BLABBERMOUTH.NET
ANTHRAX's
Frank Bello has commented on the band's 1992 split with singer
Joey Belladonna, saying "it was tough, but at that time that needed to happen." The bassist reflected on
Belladonna's exit while chatting to
Eonmusic about his just-published autobiography
"Fathers, Brothers, And Sons - Surviving Anguish, Abandonment And Anthrax".
Frank also spoke about how much his loves both eras of the band: the
Belladonna years, and the
John Bush period, which ran from 1992 until 2005.
Said
Bello: "I see
ANTHRAX as two different bands — as a fan, not only as a bandmember. I just think they're two different bands that I'm a big fan of. I really love all the songs from each band. With
John, you have a different voice — you have more of a raspy voice — and
Joey's got the cleaner [tone]."
Going on to talk about the
Bush-fronted catalog,
Bello said: "I really enjoy — now I can listen to it — seeing
John. I love
John. This is all a family thing, you know what I mean? Sometimes families separate and come back. With
John Bush, that was a good time in our life."
He continued: "We came back with
Joey, this is the
ANTHRAX that we know and love, and I love the
John Bush ANTHRAX, so for me, it's a win-win. People have their favorites — I get it — but for me, both are my favorites because I think there's such a great catalog of music, and I really enjoyed both terms."
When asked how it was for him, personally, when
Belladonna departed, he admitted: "It was tough. Nobody wants to make that move. It was a very tough time in the band. But you know what, at that time, that needed to happen."
Finally, when asked what his favorite
Bush-era tracks are,
Frank offered: "
'Room For One More',
'Only'. There's the big ones. There's just so many. The thing is, I'm proud to say in my band,
ANTHRAX, there's a plethora of songs that I would love to play.
'Inside Out', I love that song. It's just a fun song, it's heavy as hell, it punches you in the face. There's so many like that. I can go back and look at these records, and for me, when I think of these songs it brings be back to the studio time and then the writing of it. We've had nothing but great times in the history, writing this stuff and recording them."
Read the entire in-depth chat at
Eonmusic.
Back in March 2010 — just a couple of months before
Belladonna rejoined
ANTHRAX —
ANTHRAX guitarist
Scott Ian and his wife
Pearl Aday appeared on an episode of
VH1's
"That Metal Show" and took part in the program's
"The Throwdown" feature, where the guests and the hosts debated who was the best singer for
ANTHRAX:
Bush or
Belladonna. Countering co-host
Eddie Trunk's point that
ANTHRAX was in a unique position with
Belladonna in the band of being able to "play incredible speed metal" while having "someone who could sing like a bird,"
Ian said: "We didn't need a bird; we needed a lion." After
Pearl offered that she was a "huge fan" of
"The Greater Of Two Evils", a collection of re-recorded older
ANTHRAX tunes with
Bush on vocals instead of
Belladonna,
Ian said: "And that's the way we, as
ANTHRAX, wanted to hear those songs."
Belladonna, whose most recent return to
ANTHRAX was officially announced in May 2010, was originally the lead singer of
ANTHRAX from 1984 to 1992, and was considered part of the band's classic lineup (alongside
Dan Spitz,
Scott Ian,
Frank Bello and
Charlie Benante), which reunited and toured during 2005 and 2006. His voice was featured on over 10 albums, which reportedly sold eight million copies worldwide.
Speaking to
Radio Metal in August 2011,
ANTHRAX drummer
Charlie Benante was asked about
Ian's
"That Metal Show" comments. He said: "I think
Scott had to eat some of the words he said about that. But he only said that because I think he left things off with
Joey kind of bad, and their relationship wasn't very well back then when he said that. And I think
Scott just harbored some ill feelings towards
Joey and I think that's kind of why he made that statement, you know?"