Anthrax
Named after a lethal toxin, Anthrax rode a couple of great records to a reasonably long career. Formed in New York in '81 the group had founder/leader Scott Ian (guitar), Dan Spitz (guitar), Charles Benante (drums), Dan Lilker (bass) and Neil Turbin (vocals). Taking the most extreme elements of Alice Cooper, KISS and Black Sabbath as their starting point, Anthrax soon built a major local following with intense performances that caught the attention of the Megaforce label. Their debut "Soldiers of Fortune" managed to get them a tour spot with Metallica. But their next effort "Fistful Of Metal" in '84 had some of the fastest Speed Metal riffs ever committed to tape. But instead of being a liftoff, '84 turned out to be a rebuilding year. Lilker left for another group and was replaced by Anthrax roadie Frank Bello. Later in the year, Ian fired Turbin and after a little trial and error landed the high-pitched signature vocalist Joey Belladonna. They also left Megaforce and signed with Island Records. "Spreading The Disease," with "Madhouse" hit in '85 but two years later they delivered their signature work, "Among The Living" with the banger classic "Caught In A Mosh." It featured songs based on Stephen King novels.
Anthrax was sampled by Public Enemy on "Bring Tha Noise" which led to an interesting joint tour. "Persistence Of Time," released in '90 garnered the group a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance - a sure sign the party was over. In '92 Belladonna was replaced by the less dynamic/dramatic John Bush. Though the group was burned out they kept blasting away and remained commercially viable for a while.
"Music Of Mass Destruction," recorded live the previous year, came out in '04 and represented Anthrax's strident return as they blasted through the crowd pleasing "Caught In The Mosh" and "Anti-Social."
Anthrax had an extensive recording career. "Among The Living" ('87), "Fistful Of Metal ('84)" and "Spread The Disease" ('85) are the three best (in order) Anthrax albums. After "Among The Living" the group tails off significantly. "State of Euphoria" ('88) has little to recommend but "Persistence of Time" ('90) makes a decent stab at reclaiming the power and the glory. Following Belladonna's departure in '92 the group is riding on name recognition alone.
There are a couple of good Anthrax compilations: "Madhouse: The Very Best Of Anthrax" and "Return of the Killer A's: Best Of Anthrax." "The Attack Of The Killer Bs" EP features B-sides and previously unreleased material. It's actually a good set.