Annihilator - Never, Neverland (1990)^{Release ID: 2849}

While I love Alice in Hell, I've found a lot of what Annihilator have to offer to be a bit too cheesy for my liking. Their second release is kind of an in-between one for me. Some tracks are killer, in particular Phantasmagoria, I Am in Command and to a lesser extent Sixes and Sevens and Reduced to Ash. But there are some dodgy tracks on here that raise their head when the band decide not to take things very seriously. Kraf Dinner, Road to Ruin and parts of Never, Neverland are a bit crap in my opinion. Just about all those songs are saved by awesome guitar work by Jeff Waters but I can't ignore the induced cringing they cause me.

Even with these tracks, there's something highly entertaining about this album and when Annihilator are on song, they are awesome. The downward spiral after excellent debut had well and truly begun at this point but I think it would be unfair to consider this album as a failure. The failures would arrive soon enough.

This Canadian thrash metal outfit made a big impression on Ben & I with their 1989 debut album "Alice In Hell" (4/5) & Annihilator's sophomore record is generally regarded as another essential listening experience for any self-respecting thrasher. I have to admit that I've never quite seen it that way though if I'm being completely honest. The replacement of front man Randy Rampage with Coburn Pharr is certainly an obvious point of difference but I think Coburn does a reasonable job here, even if he does give the album a very different feel to the more aggressive & less melodic Randy. Jeff Waters guitar work is sensational & potentially tops his first up effort. His performances alone are really on another level to the rest of the thrash competition. The links to technical thrash metal were misguided with the debut but here Jeff has ramped up the complexity (particularly during the first half of the tracklisting) & I feel that the tag sits much more comfortably this time.

The album starts off in a rich vein of form with one of Annihilator's best tracks in "The Fun Palace" before continuing in solid fashion for the remainder of the A side. The B side sees the quality dropping a touch though with all of the highlights sitting on the other side. The only weak track as such is the silly "Kraf Dinner" but the rest of the B side is pretty decent without ever really commanding your attention. As with "Alice in Hell", there are a couple of speed metal numbers included in "Kraf Dinner" & "Reduced To Ash" while "Phantasmagoria" & "I Am In Command" take a more traditional thrash metal approach. We also get a little traditional heavy metal in "Stonewall" while the title track & "Imperiled Eyes" are fully fledged progressive metal works so there's certainly enough variety of offer. It just comes down to consistency & I'm afraid to say that "Never, Neverland" hasn't quite lived up to its potential when compared with its highly celebrated older sibling. Diehard fans of the more technically inclined thrash bands like Coroner, Heathen & Toxik might disagree though.

Annihilator started their career in a bang with the groundbreaking Alice in Hell. It is a masterpiece that showed me what to love from traditional/technical thrash metal. After that one, the band decided to make one more album from their classic era. Only difference is, vocalist Randy Rampage left the band and wouldn't record another album with the band until a decade later. Despite a different vocalist, could Annihilator continue what they had in their breakthrough debut?...

Indeed they could! More of the thrash insanity was unleashed, and the audience continued growing from there. Never Neverland is nicely equal to the fans' expectations, and it's almost as much of a blessing as Alice.

Without any intro, the action kicks off in "The Fun Palace", a catchy highlight for any metalhead. "Road to Ruin" has a lyrical theme of drunk driving, which seems kind of obvious but works out quite well. "Sixes And Sevens" isn't so bad, but it's not really as spectacular as the first two tracks. It just doesn't match their greatness! "Stonewall" has lyrics about blocking information. The song itself is a catchy single to win both new fans and longtime fans.

Taking on a similar "Wonderland"-like concept to the previous album's title track while being a different story, this album's title highlight takes through dark sanity. "Imperiled Eyes" that has faster chorus riffing that can fit in the debut, though it doesn't give you much attention. "Kraf Dinner" is so cheesy. Literally! It's about macaroni and cheese.

"Phantasmagoria" has thrashy riffing worth headbanging, but the mid-paced chorus riffing is kinda lame. Another notable strong track is "Reduced to Ash". The unforgettable closing "I am in Command", a true highlight here. It quite rocks! There's another lame mid-paced riff in the beginning, but then it's decimated hard by the intense aggression of fast thrash. The verses are fast, and the chorus is catchy. It shares the greatness of the debut album's closing track, though not as brutally fast.

So while the vocals by Coburn Pharr don't match the power of Randy Rampage, the riffing and drumming in most songs is h*lla amazing, sounding catchy and fast, each whenever appropriate. Any metalhead can be up for the fun. Welcome to the palace of thrash!

Favorites: "The Fun Palace", "Stonewall", "Never Neverland", "Reduced to Ash", "I am in Command"

I found it disappointing that Annihilator couldn’t keep the late Randy Rampage after their debut album.  His unhinged and almost demented style was a real draw for me.  Although at times it was a bit clumsy, his vocal delivery was intentionally so and worked really well.  It gave an added edge to the great guitar work and solid rhythm section that opened up the interest factor that bit more.

By comparison Coburn Pharr’s effort on the follow up, paled in comparison.  Upon my first few listens they dominated my focus on the record and detracted from me listening to the bigger picture.  I would say that overtime I now get the positives of them but I still will always prefer Rampage.  The fact is though that despite the often preachy and even cringey vocals of Pharr, they do fit the music.  The ecological, supernatural and political themes throughout the record serve as a good platform for him to add character to proceedings.  They work brilliantly on the title track with its fantasy theme just as well as they do on the more climate-change charged Stonewall.  They suit to the military precision of Sixes and Sevens.  I still am not enamoured with them though and do act as one of the main reasons this album gets the rating applied.

The other reason for the stars given in the rating is the inconsistency of the record.  There’s a fair bit of filler here as the album goes on and tracks like Kraf Dinner just really grate.  Criticism aside the album still displays quality musicianship, especially from Waters and overall remains enjoyable.  Considering where I was the first time I heard it the fact that I have kept in my stream is actually a real vote of confidence.