5 More Great Concerts

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Slayer

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Lamb of God

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Anthrax

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Steve Miller Band

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Foreigner

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Another Tribute to TH

ANTHRAX's SCOTT IAN And 10-Year-Old Son Pay Musical Tribute To FOO FIGHTERS' TAYLOR HAWKINS

Live Music is Returning, right?

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Anthrax Meets Rush

Charlie Benante Covers "Freewill" by Rush

Getting the Rush Out

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Some Music Funnies

Testament,Anthrax, Lamb of God, Slayer at Jones Beach

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Anthrax Slums with SP

Steel Panther with Joey Belladonna (Anthrax) - Don't Stop Believin'

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My Newborn Son's Name is . . .

In an alternate reality, I didn't go to Mount Mercy College in the fall of 1988. Instead, I went to the University of Iowa. I would still be Catholic and go to the Newman Center. I would live in an apartment above Gabes and immerse myself into the Iowa City music scene. I would learn to love Slayer almost immediately so that when Megadeth / Slayer / Anthrax / Alice in Chains played the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids in summer 1991, I would be there, thrashing around in the mosh pit. I would have hair down to my ass because playing drums in countless bands would barely cover my rent. Then, someday, I would find a woman and have a son. We would name him Slayer because in that alternate reality, I would be the idiot described in the following tweet:

Try not to giggle when imagining the wedding vows for that alternate reality son because you know with a name like Slayer he would have to be the most-Christian man alive to combat the blatant non-Christian values proclaimed by the band. Hearing "I Slayer take you ... to be my wife..." in a Catholic church? Awesome sauce!

David Ellefson + Frank Bello Get Emotional on Cliff Burton + Music Therapy

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JJ

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In a Mood for Covers

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One More Four

Regarding Dave Mustaine thinks there ought to be another Big Four show prior to Slayer's retirement, in my opinion, if there is going to be another Big Four show, it should be held in Chicago, at Chicago Open Air 2020. That would be perfect (unless it is already being planned for Chicago Open Air 2019 in May 2019 - the lineup is being announced tomorrow.)

Editor's Note: Nope, there won't be a Big Four show at Chicago Open Air 2019, per these tour dates:
Source: Slayer Announce More North American Farewell Tour Dates; We’re Giving Away Tickets to Every Stop! December 10th, 2018 at 10:00am:
5/2/19 Phoenix, AZ Ak-Chin Pavilion
5/3/19 Albuqueque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
5/5/19 El Paso, TX UTEP/Don Haskins Center
5/7/19 McAllen, TX Bert Ogden Arena
5/8/19 Irving, TX The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
5/10/19 Tampa, FL MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
5/11/19 West Palm Beach, FL Coral Sky in West Palm Beach
5/13/19 Huntington, WV Big Sandy Superstore Arena
5/14/19 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
5/16/19 Indianapolis, IN Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
5/17/19 Bonner Springs, KS Providence Medical Center Amphitheater

Chicago Open Air 2019 is 5/18 & 5/19 so it would have to happen on Saturday, May 18

5/19/19 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theater
5/20/19 Youngstown, OH Coveli Centre
5/22/19 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
5/24/19 Camden, NJ BB&T Pavilion
5/25/19 Mansfield, MA The Xfinity Center

What Would It Take to Get the Other 2 of the Big Four on a Boat?

There's going to be some heavy metal on a boat in October 2019, per this link - Megadeth Expand Lineup For Their Megacruise - and this picture:

I see 2 of the Big Four on this cruise: Megadeth & Anthrax.

I am just asking a question. How much $ would it take to get Slayer & Metallica on that cruise? I don't mean to ignite a 'who's a better?' band - because, clearly, I would vote Metallica. The reason this is being tossed around in my brain is because Dave Mustaine has publicly said he would like to do additional Big Four shows. Here's the perfect opportunity to do that. It's his cruise - he can have anyone he wants play . . . which leads to the question I asked above: how much $ would it take to get Slayer and Metallica to join the Megacruise?

Brilliant!

