First off, those Bayley IM albums weren't that bad. I enjoyed them at the time, and still find some of the tracks enjoyable. Musically speaking, nothing really changed that much on The X Factor & Virtual XI; the big difference was Blayze.
And as for the awesome Stomp, why the fuck can't we have an appreciation thread without the bullshit? I listened to both Stomp & V8 today, and I still don't know why there is so much bitching; they are great albums. Volume 8 has lyrics that seemed to be very personal and introspective to the band. Catharsis is not only one of my favorite Anthrax songs, but one of my favorite songs, PERIOD. And yet I'm certain I'll hear from someone that it's "shit, bad, etcetcetcbrokenrecord."