This is the closest to a solo album Jeff Waters ever accomplished to date with Annihilator. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it has been and always has been his band, which is why I like it, one vision, like Iced Earth. What makes it a solo album is just that, he is the only musician to appear on the album. He played every instrument (except for John Bates who played some guitar parts on “No Love”, and Dave Steele who sang a little on “No Love” and “Wind”) and the drums with a drum machine. Considered the most controversial Annihilator album to date, Remains sees Jeff incorporate some other band’s sounds into the woodwork. They were bands he was listening to at the time, mostly because of someone in his life, who he is no longer with, who just happens to be his ex-wife, was listening to them too, bands like Ministry, Prodigy, etc…. I happen to like Ministry and can tolerate Prodigy, so this album appeals to me where it might not appeal to others.

Before I start on with the song listings, in a sentence or phrase above each song in the liner notes, Jeff has put basically what I take as the meaning or message of each song, so I will incorporate them into the individual song reviews in parenthesis. The first song is “Murder”(I am a disease or virus that has fatal consequences). A great song, and the only, song from this album played live on “Double Live Annihilation”. Next is “Sexecution”(to risk your life for pleasure). This song is where the real evident use of the drum machine comes in, catchy little number I must say. No explanation should be needed for what this song is about. Up next is “No Love”(no love anymore), real industrial sounding track, and the opening drum part sounds like something out of the movie Shaft. “Never”(be aware of where racism can lead us; never forget) is number 4 on the album. This song is about people being racist and speaking out against them. Good message and great song, props to Jeff on that one. The next song is “Human Remains”(love, respect, learn from and admire the elderly). I hate the guitar tone of this song, so it kind of ruins the song for me. “Dead Wrong”(wrongly or falsely condemned for something that one never did) is next. I like this song, nice guitar solo and chorus. The next is the first “ballad” of the album. It is called “Wind”(simply put, a good walk can relieve a lot of stress and help one to see things a little clearer). I really like this song, nice atmosphere and emotion. Next up is “Tricks and Traps”(beware the negative things in life that could drag you down, down to the bottom). My favorite song on the album, as close to old school Annihilator that you will get on this one, not that this is a bad thing. Cool little intro that then blasts into a thrash feeding frenzy. The next one is “I Want”(the high and mighty often get what they deserve), another song off of the album that I like a lot. Then we have “Reaction”(severe allergy reaction; personal experience here). Probably my 2nd favorite song from the album, as it is blistering fast. “Bastiage” closes out the regular album, not a bad song, but not in my top Annihilator songs either. Being an instrumental, it has no hidden meaning.

Once again, I have the Remastered version, so one more song and then words from Jeff. The last “song” is “It’s You”, typical Annihilator ballad, but a good one. The last part of the album is the 8:32 long track of Jeff talking about the album and Annihilator. Some of the highlights are: Jeff compares a lot of the album to bands like Pantera, White Zombie, The Doors, Accept, Van Halen, etc… The song “Reaction” is about an allergic reaction he had one time to nuts, he wanted to make a song about it. He thanks all the fans for their continued support since 1984 when Annihilator started.

Overall this album did take some sinking in to make me really appreciate it. This is definitly not the album to start your Annihilator collection with as it was the last Annihilator album I aquired for mine. If you like the band, get it. If not, and you only like the really heavy stuff by them, I wouldn't advise it right now.