Metal Storm logo
Annihilator - Never, Neverland review



Reviewer:
9.7

588 users:
8.62
Band: Annihilator
Album: Never, Neverland
Release date: September 1990


01. The Fun Palace
02. Road To Ruin
03. Sixes And Sevens
04. Stonewall
05. Never, Neverland
06. Imperiled Eyes
07. Kraf Dinner
08. Phantasmagoria
09. Reduced To Ash
10. I Am In Command

Never, Neverland is the second album by the Canadian thrash metal band Annihilator released in 1990. Their previous album Alice in Hell, released just one year before, was a real success and quickly became a classic thrash metal album. The song "Never, Neverland" is about the story of a young girl, locked in a room for many years by her fanatic grandmother, but finally freed by policemen. Just like in Alice in Hell, the title track is about the true and gloomy story of a young girl. Never, Neverland is a good prequel to such a successful album. In fact it is an even better album than Alice in Hell, even if some people think their debut album was their best.

Every aspect of this album is as close to perfection as it could be. Where Alice in Hell had weak points, Never, Neverland hasn't. Randy Rampage's voice was almost only growling in Alice, and to be honest it could be a bit annoying sometimes. Here, Coburn Pharr's voice is clear, and it fits perfectly with the album's atmosphere. It can be aggressive ("I Am in Command") but also emotional ("Never, Neverland"). Jeff Waters' guitar work is absolutely brilliant. The album contains killer riffs ("Sixes and Sevens"), excellent solos ("Stonewall") and strong choruses ("The Fun Palace"). The complexity of the songs is sometimes high, and makes this album almost progressive. But it's still a thrash album, with fast and aggressive songs ("Phantasmagoria"). The bass is very audible and even has its own riffs and solos ("Imperiled Eyes"). The drum work is also very good, not extremely original, but it does its job.

Even the song "Kraf Dinner", which can be considered a filler, as it is a song about cheese and macaroni, is a good song! Except for this one, there is absolutely no filler in this album. Each track here is excellent.

Never, Neverland is a true masterpiece with a dark but also strong atmosphere, as shown by its cover artwork, a high quality sound and a brilliant tracklist. It is an original album, even if the mix between thrash and progressive metal had already been tried before, the result here is really unique and excellent.

Personal favorites : "The Fun Palace", "Never, Neverland", "Imperiled Eyes".


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 10
Originality: 9
Production: 9

Written by Poirot | 19.02.2012




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 6   Visited by: 101 users
19.02.2012 - 10:19
Rating: 10
R'Vannith
ghedengi
As good as Thrash gets I think, I've yet to hear anything that rivals this album. The change in style from 'Alice in Hell' often puts people off I think, that album has a grittier feel than this one. But still, this one is the more melodic and just gets everything right from my perspective.
Coburn Pharr is a better vocalist than Rampage I think, shame you can't hear his work on anything else except a dodgy album by the band 'Omen'.

As for Kraf Dinner well.. why not? I find it a catchy little track.
Loading...
19.02.2012 - 14:30
Rating: 10
Poirot

Well, there are also demo versions of "Knight Jumps Queen", "Bats in the Belfry" and 2 or 3 other songs, in the Bag of Tricks compilation album where Coburn sings. There are also some nice live tracks in In Command.
Loading...
19.02.2012 - 14:52
Olli

Thanks for the review, I just listened to it on spotify because of your glowing review and I'm liking it alot
----
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
Loading...
19.02.2012 - 14:56
Rating: 9
AndMetalForAll
kual21
Truly an excellent album...Don't agree with the 9.7 score, i don't think it's almost perfect, but i would definitely give it a solid 9.

Good review!!
----
greets,
kual21
Loading...
19.02.2012 - 14:59
Rating: 10
R'Vannith
ghedengi
Written by Poirot on 19.02.2012 at 14:30

Well, there are also demo versions of "Knight Jumps Queen", "Bats in the Belfry" and 2 or 3 other songs, in the Bag of Tricks compilation album where Coburn sings. There are also some nice live tracks in In Command.


What I meant was he doesn't perform vocal duties for any other albums but I'll have to check those demo's out, haven't heard them before thanks.
Loading...
19.02.2012 - 15:51
Rating: 10
Poirot

Written by AndMetalForAll on 19.02.2012 at 14:56

Truly an excellent album...Don't agree with the 9.7 score, i don't think it's almost perfect, but i would definitely give it a solid 9.

Good review!!


Yes I agreee 9.7 is a bit high, but really I can't stop listening to this album ! One of my all time favourite !
Loading...

Hits total: 6978 | This month: 15