Anthrax - The Greater of Two Evils

Anthrax just released a 'greatest hits' of sorts called 'The Greater of Two Evils'. I can only assume the reference to two evils is the two singers the band has had. To most, Anthrax eras are divided between the Joey Belladonna years and the John Bush years. If this is going over your head, think "Roth vs Hagar" discussions you have with your friends when you are drunk. Anyhow, I come from the school of 'Joey Belladonna rules and is the only proper singer of Anthrax' school. He is no longer with the band, and has been out for at least 10 years. The band made an interesting, Van Halenesque attempt at acknowledging fans by touring with both singers. Joey would do the first set and John Bush would do the second set. Great idea, but it lasted about as long as the Jay Z/ R Kelly tour before Belladona was gone. No biggie, egos clash and we expect these things out of our rock stars.

However, when I received the new hits disc in the mail this weekend... I rushed right to the back. Great news, there were three or four songs from the absolute golden era of Anthrax and Joey Belladonna - recordings from 'Among the Living'. Since my transition away from metal happened just before the world went to CDs... I was excited to have such influential music available to me again. So I threw in the disc and gave it a listen. The first song sucked, I just don't like the new singer. So I forwarded to track 3, 'Caught in a Mosh'. Guess what, the vocal I heard wasn't Joey Belladonna. Nope, they fuckin' re-recorded the song with the new singer. So I checked the other Belladonna songs on the disc, everyone of them were redone with the new singer.

What a bunch of bullshit! We all know how much Pink Floyd hate each other, right? No one there has re-released the groups classics with a new singer, have they? Did you know how much the Beatles hated each other? When they were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame, half of the band wasn't there on stage to accept... for legal reasons. Remember how Sammy re-recorded all the classic David Lee Roth hits? No? Because it never happened, for good reason. All of these band's catalogue remains in tact. You may say that Anthrax is no comparison to the Beatles. You are right. However, the principle remains the same - the music is sacred and should never ever ever ever be compromised.

The moral here is this - if you appreciate great 80s metal, I highly recommend you go out and buy 'Among the Living'. It is as great and influential and powerful as any Metallica record of that era as well. The Greater of Two Evils is a dud, and the greatest evil at all is not acknowledging your own past. Actual retail value > you are forbidden to purchase this disc. Seriously, go buy Among the Living. If it doesn't blow your mind, write me personally and I will send you my copy of 'Two evils".