The equivalent of The Onion for heavy music fans is MetalSucks.net which I have linked to elsewhere on this blog. The latest funny thing that they posted is this article: Clickbait Magazine Says These are the 25 Best Metal Albums of All Time. In case you don't want to leave this page to view their Top 25, here they are:

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25. Sunn O))) - Monoliths and Dimensions
24. Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
23. Napalm Death - From Enslavement to Obliteration
22. Black Sabbath - The Eternal Idol
21. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
20. Tool - 10,000 Days
19. Slayer - God Hates Us All
18. Slipknot - All Hope is Gone
17. Ozzy Osbourne - Ozzmosis
16. In Flames - Soundtrack to Your Escape
15. Korn - Korn III: Remember Who You Are
14. Morbid Angel - Heretic
13. Suicide Silence - Suicide Silence
12. Megadeth - The System Has Failed
11. Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death
10. Pantera - Reinventing the Steel
9. Lamb of God - Wrath
8. Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution
7. Damn Yankees - Don’t Tread
6. Mötley Crüe - New Tattoo
5. Anthrax - Stomp 442
4. Guns N’ Roses - “The Spaghetti Incident?”
3. Adema - Topple the Giants
2. Metallica - …And Justice for All
1. Jethro Tull - Crest of a Knave

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Just in case you aren't sure that it's meant to be interpreted as satire, there's this clue:

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My Perspective

From http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ozzy-osbourne-slayer-judas-priest-alice-in-chains-ghost-set-for-australias-download-festival/:

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As he approaches 70 later this year, Osbourne said he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren after five decades on the road. "I love my work, it's amazing ... Jack's three little girls," he said. "They are wonderful, except when they come over to the house, wreck it and leave."

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Meanwhile, this is the lineup for Download in Austrailia and, well, 1 - 6, 8, 9, 12 are good... so that's 9 out of 23 - 39% won't get me to buy a plane ticket to go see it.

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1. OZZY OSBOURNE
2. SLAYER
3. JUDAS PRIEST
4. ALICE IN CHAINS
5. GHOST
6. RISE AGAINST
7. THE AMITY AFFLICTION
8. ANTHRAX
9. HALESTORM
10. BEHEMOTH
11. ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES
12. I PREVAIL
13. CONVERGE
14. FRENZAL RHOMB
15. LUCA BRASI
16. CODE ORANGE
17. ANDY BLACK
18. THE FEVER 333
19. WAR ON WOMEN
20. HIGH TENSION
21. OUTRIGHT
22. RUINS
23. ALIEN WEAPONRY

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Coolest of the Big Four Thaws

This article - Anthrax Drummer: “I’m Old and Out of Touch” March 28th, 2018 at 5:01pm - has a killer opening sentence:

Man, wasn’t I just singing the praises of Anthrax and how they’re currently the coolest Big 4 band going?

Not only is it a great hook to make me want to read the article, it made me think about Anthrax and July 2017:

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Look at other Chicago Open Air videos here.

Why Met > Sla - Meg - Ant

The headline asks "Why Did METALLICA's Commercial Success Eclipse That Of Other 'Big Four' Bands? but I don't need to read the article to say I know why. It's really simple. Slayer had too much of an occult, blood, and murder aura that surrounded them. Megadeth had a string of good commercially successful albums - "Countdown to Extinction" "Cryptic Writings" among them - with a string of good commercially successful singles, but because Dave Mustaine had been involved in a stupid feud with Metallica, people attached that aura to the band. Anthrax has never really been a commercial band in that their catalog has been a barren wasteland of radio-friendly singles that would get people interested in the band.

None of the above is meant to be a slam to Slayer, Megadeth, or Anthrax so don't read as if I'm trashing 3/4ths of the Big Four. I can say that when Alex and I watched Megadeth & Anthrax at Chicago Open Air, it was obvious Alex wasn't digging either band's music, though I likely failed in properly educating him prior to seeing Megadeth & Anthrax at Chicago Open Air.

Here's a video from the article above during which Lars Ulrich says words about the subject.

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Another Big Four Leaving the Gang of Four?

Are Anthrax next? First it was Slayer and now after reading Anthrax Drummer Ponders Band’s Future in Light of Slayer Farewell, I have to wonder if Anthrax is next! If so, it makes me very happy to know I (finally) saw them in concert so, if they are going to be "done" soon, I know I've seen all 4 of the Big Four (Metallica x 5, Megadeth x 2, Anthrax x 1, Slayer x 1). I adore their cover of "Carry On Wayward Son!"

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Revolving Doors!

When you look at these 5 pages, you might be put off by how many times the band's lineup has changed. I don't really think that's appropriate. There are bands that are not as popular or as well-known as these 5 bands who change their lineup at least as frequently as these 5. The difference is that sites like blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com, and other metal music websites are around to write about the changes and, sometimes unfortunately, provide fans with a place to voice their pleasure (or displeasure) with the change.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Black_Sabbath_band_members
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cradle_of_Filth_members
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Megadeth_band_members
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Quiet_Riot_members
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.A.S.P.#Members 

I could have easily listed Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Testament, Queensryche, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest instead of the above 5. What started me down this path was thinking about Cradle of Filth because I just found out I downloaded https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptoriana_%E2%80%93_The_Seductiveness_of_Decay from Youtube.com, including this (ahem) gem:

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