“Tokyo, this one’s for you,” exclaims Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna at the start of a live rendition of “Madhouse” from the band’s upcoming Spreading the Disease 30th anniversary reissue. Now this one’s for all of you, as Anthrax are teaming up with Loudwire to exclusively debut the live rendition of “Madhouse.”
“We wanted to do something special for our fans to celebrate the anniversary of Spreading the Disease,” said Anthrax’s Charlie Benante. “We took the idea to Universal a couple of years ago and have been very hands-on with them, creating this special, deluxe edition that we think our fans will really like.” The special deluxe edition that Benante is speaking of will be available tomorrow (Nov. 20).
Reflecting on the album, the drummer added, “STD was our first real record on a major label. We were on a roll with that album, and we wanted to perform those songs as close to the album versions as possible. I think the performances show the excitement of a young band that was on its way, so we wanted to have them on this reissue.”
Bassist Frank Bello reflects on the period as the time when his playing really came into its own. He states, “You can hear all of my influences on every song, Steve Harris, Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, all of them. What we were doing was so fresh, so different — we had heavy songs with these great, melodic vocals — and eventually, people caught on and loved what we were doing. I think every song on ‘STD’ still stands up today.”
Guitarist Scott Ian added, “We didn’t know what we were doing, but we totally knew what we were doing. I know that doesn’t make sense, but it’s where we were at, a bunch of 21 year-old kids making our major label debut on a shoestring budget with nothing but a dream and a bunch of songs that we thought killed. We were right and our dream came true. Thank you to all the fans that put this record and Anthrax on the map way back when and still support us today.”
In addition to the original set, which includes such favorites as “Madhouse,” “A.I.R.” and “Armed and Dangerous,” the special 30th Anniversary edition comes with live tracks recorded at Tokyo’s Sun Palace in 1987 as well as rhythm tracks recorded back in 1984. You can currently order the special 30th Anniversary Edition of Spreading the Disease via Amazon. And be sure to catch Anthrax on tour at these stops, building up to the release of their For All Kings album.
Charlie Benante and Scott Ian Talk 30th Anniversary of ‘Spreading the Disease’
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Source: Loudwire.com
