ANTHRAX

 

Image Souce : Metal Archive.com

Anthrax was founded in July 1981 by guitarists Scott Ian & Dan Lilker. They discovered the band's name while perusing a biology textbook and claimed it solely for its sufficiently evil-sounding connotation. Soon to join them were vocalist John Connelly, drummer Dave Weiss & bassist Kenny Kushner. Kushner was replaced with Paul Kahn, who was also found insufficient & ultimately galvanized Lilker to take over bass. Greg Walls joined as second guitarist. Connelly & Weiss left & were replaced by Greg D'Angelo on drums, and after a series of vocalists (including Scott's brother Jason Rosenfeld), they found Neil Turbin.

This line-up gigged frequently locally & featured original songs like "Satan's Wheels" & "Hunting Dogs" as well as covers by Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Kiss & more, then in July 1982 they recorded a NWOBHM-sounding demo. Walls left in the summer of 1983, leaving Bob Berry to replace him for a few gigs.

Then Dan Spitz (formerly of Overkill) joined the band, replacing Bob Berry & with this membership they recorded their second 1983 demo. Come September, Charlie Benante had replaced drummer Greg D'Angelo & with this line-up recorded the 1983 Soldiers of Metal single, produced by Ross the Boss of Manowar. The single's b-side is actually the only performance to feature Greg D'Angelo that'd be grooved on an official release by the band.

This demo led to a recording deal with Megaforce Records, for which they recorded their debut album, Fistful of Metal, in late 1983. It was released in February 1984 followed by a US tour, during which tensions grew between Lilker and Turbin. Lilker left to form Nuclear Assault with former singer John Connelly.

Bassist Frank Bello (Charlie Benante's nephew) joined just before Turbin was fired in July 1984 very near the end of the tour, allowing Matt Fallon to finish the tour as temporary vocalist.

In late 1984, the band appeared as a four-piece called The Diseased with Ian on vocals, which performed a few punk covers, including Discharge's "See Nothing, Hear Nothing, Say Nothing". A recording is said to exist.

The replacement for Turbin, Joey Belladonna, first appeared on the 1985 Armed and Dangerous ep. Later in 1985, Ian & Lilker appeared on the seminal S.O.D. album Speak English or Die. Anthrax's sophomore full-length, Spreading the Disease, came soon after supported with US & European tours.

In late 1986, Among the Living was recorded & released in January 1987, resulting in another European tour with Metallica & Metal Church as well as some US touring. The 1987 I Am the Law single sold very well due to the popularity of b-side "I'm the Man", a comical rap-rock effort. It was released as a US-only ep to coincide with the US tour in the summer of 1987 & marked the band's first foray into the rap world.

1988's State of Euphoria brought more touring with funk metal act Living Colour in support. Then 1990's Persistence of Time was another success, though the recording sessions were a bit interesting, marked by the 1989 Bay Area earthquake and also a fire. Anthrax opened for Iron Maiden in Europe and co-headlined the Clash of the Titans tour in '91 in the US with Slayer, Megadeth and opener Alice in Chains. Another tour followed with rap act Public Enemy, which featured live collaborations on the P.E. songs "Bring the Noise" and "Too Much Posse".

Anthrax then recorded an EP called Attack of the Killer B's with some new material including an update of "I'm the Man" and a cover of "Bring the Noise" (originally by Public Enemy) as well as some live footage from the Persistence of Time tour. Joey did very little on this EP, demonstrating a great rift between him and the band. Scott performed most of the vocals on the two rap songs and also the anti-censorship song "Starting Up a Posse".

In 1992, Joey Belladonna was fired from the band and John Bush (Armored Saint) was brought in for the Sound of White Noise album in 1993. In 1994, Dan Spitz left the band and became a born-again Christian and a watchmaker in Switzerland.

Dimebag Darrell (guitars, Pantera) helped out with some studio tracks on the 1995 album Stomp 442 and 1998's Volume 8: The Threat is Real. For touring, Paul Crook was brought in, who also did some studio tracks on Volume 8. Charlie Benante also played guitars on the studio albums. A greatest hits album, Return of the Killer A's, was recorded in 2000 and featured a new song, "Ball of Confusion". The Temptations cover featured both John Bush and Joey Belladonna on vocals. A tour was planned with both singers, but Belladonna pulled out.

Nonetheless, Anthrax toured with Megadeth and Mötley Crüe in 2000 until the Crue unceremoniously booted them off the bill to expand the length of their own set. Undeterred, Anthrax performed at Thrash of the Titans in 2001 and also opened up for Judas Priest in 2001-2002. After the terrorist incidents of late 2001, Scott Ian jokingly mentioned on the official website that the band has changed their name to Basket Full of Puppies. This was in response to a joke made by Jay Leno.

The album We've Come For You All was released in 2003, followed by the live album Music of Mass Destruction in 2004. Also in 2004, Frankie Bello took some time off from Anthrax after 20 years in the band. Joey Vera filled on a touring basis.

On April 1, 2005 Anthrax announced a reunion of the "classic line-up" consisting of Belladona, Bello, Benante, Ian, and Spitz. This lasted until 2007 when Belladonna and Spitz departed again, though Bello stayed around. Rob Caggiano then rejoined along with new vocalist Dan Nelson. Caggiano and John Bush had both expressed displeasure (Caggiano more vocally) at the handling of the reunion and Bush declined the invitation to return.

Nelson left for unspecified reasons in 2009 after Anthrax had already completed work on their next album. John Bush stepped in for a few live appearances before Joey Belladonna joined for the third time in May 2010.

Scott Ian appeared on the VH1 Rock Honors playing bass in an all-star band paying tribute to Kiss. The line-up of the band was Rob Zombie (White Zombie) - vocals, Slash (Guns'N'Roses, Velvet Revolver, Slash's Snakepit) - guitar, Gilby Clarke - guitar, Ace Frehley (Kiss) - guitar,Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe, Methods of Mayhem) - drums.

Some of their songs are included in the film Pledge Night. Joey Belladonna also makes a brief appearance as an actor in it.

Anthrax Discography  :

Fistful of Metal Full-length 1984
Spreading the Disease Full-length 1985
Among the Living Full-length 1987
Fistful of Anthrax Compilation 1987
State of Euphoria Full-length 1988
Persistence of Time Full-length 1990
Attack of the Killer B's Compilation 1991
Sound of White Noise Full-length 1993
Live - The Island Years Live album 1994
Stomp 442 Full-length 1995
Fistful of Metal / Armed and Dangerous Compilation 1998
Volume 8 - The Threat Is Real Full-length 1998
Moshers... 1986-1991 Compilation 1998
Return of the Killer A's Compilation 1999
Madhouse: The Very Best of Anthrax Compilation 2001
The Universal Masters Collection Compilation 2001
The Collection Compilation 2002
We've Come for You All Full-length 2003
Music of Mass Destruction Live album 2004
The Greater of Two Evils Full-length 2004
Alive 2 Live album 2005
Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991) Compilation 2005
Extended Versions Live album 2007
Colour Collection Compilation 2007
Caught in a Mosh: BBC Live in Concert Live album 2009
Worship Music Full-length 2011
Icon Compilation 2012
Snapshot Compilation 2013
Aftershock: The Island Years 1985-1990 Boxed set 2013
Essential Compilation 2014
Sound of White Noise / Stomp 442 Compilation 2016
For All Kings Full-length 2016
Kings Among Scotland Live album 2018
Chile on Hell Live album 2018