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I dunno about throwing Frank out. There was definitely a fight between the two, but seemed like Frank left on his own accord rather than deal with Dan.
Frank actually left the band while John Bush was still the singer, and Joey Vera did The Greater Of Two Evils tour opening for Dio. Frank went on to join Helmet for a period of time. But he rejoined Anthrax when the Joey Belladonna/Dan Spitz reunion happened in 2005.Anthrax442 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:07 amI dunno about throwing Frank out. There was definitely a fight between the two, but seemed like Frank left on his own accord rather than deal with Dan.
All the poop jokes/stories aside, the Dan being shitty to Pearl while drunk is the most believable. He apparently was a raging alcoholic, and I don't think the band realized how bad it was when they hired him originally.
But as far as who really knows what happened, I think that's limited to the band members and the lawyers. They've done a good job of keeping that quiet, I'm sure NDAs all around. There wasn't a second of mentioning that era when they did the 40th anniversary documentary, and they even whitewashed the first Joey reunion, by basically just stating that things had kind of run their course after We've Come For You All, and that when the Big 4 opportunity came calling, it was time for them to get their shit together.
Little insulting to Danny Spitz to ignore that part, if you ask me, but I understand why they did it.
Frank left in 2004, while John Bush was still the frontman. He rejoined by the time the first Belladonna reunion occurred. Frank was in the band the entire time Dan Nelson was in the band.ijwthstd wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:35 am I can only see the teaser on google, can't get page to load but I definitely remember this
https://thegauntlet.com/article/29/1299 ... thrax.html
According to our sources, Charlie Benante and Frank Bello were arguing over publishing money and Frank hit vocalist Dan Nelson. Charlie Benante fired Frank on the spot.
Correct, it wasn't Frank's first time leaving, which is also why it wasn't too surprising when he had issues during the Dan era.Deege wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:28 am
Frank actually left the band while John Bush was still the singer, and Joey Vera did The Greater Of Two Evils tour opening for Dio. Frank went on to join Helmet for a period of time. But he rejoined Anthrax when the Joey Belladonna/Dan Spitz reunion happened in 2005.
That reunion fizzled out soon after and John wouldn't come back (but Caggiano did) so they started working with Dan Nelson. I think that all went off the rails, I remember an interview that Dan and Charlie did together and Dan Nelson was embarrassingly drunk. I am sure his alcoholism probably played a huge part. I also heard a story about him trying to put the moves on Pearl and pissing Scott off and that was the end of it. People kept joking about him shitting on someone's back or doing an upper decker on the bus and I think that was literally someone on this forum joking around and people kept repeating it to the point where a lot of people think that's the reason and it's probably just a funny made up story that people took seriously for some reason because it was repeated so much.
Nope, he left twice. Basically, Dan and Frank got in a fight, and Frank was like, "I'm done". They were working on what would eventually be Worship Music at the time, and Vera played a handful of shows with them again in 2008.Deege wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:56 amFrank left in 2004, while John Bush was still the frontman. He rejoined by the time the first Belladonna reunion occurred. Frank was in the band the entire time Dan Nelson was in the band.ijwthstd wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:35 am I can only see the teaser on google, can't get page to load but I definitely remember this
https://thegauntlet.com/article/29/1299 ... thrax.html
According to our sources, Charlie Benante and Frank Bello were arguing over publishing money and Frank hit vocalist Dan Nelson. Charlie Benante fired Frank on the spot.
This cant be right, solely because the whole "Dan was fired for shitting on Franks back in the tour bus" wouldnt have gotten off the ground if Frank wasnt in the band at the time.Anthrax442 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:06 amNope, he left twice. Basically, Dan and Frank got in a fight, and Frank was like, "I'm done". They were working on what would eventually be Worship Music at the time, and Vera played a handful of shows with them again in 2008.Deege wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:56 amFrank left in 2004, while John Bush was still the frontman. He rejoined by the time the first Belladonna reunion occurred. Frank was in the band the entire time Dan Nelson was in the band.ijwthstd wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:35 am I can only see the teaser on google, can't get page to load but I definitely remember this
https://thegauntlet.com/article/29/1299 ... thrax.html
According to our sources, Charlie Benante and Frank Bello were arguing over publishing money and Frank hit vocalist Dan Nelson. Charlie Benante fired Frank on the spot.
Then when Dan got fired a few months later, Frank came back.
