Persistence of Time (CD - 1990)

Persistence of Time rivals Among the Living as Anthrax's best album and might even be a clear-cut favorite if some of the songs had been trimmed a bit. The more cartoonish side of the band is missing here, trimmed in favor of a dark, uncompromising examination of society's dirty underbelly -- nearly every song rails against hatred and prejudice, but without an excess of optimism. The standout track is, once again, a cover -- Joe Jackson's "Got the Time" -- but the rest of the album is strong enough to hold its own. This is the album for those who want Anthrax's serious side without any of the pop culture references and tributes; others might miss those elements, particularly since there has always been a sort of clumsiness to some of the more intellectual lyrics. However, Persistence of Time is their most lyrically consistent album, and the music simply rages. ~ Steve Huey

Although 1988's STATE OF EUPHORIA proved to be Anthrax's commercial breakthrough, the material didn't measure up to the band's crushing previous work. To correct this, these New York City metalists returned to their harder direction, and were rewarded with another gold-certified release. While the album wasn't a strict concept album, it did contain a common thematic thread--time waits for no one.

A metallic cover of Joe Jackson's jazz/new wave composition "Got the Time" was an album highlight (for which a popular MTV video was filmed), as were the grim tales of "In My World" and "Belly of the Beast." The album-opening "Time" remains one of Anthrax's most unashamedly pummeling tracks, while tracks like "Blood," "Keep It in the Family," "One Man Stands," and "H8 Red" are just as intense. Several months after the album's release, Anthrax embarked on one of metal's first "package" tours, Clash of the Titans, which the band headlined with Slayer and Megadeth (while an up-and-coming band called Alice In Chains opened the shows). PERSISTENCE OF TIME would prove to be singer Joey Belladonna's last studio album with Anthrax. minimize