Recently Roadrunner records has been releasing "Best Of" cds from famous acts that are or were on their label. One of these cds is [i]The Best Of Annihilator[/i] which contains songs from their first 3 cds, 1989's [i]Alice In Hell[/i], 1990's [i]Never Neverland[/i] and 1993's [i]Set The World On Fire[/i], a live disc and a rarities disc, which they released trough the Roadrunner label. [b]Annihilator[/b], fronted by guitarist/songwriter Jeff Waters, is Canada's "answer" to the thrash bands that came mainly out of the american city of San Francisco and its surrounding areas during the 80ies. Waters is the only constant bandmember, but [b]Annihilator[/b] has seen some great players in its line-up, like living drumming legend Mike Mangini.

This Best Of contains tracks like "Alison Hell", "Phantasmagoria", "Never, Neverland" and "Set the World On Fire", basically the key songs from each record. Altough I would have loved so see a track like "Schizos (are Never Alone) Parts 1&2". Its always hard to pick a cool tracklisting because you`ll never be able to get all your favorites on it.

Since its hard to judge songs that have been out for over a decade, I`ll look at some other aspects of this disc. Regarding extras, its a bit shallow. It doesnt really contain a nice filled booklet with alot of cool old pictures and fun anecdotes, we only get a three page foldable cover with a short biography by Don Kaye. If someone is familiar with Metallica's Garage Inc. cd, you might know that the booklet of that cd is filled to the max. Altough I think Jeff Waters had very little to say about this compilation, so I can see why we only get this. In my opinion this cd is really aimed at new fans who might be interested in checking out the old [b]Annihilator[/b] work. Real fans of the band will probably already have all the songs on cd or lp.

Tracklisting:
1 - Crystal Ann
2 - Alison Hell
3 - W.T.Y.D.
4 - Wicked Mystic
5 - Word Salad
6 - Phantasmagoria
7 - Human Insecticide (Live)
8 - The Fun Palace
9 - Road to Ruin
10 - Stonewall
11 - Never, Neverland
12 - Imperiled Eyes
13 - I Am In Command (Live)
14 - Set The World On Fire
15 - No Zone
16 - Phoenix Rising
17 - Brain Damage