𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 21, 1990 — Anthrax released their fifth studio album, Persistence of Time via Megaforce Worldwide/Island Records in the United States. (Listen)
The album was nominated in 1991 for a Grammy Award in the Best Metal Performance category.
The album included the singles, Got the Time (a Joe Jackson cover) and In My World (which was performed by the band on the Married... with Children episode, My Dinner with Anthrax).
Persistence of Time was the last full Anthrax album to feature vocalist Joey Belladonna until 2011's Worship Music.
Background:
Anthrax returned to the studio in the fall of 1989 with Mark Dodson (who produced the previous album, State of Euphoria) to start work on their fifth album. Recording of the album was difficult, with a large structure fire causing the band to lose more than $100,000 worth of gear and their rehearsal studio on January 24, 1990. Following this disaster, the band moved to a different studio in late February of that year to finish work on the album.
The album's tone is decidedly more contemplative and mature than the bulk of Anthrax's previous work. Abandoning the humor and comic book references which were common on their previous albums, the lyrical focus of Persistence of Time is the need for tolerance and peace. Reaction to Persistence of Time was mixed, with critics and fans alternately panning and praising this darker sound. The band also introduced a progressive side of the music which had not been present in their earlier work, while also placing a reduced emphasis on typical Thrash Metal elements such as fast tempo and aggression.
This is the last full studio album to feature Joey Belladonna on vocals before John Bush took over vocal duties. Belladonna appeared on several songs on the 1991 EP Attack of the Killer B's before splitting acrimoniously from the band in 1992. He returned to the band in June 2010 to record the album Worship Music, which was released in 2011.
The introduction to the instrumental song Intro to Reality featured dialogue from an episode of The Twilight Zone called Deaths-Head Revisited. Keep It in the Family, In My World, and Belly of the Beast were later re-recorded with the John Bush/Rob Caggiano line-up for the album The Greater of Two Evils.
Persistence of Time's highest position on the Billboard 200 chart was No. 24. It was certified gold by the The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 17, 1991.
Loudwire ranked the album No. 25 on their list Top 90 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the 90's.
Watch the Official Music Video for Got the Time.
Watch the Official Music Video for In My World.
Watch the Official Music Video for Belly of the Beast.
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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