Persistence of Time explained

Persistence of Time
Type:studio
Artist:Anthrax
Cover:AnthraxPersistenceOfTime.jpg
Released:August 21, 1990
Recorded:December 1989 – February 1990
Studio:A&M Studios and Conway Studios (Hollywood, California)
Soundtrack Studios (New York City)
Genre:Thrash metal
Length:58:40
Label:Megaforce, Island
Producer:Anthrax, Mark Dodson, Jon Zazula, Marsha Zazula
Prev Title:State of Euphoria
Prev Year:1988
Next Title:Sound of White Noise
Next Year:1993

Persistence of Time is the fifth studio album by the American thrash metal band Anthrax. It was released on August 21, 1990, through Megaforce Worldwide/Island Records and 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.

Album information

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[1] 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.[2] 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.

Reception

Persistence of Time's highest position on the Billboard 200 chart was No. 24.[3] It was certified gold by the RIAA on January 17, 1991.[4]

Steve Huey of AllMusic gave the album a favorable review, saying that it "rivals Among the Living as Anthrax's best album". "The more cartoonish side of the band" is substituted by a "dark, uncompromising examination of society's dirty underbelly", which makes Persistence of Time "their most lyrically consistent album". Kim Neely of the American magazine Rolling Stone underlines the social tone of the lyrics and describes Persistence of Time as "a foray into the dreary, gray bowels of urban hell", praising singer Joey Belladonna for "railing against every societal ill known to city-bred man". He concludes saying that the album "ain't the most uplifting thing to listen to, but it's real."[5] A similar concept was explained by a review by The New York Times of November 18, 1990, which said that "the music carries the exhilaration of a desperate struggle."[6] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff praised the "admirable Prong/Pantera/Metallica '90s minimalism at work here", but found "the overall effect just so dense and relentless that it just wears you out by hangover's end." Loudwire ranked the album #25 on their list "Top 90 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the 90's".[7]

Personnel

Band members
Production
Crew

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Anthrax's Frank Bello - Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?. April 9, 2014. November 16, 2015. YouTube. LoudWire.
  2. Web site: 26 Years Ago: Anthrax Release Persistence of Time . December 14, 2016. Loudwire.
  3. Web site: Persistence of Time Billboard Albums . March 18, 2013 . . Rovi Corporation.
  4. https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=3&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=Anthrax&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25 RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Anthrax
  5. Album Reviews:Anthrax - Persistence of Time . March 24, 2013 . Neely . Kim . October 4, 1990 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20080108121842/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/anthrax/albums/album/302316/review/5946559/persistence_of_time . January 8, 2008 . dead .
  6. Web site: Pareles. Jon. Jon Pareles. Home entertainment/recordings: and keep in mind. The New York Times. June 13, 2016. November 18, 1990.
  7. Web site: Top 90 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the '90s. Loudwire. April 26, 2023 .
  8. Book: Pennanen, Timo. Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972. 1st. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. Helsinki. 2006. 978-951-1-21053-5 . fi.