Persistence of Time

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{{Cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXWsDbA49E?t=6m21s|title = Anthrax's Frank Bello - Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?|date = April 9, 2014|access-date = November 16, 2015|website = YouTube|publisher = LoudWire}} on January 24, 1990.{{Citation needed|date=July 2012}} 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.{{Cite web|url = http://loudwire.com/anthrax-persistence-of-time-album-anniversary/|title = 26 Years Ago: Anthrax Release Persistence of Time |access-date = December 14, 2016|website = Loudwire}} 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 album's sixth track "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.

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|last=Huey|first=Steve|title=Anthrax: Persistence of Time|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=persistence-of-time-mw0000309272|pure_url=yes}}|website=AllMusic|access-date=March 18, 2013}}

| rev2 =The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal

| rev2Score = 7/10{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | author-link1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties | publisher = Collector's Guide Publishing | date = August 1, 2007 | location = Burlington, Ontario, Canada | page=26 |isbn = 978-1-894959-62-9}}

|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|year=2011|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|publisher=Omnibus Press|page=2006|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8|edition=5th}}

|rev4 = (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide

|rev4Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book|last1=Brackett|first1=Nathan|last2=Hoard|first2=Christian David|title=(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide|date=2004|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/20 20]}}

| rev5 = Select

| rev5Score = {{rating|4|5|full=U+25A0.svg|empty=U+25A1.svg|rating=medal}}{{Cite magazine |last=Perry |first=Neil |date=September 1990 |title=Killing Time |magazine=Select |issue=3 |page=74}}

}}

Persistence of Time's highest position on the Billboard 200 chart was No. 24.{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/persistence-of-time-mw0000309272/awards | title = Persistence of Time Billboard Albums | access-date = March 18, 2013 | work = AllMusic | publisher = Rovi Corporation}} It was certified gold by the RIAA on January 17, 1991.[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]. Retrieved on May 19, 2013.

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."{{cite magazine | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/anthrax/albums/album/302316/review/5946559/persistence_of_time | title = Album Reviews:Anthrax - Persistence of Time | access-date = March 24, 2013 | last = Neely | first = Kim | date = October 4, 1990 | magazine = Rolling Stone | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080108121842/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/anthrax/albums/album/302316/review/5946559/persistence_of_time | archive-date = January 8, 2008 | url-status = dead }} 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."{{cite web|last1=Pareles|first1=Jon|author-link1=Jon Pareles|title=Home entertainment/recordings: and keep in mind|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/18/arts/home-entertainment-recordings-and-keep-in-mind.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=June 13, 2016|date=November 18, 1990}} 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".{{Cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/top-hard-rock-metal-albums-1990s/|title=Top 90 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the '90s|website=Loudwire|date=April 26, 2023 }}

{{track listing

| headline = Side one

| all_writing = Anthrax except "Got the Time" by Joe Jackson

| title1 = Time

| length1 = 6:55

| title2 = Blood

| length2 = 7:13

| title3 = Keep It in the Family

| length3 = 7:08

| title4 = In My World

| length4 = 6:25

| title5 = Gridlock

| length5 = 5:17

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| title6 = Intro to Reality

| note6 = instrumental

| length6 = 3:23

| title7 = Belly of the Beast

| length7 = 4:47

| title8 = Got the Time

| note8 = Joe Jackson cover

| length8 = 2:44

| title9 = H8 Red

| length9 = 5:04

| title10 = One Man Stands

| length10 = 5:38

| title11 = Discharge

| length11 = 4:12

| total_length = 58:40

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Japanese edition bonus track

| title11 = Protest and Survive

| note11 = Discharge cover

| writer11 = Garry Maloney, Tony "Bones" Roberts, Roy "Rainy" Wainwright, Kelvin "Cal" Morris

| length11 = 2:22

| title12 = Discharge

| length12 = 4:12

| title13 = 'Backwards Message Quiz'

| length13 = 0:13

| note13 = 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.

| total_length = 61:15

}}

;Band members

• Joey Belladonna – lead vocals
• Dan Spitz – lead guitar, backing vocals, rhythm guitar ("Got The Time")
• Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead guitar ("Into To Reality" {{small|(intro harmony)}}, "Got The Time")
• Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals
• Charlie Benante – drums, lead guitar ("Into To Reality" {{small|(intro harmony)}} )

;Production

• Anthrax – producer, liner notes
• Mark Dodson – producer, basic tracks engineer
• Steve Thompson, Michael Barbiero – mixing at Electric Lady Studios, New York
• Greg Goldman, Brian Schueble, Marnie Bryant, Ed Korengo – assistant engineers
• Bob Ludwig – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
• Jon and Marsha Zazula – executive producers, management
• Don Brautigam – artwork
• Waring Abbott – photography

;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

|-

{{album chart|New Zealand|4|artist=Anthrax|album=Persistence of Time|rowheader=true|access-date=January 5, 2025}}

|-

{{album chart|Norway|15|album=Persistence of Time|artist=Anthrax|rowheader=true|access-date=January 5, 2025}}

|-

{{album chart|Sweden|46|album=Persistence of Time|artist=Anthrax|rowheader=true|access-date=January 5, 2025}}

|-

{{album chart|UK2|13|date=19900902|rowheader=true|access-date=January 5, 2025}}

|-

{{album chart|Billboard200|24|artist=Anthrax|rowheader=true|access-date=January 5, 2025}}

|}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|artist=Anthrax|title=Persistence of Time|award=Gold|relyear=1990|certyear=1991}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|type=album|42939|name=Persistence of Time}}

{{Anthrax}}

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Category:1990 albums

Category:Anthrax (American band) albums

Category:Megaforce Records albums

Category:Island Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Mark Dodson