1990: "Belly of the Beast", Anthrax

Like Slayer, Anthrax was also attempting to rebound from a divisive album, but in their case it wasn't so much that State of Euphoria had divided fans as it was that fans almost universally considered it a mediocre follow up to their career peak, Among the Living. Unlike Slayer, however, Anthrax didn't change much, instead just taking a little more time to solidify compelling material and eschewing the occasional tongue-in-cheek lyrics of old in favor of more consistently addressing social ills this time out.

There are people who never really became big Anthrax fans until the John Bush era, but for those who are able to appreciate both lineups many would single out 1990's Persistence of Time as being either equal to or a close second with Among the Living as the peak of the band's artistic legacy. Anyway, to this day controversy reigns over who was the better singer, the embers no doubt being perpetually stoked by the revolving door at that position over the past 5+ years. John Bush has undoubtedly the better range, but it could be argued that Anthrax wrote the lion's share of their best material around Joey Belladonna's higher pitch.