The Album Reader Reviews:
Title: Return of the Killer A's
Artist: Anthrax
Label: Beyond
Release Date: 11/23/99 		There are currently 1 Reader Reviews of this album.
Average Rating: 3
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    • Submitted by Garth (12/16/99):
    I came to Anthrax fairly late in the game, and came to them mainly from their covers. I love Public Enemy, one of the greatest bands of all time, and the Anthrax/PE "Bring the Noise" is a classic. So, I decided to pick up the Anthrax greatest hits album to round out my collection, which was light on Anthrax, even though I've seen them live. It's quite a good collection. My favorite tracks are all there, the groovier Anthrax tunes like "Only, " "Room for One More," "Indians," and "I Am the Law." My tastes definitely lean to the John Bush era, so the album starts out great for me and goes downhill from there.

    The addition of "Ball of Confusion" from the Temptations (one of the few bands I can say is even better than PE) is intriguing and enjoyable. Anthrax take it into their own style, and the vocal duo covering the multiple vocal parts of the Temps is successful. Anthrax hooks onto the driving rhythm of the song and go with it, replacing the horns from the original with searing distorted guitar. The problem is that the original horn parts kick ass. Unfortunately, Anthrax can't live up to the funk original of the Temptations. That's not such a bad thing, not many people CAN live up to the Temptations. Some people say the Temptations tune is a "commercial" move. I don't think they could be more wrong. Face it, most people who like Anthrax aren't going to be pulled in by a Temptations song, and most Temptations fans won't be pulled into an Anthrax album. The two worlds are, unfortunately, miles apart and mostly pretend the other doesn't exist (which is a huge shame, considering metal and soul/funk are the two best musical styles ever created).

    Overall, the Killer A's is a good CD, but like most greatest hits collections, feels like a quilt made up of random panels. Check it out if you don't know much about the band or want a thorough Anthrax collection. It's just too bad David Ruffin's no longer around to give 'Thrax some REAL lessons in soul.
    3 out of 5

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