Anthrax - Ranking the John Bush Albums

In 1992 Anthrax replaced singer Joey Belladonna, who had been fired, with John Bush, formerly (and currently) of Armored Saint. Bush went on to record four albums with Anthrax over the course of a decade:
- The Sound of White Noise
- Stomp 442
- Volume 8: The Threat is Real
- We've Come For You All
Bush was eventually re-replaced in 2005 with Joey Belladonna, who rejoined the band for an Among the Living reunion tour.
In this video I rank and discuss the albums from the John Bush era of the Anthrax discography, as well as talk about where this era fits in the overall history of Anthrax.
#anthraxband #heavymetal #metal

[@MetalHeadJagger]

The Song "Only" is probably the greatest John Bush Era Song Ever!! Its such a classic

[@WilderAutumnBlaze]

Nop. That's Inside Out or Safe Home probably, even the last one is not my favorite from the era (maybe Inside Out is, or Room For One More). There are some W.C.F.Y.A. tracks that may be best too, like Any Place But Here and Strap It On.

[@GarethAlan81]

I love John Bush era Anthrax. Stomp 442 and Volume 8 are such underrated albums.

[@WilderAutumnBlaze]

I always see you on videos from those albums. Love them too, in a special way. I don't get why people keep saying Volume 8 is their worst and I prefer it than Stomp 442, everyday, but Stomp 442 is a strong banger too, probably just don't grew up really well in me.

[@GarethAlan81]

@@WilderAutumnBlaze Haha. Yeah, I'm always commenting on John Bush videos. 😆

[@PaddyByrne931]

All the bush albums are class

[@PaddyByrne931]

Anthrax hit on a unique sound during the bush era, brilliant songs full of energy

[@dektrimusic]

Not to mention We've Come for You All, killer record...

[@PaddyByrne931]

John Bush era was amazing very unique

[@marshfilm]

I loved 80's Anthrax. But Sound of White Noise is my favorite album by them. 1000 Points of Hate is awesome! Love John's voice.

[@MichaelWhitted-gi4tt]

"Keep It in the Family" fits John FAR better than Joey.

[@MRJUCY]

John Bush was the best thing to ever happen to Anthrax

[@theviridiansons]

Totally! After they brought Joey back, I realized I actually am more of a john bush fan than an anthrax fan.

[@spacehamsterZH]

@@theviridiansons at least we got Armored Saint back that way. But yeah, Bushthrax > Belladonnatrax, and I will die on this hill.

[@MidwestBriar]

Among the Living made me love Anthrax. When I discovered it the album was over 10 years old. John Bush is the George Jones of Metal. Every album he sings lead on is a must listen especially his work with Anthrax.

[@user-zq7yw6hm9g]

Nah

[@jonathanpoots2421]

@@spacehamsterZH Not alone dude

[@CheddarTeddy]

Nice video. Volume 8 is a highly underrated album. Catharsis is a super track. Overall, I agree your rankings are correct. John Bush era is best anthrax era 👍🏼

[@NoneMoreMetal]

Thanks, I appreciate the comment.

[@Henry0870]

Angels in my hearts, Devils in my eyes!!!!!! Prefer the John Bush era over the Joey albums. I stopped listening after Among the Living. Started again when John joined. And more or less stopped again after that....

[@TheRonZombie]

John was the best thing to ever happen to Anthrax!

[@theviridiansons]

John Bush is actually Cosmo Kramer... Michael Richards. Not many people know that

[@user-zq7yw6hm9g]

Nah

[@BagEyes2009]

To me Sound of White Noise and We've Come for you all are the 2 best Bush era albums. I think SOWN is one of the Best Anthrax records period!!!

[@low_mans_lyric]

I prefer the Bush era Anthrax myself and I think you got these rankings correct. I like it.

[@ArcadeMusicTribute]

I saw them live with Bush and I also went and checked out Armored Saint on B:O:A. fest in 2006 just to hear Bush sing one more time. He's one of my alltime favorite singers!

[@JosephHubly-xh1zr]

Absolutely , bring back bush. We’ve come for you all one of the hardest albums ever

[@anthonyteague1067]

​@@JosephHubly-xh1zrfuck that. Only angry bald men like John in anthrax.

[@defier8483]

The sound of white noise is one of my favorite albums ever!

[@tristandunn4628]

I love John Bush and really prefer his voice. I loved hearing him sing the old tunes, too. That's just my opinion, though. As you've said, the 90s was a difficult era for thrash. Had that not have been the case, it would be interesting to see how things would have unfolded. I feel he was treated pretty badly with the whole reunion thing. That reunion and the ensuing mess afterwards was not a good time for the band. It's good that they now seem to be on a more even keel and have some consistency

[@NoneMoreMetal]

Anthrax (well, Scott and Charlie) have definitely handled some of the personnel changes poorly over the years. Even to this day, Joey gives interviews about how he feels like an outsider within the band.

