YMMV / Anthrax

• Audience-Alienating Era: Stomp 442 and Volume 8: The Threat Is Real are considered this, due to having a more reserved and lackluster alternative speed metal sound compared to their straightforward thrash albums released before and after. They were both commercial failures (the former to the point that it is now out of print) and contributed to the band losing not one, but TWO record labels.
  • Some include Sound of White Noise (and, by proxy, the entire John Bush era) as part of this, as well, due to its less thrashy sound and obvious grunge influences.
  • The Audience-Alienating Era got worse with the release of We've Come for You all. Not so much because of the album's music (which many considered to be a massive improvement over the previous two John Bush records), but because of the inner-band turmoil that was happening. Around this time, Charlie Benante began complaining about album sales and the American public being stupid, which only resulted in a massive backlash against both him and Anthrax. Sometime after, Anthrax attempted to host a reunion tour but the end result left nobody satisfied, with John Bush deciding he didn't want to be in the band anymore and Joey Belladonna also deciding he didn't want to commit after all. Scott Ian didn't do himself any favors around this time by publicly bashing Joey and making himself look like a major Jerkass in the eyes of the fans. While Dan Nelson joining Anthrax appeared to signal the band getting their act together again, it only churned out more drama with Dan leaving the band on very bad terms. It wasn't until Joey rejoined the band in 2010 and Anthrax releasing the widely acclaimed Worship Music in 2011 that the band finally got their act together and fans really began to respect and love them once again.
• Broken Base: Hoo boy. You've got your Joey Belladonna fans, your John Bush fans, the occasional lonely Neil Turbin fan... Dan Nelson is by and large left out of the discussion, however, as he never released any recorded material with the band and thus hardly anyone actually heard him.
  • A subset of fans in the early 80s metal/thrash scene hated the "maturing" of the their sound after Fistful of Metal, which along with replacing Turbin, added more melody and slowed down from the 200 bpm all the time style. Granted, nearly every band of this era moved on similarly (Metallica, Megadeth, and even Slayer to a degree) and received similar accusations of selling out at the time from the hardcore speed metal faithful.
  • Take a Third Option: Some people think their 80s material was better when John Bush did the vocals. These fans were lucky to receive not only the live album Music of Mass Destruction but the studio album The Greater of Two Evils, a re-recording of their biggest songs with their 2004 line-up.
• Complete Monster: Among the Living has musical incarnations of two of Stephen King's worst:
  • Title track: Randall Flagg is as monstrous as always. To show off his powers, Flagg releases the Captain Trips plague that wipes out most human life on Earth. Settling in the destruction he's created, Flagg uses charisma and terror to garner followers, a fact he takes pride in. With his faction, he roams the wasteland to slaughter anyone in his path, specifically crucifying his victims.
  • "A Skeleton In The Closet": Todd Bowden is just as vile as in the original novella. Growing obsessed with The Holocaust after learning about it, Todd blackmails his fugitive Nazi war criminal neighbor, Kurt Dussander, into detailing his atrocities to him. Initially having nightmares, Todd quickly grows to have "wet dreams" at the thought of the atrocities and begins murdering homeless people at a whim. After Dussander's crimes are exposed, Todd decides to go out by firing hundreds of rounds into a crowded freeway, gleefully killing dozens.
• Even Better Sequel: Spreading the Disease to Fistful of Metal, followed by Among the Living.
• Heartwarming Moments: Scott Ian met his wife Pearl Aday when she was singing back-up on a failed tour with Motley Crue. Anthrax wasn't doing so hot at the time either, so they became drinking buddies. He grew to love her so much he didn't know how to tell her, and finally expressed everything in a long, heartfelt letter. Turns out she felt the same and they've been Happily Married ever since. What's more, they cut back on drinking after that too because they were suddenly so happy.
• It's Popular, Now It Sucks!: They got this treatment and were accused of "selling out" when they chose John Bush as their new lead singer and with their more mainstream sounding album Sound of White Noise. The band's rhythm guitarist, Scott Ian commented on this in an interview saying, "The bottom line is, everyone in this business is in it to make money. Myself included."
• Nightmare Fuel: See here.
• Sacred Cow: Among the Living is just as important of a metal album as Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, Rust in Peace and Reign in Blood. Dismissing the album as a "comedy skit" will usually lead to negative responses. Especially considering that the album as a whole is a tribute to the late Cliff Burton. Spreading the Disease and Persistence of Time are not far behind.
• The Scrappy: John Bush is this to some, due to how different his vocal style is from Joey's (the band's temporary shift from speed/thrash metal to grunge/alternative metal around the time he joined doesn't help matters). On the other hand, there's also a sizeable group of people who feel he was a better vocalist than Joey but never really got his due.
  • Those who did hear Dan Nelson consider him a Phil Anselmo knockoff, and weren't anticipating any studio material with him. Luckily for those appreciate Joey Belladonna, nothing ever came to pass.
• Signature Song: "Caught in a Mosh" from Among the Living. It certainly helps that it was in Rock Band 3's setlist.
  • "Antisocial" off State of Euphoria has surged into popularity in recent years, partially thanks to its appearance in It: Chapter One.
  • Other known songs include "Only", "I Am the Law", and "Indians".
• So Okay, It's Average: Audience-Alienating Era considered, Stomp 442 and Volume 8 do have their defenders. The former is considered a fun album to drive to while mutual Pantera and Anthrax fans are likely to appreciate the slower groove metal tracks on the latter. That being said, generally no one considers either album to be a masterpiece by any means.
• Tear Jerker: "Pieces" from Vol. 8: The Threat is Real, written by Frank Bello as a tribute to his brother, Anthony, who was also Charlie Benante's nephew. Anthony was shot and killed in 1996 and to their grief, the murder was never solved.
• Win Back the Crowd: Worship Music was this as it was the band's first album with Joey Belladonna since 1990's Persistence of Time. Reception to the album was very positive by fans and critics alike, it would eventually be placed on many critics' "Best Metal Albums of 2011" lists and is now considered to be one of the strongest albums in Anthrax's discography.

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