This made me an Anthrax fan, twenty-whatever years ago or so. Heard it thousands of times over the years. It should be in the library of any Neo-metal fan today.

That is all. Just get it. Classic Anthrax at their best. I say its their best because I came in after Spreading The Disease, so ATL has special signifigance for me.

Anthrax unleased this monster of a album on the unsuspecting public in 1987. Many fans would probably agree that this is by far the absolute peak of Anthrax's creative and musical genius. I myself would agree, since i have worn-out at least 4 copys of this album from repeated listenings. This was were Anthrax found themselves after a generic "Spreading The Dieses",unfortuanatly "State Of Euphoria" wasn't so good.

The first thing is that this album has the coolest cover art ever(that is if you are a Stephen King fan like i am), a illustration of Randall Flagg in the middle of a crowd of faceless people, just smiling.If you have ever read The Stand by Stephen King, you will know that he is one of the most evil characters in modern fictional literature. That was one of the things i have always liked about the guys in Anthrax, while their contemporarys were writing about gruesome subjects (like Slayer and Megadeth namely), these guys wrote songs about pop-culture, movies/books/people that they liked and some things that they hated. This album has all of that and more, some of the most clever song subjects and lyrics call this album home, and it is all put to the best thrash(w/ a dash of hardcore)you will hear in your life. The album kicks of with the title track which lyrically is inspired by The Stand from Stephen King, going from a haunting crawl to an all out thrash fest. CAUGHT IN A MOSH is one of thier most famous songs, it argueabley invented the term "mosh" and moshpits. I AM THE LAW is one of my all time favorites! they decided that they needed to write a song about the exploits of the bands favorite comic book character, DUDGE DREDD. I gotta tell you that Dredd is one of my all time favorite characters, and this song makes me estatic. N.F.L.(EFILNEKUFESIN) was venting anger over the death of comedian legend John Belushi. SKELETON IN THE CLOSET is another Stepen King song, based on his novella Apt Pupil. INDIANS is the first song where the band tried to tackel a world issue, in this case, the treatment of Native Americans by the U.S. goverment. This is IMHO the best song Anthrax ever wrote, just listen to the chorus and the power of Joe Bellodonna's voice on this, add to that, that Joe is of Native American decent and it only adds to the songs genuiness. ONE WORLD is another serious song, although it's lyricaly a bit dated. It was an attack on Ronald Reagan and his policies, but one could easily apply this to the idiot in the oval office right now. After all of the awesome songs on this album which almost plays out like a greatest hits, the only complaint i have (a minor one at that) is that it ends on a rather bland note. A.D.I./HORROR OF IT ALL is 7 minutes of pure filler, i listen to that hypnotic acoutic intro, then skip it. IMATATION OF LIFE had potential but let me down. Even though the last two tracks are duds, that does not diminish the power of AMOUNG THE LIVING in the least bit. This is simpley one of the greatest things i have listened to in my life. When people name greatest thrash albums of all time, some will say "Reign in Blood", others "Peace Sells", most say "Master of Puppets" and a minority will say "Bonded by Blood", but i always think AMOUNG THE LIVING when the mention of the gendre comes up, to me, this is the essential thrash album. All of the songs are fist pumping, with angry shout-outs to boot, its got that essence of hardcore in it as well, mainly because of Charlie Benante's drumming and the backing vocals.I was disapointed with the follow up STATE OF EUPHORIA, which sounded like a watered down version of ATL, and don't even get me started on that clown John Bush. The thing is that i think that all of their other albums are just average to this, it has kind of spoiled me to the rest of Anthrax's music, oh well!

Get this if you know whats good for you! I brought this over to my freind Tony's place, and he S H I T a brick when he heard it. This was much differant from his standard rotaion stack of Pantera,Whitezombie/Rob zombie,Static X and Manson. I tell you that fans were born that day!

Now if youre looking for a cd with anger its possible to find. This is the best Anthrax has to offer. The albums before are just as good but this is the best.

