Volume 8: The Threat Is Real
Volume 8: The Threat Is Real | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 21, 1998 | |||
Recorded | 1998 | |||
Studio | Krusty's Fun House, Yonkers, New York | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 63:37 | |||
Label | Ignition | |||
Producer |
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Anthrax chronology | ||||
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Singles from Volume 8: The Threat Is Real | ||||
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Volume 8: The Threat Is Real is the eighth studio album by American thrash metal band Anthrax. The album was released on July 28, 1998, by Ignition Records and debuted at number 118 on the Billboard 200 chart. The record was produced by the band and Paul Crook. It features the song "Crush", which appeared in the video game ATV Offroad Fury for PlayStation 2 and in the game's soundtrack. Other released singles from the album were "Inside Out", "Piss N Vinegar" and "Born Again Idiot".
"Pieces", the hidden track at the end of the album, was written by bassist Frank Bello as a tribute to his brother Anthony who was murdered outside his girlfriend's home in the Bronx on March 25, 1996, by an unidentified assailant. The track features Bello on vocals.
Reception[]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The A.V. Club | unfavorable[3] |
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 7/10[4] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in a mixed review for AllMusic, wrote that the album is a continuation of the band's "writing slump" which started with 1993's Sound of White Noise. He said that there aren't many "memorable songs" on the record, and went to call it "transitional album" leading the band to "new, uncharted territory".[1] Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club found the album to be "aggressive to the point of being exhausting".[3] Martin Popoff in his Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal remarks how the band put a bit of everything in the songs, including multiple speeds, "humor scattered here and there", "big grungy guitars", "meat and potatoes riffing and roaring vocals from Bush", while "experimenting with some different textures and dynamics". The result is not just "an accessible thrash metal record", as is typical with Anthrax.[4]
In his 2014 autobiography I'm the Man: The Story of that Guy from Anthrax, Scott Ian said "I'm still proud of the songs we wrote for Volume 8: The Threat is Real. They were really diverse and heavy, modern sounding with a crushing metal groove. 1998 is the year nu metal took over but we were definitely not a part of that scene. If anything we were old metal, so getting anyone to support us was proving difficult."[6]
Track listing[]
All lyrics written by John Bush and Scott Ian; all music by Charlie Benante, except where noted.
No. | Title | Music | Length |
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1. | "Crush" | 4:21 | |
2. | "Catharsis" | Benante, Frank Bello | 4:53 |
3. | "Inside Out" | 5:31 | |
4. | "Piss N Vinegar" | 3:12 | |
5. | "604" | Benante, Ian | 0:35 |
6. | "Toast to the Extras" | 4:24 | |
7. | "Born Again Idiot" | 4:17 | |
8. | "Killing Box" | 3:37 | |
9. | "Harms Way" | Benante, Ian | 5:13 |
10. | "Hog Tied" | 4:36 | |
11. | "Big Fat" | Benante, Ian | 6:01 |
12. | "Cupajoe" | Benante, Ian | 0:46 |
13. | "Alpha Male" | 3:05 | |
14. | "Stealing from a Thief" (5:33; hidden track "Pieces" begins at 8:03 after 2:30 of silence) | Bello ("Pieces") | 13:06 |
Total length: | 63:37 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
15. | "Giving the Horns" | 3:34 | |
16. | "The Bends" (Radiohead cover) | Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway, Thom Yorke | 3:52 |
17. | "Snap/I'd Rather Be Sleeping" (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles cover) | Kurt Brecht, Spike Cassidy, John Menor, Eric Brecht | 2:17 |
Total length: | 73:20 |
Credits[]
- Anthrax
- John Bush - vocals
- Scott Ian - guitars, vocals on "Cupajoe"
- Frank Bello - bass, vocals on "Pieces"
- Charlie Benante - drums, lead guitars on some tracks[7]
- Guests
- Phil Anselmo - backing vocals on "Killing Box"
- Dimebag Darrell - guitar solos on "Inside Out" and "Born Again Idiot"
- Paul Crook - guitar solos on "Killing Box", "Hog Tied", "Big Fat", "Stealing from a Thief"
- Production
- Produced by Anthrax[8]
- Co-produced and engineered by Paul Crook[8]
- Mixed by Chris Sheldon[8]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Anthrax — Volume 8: The Threat Is Real". AllMusic. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
- ^ Weingarten, Christopher R. (September 14, 2011). "Anthrax and Joey Belladonna Keep It In the Family". The Village Voice. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Thompson, Stephen (April 19, 2002). "Anthrax — Volume 8: The Threat is Real". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 2006. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
- ^ Ian, Scott. I'm the Man: The Story of That Guy from Anthrax. Hachette UK.
- ^ https://www.discogs.com/Anthrax-Volume-8-The-Threat-Is-Real/release/709463
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Volume 8: The Threat Is Real! back panel. Ignition Records. 1998.
External links[]
- Volume 8: The Threat Is Real at Discogs (list of releases)
- Review in The Fulford and Tang Hall Curmudgeon #11
- Anthrax (American band) albums
- 1998 albums