What's the more inferior Anthrax album?

After finishing Scott Ian’s book “I’m the Man”, I thought this was a good question. Each of these albums were a low point for Scott Ian and for two totally different reasons. Ian really can’t stand “State of Euphoria”. He stated it was Anthrax slumming on autopilot.  He also stated how the record was rushed and it didn’t hold up compared to the previous three Anthrax records. His quote regarding the album:

It really f*cked with my equilibrium. I can’t even listen to it, and when I think back about some of those songs, I feel sick. It felt like the first time we made a mistake as a band. Instead of following our creative instincts, we let the music business dictate what we were doing.  I was sure it was only a matter of time until people started realizing how shitty State of Euphoria was.

Though “Stomp 442” is Scott’s least favorite of the John Bush era; he didn’t have harsh things to say about this album like that of “State of Euphoria”. He mentioned how little Elektra had done at the time to push this record. “Sound of White Noise” sold some 700,000 + albums, but it was considered a failure in Elektra’s eyes. Furthermore, those who were in Anthrax’s stable at Elektra were out when Time Warner took over in 1995. He went onto to talk about the change in the music scene and his disillusionment of how all those people who enjoyed “Sound of White Noise” were now listening to Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Nirvana and wanted nothing to do with Anthrax.

I finished the Ian autobiography a few months back, and it was a great read. As for the albums, I voted against Stomp 442. Anthrax has always been my favorite thrash band but when this disc came out I felt they were just lost. It was totally unfocused and just seemed so not like them. I am going from my feelings from 20 years ago as I can't recall the last time I played this album. However, State of Euphoria holds a more endearing place in my heart as it came out during my total immersion into Hard Rock and Heavy Metal and it sounds very much like the Anthrax I had known at that time. By comparison, I was starting too lose a little interest in music around 1995 as collecting Sports cards was becoming my full time hobby and passion. I spun "State" a few weeks ago while working out and still really liked all of the songs with a few really standing out as "wow, forgot how good that was" and immediately took it in the car for another listen. Other than Fueled and Grunt and Click, there is nothing I remember; save for the Kiss and Husker Du covers that is.

Although I like both rather well , I went with Stomp 442. Nothing really wrong with it , I just think State is better.

Stomp 442. But it is still good.

Stomp 442. They were 7 years apart and quite a bit changed. I never saw it from Ian's perspective, but I also don't rate state very high either. It was a bit of a disappointment at the time.

I voted Stomp 442 from this poll, but that's not the worst Anthrax album. That distinction goes to Volume 8 which is a total mess of an album.

What are the best songs on stomp?

Witchfinder wrote:

I voted Stomp 442 from this poll, but that's not the worst Anthrax album.  That distinction goes to Volume 8 which is a total mess of an album.

I agree!!

I went with State of Euphoria because it just sounds unfinished. However, I like both those albums, though I do admit I didn't care for Stomp 442 when it first came out. It took some time and now I dig it.

I haven't heard either album in dog years to be honest. I had "State..." on cassette back in the day but never upgraded it to CD cuz I found it rather blah and never listened to it. I did own Stomp briefly when it first came out but it did nothing for me and ended up being traded off while it was still a fairly new release.

I guess I'd say "Stomp" would be my pick for more inferior, because I can't name a single song off of that thing. State at least had "Who Dares Wins" and the cover of "Anti-Social."

Stomp didn't even sound like Anthrax to me. It was a blatant attempt to fit in with the 90s trend. Euphoria was a bit watered down, but it still actually sounded like Anthrax.

This is like comparing So Far, So Good... So What! to Risk.

State of Euphoria takes awhile to stick, compared to other albums in the 'Thrax discography. There's a considerable amount of filler, but songs like "Finale", "Be All, End All", "Make Me Laugh", "Antisocial", and "Who Cares Wins" more than make up for it.

The Limp Bizkit meets Pantera clusterf*ck on Stomp 442 is unforgivable, however. At least Volume 8 had "Catharsis."

I love State Of Euphoria, in fact it is my favorite Anthrax record
I cannot stand Stomp 442

The Limp Bizkit meets Pantera clusterf*ck on Stomp 442 is unforgivable Awesome!

Be All, End All is better than anything on Stomp, so looks like Stomp gets my vote.

Voted Stomp. Nothing wrong with State of Euphoria at all. I wore that cassette out back in the day.

I've never heard Stomp, but I'm surprised that State was such a low point for the band on a personal level. That's the first Anthrax stuff I heard, when "Anti-Social" would play on MTV sometimes. I still like it. Though I guess if I think about it, it's probably my least favorite of the original Belladonna years, but that's not really saying anything. Disease and Persistence are two of the best metal albums ever recorded, so.

Witchfinder wrote:

I voted Stomp 442 from this poll, but that's not the worst Anthrax album.  That distinction goes to Volume 8 which is a total mess of an album.

I picked these two, because of Scott Ian's feelings about these two. Surprisingly, Scott thinks "Vol 8." is the second best Anthrax album with John Bush after "We've Come For You All". It's hard for me to believe that he thinks that record is better than "Sound of White Noise". My order would be:

1. Sound of White Noise
2. We've Come For You All
3. Vol. 8
4. Stomp 442

I would put "Stomp 442" last because I think it was a bigger fall from grace. After "Stomp" came out, I could've cared less about the next Anthrax record, as I thought it to be a really boring album. I listened to it three times a few days ago and it still does very little for me. Though Vol 8. has too many tracks, I think there are some standout songs like "Catharsis", "Crush" and "Inside Out".

My order would be
1. Sound Of White Noise (I actually think it's one of their best)
2. We've Come For You All
3. Stomp 442
4. Volume 8 (only because I've never heard it)

Stomp is inferior, terrible album. State is the weakest of the early Anthrax albums, but it's 1000 times better than stomp.

Maybe Anthrax should write more albums on slummy autopilot. I think State of Euphoria kicks ass! And I've never really cared for Stomp 442. In fact, it's probably an album I should revisit. I don't think I've listened to it more than a few times, and probably not since it came out.

thejokeriv wrote:

Stomp is inferior, terrible album. State is the weakest of the early Anthrax albums, but it's 1000 times better than stomp.

Couldn't agree more!

Stomp 442 - not my kind of album

Speaking of supposedly inferior Anthrax albums, if the rest of the songs from Sound of White Noise are as good as this one, I know what I'm picking up next week.

DakotaRogers wrote:

Speaking of supposedly inferior Anthrax albums, if the rest of the songs from Sound of White Noise are as good as this one, I know what I'm picking up next week.

Great songs: Only ~ Potter's Field ~ Room For One More
Good songs: Packaged Rebellion ~ Hy Pro Glo
Decent songs: Black Lodge ~ 1000 Points of Hate

So, your answer would be yes. In Scott Ian's book, James Hetfield was quoted as saying "Only" was a perfect song.