Anthrax Fistful Of Metal LP

Fistful Of Metal is the debut studio album by Anthrax, released in January, 1984 by Megaforce Records in the US and Music for Nations internationally. It includes a cover of Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen". This is the band's only album to feature original frontman Neil Turbin and original bassist Dan Lilker, who were replaced by Matt Fallon (and eventually by third vocalist Joey Belladonna) and Frank Bello, respectively.

Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released 9 studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene. When thrash metal began to gain a major following in the mid-to-late 1980s, Anthrax were dubbed one of the "big four" of thrash metal.

In the light of Anthrax's rise to fame in the Joey Belladonna era (the vocalist who ultimately replaced Turbin later in '84), it would be easy to dismiss Fistful of Metal as something of a false start for the band, an album released on an independent label with perhaps not the most pro-looking cover. However, that sells short the incredible impact that FOM had on the metal world upon its release. Following on the heels of Metallica's own debut, Kill 'Em All, on the very same label (Megaforce), it established Anthrax as the lords of East Coast thrash, a style with plenty of speed, more melody and a NWOBHM-influenced sound all its own. Metallica may have fired the first shot, but Anthrax returned fire with authority.