This October, Island Records/Ume/Universal Music will release the 30th-anniversary, 2CD deluxe edition of ANTHRAX’s fourth studio album, “State Of Euphoria”. The package will consist of two discs: Disc One is the fully remastered album, all of the B-sides originally released in conjunction with the album, and “Antisocial” recorded live in London at the Hammersmith Odeon in March, 1989. Disc Two, “Charlie’s Archives”, is a real treasure trove for ANTHRAX fans as it puts you right in the room with the band as the album’s songs evolved. The package also includes a 20-page booklet that will take you right back to the time of the album’s release.
“State Of Euphoria” will also be issued as a 2-LP set on standard black vinyl and limited edition red and yellow colored vinyl. And that’s where Rue Morgue Records jumps in! You can order the LP from here.
The anniversary package was helmed by the band’s drummer and longtime archivist Charlie Benante, who dove into his ANTHRAX vault to come up with the tapes that show the evolution of the album’s songs. Disc Two takes you through the writing, development and recording process of the album’s songs. The listener is taken into the band’s writing and rehearsal sessions hearing the band members construct the song, deciding what stays and what doesn’t, and then into the studio for the recording of basic tracks.
“We recorded everything back then,” said Benante. “We would sit in the rehearsal room with a little two-track machine record everything we did in rehearsal while we were putting the songs together.”
Also pulled from his vault were tapes of the actual recording sessions, all the takes, that also appear on Disc Two.
In addition to the original album’s artwork that includes the Mort Drucker-drawn (Mad magazine) back cover, the anniversary package includes never before seen personal snapshots of the band members, tour admats/posters, plus two ANTHRAX magazine covers, all culled from that 1988-1989 period. For the booklet, the band enlisted British journalist Alexander Milas, former editor-in-chief of Metal Hammer, to write the sleeve notes, Shawn Franklin handled editing tracks and Paul Logus mastered the set. Benante also took to social media, inviting fans to tell him what “State Of Euphoria” had meant to them. He was overwhelmed with responses, and many of them are included in the booklet.
“I think fans will be really excited when they see their own quotes in the package,” Benante added.
“State Of Euphoria” was produced by ANTHRAX and Mark Dodson, includes fan favorites “Antisocial” and “Be All, End All”, and was certified gold a few months after release.
“‘State Of Euphoria’ is the album that we always felt we never got to finish properly,” said Benante. “We wished we had had a little more time to spend on it. But having revisited it while putting together this package, I really got to enjoy it again, it took me back to that time when everything was a whirlwind.”
In his 2014 autobiography, “I’m The Man: The Story Of That Guy From Anthrax”, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian was extremely critical of “State Of Euphoria”, calling it “ANTHRAX slumming on autopilot.” He explained: “The only songs we still play from that record are ‘Be All, End All’ and ‘Antisocial’, and that’s not even our song. It’s by the French band TRUST. ‘Now It’s Dark’ was a cool song and I loved the lyrics about Frank Booth, the character Dennis Hopper played in David Lynch’s brilliant movie ‘Blue Velvet’. ‘Finale’ was good, too, and featured some of Charlie’s fastest double-bass playing ever, but four songs don’t make a great album. There was no consistency in the writing because the rest of the record was rushed. To me, ‘State Of Euphoria’ simply didn’t hold up compared to the previous three ANTHRAX records.”
He continued: “It really fucked 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.
“I actually got paranoid and neurotic and started to think we were becoming a joke because I had lost confidence in myself. I had always felt like I was in charge of making the right decisions for ANTHRAX, and I began to question my judgment in a big way. We were on a tour cycle for an album I hated, and we had to play soings from the album every night. That made me angry.”
Ian added: “I think I was so thrown and self-conscious because we totally could have put our feet down and told the label we needed more time to finish the record. We even could have dropped off the IRON MAIDEN tour if we had to. We had said no to offers and demands many times before. We got greedy. That’s all there was to it. The brass ring was hanging in front of us — a stadium tour with IRON MAIDEN — and we grabbed it.”
Track listing:
Disc One – State Of Euphoria (Remaster With Bonus Tracks)
01. Be All, End All
02. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
03. Make Me Laugh
04. Antisocial
05. Who Cares Wins
06. Now It’s Dark
07. Schism
08. Misery Loves Company
09. 13
10. Finale
11. Antisocial (French) *
12. Friggin In The Riggin *
13. Parasite *
14. Le Sects *
15. Pipeline *
16. Antisocial (Live At Hammersmith Odeon) *
* Bonus Tracks
Disc Two – Statements Of Euphoria (Charlie’s Archives)
01. Be All, End All
02. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
03. Make Me Laugh
04. Antisocial
05. Who Cares Wins
06. Now It’s Dark
07. Schism
08. Misery Loves Company
09. Finale