| Among the Living is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Anthrax. The album was released in March 1987 by Megaforce Worldwide/Island and is certified gold by the RIAA. BBC has described the album as "arguably their big breakthrough", and "often cited by fans as their favourite Anthrax album".
The album was produced by Anthrax and Eddie Kramer. The album includes the singles, "I Am the Law" and "Indians". The video for the song "Indians" received substantial rotation on MTV.
The cover of Among the Living depicts the Rev. Henry Kane, antagonist from the Poltergeist series of films. It has also been speculated that the cover is an homage to the character Randall Flagg, the antagonist from the Stephen King novel The Stand, as this character is the subject of the album's title track. "A Skeleton In The Closet" is also inspired by a Stephen King novella entitled Apt Pupil.
This was the final Anthrax album to feature songwriting contributions from original bassist Danny Lilker, who, despite having left the band after 1984's Fistful of Metal, was credited as the co-writer of several Anthrax songs for the next two albums. On Among the Living, he is credited as the co-writer of the songs "I Am the Law" and "Imitation of Life".
The album was dedicated to the memory of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, a highly regarded figure in the thrash community who died six months prior to the album's release.
In 2000, the album was re-released in Germany as a double album along with Persistence of Time.
On Anthrax's 2005 reunion tour with vocalist Joey Belladonna, the majority of their concert set consisted of material from Among the Living. On their 2006 tour they sometimes performed the album live in its entirety.
On November 10, 2009, a deluxe edition of the album was released which included a bonus concert DVD. The deluxe edition featured alternate takes of several album tracks, live versions, and an unreleased track entitled "Bud E Luv Bomb And Satan's Lounge Band".
Track listing
Side A
"Among the Living" (Anthrax) – 5:16
"Caught in a Mosh" (Anthrax) – 4:59
"I Am the Law" (Anthrax, Danny Lilker) – 5:57
"Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)" (Anthrax) – 4:54
"A Skeleton in the Closet" (Anthrax) – 5:32
Side B
"Indians" (Anthrax) – 5:40
"One World" (Anthrax) – 5:56
"A.D.I./Horror of It All" (Anthrax) – 7:49
"Imitation of Life" (Anthrax, Lilker) – 4:22
Personnel
Joey Belladonna – Vocals
Dan Spitz –Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar on A.D.I
Scott Ian – Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Frank Bello – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Charlie Benante – Drums
Song information
"Among the Living" is based on the Stephen King novel The Stand. "The Walkin Dude" is Randall Flagg, the main villain in the book, and the beginning verse: "Disease! Disease! Spreading the disease!\With some help from Captain Tripps, He'll bring \the world down to its knees" refers to the virus that destroys most of the population in the novel.
The rerecorded version of "Among the Living" from The Greater Of Two Evils is used as a background to the Clerks 2 Teaser
"Caught in a Mosh" is ranked number 29 in VH1's "40 Greatest Metal Songs." A cover version of the song is included in the game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.
"I Am the Law" is about the comic book character Judge Dredd.
"Efilnikufesin (N.F.L)" is about the life of John Belushi. Efilnikufesin is "Nise Fukin Life" ("nice fucking life", phonetically) backward.
"A Skeleton in the Closet" is based on the Stephen King novella "Apt Pupil" in the novel "Different Seasons". It has since been made into a movie.
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