[@bunglefever100]

You totally nailed it in you review! John Bush is one of the greatest voices in Metal and brought a much broader pallet of colours to the sound of Anthrax. As much as I love the Joey albums, John's voice is a totally different beast and made a huge contribution to the developement of the band's sound.

[@fritzgw7094]

Sound of White is always be one of my Top 5 Favorite Anthrax album of all time! John Bush is amazing powerful frontman for Anthrax!

[@gagadreams]

No way, Sound of White Noise is one of my favorite albums of all time! 🤘

[@NoneMoreMetal]

I'm also a huge fan of Sound of White Noise. It pulled me the very first time I listened to it.

[@Tango_Lima_]

Love Anthrax. Love both eras, but the John Bush era is UNDERRATED. The crazy achievement is following POT (a spectacular album with Joey) with White Noise (a spectacular album with John). These are so great and to make them back to back is impressive.

[@RicardoGarcia-xi5ho]

Huge fan of the Bush era.

[@tommybenitez3319]

The John bush era was awesome

[@aldersmoke1]

I absolutely love White Noise, but the rest of the Bush albums did very little for me. Not because of his singing, but because the songwriting took a nosedive. They went into this more rhythmic, borderline nu metal sound that they didn't really climb out of until Worship Music, although We've Come For You All was a step in the right direction.

[@PanSlayerA]

Stomp 442 is definitely one of my go to lifting albums. It just fucking jams front to back.

[@mgrocki]

Wtf... Volume 8 is so damn good. Prefer this over any earlier belladonna album.

[@GBP4874]

You and me both, volume 8 is the best Anthrax album of all time

[@gatortooth5928]

Volume 8 is the best!

[@carter358]

Bush is the greatest voice in modern rock and the best thing that ever happened to Anthrax. Immediately after waiting nearly a decade between albums - WCFYA to Worship Music - I'm just glad they're still making music. Charlie is the best song writer in heavy metal.

[@GhettoFabulous99]

The ENTIRE Bush era is nothing short of legendary.

[@ytr3488]

Singing wise but not musically

[@adidabax6809]

@@ytr3488 You're saying "I'm the Man" was more of a musical masterpiece?

[@TheRonZombie]

I started listening to Anthrax in 1984 and I absolutely believe that the John Bush era was by far the best!

[@MikeyAR7373]

I loved it and love John Bush and Armored Saint

[@marcikriz4108]

I love John Bush with Armored Saint and his Anthrax era. I heard a few of his new project , Category 7 and they are great too

[@danielhung7191]

John Bush was the best era of Anthrax

[@bengates1301]

IMO Sound of White Noise was Anthrax's masterpiece, and is one of my favorite metal albums of all time.

[@johnstahlman9767]

The best album though from this era is Greater of Two Evils, only complaint is there's no version of Antisocial on it.

[@user-fh7is2re5l]

Isn't it funny that Dimebag from Pantera only associated and appeared on the Anthrax albums that John Bush sang on? John Bush gave Anthrax the ball's it needed which is why Dimebag appeared on those albums!

[@carter358]

I just finished listening to Category 7. Although I'm glad Anthrax is still making music - there was almost a decade without them between WCFYA and Worship Music and it's been nearly decade once For All.Kings - Bush's voice on Category 7 will remind you of just how much his talent and intensity are missing from their recent albums.

[@ericdryden616]

Bush is amazing

[@NoneMoreMetal]

He is. He’s talked a couple of times about doing a tour of his own where he’s play the Anthrax songs from his era. I have my fingers crossed it actually happens.

[@ericdryden616]

@None More Metal that would be awesome, just saw them in St. Louis with W.A.S.P. not to long ago. Killer show for sure.

[@metalben005]

WCFYA is in my top 5 for Anthrax albums. Each song has such amazing energy.

[@13vansman]

Growing up in So Cal and hearing Armored Saint on the local radio stations, John Bush's voice and melodies are what I dig. I bought Fistful Of Metal used, and I couldn't get into it. I did like select songs from Spreading The Disease and the albums after,, but I was never crazy about the melody lines/phrasing of the vocals. I was thrilled to hear that John Bush had joined Anthrax. The Sound Of White Noise is by far my favorite Anthrax album, but I do recognize that it has more of a west coast sound than their typical east coast sound. I'm sure if I'd grown up on the east coast, I'd prefer Anthrax with Joey. Both are great, but if I had to choose one vocalist, it would be John.

