Let's have another crack at this Anthrax quote Marty brought to our attention:
"We're witnessing a decline and demand an answer! Has everyone gone country or Hip hop?? Tap your friend or family member on the head and snap him or her out of it! They're being programmed!" - Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante bemoans what he sees as the decline of metal in America.
Are people being "programmed" not to like Anthrax and metal, or are they just figuring out that Anthrax blows? They don't have, to my knowledge, even ONE outstanding song in their career. Hardly any of these bands have enough of a clue about actual MUSIC to even attempt real songwriting, ie a MELODY. Even the hip-hop crowd manages somewhat more melodic content than the likes of Anthrax.
They're not even good at rhythm. BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG. Not a lot of variety or invention or creativity there. The rap crowd definitely has that area covered.
Why is it again that we'd want to listen to Anthrax and like bands? Even if you're full of rage and needing to get your aggression out, why would you listen to monotonous sludge when you could just as easily be listening to Eminem, to start with the obvious? Or go for some hard rockin' classics? Why would you listen to Anthrax when you could just as easily be listening to Alice?
Article comments
1 - Marty Dodge
Actually Anthrax had several decent songs but nothing that special. They have a few tunes in the the Top 500 Metal Songs of All Time as compiled by Martin Popoff. Much of their material does not stand the test of time.
In fact, the stuff done with their new singer, Stan Bush (Armored Saint) is much cleverer for the most part than anything done with Belladona. If you are interested in a decent Anthrax album, one of the best is Sound of White Noise.
There are many bands that do what they do with more melody, intelligence and skill (ex: Iron Maiden).
2 - Phillip Winn
Does nobody else recognize Mr. Benante's statement for what it is? Calculated to spark discussions and garner media coverage? This all seems pretty routine and hardly worth the fuss the guy obviously wants.
Kudos to them for picking the name of an at the time obscure disease and not backing off when it became a household name. No kudos whatsoever for a career of adequate but not outstanding music. Like him or hate him, Eminem loses more talent from his skin peeling after a sunburn than Anthrax has ever managed to display.