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JOEY BELLADONNA GIVES AXL A DEAF WISH

 Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 at 3:00pm by

MetalSucks loses another intern to the sound of Joey Belladonna’s voice

There are myriad differences between formerly-two-time-former Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna and Devin Townsend. For example:

  • Townsend is a gifted multi-instrumentalist and a brilliant songwriter, and Scott Ian doesn’t even trust Belladonna to write his own lyrics or melodies.
  • Townsend recognized when the time had come for him to just shave his head, whereas Belladonna seems content to continue to look like a Mafia grandma.
  • Townsend’s brilliant cover of “New York, New York” completely disproved my theory that SIN-atra, a new, metal tribute to Ol’ Blue Eyes, would suck, while Belladonna’s version of “Strangers in the Night” goes out of its way to be the worst thing ever.

And I seriously have to keep asserting that this dude is inferior to John Bush? You heard last year’s Armored Saint album, right? Now go listen to this, and tell me: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH JOEY BELLADONNA’S VOICE? I’ve heard drunken friends do a better job with this song at karaoke. This is just embarrassing. It’s the rare performance that makes me wish they’d hire Adam D. to come in and autoLaBonte it.

This.

Is.

AWFUL.

How awful? When I sent Vince the link to get his thoughts, his only response was to send me the below photo:

But, yeah, Anthrax, don’t sweat this. You totally made the right choice by inviting Belladonna back into the band. Worship Music is gonna sound KILLER now.

-AR

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Reagan/520958920 Mike Reagan

    Joey is miles better than Bush could ever be.

    Bush sounds so generic, it’s ridiculous. I really don’t get all the praise he gets for his Anthrax work. There’s maybe 6 good songs from the Bush era.

    • Nick

      The entire Sound of White Noise album is amazing and the best album anthrax ever released period.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Reagan/520958920 Mike Reagan

        lol

    • Bierko

      You think Bush is generic because you’re a fucking malaka.

    • Blargh

      Who gives a fuck who has the ‘better voice’? By any measure, Bush’s voice (on its own) is clearly better. Again, who gives a fuck? Belladonna’s has character and made Anthrax instantly identifiable. No one sounds like that and to say it ruins the songs is fucking retarded. If you don’t think Spreading the Disease and Among the Living are the best Anthrax albums you, too, just may be retarded. They were an exciting band then. Now they’re simply generic with a generic sounding singer…and have been for a long fucking time.

    • matt

      Belladonna is Anthrax.Just saw them live and Joey kicked it! They were a sub-par 90′s replacement for a great band when John was with them. John was killer in early Armored Saint years. But the new album is horrible!!!

  • cougar party

    It’s pretty bad, but I think you’re over reacting.

  • Sacajawea

    That IS really bad. I like Joey more though. I used to like Bush more, but the MS hatred of Belladonna made me go back and listen and compare versions of classic Anthrax songs and I just found myself diggin’ the Belladonna versions more. Sorry.

  • Malamor

    holy fuck,that is the worst shit i ever heard.

  • Kuranes

    So that is stupid, but Joey with Anthrax is still great. And I love John Bush too.

  • soy el niño más bonito

    i’m gonna go out on a limb and say that john bush is a better singer, but anthrax wrote better songs with belladonna.

    that’s why i prefer belladonna-era anthrax.

    • http://twoja-stara-gra-metal.blog.onet.pl/ Simon

      1

    • SourDeez

      Absolutely right.

    • Painmonger

      69

  • Beowulf

    John Bush has so much soul and power in his voice. That new Armored Saint album was stellar. And his work with Anthrax is far superior than Joey’s. IMO.

  • Sean

    That was indeed terrible and I agree that Belladonna is inferior to Bush in every way.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jordan-Oates/1476540021 Jordan Oates

    Anybody who doesn’t think Anthrax’s best album is Spreading the Disease, Among the Living, or Persistence of Time is kidding themselves. That’s like saying Metallica’s best is Black Album or later. And I personally prefer Belladonna’s voice over Bush’s, I always thought his power metallish vocals helped make Anthrax unique.

    And his Sinatra cover does suck, but come on, Sinatra’s stuff is too low for his range. Imagine if Bush decided to cover like a Queensryche song, and not in a lower key .

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Shane-Tallent/100000411561578 Shane Tallent

      exactly, they just all around sound better with joey, you cant deny “indians” isnt one of the greatest songs anthrax wrote

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Daniel-Guzmn/570745539 Daniel Guzmán

    -Open link
    -Listen to the song while reading the description on the site on how powerful is Joey’s voice.
    -Stop the song
    -Continue listening to the new Obscura.

  • Dakotaw

    Uh belladonnas time with the band was their most successfull, S.O.W.N is amazing but Stomp up to We’ve come for you all was a low point.

