Metal legends Anthrax have had a bit of a tumultuous relationship with their frontmen over the years. The group’s classic and current lineup features singer Joey Belladonna, who rejoined the group in 2010.
Prior to that, however, Belladonna was given the boot right after the band signed a major label record deal with Elektra. He was replaced by Armored Saint frontman John Bush.
The band did an initial reunion with Belladonna and guitarist Dan Spitz in 2005, but the stint was short lived, and Anthrax did shows with replacement singer Dan Nelson and also recruited Bush back to the band for a few select appearances before reverting back to Belladonna.
Confused yet?
Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian went into detail on their lineup changes in his autobiography, “I’m The Man,” but since Belladonna returned as a permanent fixture in the band, the group has enjoyed a creative and commercial resurgence.
In interviews over the past decade, Belladonna is still pretty puzzled why he was sacked in the first place, and it a new chat on the Chuck Shute Podcast, he gave his opinion of the Bush-era version of the band.
“I didn’t see anything really… ‘Oh my God, now they’ve really figured it out’ or ‘It’s so much better.’ It was different — I’ll give them that,” Belladonna said. “But it wasn’t anything like, ‘Holy cow, man. Boy, they should have done that a long time ago, forget it.’ I mean, other than somebody going, ‘Hey, it’s different — I kind of like the different twist.’ But it wasn’t, to me, for the better.”
Belladonna also didn’t understand the timing of his firing.
“I mean, we were smoking. Right after Persistence of Time, we were going. Things were rolling there. You just said it right out of the box – you did this deal, and all of a sudden, now you’re gone? Yeah, it’s really wrong. I’m not a vindictive person – we tried to work things out to be able to say goodbye, just as well enough for, ‘Eh, OK.’ I’m just not into the whole fight of it all, but you know what? It’s an ongoing battle just as well to try to keep myself on a level of fairness.”
The singer also said that any issues between he and his bandmates is long gone.
“We are a band that’s tight, and it works great. And why not? Find a way, figure it out, try to do something that will be long-lasting, and enjoy what you have. And understand that this is a great situation to be in, where you got four out of five people that are really capable of doing everything they can do musically and live – it’s quite good.”
Anthrax’s new album is reportedly coming sometime in 2024. The full interview with Belladonna can be viewed below.
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