Alien Ant Farm: Dryden Mitchell (vocals, acoustic guitar); Terence Corso (acoustic & electric guitars); Tye Zamora (guitar, keyboards, bass, bassadilla, background vocals); Mike Cosgrove (drums).

Recorded at NRG Recording Services, North Hollywood, California.

"Smooth Criminal" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

West Coast pop metal outfit Alien Ant Farm's major label debut is actually their sophomore album--their first was voted 1999 independent album of the year at the LA Music awards. ANTHOLOGY is the kind of speed metal that fans of Papa Roach will find familiar (the Ant Farm's label, New Noize, is Papa Roach's imprint), played with just the right combination of pop smarts and populist punk energy.

"Courage" kicks off the album in the way it means to continue, with a barrage of speed drumming, some feisty-sounding riffage, and Dryden Mitchell's angsty vocals, which are an obvious focal point of the band's sound. Alien Ant Farm's first single, "Movies," recalls several styles, tossing some late '80s indie rock and a smattering of Pearl Jam into its potent mix, while the intro to "Flesh and Bone" conjures memories of '80s warhorses the Police before its chorus escalates into full millennial thrash mode.

What the critics say...

Rolling Stone (5/24/01, p.84) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Showcases the quartet's drum-tight heaviness as it twists in layers of nuance and wit....Finally, a band packs enough balls to put the melody back in metal."
NME (Magazine) (3/31/01, p.31) - 6 out of 10 - "...Tracks shimmer with malevolent guitars and raw-throated hollering....There's more than an echo of the Deftones' dark churn on their more expansive songs....Yet hidden under the pit floor are frankly scarier prospects...like [their] cover of Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal'..."