    • Sickboy666

      Actually, WCFYA is a fantastic album.

      • colbow

        more actually, it is not

      • Dakotaw

        No lie I like WCFYA but it did not garner as much attention or popularity as it could have with Joey. Just saying, old thrashers want to see the Anthrax they know and love.

  • steverazor

    MAKE IT STOP !!!

  • Lycanthrope

    Belladonna sings like a tone-deaf drummer who’s still recovering from a stroke.

    • Bierko

      You mean Stephen Adler?

  • pigchop

    Belladonna fronted Anthrax please. Thank-you.

  • Mongorian

    Axls been annoying recently in a lot of his articles, but this definitely redeems him in my eyes. I srsly dont understand why joey is so overrated

  • SourDeez

    Holy shit, that’s terrible.

  • Mike87

    Joey sucks. The material was written for him and, for the most part, John STILL does a better job. Not Bush’s fault that they wrote mostly crap for him. Still like The Sound of White Noise a lot. But if this is going to be a true return to form (ie. the thrash of yore) then Belladonna is the worst choice. Lots of off-key and flat nonsense.

  • Adam

    Why do they constantly have to talk about Devin Fucking Townsend. Yeah, the dude is a great musician, but wtf, they should rename this god danmed site “www.DevinTownsendSucks.com” because thats all they fucking talk about.

    On a related note, I started listening to Anthrax with the “Greater of Two Evils” album, and once I went back and listened to the Belladonna era albums, I instantly preferred Joey. John Bush is definitely great though.

  • Big Hambone

    the joey slamming is old as hell guys

    Bushthrax was a steaming pile of shit

    WCFYA is a pile of shit

    Thank god Joey is back in the band.

    You might as well diss Maiden, Priest, King Diamond etc if you can’t handle Joey’s vox.

    • Nil

      Ok, I will. I was born in 1978 and didn’t listen to “metal” at that time b/c of crap like that. i hate gay, weak sounding vocals–men screaming like women, and that’s why I listened to “gansta” rap (not that there’s anything wrong with being gay though). Later I went back and discovered less feminine forms of metal and got into that.

      Death’s cover of Painkiller got me to take a second look at bands like Priest…I now respect them for their musicianship but if that’s all metal is, then I would keep listening to gansta rap. Thank god that big hair & falsetto era ended long ago.

      Btw, the falsetto or “men singing like women” thing is also my same complaint against idiots like Jon Davis…my daddy didn’t rape me and I don’t like to hear other grown men pretending to talk like little whiny girls.

      Bush is vastly superior to Belladonna b/c he has power in his voice and never tries to imitate an 8 year old. And yes, I loved The Sound of White Noise and WCFYA.

      • matt

        The fact that you even admitted to listening to gangsta rap totally ruined any credibility your statements had on this subject. Why are you even talking? Men screaming with power doesnt equivocate to singing like women. Bush didnt have the range to scream or he would have too.( He used to have the range, but he lost it). Do your homework before you speak of what you apparently know nothing. And the fact that you put the word METAL in quotations..”metal’.. shows you have no real opinion on the subject. You needed a second look at Priest????

        • Nil

          King Diamond…Judas Priest…it’s range…and yeah, power isn’t the right word to describe singers who don’t sing falsetto….not being homophobic, but it just “not gay singing”…i don’t know what to call it. NWOBHM and falsetto just sounds like gay hair metal to me….with all respect to their talents as musicians.

          There’s a place for falsetto in music…see Boston…it just sounds retarded in metal (Anselmo’s and Araya’s limited use of it in Pantera’s and Slayer’s early years notwithstanding). Falsetto is similar to uber-death cookie-monster vocals…it’s an example of the genre’s misstep.

          And no, i don’t have any regrets about listening to gangsta rap then. I didn’t have MTV and the only metal i saw were hair bands and NWOBHM. Once I finally listened to slayer and metallica (1989 or 90), i liked it. I would be the majority of idiots on this site have similar stories, just replace gangsta rap with numetal or punk or whatever. Where you born listening to Anthrax? You must have had one “London Bridge is Falling Down” moment before that…i think that pretty much destroys any credibility you have too.

          • matt

            Actually I do have many London Bridge is Falling Down moments. When I was a child. And many Beatles and Elvis moments also. And I’m sure there were probably many times when I caught myself singing a catchy Cindi Lauper tune or some other poppy song. You cant go through life hating all music to be a “true metalhead” like me without accepting the talents of other musicians and respecting the music that they do and the people that want to listen to it. I’ve listened to nu metal, punk, and even loved the hair bands before they got old. That being said, I am an educated person who open mindedly listened to gangsta rap and was so insulted by the fact that these gangsters,not gangstas,(an illiterate term) not only had record contracts, but were actually making millions off of bored kids who didnt have the mindset to see how ignorant these low lifes were and still are. NO RESPECT for that. Period. My weakest moments never made me succeptible to that music sampling (stealing), ignorance spewing, futile attempt at music.
            Is all falsetto great? No. Not by any means. Lizzy Borden used it way too much sometimes. It still kicked!! He’s one of the best! Even the mighty Bruce Dickinson can over do it at times. Its still the shit!!

