Pioneering metal band ANTHRAX, one of the genre's most innovative and respected groups, is back with a vengeance. Commemorating its 20th anniversary by touring with its original lineup for the first time in 13 years, ANTHRAX is exclusively playing its classics from 1985 to 1991, both on the Gigantour in early September (Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest) and with JUDAS PRIEST from September 24 through October 18 (across Canada as well as the East and Midwest of the U.S.) with additional JUDAS PRIEST and ANTHRAX headline dates to be added.

Those gems are also heard on the band’s most comprehensive "best of" collection ever issued, its first two-CD retrospective, "Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991)", and its first video compilation, the DVD "Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991) The Videos" (both on Island/UMe), and on separate live CD and DVD packages "Alive 2 (2005)" (on Sanctuary Records) which documents the group’s momentous summer 2005 reunion tour. All four packages will be released September 20, 2005.

One of the greatest metal bands in history, ANTHRAX reunited its original lineup of singer Joey Belladonna, guitarists Scott Ian and Dan Spitz, bassist Frank Bello and drummer Charlie Benante with the "Alive 2 (2005)" DVD capturing the actual meeting in which the five came together for the first time in over 10 years. Along with band rehearsals and behind-the-scenes footage, the DVD also spotlights 13 performances on the group’s triumphant reunion tour. The "Alive 2 (2005)" CD reprises the audio for 11 of those songs ("Madhouse" and "I'm the Man" are only on the DVD): "Among the Living", "Caught In A Mosh", "I Am The Law", "A.I.R.", "N.F.L.", "Deathrider", "Medusa", "In My World", "Indians", "Time" and "Be All, End All" — and adds "Antisocial". In a unique twist, the booklets from the DVD and CD releases form an exclusive poster.

As for the original recordings, "Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991)" marks the first time that ANTHRAX's recordings are being released with newly remastered versions of their classic hits. It begins with the follow-up to ANTHRAX's 1984 "Fistful of Metal" debut, "Spreading the Disease", which appeared in 1985 and was re-released in 1986 when indie Megaforce pacted with Island. "Anthrology" includes "Madhouse", "A.I.R.", "Armed and Dangerous", "Lone Justice", "The Enemy", "Medusa" and "Gung-Ho", tracks that defined the band’s take-no-prisoners speed metal style.

1987's "Among the Living" built on ANTHRAX's grassroots following with signature tracks such as "I Am The Law", "Caught In A Mosh", "Indians", "Among the Living", "Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)" and "Skeleton In The Closet", and the album went gold. Later that year, the EP "I'm the Man", with a cover of BLACK SABBATH's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and three versions of the title song ("Anthrology" reprises the Def Uncensored Radio Version), broke new ground with its then-unheard of fusion of rock and rap — and went platinum.

The 1988 gold follow-up, "State of Euphoria", included the raucous "Antisocial", "Be All, End All", "Make Me Laugh", "Who Cares Wins", "Now It's Dark" and "Finale". Also heard on "Anthrology" is the rare French version of "Antisocial" from the 1989 "Penikufesin" EP released only in Europe and Japan. "Persistence of Time" (1990), again gold, included the powerful "Belly of the Beast", the Joe Jackson cover "Got the Time" and the anti-racism rant "Keep It In The Family" as well as "Time", "In My World", "Intro To Reality" and "Discharge". The album also earned ANTHRAX a Grammy nomination and led to the summer 1991 gold rarities collection "Attack of the Killer Bs". That disc's headliner was its "Bring Tha Noize" collaboration with PUBLIC ENEMY's Chuck D that ushered in rap metal.

The DVD "Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991) The Videos" spotlights live performances of "Armed and Dangerous", "Among the Living", "Caught In A Mosh" and "Metal Thrashing Mad". Also seen are videos for "Madhouse", "Indians", "I Am the Law", "Belly of the Beast", "Got the Time", "In My World", "I'm The Man" (U.S. version), "Who Cares Wins" and "Bring Tha Noize (with Public Enemy)".

In addition, just prior to the release of these four landmark collections, ANTHRAX will launch a new fan club web site (to supplement its longstanding Anthrax.com headquarters). The Anthrax CDC, home of the official ANTHRAX worldwide fan club, will be the online source for ANTHRAX exclusive content, contests, merchandise, etc. AnthraxCDC.com will be the place to mosh in cyberspace.

