The Anthrax guys need to pull a Heaven and Hell

[Samsara]

My wife and I tuned into the new Anthrax Behind the Music Remastered tonight. Nice update on the band.

But it was pretty obvious at the end, when one of the guys said that at Sonisphere before Joey got back with them, 10s of thousands of people were chanting "BRING BACK BUSH!" that the Bush-era of 'Thrax needs to be revived.

I think Worship Music and the statement by Scott that Belladonna will be the only singer for Anthrax going forward should be followed through on. Worship Music was a huge success (and is a great album) the Big Four was a success, and Belladonna, while not my personal favorite Anthrax singer, is the definitive frontman for the most popular era of the band.

That said, there is a whole catalog comprising of four or five records with John Bush that Joey Belladonna simply doesn't have the right voice to sing. Bush could do the Belladonna stuff, but Joey's voice doesn't have the grit necessary to pull off a lot of the Bush stuff.

And frankly, the guys would be doing a disservice to the Bush-era to let that catalog go to waste.

No sense pissing Joey off by trying to have both singers tour. So here's my take -- split off the Bush era under a new name and reform the Bush era band during Anthrax downtime. Do what the guys in Sabbath did with the Dio-era of the band. Carve it out as a distinct entity and tour behind that music and create new tunes.

Here's the thing: The Bush era material is an entirely different animal. It's rougher, heavier, more modern-sounding...mostly because of the type of singer Bush is. Charlie Benante and Scott Ian have said countless times that they love that music and want to continue writing it, but they can't write in that style with Belladonna.

So they can do both.

And whatever the Bush-era band name would be (I'm fond of Hy Pro Glo), to satisfy Bush, they wouldn't even have to do a lot of touring on it, because Anthrax has had a revival and would be their priority. Hy Pro Glo (or whatever they'd call it) could be a downtime band where they do albums and some festival and a few random shows or whatever, featuring all the Bush-era material.

This way, you don't piss off Joey, and you also don't try and make Hy Pro Glo (again, or whatever they'd call it) a road dog, which is NOT what Bush wants. Bush wants no part of extending club touring.

But the great Bush-era music would live on.

It just seems like common sense to me. It wouldn't happen in the next couple of years. I fully expect Anthrax to tour Worship Music, then do another album and tour cycle. But as tempers flare (as they always do with Joey), instead of it exploding, or simply on downtime when they are just on break, it seems prudent to call John up and present the idea. No sense letting all that great music go to waste.

[El Barto]

If that's what it took, I'd be cool with it.  Honestly, though,  just like with your H&H analogy,  I could live without the original version.  I grew up on Belladona era Anthrax,  and Spreading the Disease was a watershed album for me,  but the Bush material just kicks the shit out of the earlier stuff.  The music was better and he was better.   Add to that,  Bush can still sing.  Belladona,  not so much. 

[Samsara]

The thing is, both eras have rabid fans, and then you have some fans (like myself) that love both, but prefer one over the other. I admit I am a total John Bush fanboy. I just am. He is one of my all time favorite frontmen.

But both eras are distinct. And if you are going to smartly (and it is smart) devote yourself to Joey Belladonna, particularly given how well received Worship Music was and how popular the Big Four stuff is, you have a whole catalog of other songs Joey really can't sing.

And that material is awesome.

I'm not saying you do this now. You have a band and brand to build back up with Joey. But say in 2015, after another record and another tour cycle, you tell Joey "you're our guy. We won't ever tour as Anthrax without you. But we're going to pull a 'Heaven and Hell' and play our music with Bush under a new name, as a new band. You're our guy, you're Anthrax's lead singer. But we also don't want to let music we're proud of die."

And I think Belladonna would be cool with that -- in time. After he knows he's the guy for Anthrax from here on out, and is comfortable that is indeed true.

As for Bush, Bush is just as proud of his Anthrax music as the guys in Anthrax are. He just doesn't want to slug it out in night clubs for 200 nights a year. He won't do it.

He plays a few weekend runs a year with Armored Saint and does festivals. He'd do the same with the Anthrax guys, and that would work, because it would not be extensive touring. It'd be about creating new music and having an outlet for that Bush-era catalog.

[YtseBitsySpider]

My wife, of all people, loves the new disk.

[MykeHavoc]

We discussed it on the Queensryche board a while back, but obviously I'm in the same camp as a Bush fanboy. I certainly like the idea. I just wonder if there really is an audience sizable enough to justify it. Obviously they could do Euro festivals, but the majority of US fans seem to gush over the Joey fronted lineup more. The handful of festival dates Bush did with them a few years back was the ultimate tease. I was so upset when he couldn't commit. I knew that when Joey came back again that that was the last straw. As much as I enjoyed the new record and don't mind Joey fronting (although he's fairly weak live), Bush-thrax was MY lineup of the band. Being 25, I wasn't aware of or witness to the "classic" lineup. The 90's material to me was what the name Anthrax met, and I eventually went back to familiarize myself with the older material and found quite an enjoyment of it, but as Samsara stated, they are two different animals altogether.

My choice for band name would of course be Sound of White Noise (if they're following the Heaven and Hell model).