Back in ’84 I found myself at a fork in the road.  The road I was traveling was paved in metal and I was either gonna keep on going down the slick beaten path or veer off to a much rougher back road that me n my friends knew nothing about.  I lived in a town of 6000 people.  Conformity was of the essence.  Even though we thought of ourselves as original and free to express ourselves how ever we wanted, we were as stuck in our ways and close minded as the establishment we gave the finger to.

Our battle cry was led by a handful of metal bands unanimously agreed upon to be our voice.  Van Halen, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, AC/DC, Scorpions, Ozzy, Def Leppard and Iron Maiden were the kings and we were their sheep-like soldiers.  It didn’t matter what they laid down on vinyl, we bought it.  It didn’t matter what they said, we took it as our word and it didn’t matter what they wore, we wore it too.

Mackenzie, B.C. was a cold n lonely place if you weren’t a headbanger.  Even the jocks n geeks were headbangers.  There were no preps in that town.  Preps were only seen in movies like the Breakfast Club and they’d have surely gotten their asses kicked showing up at a party with a Flock of Seagulls hairdo sprouting from the top of their heads. Rush’s song Subdivisions was the song that should have been our anthem cuz that was us.

One thing I discovered is that cruising down the metal path I was travelling, getting into the rough “thrash” metal was unacceptable as well.  To me, thrash metal was the ultimate in cool, if it was pulled off properly.  I had discovered a few bands that in my opinion were far more talented than any of the previously mentioned bands in the metal field.  Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica and of course Anthrax were the first of these heavies that really kicked me in the nuts.  My cousin showed up from Vancouver one day and handed me Metallica’s "Kill Em All" and "Ride The Lightning" albums.  

After one spin through the turntable, I was fucking mesmerized. This was it.  This was the band that was gonna change the metal world and I was gonna make damn sure that everyone in Macktown knew about them ASAP.  We’d been in the dark far too long! "Ride The Lightning" had just hit the shelves at most record stores but "Kill 'Em All" had been out for a WHOLE YEAR and we hadn’t even heard of it yet.  This fucking masterpiece was being spun by how many bangers around the globe and we were still pumping out "Defenders of the Faith"?????

So the next big party I was at, I got my chance, as usual, cuz I was the guy who brought the killer mixed tapes to every party that somehow “went missing” every night.  This night was gonna be a little different though.  Well no… a LOT different.  I bee lined for the stereo and slapped in a mix of the music I was sure would be openly embraced by all at the party.  I pictured everyone showering me with accolades of “great tape man!”, “can I get a copy?” and “that’s the best fuckin shit I’ve heard EVER man!”, then the confetti would start to fall and the bikini chicks would show up with the trophies and.. OK.. so MY fantasies are a little out of control...  anyway, within 18 seconds of “Hit the Lights”, I heard the tape stop.  I looked up with disbelief, who the fuck took my tape out?  The biggest son of a bitch at the party was standing there holding my Godly compilation.  I couldn’t tear THIS guy a new asshole… not even verbally.  This fucker could kill you with an evil glare, let alone if he actually got a hold of you.  Gulp.  He looked right at me and said “don’t EVER play this SHIT around me again”.  I was fuckin stunned.  He threw the tape across the room and slapped on the usual drivel. I’ll never forget that fucker.  Quigley is what they called him.  I don’t remember his first name, his last name, or anything about the fucker, but I remember he always looked like he hadn’t shit in a month with that fuckin evil sneer he wore on his face all the time.

So that was that… 50 people witnessed Metallica’s first performance in Mackenzie B.C. and they got booed off the stage!  Ironic that when they were touring 3^rd on the bill that very summer with W.A.S.P. and Armoured Saint, Metallica got booed off the stage for real in Vancouver.  It must have been a B.C. thing… nobody could handle good metal.  So I tucked my Metallica tapes into my pockets and kept ‘em to myself. I only brought ‘em out when I had a crowd I knew could handle it.  A few of my friends got into the heavy stuff, but lots of ‘em were heavily influenced by Mr. Quigley’s negative reaction and remembered it til they couldn’t resist any longer.  And that’s exactly what happened.  When Metallica released their 3^rd studio album, "Master of Puppets", and head out on tour with Ozzy, the world couldn’t ignore or hate them anymore. 

