Well well well, who would have thought it, Anthrax re-uniting the classic line up from the 1980's, early 1990's. Back comes vocalist Joey Belladonna and guitarist Dan Spitz after an absence of more than a decade and bassist Frank Bello returns to the fold after just over a year away. And what self-respecting heavy metal gargantuan could possibly resist documenting that historic reunion tour with the ubiquitous 'live' album. Not Anthrax that's for sure.

To be honest after re-inventing themselves over the last ten years as a serious metal outfit with Bush at the helm, as opposed to the rather quirky cross over act many viewed them as in the late 80's, this re-union CD is something of a disappointment and to this reviewers mind a step backwards for the band. The last studio album, 'We've Come For You All' was easily one of the best they have ever recorded and even the more recent 'The Greater of Two Evils' was a decent stab at redefining themselves with respect to their older material.

However this seems to be a real pivotal moment in in the history Anthrax. The big question is whether the band have the wherewithal to carry on writing and producing quality new material with possibly ever decreasing returns or whether, as with this CD/DVD package, they are content to join the growing ranks of bands making a living via the nostalgia circuit (see Black Sabbath for further details!!!!)

Recorded at the Starland Ballroom in Sayerville New Jersey, the reformation of the clasisc line-up was supposedly in order to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the release of the 'Spreading The Disease' album. Instead 'Alive 2' draws mainly from the 'Among The Living' album which is strongly represented with five numbers featured on the CD portion of this collection, whilst 'Spreading The Disease' only has three tracks included and 'State Of Euphoria and 'Persistence Of Time' a mere two songs each. The only number from outside the Belladonna era is 'Deathrider', culled from the Neil Turbin fronted 'Fistful of Metal opus. In general this is, in some respects an exemplary live performance from the New York thrash titans that simply exudes professionalism. Certainly the re-united rhythm section of Benante, Ian & Bello are as tight and ferocious as ever driving the songs along at a relentless pace. However what lets this release down are the two returning members. First up Belladonna - who no longer appears to have either the power, range or control over his voice that he did back in the day and at times his vocals, which are delivered at a more stratospheric level than Bush, are simply grating and out of tune. Likewise Spizt, widdling away at a million miles an hour, seems to add little in the way of dynamics or feel to any of the songs.

For the record the DVD portion of this package replaces 'Antisocial' & 'Lone Justice' with 'Madhouse' & 'I'm The Man'

What would be really sad however would be if, with this so called classic line-up reunited, (for the moment at least) the band continued to totally ignore the John Bush years. Indeed Belladonna has gone on record as saying he'd rather not play any material which Bush was involved with, (whether he could actually sing much of that material is open to debate of course) hence a rather large portion of Anthrax's history may very well continue to be swept up under the carpet.

Exactly where all of this leaves the band as 2005 draws to a close is anybody's guess. If the current line up can stick it out and record another album all well and good, if not then I guess the re-union tour and this accompanying CD/DVD package is a nice little earner for all involved.

Let us know your views on 'Alive 2'

Track List

Among The Living
Caught In A Mosh
A.I.R.
Antisocial
Lone Justice
Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
Deathrider
Medusa
In My World
Indians
Time
Be All End All
I Am The Law

Line Up

Scott Ian - Guitars,
Charlie Benante - Drums
Frank Bello - Bass Guitar,
Joey Belladonna - Vocals
Dan Spitz - Guitars