Track listing:

"Alive 2 (2005)":

01. Among The Living
02. Caught in a Mosh
03. A.I.R.
04. Antisocial
05. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
06. Deathrider
07. Medusa
08. In My World
09. Indians
10. Time
11. Be All End All
12. I Am The Law

"Alive 2 (2005)" The DVD:

01. Among The Living
02. Caught in a Mosh
03. A.I.R.
04. Madhouse
05. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
06. Deathrider
07. Medusa
08. In My World
09. Indians
10. Time
11. I'm The Man
12. Be All End All
13. I Am The Law

"Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991) The Videos":

01. Metal Thrashing Mad (Live in Germany)
02. Madhouse
03. Indians
04. Armed and Dangerous (Live in London)
05. Among the Living (Live in London)
06. Caught In A Mosh (Live in London)
07. I Am the Law
08. I'm the Man
09. Who Cares Wins
10. Belly of the Beast
11. Got the Time
12. In My World
13. Bring Tha Noize (with PUBLIC ENEMY)

Bonus:

14. Madhouse (MTV Version)
15. I'm The Man (Live Montage)

"Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985 – 1991)":

Disc One:

01. A.I.R.
02. Lone Justice
03. Madhouse
04. The Enemy
05. Armed And Dangerous
06. Medusa
07. Gung-Ho
08. Among The Living
09. Caught In A Mosh
10. I Am the Law
11. Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
12. A Skeleton In The Closet
13. Indians
14. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
15. I'm The Man (Def Uncensored Radio Version)

Disc Two:

01. Be All, End All
02. Make Me Laugh
03. Antisocial
04. Who Cares Wins
05. Now It's Dark
06. Finale
07. Time
08. Keep It in the Family
09. In My World
10. Intro to Reality
11. Belly of the Beast
12. Got the Time
13. Discharge
14. Bring Tha Noize (with PUBLIC ENEMY)
15. Antisocial (French version)

Et ben ça c'est de la réunion rentabilisée!!

j'ai pas trop suivi ANTHRAX ces derniers temps! Bush est définitivement out du groupe?

Officiellement non mais tout indique qu’ils vont continuer avec Belladonna, y compris pour un album studio, dommage quand même tout ça, Bush méritait mieux que ça

S'ils continuent avec Belladona (c'est ce que j'ai compris en lisant RH ou HRM je ne sais plus), j'aimerais bien en connaitre les raisons ! Je le trouve moins bon que Bush et ils lui ont chié dessus pendant des années. Et Dan Spitz ils le gardent aussi ?

putain c'est nul !!!

Almors là je suis entièrement d'accord avec toi. Et Bush est largement meilleur que Belladona ça ne fait aucun doute!

BUSH assurément "meilleur" que BELLADONNA ? C'est si évident.

C'est pas le même timbre, pas le même chant, pas la même époque... bref je ne suis pas spécialement d'accord. Et "Among the living" et "Spreading the disease" CDLM ? Franchement, "l'âme" d'ANTHRAX c'est BELLADONNA à la base et son chant est différent.
Cela dit je déteste pas BUSH hein.

D’ailleurs, je copie/colle ce que j’avais dit à ce sujet sur ma disco « perso » du groupe :

Pour faire simple, avec ANTHRAX il faut distinguer deux périodes : la période avec BELLADONNA au chant (84-90) et la période avec BUSH (post 90).C’est le même groupe mais avec des nuances.

Globalement, la période BELLADONNA est à mon sens un poil plus intéressante, car mésestimée. C’est aussi à cette période que s’est forgée l’âme du groupe. Et c’est aussi pendant cette période qu’on trouve le meilleur skeud du groupe : AMONG THE LIVING (86). Quand on y pense au passage, 1986 c’est quand même une putain d’année pour le Metal (SIT, REIGN, MASTER…).

Avec BELLADONNA, ANTHRAX est fun, entraînant, et léger.
Avec BUSH, ANTHRAX gagne en agressivité, c’est aussi plus heavy et plus expérimental, et varié.

Là où je suis d’accord, c’est la "manière". Retourner sa veste et virer comme un clodo BUSH qui a été pendant près de 15 ans LE frontman du groupe : c’est une attitude à chier. Mais dans l’absolu, cette nouvelle n’est pas une si mauvaise chose – même si j’ai un pincement au cœur pour BUSH.