The day one of Quigley’s buddies asked “have you heard that new band, Metallica?” I couldn’t resist.  It was fuckin redemption time.  Yeah buddy, I know them.  Remember Quigley smashing my tape at that party two YEARS ago?  THAT was your “new band” asshole. 

By this time, I had gotten into another band that I thought was just as good, if not better, than Metallica.  That band:  Anthrax.  Much more intense.  Much better drumming.  Much better singing.  Personality plus.  This band was MINE.  But I hadn’t hardly let anyone else in on it.  I just figured these fuckers weren’t ready for it… but they were now… 

I have to admit that their first album, “A Fistful Of Metal”, completely slipped under my radar but their second effort, “Spreading The Disease”, latched on and injected itself into my blood stream.  I was definitely infected with something which there was no cure.  “Among The Living” solidified my affliction and it was the voice of Joey Belladonna who filled my ears more than any other voice for the remainder of the 80’s. 

Anthrax had it all.  Heavy buzz saw guitars cranked louder n tighter than anything I’d ever heard.  Scott Ian and Danny Spitz were a guitar duo to be reckoned with.  Frank Bello on bass complimented the impossible drum talent of Charlie Benante, still one of my all-time faves.  Joey’s voice fit the bill perfectly.  With his angry lows and screaming highs, his range seemed infinite. They released covers on their B sides and on other compilations and when they covered a tune, they either did it BETTER than the original or they AT LEAST did the tune justice.  Case in point:  "Got The Time", "Friggin in the Riggin", "God Save the Queen", "Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath" and their boat load of Kiss classics like, "Parasite", "Watchin You" and "Love Her All I Can".

Not only did Anthrax’s music kick ass but their personality was what really set them apart from a lot of other bands.  Their huge E.P. “I’m The Man” was the album that coined the age old state of being: “NOT”.  Any time you hear “not” used in a sarcastic manner or as a joke, just know that it was the humble Scott Ian who invented that shit.  Now you know exactly where it came from.  They’d teamed up with Public Enemy for another tune called “Bring the Noise” which fused metal with rap just like “I’m The Man” and started a whole genre as short lived as it was.

I walked into the venue and there's Joey setting up a table with some CDs and T-Shirts hanging on the wall.  His bass player, RC was with him.  Not even 10 people in the venue and there he is.  Ready to please the fans.  I looked around and noticed nobody was going near him so I went over and thanked him for some of the best metal ever created.  Seeing as nobody was around, we yapped a bit about this n that and he told me his drummer was sick with pneumonia and didn't come with them.  He then told me instead of cancelling the dates, he said, "fuckit, I'm gonna play the drums tonight".  I thought that was a pretty ballsy move.  Joey isn't a "real" drummer.  He doesn't LIVE to play drums.  He's a singer, and a fuckin awesome one at that but to actually play drums AND sing?  Man, that's hard to do.  I'm a drummer and I can't even THINK about singing at the same time.

Well Joey stepped up and although he had his obvious mess ups on the kit, which his band mates laughed through, he never once butchered a song so bad they had to stop.  His singing is still dead on and the remainder of his band, Jack Frost on guitar and RC on bass, has clearly done their Anthrax homework. 

Ever the performer, Joey plowed through a pile of his own solo tunes complimented with some Anthrax classics such as "Medusa", "Madhouse", "Efilnikufesin", "Indians", "Got The Time", "Antisocial" and the pre-Joey classic, "Metal Thrashing Mad".  Opening for Joey were 3 or 4 bands, all comprised of at least 4 or 5 members so there were plenty of musicians in the house who KNEW every time Joey messed up. But I can guarantee you, not one of them gave a fuck.  I can guarantee you, some of the fuck ups made us smile or even laugh but we weren't laughing at Joey.  No fucking way.  We were laughing WITH him. Joey coulda cancelled the tour.  He coulda dragged in another drummer.  But no. Joey pulled out HIS drumming skills and proved to us you don't have to be technically perfect to get a point across.  And get the point across he did.  What point you ask??  How about the point that metal is supposed to be fuckin FUN man.  We all knew it.  Joey LOVES to play the drums.  He's no Neil Peart, he knows it, we know it, but Joey was having a great time, we were having a great time and Joey Belladonna rocked the fuck outta the Reverb that Monday nite.