[@Concatenate]

There's not a bad song on SOWN, every track kicks hard. It's one of my few "perfect" albums.

[@samaelfanii5372]

That was the BEST era of the band !!!

[@leonardobucci6801]

John Bush lo mejor de Anthrax!!

[@creamysauce7966]

Joey Belladonna is the singer of Anthrax for me. One and only.

[@NoneMoreMetal]

I suspect there's a decent amount of fans that feel that way. I'm not one of them, but I understand.

[@creamysauce7966]

@@NoneMoreMetal It's okay to have different opinions :) I'm just saying, for me, Joey is Anthrax :D

[@chadpace6291]

John Bush era kicks ass.

[@ytr3488]

John Bush is a great singer but the sound of white noise and the John Bush era anthrax album sucked not because of John Bush

[@hulagukhan123223]

Bush any day!

[@selfdiscardedkingofruin7291]

SOWN is often my overall favorite Anthrax album.

[@NoneMoreMetal]

That’s a good way to put it. I think I might exactly agree. Also: cool COC avatar.

[@Tango_Lima_]

I Love both eras, and you're EXACTLY right about White Noise, but WCFYA is the second best in my opinion. But I am also the person who thinks that Anthrax has never made a bad record.

[@iglesiasmarco]

Safe Home is a great song from their catalog. It's unique and is the only song that gives me chills and puts me in a place of introspection. I'm not surprised that Scott Ian said that it was the best song he's ever written.

[@jimmo42]

I am sooooo glad John Bush left Anthrax. If he hadn't, we never would have heard La Raza, Win Hands Down and Punching the Sky.

[@emswonkenoon9104]

John Bush without hesitation

[@saulleeman2494]

I have to say The Greater Of Two Evils is awesome, because of John. Belladonna OG but hey, Johns' sound and the energy 💪🏻💪🏻

[@irammendez8683]

BUSH BROUGHT OUT THE REAL THRAX

[@sianthorw5537]

totally agree with the list. As a fan of old Anthrax, I remember the calls of fans saying they have ditched Anthrax because they changed singers. I didnt care and fell in love with sound of white noise. Even Stomp has a few bangers, I mean " drop the ball" and American Pompeii". after that I found the bush era to be weak. The return of Joey ushered in a return of greatness

[@roaddog1973]

For me: #1 Sound of White Noise, #2 WCFYA, #3 Volume 8, #4 Stomp 442. I saw them 3 times during the early Bush years. Those were amazing and intense live shows in small clubs. Anthrax was definitely better live with John than Joey.

[@Patriot326]

John Bush albums were the best Anthrax albums, period

[@positivepsycho2932]

I like Belladonna and Bush eras. Ive never heard volume 8. But agree with the rankings overall. WCFYA I absolutely loved when it came out but doesnt hold up very well imho.

[@jimsmith7222]

Every song from Sound of White Noise is 10/10.

[@docvader82]

I love the Bush era. I liked them before the Bush era as well. The Greater of Two Evils was very cool as well. I wasn't sure I wanted Joey back, but bottom line they do bigger business with Joey. Joey did a fine job with the two recent albums, but I also could have seen Bush nailing most of those tracks as well. 4. Stomp 3. WCFYA 2. 8 1. White Noise White Noise is an overall Top 3 anthrax album for me.

[@McGillicuddy849]

i like all their singers and all their work

[@carter358]

Anthrax has been my favorite band since 1986. In the '80s I got in knock down, drag out fights defending them. I grew up on the Belladonna era. John Bush is the greatest voice in modern rock. I don't just mean heavy metal, I mean modern rock. He is the white James Brown. He has the blues in his voice. SOWN and POT are my favorite albums ever and it's obvious on POT that Bush should have been singing on that album. Admittedly the songwriting doesn't necessarily always hold up on the other Bush albums, but hearing bush sing the older stuff live so many times was amazing. Check out The Greater of Two Evils album. His version of In My world is incredible. Why in the world they left it off of the US version of that album I'll never know. They have made bad business decisions. They signed with Elektra and then fired Belladonna. Bad idea. Had they gotten Bush in that band with Among, no one would saying anything negative about him and to be honest, I think they would be as big as Metallica at this point. That Bush is not musically active these days is a tragedy and proof that the people running the music business have no idea what they are doing.

[@NoneMoreMetal]

Thanks for the well thought out comment. I’m in agreement that John is an amazing vocalist. I do love all of his Anthrax albums, and yes, The Greater of Two Evils is killer.

[@Henry0870]

Bush is still active with Armored Saint.

