Influenced by, Rush, Journey, AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, Anthrax is often credited as one of the pioneers of thrash metal along with Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth. They have been in the music business since the early 80s but it wasn’t until 1991 that the group hit their career high by spawning a single with the hip-hop group, Public Enemy titled, Bring the Noise. This was the first time Anthrax mixed their signature sound with rap and the result was incredible as the track reached fourteenth spot on the UK Singles chart and made it to VH1’s list of the ’40 Greatest Metal Songs.’ It also featured in several video games including, ‘WWE Wrestlemania 21,’ ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD’ and ‘Die Hard Trilogy.’
In a span of over three decades, Anthrax has achieved phenomenal success. They have sold millions of records, performed in every major venue across the world and were also nominated multiple times for the Grammy Award. The band has now revealed new tour dates and will be hitting the road soon. This is once in a lifetime opportunity for you to catch this iconic group live in concert, so don’t wait anymore and get your hands on these Anthrax tickets today.
The Dawn of Anthrax
Two guitarists, Dan Liker and Scott Ian started Anthrax in 1981. After going through some lineup changes, the group settled with Neil Turban as vocalist, Dan Spitz as lead guitarist and Charlie Benante as drummer. Anthrax kicked off their career by recording a demo tape in 1982 and soon began to build their fan following by performing regularly in their hometown of New York. During this time, Liker and Ian befriended the owner of Megaforce Records, Jon Zazula to whom they submitted their demo tape to critique. Impressed by their work, Zazula signed them to his label via which they released their first single, Soldiers of Metal in 1983.
After a year, Anthrax spawned their debut studio LP, ‘Fistful of Metal.’ The record neither charted nor managed to impress the critics. A few months later, Neil Turban was fired from the band and was briefly replaced by Matt Fallon who too quit the group later. Anthrax then decided to perform live shows as a quartet until a permanent singer was recruited and before long, Joel Belladonna entered the group as a vocalist in 1985. In the same year, the band came out with their sophomore record, ‘Spreading the Disease.’ The album got everyone raving especially the critics as it received 4/5 stars from AllMusic. Plus, it spawned a single, Madhouse which was featured in an episode of MTV series, ‘Nitro Circus.’
Dominating the Thrash Metal Scene
Anthrax began dominating the thrash metal scene in the late 80s by releasing their first of four consecutive gold selling records titled, ‘Among the Living.’ The album was described by BBC as, “arguably their big breakthrough” and produced two singles, I Am The Law and Indians both of which peaked at the thirty second and forty fourth spot on the UK Singles chart. In addition, it made the Revolver’s list of the ’14 Thrash Albums You Need to Own’ and was included in the book, ‘1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.’
Their fourth studio effort, ‘State of Euphoria’ was released in 1988. It landed at the thirtieth spot on the Billboard 200 and yielded a couple of hit singles, Make Me Laugh and Antisocial. The band also set out on tour in support of the record and opened for Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica. Moreover, they performed six shows in the United Kingdom alongside Living Color in 1989 and even headlined Headbangers Ball Tour.
After wrapping up the trek, Anthrax recorded their next studio project and released ‘Persistence of Time’ in 1990. The album was met with overwhelmingly positive response from the critics and reached the twenty fourth spot in the United States. Their sixth studio record, ‘Sound of White Noise’ reached the stores on May 25, 1993. It became their highest charting album to date as it climbed the seventh spot on the Billboard 200 and contained a hit single, Only which was referred to as a, ‘perfect song’ by the frontman of Metallica, James Hetfield.
Other Popular Albums
Since 1993, Anthrax has churned out five more studio albums. Two of those records, ‘Worship Music’ and ‘We’ve Come for You All’ became huge critical hits. The former was chosen as the ‘Best Metal Album of 2011’ by Metal Rules while the latter went on to sell in excess of sixty two thousand copies in the US and was praised by Exclaim! in words,
“Grittier and more confident, the self-produced We've Come for You All is a certified classic that proves the ageless Anthrax are still a viable metal option.”
Anthrax’s eleventh studio effort is called, ‘For All Kings’ which came out on February 26, 2016. It received 70/100 rating from Metacritic and also collected favorable reviews from PopMatters that stated,
“For All Kings stands out as powerful thrash metal with a distinctive sound that is unmistakably Anthrax."
Besides releasing eleven studio albums, the band has also dropped five live and seven compilation records including, ‘Attack of the Killer B’s’ which recorded gold level sales in the US and Canada. In addition, they have six video records under their belt.
Anthrax Tour Tickets
In 2017, Anthrax announced that they will be joining Killswitch Engage again for the ‘KillThrax II Tour.’ Both bands will be performing a total of twenty nine shows all over North America, starting by taking the stage in Montreal in January of 2018. From there, their trek will take them to main cities including, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, San Diego, Anaheim, Boise and Spokane. The tour will conclude with playing a show at the State Theater in March.
If you are planning to rock out with two of the most famous groups live, then grab your Anthrax tour tickets from here today as they are high in demand and may run out of stock soon.
