring and is nothing more than a shameful attempt to fit in with the new scene, something that must have disappointed many long-time fans who were accustomed to the band's formerly independent, "we're Anthrax and we take no sh*t" attitude. Dan Spitz and Scott Ian churn out unmemorable, tediously rhythmic riffs that have none of the usual Anthrax excitement, and the only real member to continue pulling his weight is drummer Charlie Benante, though his more energetic drums often sound at odds with the rest of the music.

As expected for such a commercially-oriented album, it's the tracks released as singles that end up being the most memorable, though no better than the rest of the album: 'Only' for being the peak of Alice in Chains similarity, 'Room for One More' for sounding like a direct continuation of Bush's previous band Armored Saint where they left off with the similarly mediocre 'Symbol of Salvation' album, and the dull ballad 'Black Lodge' that doesn't even offer a cheap thrill to Twin Peaks fans by referencing the series explicitly in its lyrics, if it's even about it at all (considering the band's customarily limited pop-culture horizons, it seems likely for the early nineties). If this was any other band it would probably be worth three stars, but it's a horribly rapid deterioration for Anthrax that doesn't stand up to the test of time.

1. Potters Field
2. Only
3. Room For One More
4. Packaged Rebellion
5. Hy Pro Glo
6. Invisible
7. 1000 Points of Hate
8. Black Lodge
9. C11 H17 N2 O2 S Na
10. Burst
11. This Is Not an Exit

Summary: Anthrax's sixth album (1993).