Among the Living by Anthrax

Among the Living, the third album from New York thrash merchants Anthrax, hit the racks on March 22, 1987, on Megaforce in America and Island everywhere else, and it is the record where the band stopped being a club act and started filling arenas. It carries a dedication to Cliff Burton of Metallica, killed in a bus accident six months earlier while Anthrax were out opening for Metallica on the road.

Scott Ian's rhythm guitar chugs like a pneumatic drill, Dan Spitz cuts across it, Frank Bello and Charlie Benante lock the whole thing down at breakneck speed, and Joey Belladonna sings over the din rather than barking at it. Veteran engineer Eddie Kramer co-produced, his first go at a thrash band; the sessions went smoothly, but band and producer clashed over how the mix should sound. It won critics over, put Anthrax firmly among thrash's Big Four, and went gold on July 31, 1990, their second record to get there.

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