Annihilator - In Command (Live 1989-1990) (1996)

There's a strange contradiction in having the cover of this first official Annihilator be graced with a grown-up, 'sexy' version of the Alice in Hell character that looks like she belongs in a Whitesnake video, and then the fact that the performances from the album are taken from back when the Canadians were actually a pretty good band, and Alice was a younger person. Another remnant of the Roadrunner contract, In Command wants the potential fanbase to know loud and clear that this is material taken from the band's prime, thus the years are placed glaringly in the title itself, and that's a good thing, because we are treated with the band's best music to date and nothing from the lengthy slack-off period which the band was still smack in the middle of.

It's also to be noted that this record is split between the Randy Rampage and Coburn Pharr eras, but both are represented rather well with about a half dozen tracks or so from their respective albums. The first volley of tunes with Randy are the best in that they're much more aggressive, and his voice sounds nasty while the guitars sound pretty damn good. Rhythms are right up front, but leads cut through, the bass is reasonably audible and the drumming is pretty intense throughout, with Hartann meting out even more energy than he gave us on record. All the good tracks are represented, whether you're into "Word Salad" or "Road to Ruin". I think Pharr has a rougher time in the live setting, his voice gets a little wild and weird on some of his fronted tracks, but at the same time it's a little more unpredictable up against the studio versions, and whatever reverb levels and instruments are set to here feels more resonant and atmospheric while the first half of the album is way more straight-to-the-face.

You will also get to hear Coburn singing "Alison Hell", with mixed results, but this is arguably the best sounding track instrumentally on the latter half of the recording. It's closed out with a cover of AC/DC's "Live Wire" performed with some genuine energy and confidence, capping off what is in my opinion a pretty passable live effort. I got more out of listening through this than the last three studio albums the band had released, it doesn't sound too professionally polished so you get a good audience vibe, and a clear indicator of the potential and power this band had on a starving thrash audience at the close of the 80s. Granted, much of that audience would be drowned out by all the backwards baseball caps and plaid shirts in the following decade, and Annihilator would have succeeded much more if they had appeared in, say, 1986 with their debut, but in current times all this stuff has gotten pretty popular again and if you're in the mood for a live record in this genre that got little attention, this is alright.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

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