Bush est "meilleur" chanteur. Après oui, c'est une quetion de goût (et je ne supporte pas la Bella Donna !).
Sinon j'ai réécouté Spreading the disease suite à ta chro / disco. Ben ça passe pas, musciaclement (sans parler de la grande brune), même 20 ans après. Je préfère nettement les trucs plus récents.

[quote="Canard WC the Slayer"]BUSH assurément "meilleur" que BELLADONNA ? C'est si évident.

C'est pas le même timbre, pas le même chant, pas la même époque... bref je ne suis pas spécialement d'accord. Et "Among the living" et "Spreading the disease" CDLM ?

Je n'ai pas dis ça mais clairement mes goûts vont plus vers Bush qui module davantage il me semble.
Mais celà dit j'aimme aussi la première époque.

Bush parait meilleur techniquement, mais je le trouve un peu formatée.
Je veux dire, les albums avec lui sonnent un peu plus comme tous les groupes de la vague américaine actuelle. Enfin, je trouve. Belladona est plus original, mais il peut en être plus horripilant du coup.
En tous je suis 100% d'accord avec Canard...

Bon, je préfère Bush aussi, mais j'apprécie quand même les albums avec Belladonna (enfin je préfèrais quand c'était Bush qui chantait les titres de ces albums )

Mais là, ce qui me fait mal au cul, c'est les tracklists des live/best-of qu'ils vont sortir.
Pas un seul titre de Bush.
Putain je supporte pas quand un groupe fait ça ça.
Ok l'ancien chanteur est revenu, mais ça veut pas dire qu'entre temps il n'y a rien eu.
Les albums avec Bush méritent tout autant de figurer sur un best-of, ça veut dire quoi de nier cette période comme ça ?

Ben ça veut dire surfer sur le revival 80ies et essayer de choper de la thune avec des trucs qui ont vingt ans. Enfoirés !

je l'aime bien aussi ce ptit gars!

Dans une interviw, Bush confirme que son temps dans le groupe est passé :

In a brand-new interview with Revolver magazine — his first since being "replaced" as the voice of ANTHRAX by his predecessor, Joey Belladonna — vocalist John Bush confirmed that the original idea for the band's current reunion trek was to bring both Belladonna and Bush on tour, as ANTHRAX had planned in 2000, but Bush wasn't interested. "At one time, I had been willing to tour with Joey, but now everything is different," Bush says. "It just wasn't in my heart. I figured I had been in this band 12 and a half years, and we felt positive about what we had done, and we all thought our last album, 'We've Come for You All', was the best record we'd made together. So I just wanted to move forward and do another album."

Bush's refusal to take part in the tour complicates his relationship with the band. He's still officially a member of ANTHRAX, but he's not on retainer and hasn't been given a date to report back to duty. In addition, ANTHRAX release two albums in September, neither of which involved Bush; a double-disc collection of their studio songs with Belladonna, 'Anthrology', and a live album of the reunion tour, 'Alive 2'. In Bush's mind, that doesn't bode well.

"The idea of this reunion tour was to generate a bunch of enthusiasm for the band. But if they get people excited, they're going to want a new record, so they're going to follow up with a new album with Joey," Bush says. "So for me, I look at it as it's over. The last thing I want to do is say, 'Hey, I'll be here if you want me.'"

Strangely, ANTHRAX haven't actually committed to a new CD with Belladonna, which is trying for the man who rode with them to their greatest heights in the Eighties.

"I can't even begin to understand how this all works," Belladonna says. "People are all worried about Bush not being here. I know for a fact he wasn't booted out. I was. I had to go. I had no choice. But the minute I start thinking about stuff like that, I'm not getting anywhere. Right now, I'm just doing the best job I can, and That's what I'm focused on. But I'm not just here for a temporary run. I'm ready for the ride."

et Scott Ian n'a guere d'etats d'ame quand à lui

distance himself from the possibility of ever returning to the band following the group's decision to reunite with their previous singer, Joey Belladonna.

In the article, which appears in the November 2005 issue of the magazine, Bush confirms that the original idea for the band's current reunion trek was to bring both Belladonna and Bush on tour, as ANTHRAX had planned in 2000, but Bush claims that he wasn't interested. "At one time, I had been willing to tour with Joey, but now everything is different," Bush says. "It just wasn't in my heart. I figured I had been in this band 12 and a half years, and we felt positive about what we had done, and we all thought our last album, 'We've Come for You All', was the best record we'd made together. So I just wanted to move forward and do another album."