Anthrax is one of my favorite bands. This is hands down their best album, and up to par with other thrash classics such as Reign In Blood, Rust In Peace, Ace Of Spades, and Master Of Puppets. There is some great vocalsdone by Joey Belladonna. Good news too: He rejoined the band! We also have great guitar solos from Dan Spitz (who also rejoined the band), some tight rhythm work from Scott Ian, great HEARABLE bass-lines by Frank Bello (who, IMHO, isn't as great as Danny Lilker, but is still good), and exellent drummingfrom Charlie Benante. The album kicks off with the title track, which has a cool intro, goes into the post-intro (for lack of a better word) and gets tp the main riff, which also has exellent drumming from Benante. The next song, Caught In A Mosh, is what many Anthrax fans, including myself, consider to be their best song. You gotta love that intro and the pre-chorus/chorus. The next song, I Am The Law, has a killer guitar intro, and is another heavy song. Another favorite is Indians. I love Benante's double-bass intro in the song. All the songs here kick ass, but the above mentioned songs are my favorites. A must for metalheads.
Track ratings:
1. Among the Living 5/5
2. Caught in a Mosh 5/5
3. I Am the Law 5/5
4. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.) 5/5
5. Skeleton in the Closet 4.5/5
6. Indians 5/5
7. One World 5/5
8. A.D.I./Horror of It All 4.5/5
9. Imitation of Life 5/5

This along with Exodus' "Bonded By Blood" is THE album of the 80s... The only song on this I even remotely dont think is an absolute classic is "Skeleton In The Closet". As usual here is a rundown of each song from the album :-

Among The Living :- Anthrax always started their albums with a killer track, and this one is one of the best of that bunch (second only to "A.I.R" from STD). Based on the amazing Stephen King story "The Stand, it has an awesome lead, awesome Chorus (and pretty funny, too) and one of the top 10 tracks they've ever written. 97/100

Caugh In A Mosh :- Almost as great as the previous track, and also including some funny lyrics, this one has inventive drums and guitars. A fantastic track. 93/100

I Am The Law :- AMAZING TRACK! Second best off the album. Everything about this track, from the intro, to the AMAZING bridge to the end is fantastic, and it's still only the second best track! Its about Judge Dredd, but it is in no way lame or corny. You will never get sick of this song, and 100/100.

Efilnikufesin (N.F.L) :- Absolutely sweet! This song is another absolutely kickass song from this amazing album. Also note the cool sounding chorus... Sounds so cool. This track rules, and is another classic Anthrax song. my rating - 92/100

A Skeleton In The Closet :- This is in absolutely no way bad, and it is miles away from a filler, but this song is simply the worst on the album (on an album like this, that isnt even much of a shame). Its still a great song with cool lyrics based on a Stephen King story from Different Seasons. 76/100

Indians :- THIS SONG RULES. Best off the album, no question. Best Anthrax song ever (except of course Madhouse from Anthrax's other and second best album "Spreading The Disease") imo. Has an amazing bridge before the chorus, a very good chorus, cool verses, cool drum intro, cool guitars, amazing singing, it's just the perfect song. Nothing about it is in anyway imperfect. Worth the price of the album alone... If you haven't heard it somewhere or downloaded it already, buy it along with this album and be suprised at how sweet it is. 100/100

One World :- A cool song, also a heavy, fast one. Amazing too, and works well as a preview of A.D.I as well. It is a class song, with a cool chrous. 93/100

A.D.I :- Ah, this song KICKS ASS. It has an acoustic intro, a very good one, and then it goes into a slightly heavy part. Near the end (sort of) it goes into a fast thrashy part with an AMAZING riff. Cool. I love it. The longest song off the album, and the fourth best. LISTEN! 96/100

Imitation Of Life :- Imitation Of Life, a very thrashy song, definitely the all out heaviest on the album. Has a slow, "what doesnt die" reminescent intro, then goes into a whole god damn speed metal bridge and kicks your ass. While this isnt quite the best song on the album, it still kicks 90% of thrash songs into hell and is the fith best on the album. Its fantastic, as are almost all the other songs on this album More of a speed metal song than anything else really, and a good way to end the album (A.D.I or Among The Living would have suited the position more though). 95/100