Among the Living

Among the Living is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax. It was released on March 16, 1987, by Megaforce Records in the US and by Island Records in the rest of the world. The album is dedicated to Cliff Burton of Metallica, who died in a bus accident six months before its release while Metallica were on tour with Anthrax as the opening act. Veteran engineer Eddie Kramer, at his first venture with a thrash metal act, co-produced the album. Recording proceeded smoothly and the band was enthusiastic, but different visions for the sound of the final release created contrasts between Anthrax and the producer during the mixing at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas. Ultimately, Anthrax succeeded in maintaining the aggressive dry sound and fast rhythms of the original recordings, enriched by often-humorous lyrics dealing with disparate subjects. Anthrax members often described the album as their major breakthrough, as it catapulted the band from being a small club attraction to arena and stadium stars. Critics acclaimed the album and promoted the band among the Big Four of Thrash Metal elite. The band's second Gold record, Among the Living was certified Gold by the RIAA on July 31, 1990. Background The original members of Anthrax grew up in New York City listening to 1970s rock and hard rock and turned to heavy metal in the 1980s, profoundly influenced by bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Motörhead. Drummer Charlie Benante was also a fan of bands playing music considered extreme at the time, such as Raven and Venom, and he and guitarist Scott Ian enjoyed hardcore as much as metal. Guitarist Dan Spitz, originally in the band Overkill, was an accomplished, trained musician, while Joey Belladonna had a background as a singer in cover bands of arena rock acts Journey, Foreigner and Bad Company. The integration of these differing musical sensibilities resulted in Anthrax's second album, Spreading the Disease, praised by critics for showing decisive progress from the band's debut release, Fistful of Metal, and for introducing a unique sound, which opposed the fast and heavy riffing of thrash metal with Belladonna's clean and melodic vocals. That album also marked the beginning of the songwriting method that would see the band through its most successful period. Benante would create riffs and rough musical structures for all the songs, that would later be developed, integrated and arranged with the other musicians.