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Persistence of Time

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Persistence of Time
Studio album by
Anthrax
ReleasedAugust 21, 1990
RecordedDecember 1989 – February 1990
StudioA&M Studios and Conway Studios (Hollywood, California)
Soundtrack Studios (New York City)
GenreThrash metal
Length58:40
LabelMegaforce, Island
ProducerAnthrax, Mark Dodson, Jon Zazula, Marsha Zazula
Anthrax chronology
State of Euphoria
(1988) 		Persistence of Time
(1990) 		Sound of White Noise
(1993)
Singles from Persistence of Time
  1. "Got the Time"
    Released: 1990[1]
  2. "In My World"
    Released: 1990[2]
  3. "Belly of the Beast"
    Released: 1990

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

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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[3] on January 24, 1990.[citation needed] 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.[4] 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

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Select[9]

Persistence of Time's highest position on the Billboard 200 chart was No. 24.[10] It was certified gold by the RIAA on January 17, 1991.[11]

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".[5] 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."[12] 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."[13] 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."[6] Loudwire ranked the album #25 on their list "Top 90 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the 90's".[14]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Anthrax except "Got the Time" by Joe Jackson

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Time"6:55
2."Blood"7:13
3."Keep It in the Family"7:08
4."In My World"6:25
5."Gridlock"5:17
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Intro to Reality" (instrumental)3:23
7."Belly of the Beast"4:47
8."Got the Time" (Joe Jackson cover)2:44
9."H8 Red"5:04
10."One Man Stands"5:38
11."Discharge"4:12
Total length:58:40
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Protest and Survive" (Discharge cover)Garry Maloney, Tony "Bones" Roberts, Roy "Rainy" Wainwright, Kelvin "Cal" Morris2:22
12."Discharge" 4:12
13."'Backwards Message Quiz'" (Spoken track by Charlie Benante played in reverse; set up a quiz mentioned in the Japanese-language booklet. Removed from 2007 and all future reprints of the Japanese CD.) 0:13
Total length:61:15

Personnel

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Band members
Production
Crew
  • Rick Downey – lighting, management
  • George Geranios – sound
  • Paul Crook – lead guitar tech
  • Bill Pulaski – band
  • Mike Tempesta – rhythm guitar tech
  • Troy Boyer – bass tech
  • Walter Gemenhardt – drum tech
  • Art Ring, Maria Ferrero – management

Charts

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Chart (1990-1991) Peak

position

Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 30
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 45
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[17] 10
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 35
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 4
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[20] 15
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[21] 46
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 13
US Billboard 200[23] 24
Chart (2020) Peak

position

Scottish Albums (OCC)[24] 86
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[25] 27

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[26] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "Anthrax - Got the Time". Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  2. ^ "Anthrax - In My World". Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  3. ^ "Anthrax's Frank Bello - Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?". YouTube. LoudWire. April 9, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  4. ^ "26 Years Ago: Anthrax Release Persistence of Time". Loudwire. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Huey, Steve. "Anthrax: Persistence of Time". AllMusic. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  7. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 2006. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  8. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 20. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. ^ Perry, Neil (September 1990). "Killing Time". Select. No. 3. p. 74.
  10. ^ "Persistence of Time Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  11. ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Anthrax. Retrieved on May 19, 2013.
  12. ^ Neely, Kim (October 4, 1990). "Album Reviews:Anthrax - Persistence of Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 8, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  13. ^ Pareles, Jon (November 18, 1990). "Home entertainment/recordings: and keep in mind". The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  14. ^ "Top 90 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the '90s". Loudwire. April 26, 2023.
  15. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Anthrax – Persistence of Time". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  16. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Anthrax – Persistence of Time" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  17. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  18. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Anthrax – Persistence of Time" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  19. ^ "Charts.nz – Anthrax – Persistence of Time". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  20. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Anthrax – Persistence of Time". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  21. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Anthrax – Persistence of Time". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  22. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  23. ^ "Anthrax Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  24. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  25. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  26. ^ "American album certifications – Anthrax – Persistence of Time". Recording Industry Association of America.
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