Not only is it a great cover, but it's pretty close to a speed metal version of "Smooth Criminal" without losing one little "ooh" or tiny scream from the MJ original. Even the AAF video pays tribute to (spoofs) more than one Michael Jackson video. Any band that can do that is all right in my book! 

I seldom do this, but after seeing the video, I got the album immediately without even knowing what the rest of it sounded like. It turned out to be one of the best moves I've made in quite a while. This is one hell of a good album! It also gives me hope that a younger generation of old-school metal is coming down the pike to (hopefully) replace all this drum and bass over rap and growling voices junk that's called metal now. If you want to know why bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath and the list goes on and on are still around and selling a gazillion records, it's because people LIKE that kind of metal. I call it melodic metal because the vocals are sung, rather than growled and screamed, and the guys in the bands are MUSICIANS, not beat keepers. They still have the razor edge and screaming metal instrumentals and voices, but they produce SONGS!! The same can be said for ALIEN ANT FARM.

ALIEN ANT FARM are Dryden Mitchell (lead vocals, songwriter, acoustic guitar), Terry Corso (electric and acoustic guitar), Tye Zamora (bass, backing vocals, upright bass, keyboards, guitar) and Mike Cosgrove (drums).

AAF began to get their lineup together in 1996 in Riverside, CA. They were all playing in other bands, but at some point crossed paths through Mike Cosgrove. Each of the other band members had played in a band with him and they eventually gravitated toward each other. "Individually, we were trying to figure out who were the best players in the area," Mitchell says. "We kind of identified each other and started cheating on the bands we were playing with at the time, getting together after practices. We played our first show in 1996 on my birthday and have been together ever since." This story, once again, proves that bands that come out of nowhere and become super popular do not just "happen." The album is awesome, the video is way cool and the band is shooting up the charts, but it took 5 long years to get where they are - starting a Headlining tour in late November.

"ANThology" peaked on the Billboard Hot 200 Album chart at #11, dropped back, has been on the charts for 33 weeks and is headed back toward the Top Ten again. The "Smooth Criminal" single is hanging in at #24 and is still headed upward as well. "Smooth Criminal" is also the #6 rated video in VH1's Top Twenty countdown, moving up from #8. Not a bad deal for this hard-working foursome. A new video has just been shot for the first single released from this album, "Movies," done in the way the band originally wanted it but weren't able to because of budget constraints. This video is directed by Marc Klasfeld, the same director used for "Smooth Criminal," and from what I've read about it, I'm looking forward to seeing it.

All four guys in AAF were brought up with a musical background provided by parents or grandparents and were experimenting with different instruments at a fairly young age. Mitchell's first influence was his father, a guitarist. "People would always ask my dad to play during family gatherings," he recalls. "Seeing how he changed the mood of the room made me want to do the same thing." Although he started out playing guitar, he tuned up his vocal chords instead and took on that role in various bands.

Corso's mother kept him supplied with KISS albums as a youngster. Later he joined a band workshop sponsored by a local music store where he pursued an interest in drums and songwriting, but mostly in guitar which is what he plays now. Zamora's first instrument was also guitar when his parents were into disco. He remembers hearing lots of '70s superbands and learned to imitate licks from Boston, Queen and Steely Dan. He moved on to bass when Primus caught his attention and met Cosgrove playing in a Primus cover band.

As the one who writes and sings the words, Dryden Mitchell says he uses relationships, fantasy and memories for inspiration, while frequently using his songs as therapy. "This was the first time I've ever gotten chills from my own music, because it hit so close to home," he declares. "Many of the songs were written during a breakup. Writing them was better than me chasing someone around who didn't wanna be chased."

Cosgrove's take on the lyrics: "No matter what Dryden's writing about, the lyrics are always sharp and witty. The can also take on different shades. When he sings them one way, they mean one thing. When he sings them another way they can mean something else. We try to reflect that sonically with dynamics, especially live. We try to keep the texture of the sound varied." 

Regarding the music, Mitchell brings attention to the fact " . . .Tye and Mike are totally in tune with each other. They create an amazing foundation. Sometimes I think the vocals and guitar are icing on the cake, because those guys are so solid. We can keep it all very raw. We don't need to use a lot of effects. There's no distortion on the vocals. Everything isn't stacked to hell and we don't have to hide behind any of that stuff."

Zamora says, "We're blue-collar musicians who've worked hard to get where we're at. We're not trying to be something we're not. This is real music coming from real people and it will always be that way for us." Cosgrove chimes in, "You can't pull anything over on the fans."

And last, but not least, before the album review, is the story of the name. Corso is credited with thinking it up. "I was daydreaming at my dull desk job with my feet up and I thought to myself, 'Wouldn't it be cool if the human species were placed on earth and cultivated by alien intelligence?

