The Lowdown: Two of thrash metal’s “Big Four” bassists teamed up a few years back to form Altitudes & Attitude, as Anthrax‘s Frank Bello handles vocal duties, rhythm guitar and bass, while Megadeth‘s David Ellefson plays rhythm guitar and bass. After an EP back in 2014, Get It Out is the pair’s full-length debut, featuring A Perfect Circle’s Jeff Friedl on drums. In addition to the ten new tracks, the disc also includes the three songs from that self-titled EP. Some notable guitarists lend their talents to the proceedings, including Ace Frehley (ex-KISS), Gus G (ex-Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind), Christian Martucci (Stone Sour), Jon Donais (Anthrax), Russ Parrish (aka’s Steel Panther’s “Satchel”) and Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper).
The Good: The whole purpose of side projects is to explore different musical paths from the members’ main band, and that’s what Bello and Ellefson do. Get It Out is packed with straightforward hard-rock tracks with memorable melodies and catchy hooks. Bello is no Joey Belladonna, but his vocals are passionate and very serviceable. There are a lot of different textures, as well, from the urgent Foo Fighters-esque title track to the accessible alt-rock “Slip” to the instrumental “Leviathan” to the somber and downbeat “All There Is.” The three songs from the EP hold up well, especially “Booze and Cigarettes”.
The Bad: While enjoyable, the album is not a groundbreaking or overly original effort. And even though Bello and Ellefson purposely avoided mimicking the sounds of their respective legendary bands, some fans might be disappointed the songs aren’t thrashier — although there’s a pretty shredding solo from Nita Strauss on the track “Part of Me”.
The Verdict: With Get It Out, Bello and Ellefson deliver a solid slab of melodic hard rock. The songwriting is excellent, the production from Jay Ruston (Anthrax, Stone Sour) first-rate and the guest guitarists take the musicianship up a notch. Fans of Anthrax and Megadeth will be able to enjoy the album, but it also will appeal to hard rock fans in general.
Essential Tracks: “Late”, “Part of Me”, “Slip”
