Where were you? When Anthrax first announced the canning of Mr. Belladonna?

[augdawg2]

I'll never forget watching MTV(back when they still showed music), and hearing them say "Anthrax has parted ways with vocalist Joey Belladonna"! At first I was like, "what the fuck, ohhh man, what the hell are they doing?" Funny though, I had just gotten into Armored Saint about two years before this happened, which I had "Delirous Nomad", "Raising Fear", and "Symbol of Salvation". I remember a couple of months later when MTV this time announced "Anthrax has hired John Bush, former front man of Armored Saint" and thinking, wow, maybe that was a good move! Turns out, that was one of the best moves Anthrax has ever done. Funny how life works! Metallica goes to New York, and Anthrax gives them appliances and blankets for their apartment! James Hetfield asks John Bush to join Metallica! Then years later, John Bush joins Anthrax! Life is indeed a circle!

 

[bRaTpRiNcEsS]

I too heard that MTV thing. I was sitting in my living room after school one day. I had to have been in junior high. And I remember thinking, great. They're over. Not that they couldn't make it without him, but SOOOO many bands don't make it after a lineup change, ESPECIALLY a singer change. Then I heard about Bush, and I thought, well, that's interesting, I guess we'll have to see what happens. This might actually WORK. And then...SOWN. Ah, the pure joyful happiness. Not only did it WORK, it RULED!!! What Saint lost, Anthrax gained. Life is grand indeed.


:Shedevil:

 

[augdawg2]

Wow, am I getting old(well, maybe older) Yes, I to remember running to the store the day SOWN came out. I had a sneak tip that most people in the USA didn't have, a friend of mine at college had cable/satelite and we caught the premier of "Only" the video about three months before the album came out! I was so stoked, that we all had the lyrics memorized by the time the album actually came out! I can remember people at the record store saying "you gotta listen to Only it's the coolest song they have ever done", and ofcourse my reply was "I've already heard that song, I've been waiting for the rest of the album!" Good times!

 

[Bass Fellow]

I'm not sure if it was MTV or a mag. All I knew was that John Bush was already my favorite lead singer and was now in Anthrax. SOWN was a Godsend. While we are on the subject I want to ask something that I'm not sure is cool to ask. But if anwserable please do so accurately. Why exactly was Joey booted? I've always assumed a drug addiction and I also wonder about the story behind 'Black Lodge'. Thanx.

 

[discontinued]

I was in Japan at the time... A friend of mine told me about that when we were walking down some street in Tokyo, and I remember my friends asking me to calm down after I reacted... It was kinda surreal

I also remember reading on some magazine that John Bush and Mark Osegueda (Death Angel) were among the possible future vocalist for Anthrax, being the Death Angel fan that I was at the time, I was hopping Mark would get picked... though now, I can't see anyone better for the job than John Bush... His voice and personality compliment the band real well...

 

[augdawg2]

Anthrax always stated that they wanted a true power metal singer which John Bush certainly is. Anthrax also stated that Joey was real lazy as far as contributing to the music as he didn't even write lyrics. I can remember Scott talking about the recording process for SOWN saying "that is was nice to finally have a vocalist that gave feedback and added his ideas to the lyrics". Never heard the drug addiction theory, but in the world of music I wouldn't rule that out.

 

[Jeffasin]

I was at the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I didn't believe it at first, but then I had three other people tell me about it. Before the show that night they sang NFB......

j

 

[ThraxMan]

I think I was in the can when I heard the news.

 

[Todd]

Didn't anyone else read it in the old fan club newsletter like I did? I remember it went something like this:

Anthrax Newsletter
Anthrax played at some benefit...
S.O.D. - Live at Budokan, blah blah...
Join the Anthrax pen-pal list...
...
...
Oh yeah, Anthrax has parted ways with lead singer Joey Belladonna. Anyway, see ya next month!

 

[ThraxDude]

I heard it from a girl I worked with. She heard it from MTV News. I didn't believe her. So I watched MTV, and sure enough, they said that Joey left.
I had a bunch of Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, and Anthrax posters and pictures on my wall. I remember distinctly that MTV made it sound like Joey just left the band, and I was pissed.
I took a dart and stabbed a picture of Joey in the head.

Then I heard about John Bush from the N.F.C. (Bulknikufesin).
I heard ONLY on the radio a lot. Later, I'd hear BLACK LODGE on the radio all the time.
Now I haven't heard Anthrax on the radio since 1992.

 

[johnnieCzech]

I read it in the mag and couldn´t really believe my eyes. I remember they were announcing complete sound change and to be honest I was very afraid! But then, I heard SOWN... my first thought was, hey, ñothing has really changed and it´s even better... and the slow song (of course I meant Black Lodge) is soooo beautiful... hell gotta listen to it for another time! And another...

 

[one man stands]

I was a freshman in Highschool, And between math and english(I think) one of my buddies told joey left the band and that he was gonna go to Motly Crue and vince Neil was coming to Anthrax. Well thank god he was full of shit. It hit me hard , cuz I thought they were done. Then one night I heard Scott talkin to lonn friend on pirate radio and they played what seemed like the whole album. I remeber hearing potter's field and going fucking crazy! When it came out i ran to the fucking music store to pick it up and bieng late for work because i wanted to hear it all! I listened to it for three month's straight and could not be happier with John