In 1985 New York based Anthrax relased Spreading the Disease. Heavily influenced by Iron Maiden and their manager Jon and Marsha Zazula's previous band Metallica, Anthrax combined thrash rhythymic sensibilities with melodic vocals and riffs born straight from punk.

Rhythym guitarist Scott Ian laid the foundation for a slab of metallic rhtythym by downpicking all his rhythyms just like Hetfield of Metallica while using the skin of his thumb to add thickness and texture to the riffs. Vocalist Joey Belladonna was the lone party man but offered melodic and diverse vocal ranges while the awesome rhythym tandem of Charlie Benante and Frank Bello set the framework for Ian and Dan Spitz's guitar intricacies.

The album opens with "A.I.R" which would become an Anthrax trademark using acronyms for songs. "Lone Justice", "Medusa", and "The Enemy" all utilize the Iron Maiden formula of using popular fiction, mythology, and history for song topics. The difference is Anthrax perform with virtuoso speed and precision with lead guitarist Dan Spitz ripping unconventional yet melodic solos to complement the versatile vocals of Belladona and punk backing vocals of Ian.

"Medusa" is simply an epic metal anthem with a classic riff and inspired vocals by Belladona. "Armed and Dangerous" opens with an ethereal and majestic clean picked passge only to evolve into a straight forward adrenalin blast of thrash. "Aftershcok" is an energetic thrasher and "A.I.R" has a memorable opening riff and great vocals from Belladonna. Anthrax had nearly reached the pinnacle of their abilities with this album and the debut of vocalist Joey Belladona. This is a thrash album that today sounds thin as far as production is concerned but is technically brilliant. In 1985 it was Atlantic records biggest thrash band and a landmark in production for speed metal and thrash bands during that era. Antrhrax went on to surpass this album with their masterpiece "Among The Living" but "Spreading The Disease" has long been recognized as an essential and devastating thrash album that should not be overlooked.

SPREADING THE DISEASE is Anthrax' finest hour. From the near-thrash of "A.I.R." to the grinding riffs and hooks of "Madhouse," to the all-out Speed Metal of "Gung-Ho," SPREADING THE DISEASE in an unrelenting classic. Joey Belladonna lends the album something their debut lacked - a strong sense of melody to go with the grinding power. Anthrax never really tried to return to this style, and although most of their material that followed was very good, they still haven't matched this album's quality or consistency (although SOUND OF WHITE NOISE came close). Not a Speed Metal album, STD is still a very heavy "Power Metal" album. And a GREAT one at that. -(And if you like this one, I also recommend Armored Saint's SYMBOL OF SALVATION and Flotsam And Jetsam's CUATRO and HIGH CD's)

As big of a fan as I was of Among the Living and Persistence of Time, I wasn't immediately drawn to this album. I can't really imagine why, but I didn't bother checking it out until a friend of mine bought a copy. I listened to that with him, and was highly impressed. This album can't quite match either AtL or PoT, but it's still of very high quality, and quite different from either of those, which makes it more than worth owning.

This album is substantially less thrashy than their following few albums. It's got much more of a NWOBHM feel with an obvious Iron Maiden influence. Frankly, it just barely qualifies as a thrash album. Still, despite stylistic differences, their talent is already apparent. Charlie is already a first rate thrash drummer, with a lot of energy and nice use of the double bass, and newcomer Bello's bass makes it presence known, unlike just about every other thrash bassist out there. Ian's rhythm guitar isn't a tight or sharp as it would become, but it's noticeably more melodic and can still thrash it up quite efficiently. Belladonna's vocals are also more melodic than they'd later be. He's a little over the top occasionally, but that's alright, especially in conjunction with the more light-hearted feel of the album.

Over the next couple albums Anthrax's lyrics became progressively more serious and dark. On Spreading the Disease, however, they are almost completely non-substantial or light hearted. This wouldn't work for every thrash band, or album, but it works here, and makes for an album which is more genuinely fun to listen to then lots of other high quality thrash albums. This is also more hook-driven then just about any other thrash album I've heard. Fortunately, they almost always work, and pretty much every track has a nicely melodic and immediately memorable chorus.(and a nice pre-chorus too, much of the time)

The big standout on this album is Lone Justice. Unspeakably catchy, but with the riffs to back it up. A.I.R. is a classic opener with all the energy that such a title entails. The closer, Gung-Ho is probably the thrashiest thing here, with an absolutely outstanding main riff, and a copmletely silly but still very enjoyable chorus/pre-chorus. The Enemy breaks the mood of the album, as it is a very serious minded song about Hitler/Holocaust etc. It still works, although it certainly isn't the best thing here. Stand or Fall and Aftershock are the relative weak points, but they are still some solid early thrash. Lastly, although the rest of the song doesn't stand up to some of the stronger material on the album, the intoduction to Armed & Dangerous is just great, perhaps the best part of the album. Great vox from Joey. Lots of melodrama, perhaps, but rather effecting as well.

Anthrax were one of the best thrash acts around, and this is one of their classic albums. Get it.

Fistful of Metal was a Kiss on speed sounding record, average vocalist, average songs, average band. On this recording, Spreading the Disease, new singer Joey Belladonna steps in and not only do the songs improve, so does the production and the overall product, as well as the band. Joey's voice really helped push this band. Modern day Anthrax is now sporting John Bush and the results are day and night, no longer classic Anthrax. There isn't a dud on this CD, the boys come at you with their "gang" backing vocals that help make these Anthrax songs. 9 great tracks, although there are A.I.R, Madhouse, Armed & Dangerous, and Lone Justice that rise to the top. This CD comes from a time when metal was new and we didn't have or worry about MTV. Their best behind "Among the Living".

this 1985 masterpiece from anthrax is the follow up to fistfull of metal,both are high quality metal discs,this disc is awesome!this disc along with others kickstarted the thrash/speed metal scene which had been growing since the early 80`s,to me this disc has it`s place in metal lore,along with slayer,metallica megadeath,exodus,known as the big 5 that basically changed the world of heavy music.this is a classic disc and anthrax is a classic band,