ANNIHILATOR - NEVER, NEVERLAND
ALICE IN HELL PART II.
One year after their remarkably successful debut Alice in Hell, Annihilator is back with the follow-up titled Never, Jeff was approached by Megadeth to join them but he declined to pursue his own career with Annihilator which makes sense when
their debut record was a massive hit.
One could claim that it went downhill from that even if the problems aren't evident here. I'm of course referring to the constant lineup the band has undergone, vocalist Randy Rampage left the band after the debut and in came Coburn Pharr who does a solid job but his voice is slightly less aggressive.
Bassist Wayne Darley is new to the lineup and the album also features some lead guitar work by guitarist Dave Scott Davis but as said before there are no real negative impact to talk about here. Jeff Waters is of course the bands main man but that wasn't as obvious early on but with the revolving doors I lost interest in the band, not for that case alone but how Annihilator modernized their sound in the early 90's.
This divided the Annihilator fans into two camps, those who only like the first two albums and those who liked Annihilator whatever wherever they chose to go. I'm definitely of the first group, even if I like 1994's King of the Kill as well.
Never, Neverland are in many cases similar to the Alice in Hell, Both are technical masterpieces with some incredibly tight guitarwork and with a haunting eerie feeling that dealt with mental issues themes. Jeff Water's brings some guitarwork on this album that hasn't been heard since Randy Rhoads or Eddie Van Halen's days. Sure they like to repeat some of the riffs a tad too much but you just can't deny Jeff Waters brilliance here. The production is also great, it's clear and above the standard fare. Songs like Road to Ruin, Stone wall, Imperiled eyes, Phantasmagoria & Reduced to Ash are brilliant numbers. I think this is a masterpiece just like their debut Alice in Hell was a year earlier.
Rating:
| INFO |
Label: Roadracer Year: 1990 Country: Canada Duration: 44:03 Tracks: 10 Genre: Thrash Metal Reviewer: Ruthless Rating: 5/5 | ||
| TRACKS | LINEUP | |
| Jeff Waters - Guitars & Bass Coburn Pharr - Vocals Wayne Darley - Bass Ray Hartmann - Drums |
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