[@WilderAutumnBlaze]

On Stomp 442 and Volume 8, there was not just Charlie and Dime making the guitars, but ex-Meat Loaf, ex-Sebastian Bach Paul Crook aswell... I think he was not considered an official member, unfortunately, though. But I don't know because at the time themselves called Dimebag as their sixth member due to his solo and another collaborations (because he probably don't played the solos only, also he played with them live sometimes) and the existent close relation and relationship.

[@NoneMoreMetal]

Yup, Paul Crook is a great guitarist. My understanding is, John Bush is planning a tour featuring songs from his time with Anthrax, and Paul will be in the band for that tour. Should be pretty cool.

[@craigpatrick1]

Your rankings were spot on! Persistence of Time will always be my favorite Anthrax record though and looking back now I prefer the earlier stuff, Worship Music is a good example of why!

[@AbiARDH.Official]

Salute from Malaysia!

[@NoneMoreMetal]

Welcome. Good to hear from someone in Malaysia.

[@AbiARDH.Official]

@@NoneMoreMetal 🤘🤘keep it up bro, love your metal facts.

[@ytr3488]

@@NoneMoreMetal I'm from the country right next to Malaysia

[@ScottDaddyMac]

The Greater of Two Evils is what made me a huge Anthrax fan. Belladonna is a good singer, but Bush put them into a level I really liked.

[@backnfill]

John Bush amazing!

[@iwrutledge1]

Sound of White Noise is the band's best album so far...

[@nicholaschapman6763]

I liked John Bush better. i think they were heavier. I seen them with Bush 3 times.

[@retrosc88]

John Bush can sing all the old tunes as well as the newer material. The same can't be said about Belladonna

[@X-Factor-by2kz]

My order is #1 Sound of White Noise, #2 Volume 8, #3 Stomp 442, #4 WCFYA

[@reverendlee7617]

That is how I rate them too

[@JESSADONF]

Saw them live in in France in 2003 with JBush, one of my best live concert memories

[@kenairockband]

White noise is a masterpiece

[@sumonjamal1653]

Granted, the John Bush era of Anthrax was great in many aspects and has its fans... the fans spoke louder that they wanted Anthrax w/ Joe Belladonna on vocals. It showed in the concert ticket sales... It showed in the album sales... "We've come for you all" (2003) charted at #122 in the US... "Worship music' (2011) charted at #12 and sold near double the copies. I'd seen Anthrax w/ John Bush in 2003 co-headlining w/ Motorhead... and then, I saw Anthrax w/ Joe Belladonna sell out the same venue as a headline band.

[@NoneMoreMetal]

To be fair, you’re comparing the final Bush album to the first one after the band reunited with Joey, which undoubtedly got a sales bump from novelty alone. Along those same lines, Joey’s final album before the breakup (Persistence of Time) didn’t chart as well (24) as Bush’s first with the band (Sound of Whit Noise reached #7 in the US). I love both singers, but your stats where kind of cherry-picked.

[@pedrowein]

Te lo digo en español: John Bush fue el responsable de la resurreccion de Anthrax. Anthrax resucitó con la fuerza de Bush y su Music of Mass Destruction. Con Belladona Anthrax se había estancado. Y toda esa mezcla hizo posible la vuelta de Belladona y el mejor disco del metal de los últimos 10 años: For all Kings

[@billblaze752]

This is great nice work! Any idea what the meaning of Stomp 442 meaning is?

[@NoneMoreMetal]

Thanks! From what I remember from interviews from back then, “442” is a car related reference. A type of engine or something like that.

[@pierrebipi5621]

Analyse parfaite! J.Bush à permis à Anthrax de passer le cap des années fin 90/2000 . Belle disco que celle de J Bush qui est 1 excellent chanteur, amenant 1 gamme vocale plus large et plus contemporaine. Bush et Belladona sont 2 chanteurs iconiques...

[@deadred80]

Belladonna just throws his voice to be honest. He is one of those guys that drunk people at kateoke thinks sings good but he really don't.

[@ronin7183]

Jonny was the best era hands down.

[@stevenjammaer3908]

Sound of white noise was great.

[@smofla13]

i prefer john bush....suits anthrax better, sound of white noise is a belter start to finish

[@NoneMoreMetal]

Sound of White Noise is a classic for sure.

[@fewtureG]

I think they could have evolved without swapping singers in the 90's. Yeah John Bush is a great singer, but Anthrax had a sound and Belladonna contributed to that. Persistence of Time was a progression musically for Anthrax. I never got into the Bush era. It was like a completely different band.

[@drunk247]

I actually believe whole heartedly that Bush would've sounded better than Joey on Persistance.

