CLEVELAND Anthrax prepares to headline

By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Anthrax's Scott Ian has many memories of Cleveland, but the one that sticks out the most concerns something that actually never happened.
"A few years back we went to the [Rock and Roll] Hall of Fame and tried to convince [drummer] Charlie [Benante] to get up on the John Bonham kit and start playing it," said Ian, during a phone call to his Los Angeles home. "We were like, 'What's the worst thing that could happen?' Say you get arrested, you'll be out of jail in like three hours and we'll get such amazing publicity. But we couldn't talk him into doing it."
Aside from the band's moniker garnering some mainstream post-9/11 press with the anthrax scare, the influential thrash metal act has never been short of praise or publicity within the tight-knit hard rock world. From its 1985 breakthrough release "Spreading the Disease" to the 1991 landmark collaboration with rap-act Public Enemy on its single "Bring the Noise," this New York City group remained at the forefront of the unlikely intersection of punk energy and heavy metal vocals.
Dynamic changes
By the mid-'90s, the band dynamic changed with original lead singer Joel Belladonna being replaced with ex-Armored Saint vocalist John Bush, resulting in a hardened and quintessentially metal sound.
While Anthrax carried on, guitarist Ian said the time was right in 2005 to tour its original lineup. With Belladonna back in the fold, the five-piece hit the road, which is captured on the band's recently released live album "Alive 2." A DVD accompaniment, along with the two-CD retrospective "Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985 - 1991)" and its counterpart "Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985 - 1991) The Videos," recently hit the streets.
Still, fans are currently asking when they can expect new material from the original members.
"I don't know," Ian said. "We're going to start writing music and if Joey can sing it, and it sounds great, we'd certainly make a record. But we're just going to write songs like we always do and see what happens."
Currently on tour with Judas Priest, Anthrax makes a headlining appearance in Cleveland on Saturday at the Agora. Ian said writing sessions are scheduled for November and December and regardless of whether worthy material surfaces or not, the band will be back on the road in 2006.
For now, fans can expect a greatest hits show from a band that has never had a mainstream hit. Obligatory tracks in the set include "Caught in a Mosh," "Indians" and "I Am the Law."
As for the prospects of returning to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as an inductee someday (the influential band will be eligible in 2009), Ian isn't getting his hopes up.
"Other than probably a fun night to hang out, what does it do for anybody?" Ian said. "You have your moment in the sun and then the next day, it's gone and everybody forgets. I'm not belittling it. Anyone who gets inducted in there certainly have had amazing careers and belong there, but just the whole concept of it to me does not make that much sense, giving awards or these things for music. It's not something I think about."