ANTHRAX – “Spreading The Disease” 30th Anniversary Release Details

“We wanted to do something special for our fans to celebrate the anniversary of ‘Spreading the Disease,'” said Anthrax’s Charlie Benante. “We took the idea to Universal a couple of years ago and have been very hands-on with them, creating this special, deluxe edition that we think our fans will really like.”

In addition to the original album’s nine tracks, the two-disc anniversary edition features previously unreleased bonus material including Joey Belladonna’s 1984 demo recording of the song “Medusa,” nine rhythm tracks from Anthrax recordings also done in 1984 – no vocals, no overdubs or sweetening, just drums, some guitar, a bit of bass, showing the songs in their naked, most basic form – and eight live songs from Anthrax’s 1987, first-ever concert in Japan, held at Tokyo’s Sun Plaza.

“‘STD’ was our first real record on a major label,” said Benante. “We were on a roll with that album, and we wanted to perform those songs as close to the album versions as possible. I think the performances show the excitement of a young band that was on its way, so we wanted to have them on this reissue.”

Produced by Anthrax with Carl Canedy, the 44-minute Spreading the Disease marked the first Anthrax album to feature singer Belladonna and bassist Frank Bello (joining drummer Benante and guitarists Dan Spitz & Scott Ian), and set into motion the core elements that would become the essence of Anthrax. In addition, the album also introduced the Anthrax writing partnership of Benante and Ian (that eventually evolved into Benante, Ian and Bello).

The track listing for the 30th anniversary edition will be as follows:

Disc One
A.I.R.
Lone Justice
Madhouse
S.S.D./Stand or Fall
The Enemy
Aftershock
Armed and Dangerous
Medusa
Gung-Ho
Medusa (Joey Belladonna demo)

Disc Two
A.I.R. *
Metal Thrashing Mad *
The Enemy *
Madhouse *
Howling Furries *
Armed And Dangerous *
Gung-Ho *
Soldiers of Metal *
Lone Justice **
Gung-Ho **
Metal Thrashing Mad **
Raise Hell **
Stand Or Fall **
Aftershock **
Armed And Dangerous **
Madhouse **
The Enemy **

* Live at Sun Plaza (Tokyo) 1987
** Rhythm track tape, 1984

Source: metalunderground

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