You may not be surprised by this, but we here at Metal Insider fancy ourselves big Anthrax fans. What might be harder to believe, though, is that it was thirty years ago today when Scott Ian and (then guitarist) Danny Linker formed what we now know as Anthrax. The band has been through its highs and lows (especially leading up to their new album Worship Music). In that time, though, Anthrax has certified themselves as one of the Big 4 and key contributors to thrash metal.
So to celebrate Anthrax turning the big three O, we decided to list our top ten favorite Anthrax tunes (Bram and Zach have been fighting all morning over a top 5, so we extended it to 10 as a compromise). So take a stroll down memory lane and see which Anthrax songs we chose as our favorites (in no particular order) after the jump. Then let us know which songs are your favorite in the comment section below.
“Caught In A Mosh” – Can you guess why this song has become a staple in Anthrax’s live show? Moshing existed for at least 7 years before Among the Living came out in 1987, but this was one of the first songs to bring the term to the mainstream.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ4yi4Q-g4Q[/youtube]
“Indians” – In the same vein as “Run To The Hills,” this song will make you want to kick the white man’s ass for what they did to those poor Indians (even if you, yourself, are a white man).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzpRU347BDU[/youtube]
“A.I.R.” – Short for “Adolescence In Red,” this song is a hardcore fan-favorite.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geyAJ-3v7KA[/youtube]
“I Am The Law” – Sylvester Stallone may have fucked up, but Anthrax’s tribute to Judge Dredd is a classic.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCdsO1mBGE4[/youtube]
“Belly Of The Beast” – If we had to chose one song off of Persistence Of Time, it would be this one for sure!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUf8Ho60Zjg[/youtube]
“Only” – We had to throw in at least one John Bush era song. This song is just one example of why so many fans still miss Bush in the band.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW0HeE9ymYU[/youtube]
“Madhouse” – Can you believe that the video for this song was banned by MTV?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGHsxMqpL0c[/youtube]
“Now It’s Dark” – One thing we really dig about Anthrax is the material they write their songs from. Movies, comic books, and novels are all fair game, and it’s fun playing ‘spot the influence’ in their music. From State of Euphoria, this is the best (actually, maybe the only) metal tribute to “Crazy Frank” from Blue Velvet!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkUDntPXaBc[/youtube]
“Antisocial” – Even though this is actually a Trust cover, Anthrax has made this song their own.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t0affoV5rI[/youtube]
“I’m the Man” – This may have given birth to “rap-metal,” but also helped Anthrax reach a larger audience. Plus, you have to love that the opening guitar riff is based on “Hava Nagila,” and it samples the late Sam Kinison’s iconic scream. Fun trivia fact, drummer Charlie Benante recently revealed to Rolling Stone that the Beastie Boys were supposed to rap on this single.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiHdr4rWG98[/youtube]
“Bring the Noize” – Taking their love of rap even further by collaborating with Public Enemy, you don’t have to be a fan of hip hop to find this song awesome. I (Bram) grew up in the, um, urban city of Camden NJ, so as soon as I started listening to music that wasn’t my parents, it was early hip-hop and metal. When Anthrax did this and “I’m The Man,” it was more authentic than Run DMC’s cover of “Walk This Way” and an amazing combination of two (then) mostly underground genres.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBA-xi8WuCU[/youtube]
