Anthrax's Scott Ian Sounds Off On Public Enemy Rock Hall Induction
. A true champion of heavy metal, Ian's band Anthrax is among the "Big Four" of thrash (along with Slayer, Megadeth and Hall of Famers Metallica). His band also has a serious jones for classic rock: their new EP, Anthems, sees them covering classic rock songs by Boston, Journey, Cheap Trick, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC and Rush. But Ian doesn't have the bias against hip-hop that perhaps some of his peers might. "Hip-hop for me – or let's call it 'rap,' that's what I called it – from, say, 1981 to 1993, I was into that as I was into any other kind of music," he tells Radio.com. Indeed, Anthrax experimented with rap on their 1987 track "I'm The Man," which was something of a novelty. A few years later, in 1991, they collaborated with Public Enemy on a thrash metal update of PE's "Bring The Noise." And while some cross-genre collaborations reek of marketing department experiments, this was a collaboration that was prompted by Ian. "In 1986, '87 and '88, Public Enemy was my favorite band on the planet," he said. "They changed music. [Their 1987 album] It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, I compare that album to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or Guns 'N Roses' Appetite For Destruction or Led Zeppelin's "IV." It you make a list of albums that changed the world, that changed the way we hear music, that album has to be on that list. It was so mind-blowingly sonically different from anything that anyone had ever heard. It was lyrically so strong. And scary – in a good way. I used to think that it was a great thing that people were afraid of Public Enemy. A band could actually make people afraid! That's incredible that they could evoke that kind of emotion." What does Scott think about the worthy bands snubbed by the Rock Hall? Radio.com is an official news provider for antiMusic.com.
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