Almost overnight, Nuclear Assault had become East Coast thrash metal contenders (to a throne pretty much owned by Anthrax) thanks to their politically charged metal fodder.
For the most part, their second album, Survive, shows progress, notching up some of the band's most accomplished, lyrically controversial material to date with the title track, "Rise From the Ashes," and the anti-mainstream media rant "Brainwashed." Another highlight, "Fight to be Free," is surprisingly melodic, and though it no doubt caused some thrash purists to cry "foul," actually shows a more refined side of the band with a penchant for surprise.
On the downside, the album's very muddy mix (courtesy of the usually reliable Randy Burns) leaves much to be desired, and vocalist John Connely's piercing whine (reminiscent of a rabid hyena) sounds even more irritating than usual.
Concurrently, some of the album's other tracks ("F#," "Wired") are just plain repetitive and directionless.
A surprising, if hardly exhilarating, cover of Led Zeppelin's "Good Times, Bad Times" brings the opus to an end.
Ultimately, Survive is certainly not Nuclear Assault's best effort, but should appease hardcore fans only.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rise from the AshesNuclear Assault | Nuclear Assault | Play | 03:07 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 2 | BrainwashedNuclear Assault | Nuclear Assault | Play | 02:42 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 3 | Survive | Nuclear Assault | Play | 02:59 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 4 | Fight to Be FreeJohn Connelly, Dan Lilker | Nuclear Assault | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 5 | Got Another Quarter | Nuclear Assault | Play | 00:20 | 0 MB | 1 MB |
| 6 | Great Depression | Nuclear Assault | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 7 | Wired | Nuclear Assault | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 8 | Equal Rights | Nuclear Assault | Play | 02:57 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 9 | Psa | Nuclear Assault | Play | 00:10 | 0 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Technology | Nuclear Assault | Play | 03:14 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 11 | Good Times Bad Times | Nuclear Assault | Play | 02:15 | 5 MB | 13 MB |
| 12 | F# | Nuclear Assault | Play | 02:28 | 5 MB | 16 MB |
| 31 mins | 71 MB | |||||
| 31 mins | 201 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Bramante | Guitar |
| 2 | Randy Burns | Producer |
| 3 | Ed Colver | Photography |
| 4 | John Connelly | Composer, Guitar, Vocals |
| 5 | Miles Copeland | Executive Producer |
| 6 | Glenn Evans | Drums, Percussion |
| 7 | Dan Lilker | Bass, Composer, Group Member, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Casey McMackin | Engineer |
| 9 | Nuclear Assault | Arranger, Composer, Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |