Alien Ant Farm have announced that ANThology will be receiving a vinyl and CD reissue in honor of its 25th anniversary. The band’s 2001 sophomore LP will be re-released on standard black vinyl, special “smoked lava” color vinyl, and CD. This deluxe edition includes a remastered edition of the album and features band-favorite alternate tracks.
These bonus cuts include: “Stranded (Alternate Version),” “Calico (Alternate Version),” “Flesh and Bone,” and “Wish (Alternate Version),” alongside massive hits from the original release like “Movies,” “Attitude,” and the No.1 hit “Smooth Criminal.”
The chart-topper, of course, is a cover of Michael Jackson’s single of the same name. In a 2002 interview with KindaMuzik, the band’s vocalist Dryden Mitchell spoke about how Alien Ant Farm decided to cover the song and include it on their sophomore LP.
He said, “It’s just a good song. It was begging to be done. We used to do ‘Smooth Operator’ by Sade with saxophone and congas and everything, but this song had more punch and appeal. Every show we played a different cover song by…Police or Bad Brains… Once we started doing ‘Smooth Criminal’ we added it to our set. We felt like it was a strong, cool song.”
“It’s a fun song for us,” he continued. “We’ve been doing it for years. The kids dig it. We want to do what people like and honestly if anyone is putting us down, I want to see them play it. Because it’s a hard song. Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones wrote some of the greatest songs ever.”
Other favorites on ANThology include the aforementioned “Movies,” which was a Top 5 hit in the UK and a Top 20 hit in New Zealand. These hits and other songs on the album bolstered the release and helped it earn platinum status in the United States, in addition to other countries like the UK, Canada, and Australia.
Buy Alien Ant Farm’s ANThology here.
