Anthrax is an American, New York City-based thrash metal band, who released its first full-length album in 1984. The band was one of the most popular bands of the 1980s thrash metal scene and are notable for combining metal with rap and hardcore music early on. They have sold over 10 million albums worldwide, and are classified as one of the "big four" of thrash metal alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer.
They have made several appearances on television including: Married... with Children, WWE Raw, NewsRadio, Cheers, and Ask Dr. Ruth amongst others. The band has also appeared in movies such as Run Ronnie Run (performing as the fictional band Titannica) and Calendar Girls. Their song "Madhouse" was used in the videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in-game radio station V-Rock and in Guitar Hero II. Their song "Caught in a Mosh" was also featured in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. In 2006, guitarist Scott Ian was a cast member of VH1's reality show SuperGroup and is also featured on many other VH1 shows such and I Love the 80s and I Love the 90s.
History
Early career (1981–1986)
Anthrax was formed in mid-1981 by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker. They found the band's name in a biology textbook and claimed it because it sounded sufficiently evil. Vocalist John Connelly (Nuclear Assault) joined, as did drummer Dave Weiss and a bassist named Kenny. Kenny was replaced very early on by Paul Kahn, who was found to be insufficient as well, so Lilker chose to take over on bass, and Greg Walls joined as lead guitarist. Connelly and Weiss soon left, and were replaced by Greg D'Angelo (White Lion) on drums, and Neil Turbin on vocals, whom the band found after going through a series of vocalists (including Ian's brother Jason).This line-up made frequent live performances, featuring original songs like "Satan's Wheels" (a song about drugs), "Hunting Dogs", and more, including Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Kiss covers. The line-up recorded a NWOBHM-sounding demo in July, 1982. Greg Walls left in the summer of 1983, and Bob Berry replaced him for a short period of time.
Lead guitarist Dan Spitz soon joined the band, replacing Bob Berry. With Spitz, the second demo was recorded. In September, Charlie Benante replaced Greg D'Angelo on drums. This lineup recorded the "Soldiers of Metal" 7" single, produced by Ross the Boss of Manowar. The B-side of this single still featured one of the old demos with Greg D'Angelo on drums, and is the only official recording to feature D'Angelo. This demo got them a recording deal with Megaforce records, for which they recorded their debut album, Fistful of Metal, in late 1983. It was released in January of 1984, followed by a US tour, during which tensions grew between Danny Lilker and Neil Turbin. Lilker was let go, and he formed Nuclear Assault with former Anthrax vocalist John Connelly, before moving on to a variety of other projects, including Brutal Truth, Hemlock, Holy Moses, and more.
Charlie Benante's nephew Frank Bello replaced Lilker on bass, before Turbin was fired in July, 1984, towards the very end of the tour. The last few tour dates featured Matt Fallon as a temporary replacement on vocals. In late 1984, the band appeared as a 4-piece, "The Diseased", with Scott Ian on vocals. They performed a few punk covers, including "Protest and Survive" by Discharge, which was later recorded and released on Anthrax's Attack of the Killer B's compilation. Vocalist Joey Belladonna was hired on February 27, 1985, and an EP titled Armed and Dangerous was recorded. Some old Neil Turbin recordings were later added to fill out the album, including two live tracks from early 1984, and the two songs from the "Soldiers of Metal" 7". Later in 1985, Ian, Benante, and Danny Lilker appeared on the S.O.D. album Speak English or Die. Anthrax's feature album, Spreading the Disease, came out in the same year, and US and European tours (including one supporting Metallica) followed.
Breakthrough and rising to success (1987–1992)
Anthrax were, almost from the start, noticeable among their peers for their willingness to experiment with genre and image. During the late 1980s, the band radically departed from the "traditional" heavy metal look in favour of a brightly colored "surfer" style of appearance. They were known for introducing a humorous side to their music, in contrast to the serious mindedness of fellow metal bands such as Slayer and Metallica.In 1987, Anthrax released their third album, Among the Living. This album began a lyrical trend that focused on movies, comic books and Stephen King novels. All these elements would for years become typical lyrical themes Anthrax fans would come to expect. "I Am the Law" is a tribute to comic book hero Judge Dredd. "Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)" is about comedian John Belushi's drug addiction and death. "Indians" and the mosh pit anthem "Caught in a Mosh" are both considered Anthrax classics today. The album was dedicated to the memory of Cliff Burton. The band continued its success, sticking to the thrash metal genre of Among the Living on the album State of Euphoria. The single "Antisocial", originally by French heavy metal band Trust was a staple on MTV in regular rotation as well as on "Headbangers Ball".
