Anthrax bootleg CDs

Anthrax bootlegs

Bringing the Noize To Offenbach
Stadthalle Offenbach, Germany Jan. 15, 1992
Waldgeister Musik
	1. Intro (Blues Brothers)
	2. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
	3. Got The Time (Joe Jackson cover)
	4. A.I.R.
	5. Parasite (Kiss cover)
	6. Keep It In The Family
	7. Caught In A Mosh
	8. Indians (1st Attempt)
	9. Indians (2nd Attempt)
	10. Antisocial (Trust cover)
	11. Bring The Noize [sic] + unlisted "Too Much Posse" intro (w/ Public Enemy)

Recorded live on tour with Public Enemy. Excellent sound quality, but absolutely terrible song selection in my opinion, with none of their older, better stuff. Joey mentions that they haven't been back in Germany for 7 years, but the German segment of the "Going Underground" bootleg (recorded before "State of Euphoria") would make that incorrect. It sounds like something happens during the show in the middle of track 8, as Scott Ian tells the crowd that the security have left, and Joey keeps telling the crowd how crazy they are. They start over on Indians from the beginning on track 9 after this.

Show is also referred to as "NOT on Stage" on the back insert. CD itself is printed with fake band/album info (The Electric Warriors "The Stage Is Already Made"), presumably to avoid legal problems/bootleg detection in the pressing plant. Front cover is one-panel, one-sided insert.

Cry Of Desperation
Live Dallas, TX 1989
Taurus Records Tau 107
	1. Be All, End All
	2. Madhouse
	3. Metal Thrashing Mad
	4. Indians
	5. Antisocial (Trust cover)
	6. Finale [sic]
	7. Charlie Benante's Drum Solo
	8. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
	9. I'm The Man
	10. Caught In A Mosh

I've seen a picture of this bootleg with an OBI-type paper strip with a Taurus Records logo on it. However, Taurus Records isn't in Japan, and I'd never heard of any of their releases coming with OBI strips before. I'm guessing that either there is a newer 2nd version of this bootleg that includes an OBI, or else the OBI was custom-made for certain versions (those being sold in Japan, for example). If you have any more knowledge about this or actually have the copy with the OBI strip, please let me know!

No recording information is given beyond the Dallas location and the year. Anthrax did play in Dallas with Exodus and Helloween on April 14, 1989, which might be a good guess for the date. However, at the end of "I'm the Man," the crowd is wished a Merry Christmas--considering the song, I'm unsure if this was a joke or the show really was at the end of the year.

Track 1 fades out during the end solo, and track 2 fades in. There is also a fade-out/fade-in between tracks 6 and 7. There is a jump/edit between tracks 4 and 5. This show is possibly incomplete and had the song order rearranged; the bootleg fades out on Joey asking for the venue lights to be turned on so he can see the crowd, and it sounds like some of the earlier tracks in the bootleg were encores.

"Twilight Zone" music provides a short intro for the drum solo.

Going Underground
Tracks 1-6 - live Schweinfurt, Germany '88? (possibly Aug. 27, 1988) Tracks 7-11 - early studio recordings w/ Neil Turbin (possibly 1983 demo?) Tracks 12-16 - live Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK, Nov. 16, 1987
Metal Memory MM 90039
	1. N.F.L.
	2. Madhouse
	3. Anti-Social (Trust cover)
	4. Medusa
	5. A.I.R.
	6. I'm The Man
	7. Soldiers of Metal
	8. Panic
	9. Hellfire
	10. Anthrax
	11. Across The River/Howling Furies
	12. Among The Living
	13. Caught In A Mosh
	14. Metal Thrashing Mad
	15. I Am The Law
	16. Madhouse

Features an excellent mix of material. No recording information is given on the bootleg itself--stage banter does reveal the locations of the live portions, and I made educated guesses on the specific dates based on research. I'm guessing the German gig is probably from Aug. 27, as video footage taken in Schweinfurt exists from that date. That does seem correct, as during the Trust cover Joey says that the "State of Euphoria" album will be released soon. Note that the 3 seperate live and studio parts fade directly into one another.

