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\nOn November 20, three decades after its October 30, 1985 debut, Universal will release a special 30th anniversary edition of ANTHRAX’s classic “Spreading The Disease,” the band’s second studio album and the one that served as the then-budding thrash band’s breakthrough.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“‘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.”<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
The track listing for the 30th anniversary edition will be as follows:<\/p>\n
Disc One
\nA.I.R.
\nLone Justice
\nMadhouse
\nS.S.D.\/Stand or Fall
\nThe Enemy
\nAftershock
\nArmed and Dangerous
\nMedusa
\nGung-Ho
\nMedusa (Joey Belladonna demo)<\/p>\n
Disc Two
\nA.I.R. *
\nMetal Thrashing Mad *
\nThe Enemy *
\nMadhouse *
\nHowling Furries *
\nArmed And Dangerous *
\nGung-Ho *
\nSoldiers of Metal *
\nLone Justice **
\nGung-Ho **
\nMetal Thrashing Mad **
\nRaise Hell **
\nStand Or Fall **
\nAftershock **
\nArmed And Dangerous **
\nMadhouse **
\nThe Enemy **<\/p>\n