Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Anvil
Title
Back To Basics
Type
LP/EP
Company
Screaming Ferret
YOR
2004
Style
Hard Rock
2/27/2005 - Review by: Ken Pierce
Several decent rockers
Anvil - Back To Basics - Screaming Ferret Wreckords - 2004

Track Listing
1. Fuel For The Fire
2. Keep It Up
3. Song Of Pain
4. You Get What You Pay For
5. The Chainsaw
6. Can’t Catch Me
7. Go Away
8. Bottom Feeder
9. Cruel World
10. Fast Driver

DVD Tracks
1. Five Knuckle Shuffle
2. Smoking Green
3. Old School
4. Winged Assassins
5. Forged In Fire
6. March Of The Crabs
7. Metal On Metal
8. 666
9. Mothra
Canadian Metallers Anvil was one of those bands that seem to have never gotten their fair share of touring in the USA. The release of “Back To Basics” comes after a very long absence to the public eye as far as the metal industry is concerned. While the release is chock full of steady rolling heavy metal in an old school fashion, there is little impact in any of the tunes. We don’t get anything as musically capable as we did on “Metal On Metal” or “Jackhammer” and “March Of The Crabs”. On the CD there are several decent rockers such as “Keep It Up” , “The Chainsaw” and “Bottom Feeder”. However, the rest is just ok in my opinion. I guess I had expected a little more from them due to the duration in time that I have heard them doing anything. It is still nice to see them able to generate a steady amount of metal in any case. The old school sound or traditional as it is considered nowadays gets continued life because of their efforts.

The band does seem to be in top form nonetheless, with Lips familiar voice growling his newest compositions. Drummer Rob Reiner is as solid as he always was, thundering away on the kit like the master that he is. His double-bass drumming has always been one of my favorites from early on in my metal listening youth. Rounding out the bands lineup for the CD is Ivan Hurd on lead guitar and Glen Five on bass. Screaming Ferret has made the announcement that much of the Anvil catalogue will be remastered and re-issued. That’s a good thing since the earliest stuff was fantastic and the American audiences never seemed to be able to absorb them all that easily.

A worthwhile inclusion of the package is the inclusion of a live DVD filmed at Wacken Open Air Festival in 1998. It is filled with the staple Anvil tracks that all metal heads from back in the day will remember and love. My favorites from this are “Metal On Metal”, “March Of The Crabs” (with a very nice drum solo by Rob Reiner) and “Mothra”. However, the sound is very low, and I feel this might have been recorded straight from the sound board rather than mikes around the setup. There is not much of a live sound or feel to it, yet it is still cool to watch. It is especially funny to see Lips play his guitar solo with the “oblong device” that he was notorious for using during the show.

Rating: 7/10

Anvil Official Website: www.anvilmetal.tk


--Ken Pierce 02.28.05
8/23/2004 - Review by: Eric Compton
This one might be one of their finest moments
Anvil - Back To Basics 2004 Screaming Ferret Records
reviewed by: EC

Track Listing
1. Fuel For The Fire
2. Keep It Up
3. Song Of Pain
4. You Get What You Pay For
5. The Chainsaw
6. Can't Catch Me (When My Pants Are Down)
7. Go Away
8. Bottom Feeder
9. Cruel World
10. Fast Driver
Twenty-three years and still going strong. Twenty-three years folks, and Canada's premier power metal act are still bang-bang-banging. It is unbelievable to me how these strong, tight-knit bands not only survive year after year, but actually thrive. They go on and on, keeping the metal torch burning brightly, never allowing the mainstream darkness to engulf the true metal underground. Anvil are leaders in a lot of ways, and with their twelfth studio album, "Back To Basics", Anvil have done just that. They have gone back to their roots, where it all started, and steadily progressed their sound simply by taking a step or two back.

Anvil have changed their output slightly over the course of twenty plus years, but have never made huge strides away from their original intentions. In the early 80s, the band emerged with a unique spin on bluesy hard rock, incorporating a heavy power vibe to their sound. In the late 80s, the group changed gears to a fast, thrash approach, increading the speed and velocity a full knob-turn, but still keeping it simple at times with chop after chop of stripped down hard rock. The group kept that same stance throughout the 90s, finally winding up at a more groove friendly sound in 2001 with the group's "Plenty Of Power" record. The band followed that with "Still Going Strong" in 2002, a record that kept the same working-man's metal 'tude, but was intensely rich with a groovy, almost mechanical delivery.

Now, in 2004, Canada's finest have gone back to the well, back to the basics with a more fundamental approach to songwriting and playing. When I hear this new record, I can't help but think of CLASSIC Anvil albums like "Metal On Metal" and "Forged In Fire". That type of songwriting has emerged from the band, those types of songs are very much alive again, and one can't help but just fall in love with the classic Anvil sound all over again. These are fine tuned, well crafted cuts that make the band seem more alive than ever before. This is Anvil. Pure working man's metal, with the power hard rock sound that has been missing for well over ten years. Riffy, humorous, and a lively good dose of heavy metal fun. This one has it all!

The same band lineup returns for this new effort, this being the same group of guys since 1997 (Lips, Reiner, Hurd, Gyorffey). From the opening track, "Fuel For The Fire", you just know this is a grand return to form. That stripped down, hard rocking flavor is very present here. In fact, the whole record seems dipped in this type of sound, the more basic approach at riffs, chorus, leads, and Reiner's excellent playing behind the kit, leading the band down a familiar road. "Keep It Up" and "Can't Catch Me (When My Pants Are Down)" are just absolutely delightful, with the band going back to the humorous songwriting. I find that fun songs seem to be a huge missing ingredient with so many bands these days. Anvil have fun here, they create funny moments on their albums, but at the same time they keep it all flowing and heavy. Bands today just don't know how to have fun musically. Its so much aggression and anger that few bands can even make the albums enjoyable.

Along with the slapstick, speed racers like "Fast Driver" and "Go Away" turn it up a notch, creating a fast frenzy of gut-wrenching high speed metal. My favorite cut is the melodic, slowly built "Song Of Pain", which adds in some finer emotional moments to the record, dishing in a slight touch of atmosphere, with a riff that just won't quit throughout. The other slower song, "Cruel World", is crafted in much the same way, but for some reason that track just seems a bit off kilter. But anyhoo, we get nine solid studio cuts from a band that really should be way past their prime, but fortunately have found the fountain of youth.

This album is as good as any prior Anvil release, and in fact this one might be one of their finest moments. Highly Recommended!

Note - The domestic release by Screaming Ferret Records also includes a bonus DVD of the band's performance at Wacken, which in its own right is a quality viewing.


--EC 08.20.04
  • 2 :REVIEW COUNT
    N/A :AVE RATING

ALL REVIEWS FOR: ANVIL
TITLE
DOR
COMPANY
REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
Anvil Is Anvil
2016
SPV/Steamhammer
Eric Compton3/17/2016
4
Back To Basics
2004
Screaming Ferret
Ken Pierce2/27/2005
3.5
Back To Basics
2004
Screaming Ferret
Eric Compton8/23/2004
-
Juggernaut Of Justice
2011
The End
Chris Kincaid5/16/2011
3.5
Juggernaut Of Justice
2011
The End
Eric Compton6/3/2011
3.5
Pounding the Pavement
2018
Steamhammer
Eric Compton2/9/2018
3.5
Still Going Strong
2002
Massacre
Eric Compton1/26/2003
-

ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: ANVIL
INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


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