I'm unsure what exactly the Turbin-era demo tracks are, but it's a good bet these tracks are the second official 1983 demo with the Turbin/Ian/Spitz/Lilker/D'Angelo lineup. The tracklist matches, and I've read that the earliest Anthrax unofficial demos/tapes had no vocals, ruling those recordings out.

The Hammersmith material is about the first half of the official "N.F.V./Oidivnikufesin" video, which it was likely sourced from.

The Anthrax "Live USA" bootleg CD in the Live & Alive series appears to be the "Going Underground" bootleg minus track 16, "Madhouse."

Anthrax/Public Enemy - Indians (Digipak)
Live California '9?
Pluto Records PLR CD 9303

Given tracklisting:	Correct tracklisting:
1. N.F.L.	1. N.F.L./Got The Time (Joe Jackson cover)
2. Indians	2. Indians
3. Keep It In The... [sic]	3. Keep It In The Family
4. A.I.R.	4. A.I.R.
5. Antisocial	5. Antisocial (Trust cover)
6. Parasite	6. Parasite (Kiss cover)
7. Caught In A Mosh	7. Caught In A Mosh
8. I'm The Man	8. I'm The Man
9. Too Much Posse	9. Too Much Posse (w/ Public Enemy)
10. Bring The Noise	10. Bring The Noise (w/ Public Enemy)

No recording information is provided anywhere whatsoever, though it's probably from '92 (at the beginning of "N.F.L." you can hear the clock sound effects, thus the "Persistence of Time" tour) due to the Public Enemy appearance. California is mentioned only in the stage banter. Again, great sound quality, but the lack of early material makes it mostly uninteresting for me.

This bootleg comes in a simple digipak. The disc itself refers to the show as "Terrifyingly Goofy." The great emphasis put on Public Enemy in the packaging is strange considering they only (thankfully!) appear on the last two tracks--the cover makes it look as if it's a split-CD, and there are as many pictures of Flava Flav in the packaging as of Anthrax. The online shop I bought this from even went so far as to put this in their rap section, and I only happened to find it because I did a search for "Anthrax."

I've also recently seen another bootleg with this same material that's also presumably a silver-CD. While I can't remember the exact title, the cover had one of those "Unlicensed recording" notices across the front--probably a bootleg of Australian origin.

Madhouse
Live Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK, Feb. 15, 1987
Golden Stars GSCD 1073

Given tracklisting:	Correct tracklisting:
1. A. I. R.	1. I Can't Turn You Loose (Blues Brothers Intro)/ A.I.R.
2. Metal Thrashing Mad	2. A.I.R. (cont.)
3. Panic	3. Metal Thrashing Mad/Panic
4. The Enemy	4. The Enemy
5. I'm The Law	5. I Am The Law
6. Madhouse	6. Madhouse
7. S.S.C. Stand Or Fall	7. Guitar Solo/Across The River
8. Howling Furier	8. Howling Furies
9. Medusa	9. Medusa
10. Armed & Dangerous	10. Armed And Dangerous
11. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath	11. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (Black Sabbath cover)
12. God Save The Queen	12. God Save The Queen (Sex Pistols cover)
13. Gung Ho	13. Gung-Ho
14. Soldiers Of Metal	14. Soldiers Of Metal

One of the earliest, if not the first, Anthrax bootleg CD. As far as I know, this material is the earliest available unofficial live material of the band on a normal CD. Only the year is given on the bootleg, not the exact date.

This same show is available on at least two other bootlegs, the first being the "Axe the Odeon Down" silver-CD. I haven't heard it, but I've seen that the bootleg appears to have a shorter running time and less tracks, so this is the superior version. The second is a double-LP called "The Monster Mosh." I haven't heard that either, so I can't say that the content is exactly the same, but there are tracklisting discrepencies between the "Madhouse" CD. For example, the double-LP lists tracks such as "Indians" and "Living After Midnight," but does not list the Sex Pistols cover. Based on the lack of edits, I'd say that those extra tracks are probably just errors.

Also be aware that there is an unrelated bootleg double LP called "Madhouse" or "Mad House." As far as I know, this contains different material from '86-'87 and some Turbin-era demo tracks. There are CD-Rs floating around sourced from the double-LP which are also called "Madhouse"--don't confuse these with the original CD.