In 1989, MTV held a contest in which the winner would get to have the band come to their home and trash it. The contest was won by a female fan, and the band subsequently came to her house and caused havoc. This was the inspiration for the band's 1992 appearance on Married... with Children, where the main characters of the show win a similar television contest.
In 1990, Anthrax released the more serious Persistence of Time to even greater success than State of Euphoria. The album was considerably darker but much more technical and progressive than Anthrax's previous work. This made it a hit with metalheads who were afraid to embrace the band because of their "silly" side. The biggest single off the album was a cover of Joe Jackson's "Got the Time". Jackson himself even claimed that he enjoyed Anthrax's cover version of his song. The band's own original song "In My World" was also extremely successful as a single, and "Belly of the Beast" was moderately successful, as well. The album was Anthrax's highest charting album ever.
Anthrax was always a band prone to experimentation; in 1987, they appeared on the title track of rap group U.T.F.O.'s album Lethal. In 1991, they collaborated with pioneering rap artists Public Enemy on a joint version of PE's "Bring the Noise", although Anthrax already did a fusion of rap and heavy metal in the form of "I'm the Man" in 1987, a comedic song originally slated to be played with the Beastie Boys (although they did not actually get to play this song with Anthrax until a 1991 remake). "Bring the Noise" was a hit, and the band had a successful joint tour with Public Enemy.
John Bush era (1992–2004)
In 1992, Anthrax parted ways with vocalist Joey Belladonna and replaced him with ex-Armored Saint vocalist John Bush. The band left Island Records and signed with Elektra Records to release Sound of White Noise in 1993.Though it was quite a change from their earlier work (it was more a "heavy grunge" oriented, especially because of the vocals) , White Noise received mostly positive reviews and "Only" was a major hit (which led James Hetfield to claim "that is a perfect song" in some interviews). Bush's voice lent a gravitas and weight to a collection of well-thought-out and technically excellent tracks. In keeping with the band's now-trademark eye for unlikely collaborations, classical composer Angelo Badalamenti provided music for the track "Black Lodge," a tribute to the TV show "Twin Peaks". Importantly, the album demonstrated that the band had shed its sometimes cartoonish outlook in favor of mature, thoughtful songwriting, a trend which had begun on their previous studio album Persistence of Time.
In 1995, the band released Stomp 442, an album for which Elektra refused to provide real promotion—it quickly disappeared without a trace. Obviously upset at what they felt was an attempt by the label to kill the album, Anthrax attempted to sever ties with Elektra. During the hiatus between Sound of White Noise and Stomp 442, longtime guitarist Dan Spitz left the band to quit music and become a watch maker, leaving Anthrax as a quartet for years.
Anthrax signed with independent label Ignition Records, and in 1998 managed to release Volume 8: The Threat Is Real, a punishing album that had the potential to return Anthrax to the top of the metal heap. Unfortunately, almost immediately after Volume 8: The Threat Is Real's release, the label they were signed to went bankrupt and disappeared, making the album difficult to find. Regrouping, the band signed with another label, Beyond Records and released a greatest-hits album Return of the Killer A's, although Beyond soon went out of business as well. During this period, a two-vocalist tour featuring both Joey Belladonna and John Bush was proposed and set to go, until Belladonna decided to pull out at the last minute.
During the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, the band altered its website to provide information about the disease because many people had come there simply by entering anthrax.com in their Web browsers. Amid what could have become a PR nightmare for the band, Anthrax issued a press release on October 10, 2001, that jokingly mentioned that they were going to change the name of the band to "something more friendly, like 'Basket Full of Puppies.'" The band later put a nail in the coffin of all of the name-change rumors that erupted from the press release at the New York Steel 9/11 benefit concert in November 2001, when they took the stage wearing boiler suits with a different word on each one that, when they stood single-file in a specific order, spelled out the sentence "WE'RE NOT CHANGING OUR NAME". A picture of the band wearing the suits can be seen on the inner tray card of We've Come for You All.
Despite the hardships and various legal entanglements regarding who had the rights to certain albums, Anthrax managed to soldier on. In 2002, new lead guitarist Rob Caggiano joined the band, and the following year the band released We've Come for You All, through Sanctuary Records - an album hailed by the metal press as a long-awaited return to form.
In early 2004, the band returned to the studio to record The Greater of Two Evils—a "live in the studio" re-recording of the band's early work with the then-current lineup. Around the same time, bassist Frank Bello announced he was leaving the band to join Helmet and was replaced on tour by former Armored Saint and Fates Warning bassist Joey Vera.
