ANTHRAX's SCOTT IAN Says 'It's Sad That Most People Don't Know' Three Of Four Of The Band's JOHN BUSH-Era Albums

In a new interview with Igor Miranda of Rolling Stone Brasil, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian was asked how he feels about the four albums the band recorded with singer John Bush: 1993's "Sound Of White Noise", 1995's "Stomp 442", 1998's "Volume 8: The Threat Is Real" and 2003's "We've Come For You All". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The same as it's always been. I love them. I love them, and I think especially 'Stomp' and 'Volume 8' and 'We've Come For You All' are, I think they're very underrated. And I think it's sad that most people don't know those albums. I know how many albums they've sold compared to other albums, and most people do not know those records. I wish people would listen to those albums. They should go on however they listen to their music — Spotify or Apple Music or Amazon — and they should listen to those albums, because they're missing out on some great albums. Yeah, that's how I feel about it. I love those albums the same way now as I did when we made them. And I wish more people would check them out, because if you're an ANTHRAX fan, then you have more material to listen to."

Asked which of those four albums he would tell someone to listen to first, if they have never heard them before, Ian said: "First, I would probably say 'We've Come For You All'. I would say go... If you've never heard any of the John Bush albums, I would listen to that one first. It's my personal favorite of the four albums we made. So I would go with that one. And then probably 'Sound Of White Noise' second, 'Volume 8' third, 'Stomp' fourth. That would be my order."

Regarding why "We've Come For You All" is his favorite John Bush-era ANTHRAX album, Scott said: "I just think it's the best one. I don't know why. Why is anything someone's favorite? It makes you feel a certain way, different than something else makes you feel."

ANTHRAX has had a number of vocalists — including Bush, Joey Belladonna, Neil Turbin and Dan Nelson — over the last 42 years, with guitarist Scott Ian and drummer Charlie Benante remaining the sole bandmembers who have appeared on every one of the group's studio albums.

Turbin sang on ANTHRAX's debut LP, 1984's "Fistful Of Metal", before getting booted and being replaced by Belladonna. Belladonna performed on four ANTHRAX albums, including the fan favorite "Among The Living" (1987) before he himself was fired over creative and stylistic differences. Bush fronted ANTHRAX between 1992 and 2005 but was sidelined when the band reunited with Belladonna for a 20th-anniversary tour. When that collapsed, and relationships disintegrated with next frontman Nelson, Bush returned for a time before Belladonna took the job back in 2010.

Back in March 2010 — just a couple of months before Belladonna rejoined ANTHRAX — Scott and his wife Pearl Aday appeared on an episode of VH1's "That Metal Show" and took part in the program's "The Throwdown" feature, where the guests and the hosts debated who was the best singer for ANTHRAX: Bush or Belladonna. Countering co-host Eddie Trunk's point that ANTHRAX was in a unique position with Belladonna in the band of being able to "play incredible speed metal" while having "someone who could sing like a bird," Ian said: "We didn't need a bird; we needed a lion." After Pearl offered that she was a "huge fan" of "The Greater Of Two Evils", a collection of re-recorded older ANTHRAX tunes with Bush on vocals instead of Belladonna, Ian said: "And that's the way we, as ANTHRAX, wanted to hear those songs."

Speaking to Radio Metal in August 2011, Benante was asked about Ian's "That Metal Show" comments. He said: "I think Scott had to eat some of the words he said about that. But he only said that because I think he left things off with Joey kind of bad, and their relationship wasn't very well back then when he said that. And I think Scott just harbored some ill feelings towards Joey and I think that's kind of why he made that statement, you know?"