Scott Ian Believes In Truthiness
Posted by Dan Rodriguez on Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 10:47 am
Scott Ian is sticking to his story and insists that Anthrax vocalist Dan Nelson was not fired, but quit the band after informing Anthrax that he was seriously ill.
While the Fear Factory drama has remained fairly entertaining, I’m already tired of this Anthrax story. Here’s the exerpt from Ian’s exclusive interview with Metal Hammer:
We stand by every word in our official statement. Because all we’ve done is make public exactly what Dan told us. He certainly was not fired – he quit the band, and we accepted his resignation. As for those comments about being fit to go on the road, and that we pulled the tour for other reasons…since Charlie (Benante, drums) join us in 1983, we’ve only ever cancelled one gig. That was in Düsseldorf in 1987, when Charlie was running a really high fever, and we had to send him to London for treatment. When we didn’t make it onto the plane to go to Sweden recently, to start our European run of dates, it went against every molecule in my body, and the same goes for the rest of the band.
As a band, we learnt [sic] a long time ago that in these situations, it’s always best to tell the truth, If you lie, then it comes back to bite you in the ass. That’s why we were careful at every step to put things exactly the way Dan had told them to us. Why has he changed his story now? I can only assume it’s to save his own skin, and to avoid being seen as the bad guy. I can’t say that I blame him. But we have absolutely been completely truthful.
I’m going to give this story a couple more updates before I willfully ignore it. Unless something really crazy happens, like Dan Nelson declaring he’s secretly pregnant with Exodus’ baby.
Tags: Anthrax, Dan Nelson, Scott Ian
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July 23rd, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Well Ian’s statement has just made things even more complicated, though I think its about time that someone from the band made a statememnt that actually came from them, not just from management.
I hate that this has become a he said she said type of battle. Part of me believes Ian’s story in the sense that the band would have more to lose by kicking out Nelson. However, the band would have more reason to cover up the truth to save face (after all, Anthrax has been struggling with their public image since the John Bush ousting) and Nelson seems to have less reason to lie. Though I guess both sides have their own reasons/egos to protect.
I also find it a tiny bit weird that Ian and Eddie Trunk’s statements seem somewhat contradictory. Ian says that Nelson quit cause of illness, while Trunk says that illness wasnt the issue, hinting at problems backstage with the band. While Trunk is only an observer and doesnt have any true say or understanding of the situation, he has been a very close friend of Ian for a while now. Just an interesting tid bit.
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:17 AM
OOOOHH I just read the rest of the interview Ian did with Metal Hammer. Not only did he agree with Trunk that there definetly were problems with Nelson, but that there have been since December. He also mentions how he hopes that the UK gig with John Bush will influence him to return to the band.
“It’s not in the back of my mind — it’s right at the front of it. When our reunion tour with Joe Belladonna and Dan Spitz finished in 2007, we [Ian, Benante and bassist Frank Bello] wanted both John and [guitarist] Rob Caggiano to come back. Well, Rob returned but not John. Now, though, we’ve Sonisphere to look forward to with him.
I love working with John, and I know I speak for everyone involved with ANTHRAX — the band and the fans — when I say that the best thing for us would for this to turn into a long-term relationship. But I don’t want to jump the gun. Let’s see how things go at Sonisphere, and take it from there.”
As much as I would LOVE to see Bush return, I think Anthrax is lucky enough to get him back for one gig. Not only cause Bush seems to be doing more with Armored Saint, but after how they pushed him off to do the Belladonna reunion, I didnt blame Bush for not returning when they first asked him back in 2007 to come back.
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:29 AM
Pssst…”cancelled” is spelled correctly.
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:32 AM
psst, that’s why i put [sic]. i don’t alter direct quotes.