Yeah, you're right. Frank definitely left for a bit during the Dan era, but I guess they must have patched things up, and then when whatever happened the second time was the final straw. Like, somehow Scott was okay with Frank being fucked with, but Pearl was over the line.HueyRamone wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:12 amThis cant be right, solely because the whole "Dan was fired for shitting on Franks back in the tour bus" wouldnt have gotten off the ground if Frank wasnt in the band at the time.Anthrax442 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:06 amNope, he left twice. Basically, Dan and Frank got in a fight, and Frank was like, "I'm done". They were working on what would eventually be Worship Music at the time, and Vera played a handful of shows with them again in 2008.
Then when Dan got fired a few months later, Frank came back.
That's all I got.
Terms of the lawsuit may prohibit him from doing so. So maybe they can ask him why he beat up that old man in a hotel lounge.Rocker4Real wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:15 am The podcast hosts need to track him down to get his side!
^^^This. Me remembering the name "'Frank ' Ole Shitback' Bello" is not some example of the Mandela Effect.HueyRamone wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:12 amThis cant be right, solely because the whole "Dan was fired for shitting on Franks back in the tour bus" wouldnt have gotten off the ground if Frank wasnt in the band at the time.Anthrax442 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:06 amNope, he left twice. Basically, Dan and Frank got in a fight, and Frank was like, "I'm done". They were working on what would eventually be Worship Music at the time, and Vera played a handful of shows with them again in 2008.
Then when Dan got fired a few months later, Frank came back.
That's all I got.
He missed one gig in Montreal that Vera filled in for but I don't recall Frankie being out for long during that "era." Seems like something happened major happened at Rocklahoma 2009. We have the interview where he's wasted and Benante looks pissed and he was gone the next day.Anthrax442 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:16 amYeah, you're right. Frank definitely left for a bit during the Dan era, but I guess they must have patched things up, and then when whatever happened the second time was the final straw. Like, somehow Scott was okay with Frank being fucked with, but Pearl was over the line.HueyRamone wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:12 amThis cant be right, solely because the whole "Dan was fired for shitting on Franks back in the tour bus" wouldnt have gotten off the ground if Frank wasnt in the band at the time.Anthrax442 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:06 am
Nope, he left twice. Basically, Dan and Frank got in a fight, and Frank was like, "I'm done". They were working on what would eventually be Worship Music at the time, and Vera played a handful of shows with them again in 2008.
Then when Dan got fired a few months later, Frank came back.
That's all I got.
Sorry, it's been almost twenty years, shit gets hazy.
OK, this does lend credence to the notion that Frankie was out of the band for a bit. THis is Nelson talking about his first days with the band which wouldv'e been 07.You can do John and Joey stuff.' And I was, like, 'Wow! Cool.' And they were, like, 'You wanna do ANTHRAX instead? And we'll get a bass player.' And I said, 'What about the bass player you've got?' And they were, like, 'We'll talk about that.' And then one thing led to the next, and it became ANTHRAX with me singing and Rob back on guitar."
Because they’ve been wanting to sound like Pantera since 1992.Sebastian’s Codpiece wrote: ↑Tue Aug 19, 2025 1:50 pm Since we’re talking Anthrax singers, why did they originally shit can Joey, and why were they hesitant to bring him back full time?
This. They couldn't deal with having a great clean singer in the band, so they replaced him with a mediocre Anselmo-type singer.VinceLeeRose wrote: ↑Tue Aug 19, 2025 3:01 pmBecause they’ve been wanting to sound like Pantera since 1992.Sebastian’s Codpiece wrote: ↑Tue Aug 19, 2025 1:50 pm Since we’re talking Anthrax singers, why did they originally shit can Joey, and why were they hesitant to bring him back full time?
In all seriousness, they WERE really close with Dimebag. He had played on the last three records at that point.HueyRamone wrote: ↑Tue Aug 19, 2025 4:07 pm
This. They couldn't deal with having a great clean singer in the band, so they replaced him with a mediocre Anselmo-type singer.
Deege wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:28 amAnthrax442 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:07 amijwthstd wrote: ↑Mon Aug 18, 2025 7:35 am
People kept joking about him shitting on someone's back or doing an upper decker on the bus and I think that was literally someone on this forum joking around and people kept repeating it to the point where a lot of people think that's the reason and it's probably just a funny made up story that people took seriously for some reason because it was repeated so much.
You are not taking this away from me. It absolutely happened. Fuck.