Among the Living

Among The Living is Anthrax’s third studio album, and it was released on March 22nd, 1987. This was the second Anthrax album to feature Joey Belladonna on lead vocals. The album was also produced by the legendary Eddie Kramer.

After Anthrax finished touring in support of their sophomore effort, Spreading The Disease, they were on fire. “We were on a roll in every way,” said Scott Ian in an interview with Loudwire. During the Spreading The Disease touring process, Anthrax wrote several songs, notably “I Am The Law” and “Indians”.

Among The Living was received extremely well upon its release, and many metal fans consider it to be Anthrax’s crowning achievement. “When we finished the headlining run of Among the Living, in those four years, we went from being basically a complete unknown to selling out places that held 6,000 or 7,000 people, and even bigger in some markets,” remarked Scott Ian in the previously mentioned interview. Many songs off of Among The Living have become staples of their live performances. Anthrax has also performed the album in its entirety on multiple tours. The album is what many deem to be the reason that Anthrax is apart of metal’s Big Four.

Lyrically, Among The Living dealt with as many varying subjects as its predecessor. While tracks like “Among The Living”, “I Am The Law”, and “A Skeleton In The Closet” are about fictional characters, “Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)”, “Indians”, “One World”, “A.D.I. Medley/The Horror of It All”, and “Imitation of Life” deal with the death of John Belushi, the sad story of the Native Americans, the possibility of nuclear war, Cliff Burton’s death, and the dark side of the music industry, respectively. One of Anthrax’s biggest hits, “Caught In A Mosh”, came to fruition after Scott Ian saw one of Anthrax’s technicians get pulled into a mosh pit against his will.

Regarded as one of the greatest thrash metal albums ever, Among The Living is included on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time” (#20). It is also included in the book, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.