For a whole generation of people, specifically those who never lived through the 1970s or '80s but "love" them thanks to that series on VH1, Scott Ian is not the guitarist for thrash-metal legends Anthrax. He's the bald guy with the multicolored beard who offers little sound bites about pop culture. What Ian lovingly refers to as "talking shit on VH1" has made him a more recognizable face than any of his band mates. As he notes, when he gets stopped on the street, the average person thinks he's the band's singer.
Although he isn't, Ian is the public face of the band, which has had three singers in its 21-year existence. After 2003's We've Come for You All, Ian and drummer Charlie Benante were the only original members of the band left. They've also been the driving forces and primary songwriters behind Anthrax since Day One, which is why, despite the various lineup changes, the band's sound has remained consistent.
It's also why it was remarkably easy for this year's reunion tour, featuring the band's most popular lineup (Ian, Benante, singer Joey Belladonna, guitarist Dan Spitz and bassist Frank Bello), to come together. "Once the idea started rolling forward and then we actually started contacting everybody, it just came together really easy," Ian says. "We didn't have to twist any arms. If that was the case, we didn't have to do a reunion tour."
Even singer John Bush, who replaced Belladonna in 1992 and has been with the band ever since, wasn't excluded. In 2000, plans were hatched for a tour featuring both Bush and Belladonna, which got as far as tickets going on sale before it was scrapped. "Once, of course, lawyers get involved in these things, it's just—everything takes months longer than you expect it to," Ian says. "It was our own mistake back then just thinking that we could call him up and it'll happen and no worries." This time, Bush was again offered the chance to participate, but declined. The lawyers did their thing and Belladonna is back in the fold.
But, Ian insists, that doesn't leave Bush out of the loop. "John Bush is still in Anthrax," Ian says emphatically. "Nobody has been thrown out of the band, let's put it that way." At the same time, he won't rule out going forward with the reunited lineup after their current tour, recording new music with Belladonna at the helm. "If something creatively comes out of this in the next six months, then something creatively comes out of it," he says. "But we never plan anything."
The whole process has been so smooth, with Ian and Benante clearly in charge of the band's legacy, that it wouldn't be a surprise if they manage to integrate both Bush and Belladonna into future Anthrax projects. The band's 1999 hits collection featured a duet between Bush and Belladonna, and last year's The Greater of Two Evils was a whole album of older Anthrax tunes re-recorded with Bush on vocals. According to Ian, relations with Bush remain solid, and getting the old lineup together didn't involve mending any hurt feelings. "We didn't have any of these huge issues that we would have needed to address now and things to clear up from the past," he says. "Nobody ever punched each other in the face and there was never any words said that couldn't be taken back."
Whatever their future holds, the time is right for Anthrax to be back in the spotlight. Their brand of fast, brutal metal, infused with influences from punk and the new wave of British heavy metal is now back in vogue, with new bands like Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage putting their own spin on it. "There's so many incredible bands that are selling a lot of records now and basically playing thrash metal, although a 2005 version of it," Ian says. For Anthrax, whatever their lineup, that means the future looks bright.