Now, here I am giving out another 5 Star rating to a new artist. (NOTE: See Alicia Keys in the Sept. Issue.) Either it's a great time for new artists right now, or we're finally crawling out of that pit of everybody sounds the same and it all sounds just short of awful. I really never expected to be giving a 5 Star rating to a new metal band! I usually reserve those ratings for Metallica, if the album they release is deserving, or at least one of the metal bands that have been around a while and proved themselves on a few albums. I still find it kind of a trip that I'm just SO impressed with ALIEN ANT FARM on their first time out (on a major label anyway - I haven't heard their self-recorded debut album)! I can truly say there's not a bad song on "ANThology." Even more important is the fact that they vary their style from song to song. It's all metal, but sometimes there's a hint

of reggae or Latin or old fashioned rock. The same can be said for the songs and lyrics, which range from upbeat and funny, to angst-ridden, to down right nasty because I don't like you (I love that song!). 

(although the first single is cool too). It doesn't hurt that both MTV and VH1 have the video in heavy rotation either. The opening track, "Courage," starts the album with a super heavy instrumental heavy on the beat and a great guitar lick. Barely audible in the background you hear Mitchell scream out the first line of the chorus, "You should try not to be so courageous," then he moves on to sing the verse, which is at least partially mellow in comparison to the very angry sounding chorus. Behind all this vocal work are some really good guitar riffs and a prominent bass line. Without getting into all the lyrics, the song is about an argument in a relationship where both parties are just short of coming to blows but shouldn't have the courage to take it that far.

"Movies" was the first single and video from "ANThology." Mitchell says it's also one of his favorites. Starting with a stutter guitar riff and more of an upbeat rock feel, again relationships are the subject, but all the lyrics relate to something that happens in a movie. The strong instrumental supports a very different tone in Mitchell's vocal and there are some great harmonies. I can see why this song is a favorite. The melody is interesting and fresh with some great key changes that give it an edge. 

Returning to the verse the music becomes a back beat again until the next chorus which gets even more full and from then on the instrumental is an integral part of the melody. A few jarring chords in a brief instrumental bring things around to the back beat again and the song closes with a big chorus with good backing vocals and harmonies. This song also shows off more of Mitchell's vocal range.

"Summer" is a love song that's more about the play on words than the subject matter. This is especially obvious in the chorus, "Tried to give you summer, but I'm winter/ Wish I could make you spring, but I fall so hard." Good coverage of the seasons here! The verses of the song have kind of a discordant sounding instrumental and off beat tempo in the vocal. Then things smooth out and becomes more melodic for the chorus. Later in the song the verse changes to a more melodic and even sound and a few words of the chorus are repeated over and over, soon to be replaced by a different set of words being repeated. This is a pretty cool song.

"Wish," according to Mitchell, is the very first song they ever wrote. "It's amazing it's lasted so long and has made it to the record. The message is that people should make their own thing happen and not worry about the critics out there. . . .I tell people who criticize . . .to create their own wish. This [music] is my dream. They should find their own thing instead of tearing into mine." In my opinion the sentiment is still valid, but this is the song that I probably like the least on the album.

It's much harder to understand the lyrics and they're not as straight- forward as the other songs here, which I think dates this track. The difference between this early song sort of sticks out because the band has matured a lot since it was written. It is the most metal sounding song on "ANThology" and the music is good with a serious, driving beat and major guitar riffs. The vocal is done well also, it's just harder to understand. 

It's not a bad song, it's just kind of jarring mixed in with all the other great songs on the album. The next song also brings "LIR" to mind for me because of it's unusual melody and cool lyrics. "Calico" is another break-up song, but it shows yet another side of these talented guys. Mitchell describes it as having a waltzy groove, and that's true, but it's metal waltzy. He also says he wasn't trying to be deep. The words just sound cool when they're sung. With a great instrumental bridge and backing vocals, along with a change from the whole band with electric guitar that just cuts off to a quiet acoustic guitar finish, it's sort of a metal throw-back to psychedelic in a way. I hope that makes sense.

This next song I just love, mostly because of what it's about. I'm going to quote Mitchell here so there's no misunderstanding. "Death Day" is pretty morbid, but I wrote it strictly for fantasy purposes. We've all gotten frustrated with certain people, sometimes to the point where you wish they would die. But you also realize that if they actually did die, you'd be devastated. I'm singing 'Papa's got a brand new body bag for you' - it's like James Brown's line 'Papa's got a brand new bag.' " This is me talking again, and whether you admit it or not, I bet everybody has come across someone they'd dearly love to throttle, but that's illegal, so you just have to put up with them or whatever they did to you. SO, "Happy death day to you baby . . ." The music is slower with kind of a folk rock sound to it, but surprisingly it's not depressing music. It's actually kind of upbeat in a slow way. If you are, or ever have been, really pissed off at

THE last song on the album is called "Orange Appeal" and has Mitchell doing his "play on words" thing again (orange peel). It starts with acoustic guitar playing a very strange melody and Mitchell's voice sounds all weird.

There are a bunch of strange sounds here and there, and over all it's pretty out there. Some good instrumental work is going on, but I think I could probably have done without about half the vocal. Have you ever noticed that most of the time those hidden tracks are out of tune or really weird? I wonder why they even put them in at the end of excellent albums.