There's a jump at the end of "The Enemy" to the stage banter introducing "I Am the Law." This appears to be the only editing done.

The band does not play/sing the first verse or so of "Armed and Dangerous."

Probably the worst sound quality of any of the Anthrax bootlegs here; the sound is a bit distant and muddy. The song selection really makes up for it though, with only one post-"Spreading..." song (and as it's a certain homage to Mr. Judge Dredd, it's the best possible choice they could have made, hehe).

The Italian text in the booklet is just legal/copyright stuff.

Nice Fuckin' Live
Live Paris, France, June 3, 1993
Metal Mania Metal 113 CD
	1. Potters Field
	2. Only
	3. Caught In A Mosh
	4. Got The Time (Joe Jackson cover)
	5. Room For One More
	6. A.I.R.
	7. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
	8. Keep It In The Family
	9. Invisible
	10. Hyproglo [sic]
	11. In My World
	12. Antisocial (Trust cover)
	13. Bring The Noise
	14. I'm The Law [sic]

Good Bush-era audience recording. Bootleg gives no information beyond "Live in Europe 1993," but Paris is mentioned in the stage banter. I have been informed the date was June 3. There are some edits, but I assume they're due more to time constraints than anything else (the CD is 76+ min.). Again, I really prefer the earlier material, although it's somewhat interesting to hear the band at this point, and this is probably the best of the Bush-era bootlegs.

Scott introduces track 8.

Nicefukinliveshow
The Arcadia Theater, Dallas, TX, July 11, 1987
Main Event ME - CD - 018
55:07

Given tracklisting:	Correct tracklisting:
1. Among The Living	1. Among The Living
2. Caught In A Mosh	2. Caught In A Mosh
3. Metal Thrashing Mad	3. Metal Thrashing Mad
4. I Am The Law	4. I Am The Law
5. Madhouse	5. Madhouse
6. Indians	6. Indians/Guitar Solo
7. Armed and Dangerous	7. Medusa
8. Drum Solo/A.I.R.	8. Drum Solo/A.I.R.
9. God Save The Queen	9. God Save The Queen (Sex Pistols cover)
10. Imitation Of The Libe/Gung Ho	10. Imitation Of Life (incomplete)/Gung-Ho
11. Living After Midnight	11. Living After Midnight (Judas Priest cover)

Only an incorrect year (1989) and the Dallas location are mentioned on the bootleg. Three tracks from this show--"Caught in a Mosh," "I am the Law," and "I'm the Man" (which is not on the bootleg) were used as live tracks on the "I'm the Man" EP. The EP tracks sound much crisper and cleaner than the bootleg. This show was apparently broadcast by Z-Rock, so it's likely the bootleg was sourced from that radio broadcast.

Except for tracks 9/10, all tracks have fade-ins/fade-outs between them, and although you can hear some stage banter was lost, there's still a lot left. I've seen it noted the original show was 70+ min., and obviously since "I'm the Man" isn't on the bootleg, some songs from the original show were cut. I have no idea what tracks were cut or what the original gig's setlist was. Apparently there's a 2 CD-R full version of the show circulating that's called "Gung Ho" by traders. As far as I know, this is the only professionally-pressed bootleg of this gig on any format. If that's indeed true, hopefully that will be fixed one day.

At 6:13 of track 8, it sounds like there's some sort of edit/jump. The band were in the middle of A.I.R., but slowed down. It appears as if there was some crowd sing-along or participation stuff that was edited out.

The band only play the first verse of "Imitation of Life." Between this and "Gung-Ho," they play part of Mouret's "Rondeau," which is probably more well-known as the "Masterpiece Theatre" theme music.

Be cautious, as once I saw a CD-R version of this bootleg with copied covers. If I remember correctly, whoever did it actually covered the Main Event logo on the back insert and added another one ("Treble Productions," I think?), so it's quite possible someone distributed a lot of CD-Rs out there.

Despite the edits and being incomplete, a very good "Among the Living" era boot. Sound quality is about average for a boot, it's not excellent but definitely not bad.