Regarding the possibility of the band recording another album with him at the microphone once the reunion tour is over, Bush tells Revolver, "The idea of this reunion tour was to generate a bunch of enthusiasm for the band. But if they get people excited, they're going to want a new record, so they're going to follow up with a new album with Joey. So for me, I look at it as it's over. The last thing I want to do is say, 'Hey, I'll be here if you want me.'"

In a posting at the band's official web site, Ian had the following to say regarding Bush's comments:

"Nothing has changed because of an interview that we all participated in four months ago. What it doesn't say is that without this reunion tour, the band is over. No new record, nothing. It would've been impossible for us to continue as ANTHRAX. This tour is a bridge to the future of this band. Don't bother speculating on it. It's all going to come down to the music. We'll start writing and see where it takes us just like we've always done."

In a later posting, Ian elaborates further on his statement, saying, "[The comment about] not being able to continue relates to us not flushing another two years of our lives down the toilet. That's all I can say."

bon Belladonna se sens bien dans le groupe, fait chier

Garage Radio: Nowadays, when you're out walking on the street, do you still have people recognize you from ANTHRAX?

Joey Belladonna: "Yeah! Yeah! All the time. It's like I almost never left. It was just kinda lingering in the background, flowing and waiting and a lot of people asked, "Did you ever think you were gonna get back together?" And sometimes I thought really there was a good possibility that we could cross paths again. It was good. It was something that I don't think we really needed to end. But, they wanted to change for other reasons ... vocal-wise ... style-wise ... so what do you do with that?"

Garage Radio: Speaking of that ... I know you've probably read a lot of the drama that the Bush and the Belladonna camps have basically split ANTHRAX fans in half. What do you think of that?

Joey Belladonna: "I don't hear much about it right now. I mean, if I want to sit online all day and read the jibber-jabber, or whatever you wanna call it, I guess you could get caught up in it. We're so different and what are you gonna do when someone else comes in? It's like anything else. It's two different people, it's two different styles ... it's two different sets of music. We have our own styles, so all I can think of is ... no one wishes for the comparisons. I think we're all kind of like one family. We can hang out and rock. You can do no wrong by being there, but then ... yet ... he's still amazing, but he still doesn't get to do what he needs. Everybody already knows about the 'other guy.' I get my due and he gets his due, but I try not to think about it because ... what can you do to change that? It's already been said. You put it in there and now you have to live with that."

Garage Radio: This reunion you guys are doing ... I personally found it to be very good news, because this lineup was my ANTHRAX era. Are you guys talking about a future? Are you going back into the studio with more new stuff?

Joey Belladonna: "There's a good chance for things to happen. I think as we go things get closer to more developments, but we've been pretty busy since April. We've been cracking ever since. Can't go wrong there and everything we do gets better. I think everybody gets more optimistic. I guess you have to feel it out. As far as doing a record, I think it'd be a nice thing to do, but you have to get in a room. You have to decide to do something like that and you have to spend some time. So for us to do that ... we haven't gotten that far. We've been so busy that even if we wanted to write like this second we wouldn't, because nobody would have the time or even the mindset to do it."

Hum, quelqu'un sait si Belladonna reprend des titres de la période Bush ?
Ça me ferait mal au cul que des chansons comme Only soient rayées de la setlist d'Anthrax à cause de son retour

ben prepare ton cul pauvre vieux, ça avait pas l'air au programe ça!!

Bah perso je suis plutot content du retour de Belladonna, j'aime pas trop Bush et son timbre de voix, même si je reconnais que c'est un bon chanteur j'accroche pas. Aprés les compos c'est un autre probléme, j'aime bien mais je trouve pas autant de tueries quand dans la 1ére époque.

Enfin Belladonna c'est l'âme même d'Anthrax, et je regrette vraiment d'voir loupé Anthrax au Graspop. (Surtout que le concert d'In Flames ne m'a pas emballé alors que le dernier live d'Anthrax tue tout.)

bof bof ... Belladonna serait il capable de reprendre des morceaux de l'ere Bush ? sa voix colle pas du tout ... Anthrax version bush etait bien moderne alors que là, quoiqu'ils fassent ils vont rester coicés 15 ans en arriere .... à moins d'une grosse surprise à laquelle je ne crois pas une seconde, ça va etre un gros gachis cette histoire ...

enfin bon, on verra ...