Album Review: Anthrax - Spreading The Disease (1985)

I'm very impatient when it comes to listening to music.  I'm far more partial to a fast tempo song, rather than something that is mellow, patient and drawn out.  Thrash metal quickly became a generic favorite of mine as a result of its innate proclivity to move quickly and aggressively.  And the big four of the genre - Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and of course, Anthrax, all lead the way in providing music lovers with that faster-than-light, string thrashing madness that we've come to expect from them.  And they all do it very well.  Metallica and Megadeth are perhaps the most famous of the four.  In fact, without either band, thrash metal probably wouldn't have ever existed.  But the (slightly) lesser known East Coast band Anthrax has made some pretty kick ass records of its own.  My favorite, which I am writing about here, is Spreading The Disease, from 1985.  Fast and angry, as thrash should be, but melodic and utterly pleasurable, and at times climatic and tempered, this album, for me at the very least, is greater than the better received Among The Living from 1987 (but that's still a great album too, I should add).  Why?  "S.S.C./Stand or Fall", "Medusa", "Gung-ho" and "Armed and Dangerous", that's why.  They're some of my favorite Anthrax songs, and they're all concentrated on this album.  But then there's "A.I.R." and "Madhouse" to contend with as well, so you really can't go wrong with this record.  Metal thrashing brilliant! A