Among the Living reunion (2005-2007)
On April 1, 2005, the official website announced that the "Among the Living" line-up of Scott Ian, Charlie Benante, Dan Spitz, Joey Belladonna, and Frank Bello would be re-forming. On solo-dates of the tours, for the first time ever, they performed the entire 1987 classic album Among the Living.On January 24, 2007, Scott Ian posted a message to Blabbermouth.net.
"Finally, we're going back to work. We're going to Chicago to work our asses off and write a record. It's time. We're ready. One problem... no singer.
We were offered a direct support slot on a major tour this spring and Joey decided he did not want to move forward. The reunion is over. We tried to make it work but I guess that's the problem, you can't 'make' something work. It's gotta be natural and at least becoming a band again and playing live was.
Over the course of around 140 shows we became a better band than we ever were before from 1984-1992. The shows we played from April 2005 through October 2006 were incredible and some of the best gigs we've ever played. Doing Donington again was mind-blowing, Graspop was insane, the insanity in Finland, Chicago, Milwaukee, three times in L.A., three times across Western Canada, Glasgow, London, the Nokia show in NY, the Starland show in NJ, Gigantour, Australia, Japan, really, there's not a bummer in 19 months.
Thank you from the very depths of my soul for being the best fans in the world. We got to relive something that I never thought we could and it turned out better than I ever thought it would. We didn't have to force it, it just happened and it was great.
My curiosity was piqued by the idea of what Anthrax would sound like now with Joey singing. Over the last few months we've discussed this endlessly to no avail. The problems that were there could not be fixed no matter how hard we tried and in the end Joey made the decision.
I know a lot of you out there are disappointed by this and that's the last thing we ever want. None of us want to disappoint. If we were meant to make a reunion record we would've. Some things look easy on paper but the reality is that they are impossible and what works for one band doesn't work for others. Maybe we could've forced something and cashed in on a new record but that's not the way we operate.
My reality is I feel we have some unfinished business with the We've Come for You All line-up and I will do my best to finish it.
I hope you can find it in your hearts to support all of us in whatever happens going forward.
Charlie, Frankie and I are excited about creating new music and for now we will focus on that and write another killer Anthrax record."
New singer (2007-present)
Anthrax have now officially confirmed that they have recruited former Devilsize and Me, My Enemy singer Dan Nelson. In addition, former lead guitarist Rob Caggiano has returned to the band as well.Side projects
Several members have launched affiliated side projects, such as Scott Ian's project with Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, original Anthrax bassist/lead guitarist Danny Lilker and Billy Milano called Stormtroopers of Death. After leaving Anthrax, Joey Belladonna began a series of solo albums, Belladonna, Spells of Fear, and 03, and John Bush is involved with his former band Armored Saint.Guest musicians
A number of Anthrax albums have featured guests, most notably Dimebag Darrell, who appeared on "King Size" and "Riding Shotgun" from Stomp 442; "Inside Out" and "Born Again Idiot" from Volume 8: The Threat Is Real; and "Strap It On" and "Cadillac Rock Box" from We've Come for You All. Vocalist Roger Daltrey of The Who has also appeared on the band's We've Come for You All disc, providing backing vocals for "Taking the Music Back". Phil Anselmo of Pantera appears on ''Volume 8: The Threat Is Real", on the song "Killing Box."Current members
- Dan Nelson - lead vocals (2007-present)
- Rob Caggiano - lead guitar (2001-2005, 2007-present)
- Scott Ian - rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1981-present)
- Frank Bello - bass, backing vocals (1984-2004, 2005-present)
- Charlie Benante - drums, additional guitar (1983-present)
Possible reunion with John Bush
After the end of Anthrax's reunion tour, much speculation was cast over whether John Bush would return. Bush has stated that (as of February 7), he was not ready to commit to Anthrax again. In May 2007, Scott Ian said that the announcement of who will be singing for Anthrax will be made at the end of June, though the actual announcement didn't come until December.In June 2007, John Bush was interviewed by Rock Hard Magazine, about being asked to return to Anthrax, and whether or not he is bitter about the reunion. He replied:
When asked if he was approached to rejoin the band once Belladonna left the group, Bush said,
On December 10, 2007, it was announced the band's new vocalist would be Dan Nelson, formerly of Devilsize and Me, My Enemy. Around the same time, it was confirmed that Rob Caggiano would return as lead guitarist.