[@NoneMoreMetal]

That's something I'd like to hear.

[@TOMG12XU]

Or the 80's

[@jasonrollins980]

John bush is great

[@tashafreese2082]

Stomp 442 was my soundtrack of my life in 1996 at 23.

[@stevenmccormackmusic]

My favorite Anthrax shows were the We have come for You All Era. The attitude and the aggression was off the charts. Never jived with Joey's voice as part of the big four. He's more of a Dio type vocalist. Didnt fit with the teen angst that I had and got from the other bands.

[@JazzyJonas]

Aha! I knew I heard a touch of Pantera influence in this era. Now I know why!

[@user-el5nk4kx5e]

Didn't you ever read the liner notes?

[@mainwaring1975]

Love all these albums the weakest would be Stomp. Still good though takes a lot of listening to get it imo

[@adidabax6809]

Sound of White Noise was a perfect album. That 1 album had more amazing songs, let alone the other 3. They even tried to get him back on tour after firing him bc THEY knew what he did for them. It's no question Bush was the best Anthrax singer.

[@DANIELRONCA716]

Volume 8 is highly underrated.

[@herbertsandla4444]

Absolutly agreed, I think John Bush was more involved in Songwriting, while joey was/is just the Singer

[@LeonLandgren-qt9pg]

Its awesome they brought dime along many times on albums. Ill check out better of.. I find sound of to be their best work.

[@jaysonlavictoire6076]

No, it wasn't a mistake. They have a lot of great songs but Joey is Anthrax. Love both singers.

[@samaelfanii5372]

4 - We've Come / 3 - Volume 8 / 2 - Sound Of White Noise / 1 - Stomp 442

[@diegorochacano2329]

John, es el mejor, The Best...

[@bassboi2001]

Joey ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@harisharis5639]

The main poblem with anthrax is that benante do all the songs.Without any disrespect to the man.

[@MarvDawk]

President Bush case can be made for best in heavy metal He kills on stomp 442 Bush rocks!

[@facurama]

2 evils is awesome! The best version of caught in a mosh is there

[@ferdeleste]

Viva 🙌🏽 John B! 🤛🏼🇦🇷🤘🏽

[@fry9700]

I’ll have to give the John Bush era another try. Everything I ever heard from that was utterly forgettable to me. I thought Joey Belladonna’s voice was the single thing that really set the band apart from all the other metal acts of the era.

[@scottblack9213]

My ratings : 1 : SOWN 2 : Stomp 442 3 : Vol 8 4 : WCFYA

[@marcintomaszbudner1979]

For is nr 1.Stomp 442. 2.Sound of White Noise. 3.Vol.8. 4.Weve come for you All. 5.The Great of two Evil. This is my John Bush Anthrax era ranking. !¡¡!

[@MarkTrujilloDesignsandMedia]

Well said

[@AnthonyOrsino]

Prefer Bush to Belladonna, but have always wondered if it would’ve been beneficial if they had changed their name outright cause the whole vibe is completely different

[@carter358]

Watched this again because the title alone pissed me off too much. They have been my favorite band once 1986. I grew up on the Belladonna era but when Bush joined that band they truly came into their own. SOWN is an album that you can put on right now, 30 years later, and it still sounds current. Beyond their work with him, he absolutely crushed the older songs. "In My World" always fustrated me because it was such an incredible song but Joey just didn't come through. Listen to John's version of it on the Japanese version of Two Evils. It's incredible. If anything was wrong about it, it was timing. They had just signed to Electra with Joey so of course he sued them, delaying SOWN by 6-8 months. Things changed so fast and 1991-92. Did those few months made a difference? YES. Beyond that, I think they had made the change as early as 1988, today they would now be close to where Metallica is. Of the Big Four, they were and are the best songwriters. Just listen to how the chorus evolves on "This Battle Chose Us" or the depth of a song like "Safe Home". Charlie is the most skilled and most creative drummer around. He doesn't just throw down beats, he goes beyond foundation and plays between the other instruments. Check out how he accents the lyrics on the second verse of " Bordello of Blood". He writes 90% of the music in that band. Dude s a genius. Some of you will always see the as a joke and that's too bad because I think that the end of the day they're the greatest heavy metal band on the planet.

[@jimmyjambhere]

I love Joey & John the same!!! Both are amazing!!! Never liked Neil Turbin and thankful they never recorded with Dan Nelson!! 😂 also Volume 8 crushes!!!!

[@PaddyByrne931]

Vol 8 is brilliant

[@vasilisxerikos2179]

SOWN is their best work, to this day.

[@Traductus5972]

The only mistake with the John Bush era was there wasn't a version of Antisocial on Greater of Two Evils