            There is also some amazing “hair metal” out there that wasnt totally ruined by the radio. Mainly because no one heard it.

            I wonder if the fact that Rob Halford is gay actually sways your opinon of some of the falsetto singers. You speak alot of “gay singing”.

    • Lev

      100000

  • Sandblast

    John Bush just isn’t Anthrax. Joey was the singer for all of the memorable (good) material. John Bush was Scott Ian’s attempt to make Anthrax heavier, and while they went heavier they sacrificed musical quality. The John Bush era is very forgettable

  • Daniel

    LOL – anyone who thinks that Joey Belladonna’s “musical quality” is better than John Bush either has had their bleeding ears crusted over for 25 years, has Parkinson’s Disease, or is a current member of Anthrax.

    Look, you can make a case for nostalgia – shit, people did it when John Corabi replaced Vince Neil in Motley Crue – but you can’t seriously argue for a second that Joey Belladonna is a better singer than John Bush – Just like you really can’t argue that Neil is a better singer than Corabi.

    • GoingDeaf?

      I doubt anyone would argue that Joey is technically a better singer. He is, however, a better singer for Anthrax. Dio was a better singer by far than Ozzy… which Black Sabbath is better?

    • Sandblast

      I said the Band as a whole – musical quality was better. Not Joey in Particular, but the truth is Joey is a Better voice for Anthrax. Not the pseudo tough guy that the 90′s incarnation of Anthrax brought us. John Bush couldn’t sing the old material well, that’s just a fact. Let me put it this way, Joey = Anthrax, John Bush = Armored Saint. Leave it that way.

  • Isaac

    I like both, personally, though I think that Fistful of Metal was their best album, so that honor goes to neither, I suppose.
    Persistence of Time was fucking sweet, though, as was Among the Living, both of which I think are underrated.

  • !!!

    Alright Axl, I concede: Belladonna sounds like shit on this track. You now have my blessing to continue your assaults on him. (Not that you give a shit anyway).

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/MetalMatt-Longo/550940900 MetalMatt Longo

    I was tolerant… but you completely lost me at the “dooby-dooby-doos” there, Joey.

  • vedicardi

    he’s just trying too hard lol

  • VoP
  • Dean

    The Anthrax vocalist debate got silly years ago, but it is one of the most reliable things on this site other than (usually) recommendations of bands that my ears find uninspiring to the point of being shit.

    Myself, I find the Italian Grandma singing about how (s)he is “the man” laughable at best. Joey just makes me want to put my combat-boot-clad foot up his arse and see if he takes off. But the whole part about Dio being a better vocalist than Ozzy puts it in great perspective.

    Songs like Packaged Rebellion exemplify why bands like Sigh or Therion gain instant admission to my collection whilst the poseur garbage this site often drops its pants for is getting ignored. I have never heard a song with more generic rhythms or uninspired lyrics, and I speak as someone who spent near to twenty years remembering Black Lodge.

    Some bands make major changes to their lineup and bring together elements that make them a cut above all else. Cruciform exemplified this on the Paradox demo. Anthrax is a polar opposite. It’s either good or decent music with a shitty vocalist, or ho-hum music with the occasional flash of goodness and a good vocalist.

    But I guarantee you there is no way Anthrax could have done that Married… With Children episode with Joey.

  • Brian Roach

    the Anthrax thing is old, and mainly it’s because it’s over. Bush doesn’t want to come back, isn’t interested in the kind of touring that Anthrax will have to do to re-establish any credibility, and Belladonna is willing to do whatever he’s asked to do. So it’s really not about who’s better, Bush simply doesn’t want to do it, thus Belladonna…

  • Vikingfromhell890

    Anthrax in the 80′s = gold. Anthrax in the 90′s = Pantera

    • Dean

      Yeah, nothing says “gold” like a little Italian woman whom my father and I could kick back in place with both legs tied to our shoulders singing about how he will kick “you and your father” back in place. Please.

      Bush-era material is patchy at best, please do not get me wrong, but at least some of that material got a response out of me other than pointing and laughing.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthias-Raymond-Wilhelm-Haag/814986051 Matthias Raymond Wilhelm Haag

    actually it is seeing as when john bush joined he co-wrote alot of the songs from sound all the way to wcfya shit even a couple new ones that havent been released yet open the album pamphlet and try and prove me wrong