JOHN BUSH Says Some of The Albums He Made With ANTHRAX Are Underrated

Mark Taylor of Metal Talk recently conducted an interview with former ANTHRAX and current ARMORED SAINT vocalist John Bush. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On replacing Joey Belladonna in ANTHRAX back in 1992:

"ANTHRAX has a lot of success, and I respect Joey Belladonna; he did great for ANTHRAX in his heyday and in the years that he made records and they were popular. You know, I think I just went out and did it from my heart and just said, 'Hey, I'm gonna go out and kick ass and sing to the best of my ability.' And I think we made some great records. I just think they were different records than what ANTHRAX did in the '80s. The funny thing is, sometimes there was this, 'Oh, we're the same band. Oh, we're the same band,' and looking back, well, we kind of were a little different band. I think we were. But at that time, we kept trying to convince people, 'Oh, it's the same band. It's the same band.' But when you make a singer change, the sound will change a little bit, which, that was what the intention was at the time. So, you know, it's all good. I'm really proud of the records I made in ANTHRAX. I think, actually, some of them are underrated. Certainly 'Sound Of White Noise'… Well, that one was well received. But I'm proud of it. I look back on it with fond memories."

On some ANTHRAX fans' preference for one version of the band over the other:

"Well, what I always say is this: you can like both. You know, it's not like you have to choose one or the other. I loved Ozzy [Osbourne] in [BLACK] SABBATH and then [the SABBATH version with Ronnie James Dio that recorded] 'Heaven And Hell' and 'Mob Rules', it was amazing. Brian Johnson…. I mean, I prefer Bon Scott in AC/DC, but 'Back In Black' could be the best AC/DC record of all time. So, it's, like, you can like both. I mean, you can have a preference, but you don't have to say, 'I either like this, or I like that.' You can like both."

John Bush temporarily rejoined ANTHRAX for a number of shows in late 2009 and early 2010 but stepped aside in May 2010 in order to make room for the return of Joey Belladonna. Belladonna was the lead singer of ANTHRAX from 1984 to 1992, and was considered part of the band's classic lineup (alongside Dan Spitz, Scott Ian, Frank Bello and Charlie Benante),which reunited and toured during 2005 and 2006.

ARMORED SAINT's seventh studio album, "Win Hands Down", was released on June 2 in North America via Metal Blade.