Anthrax: Stupid Americans Won’t Buy Our Record

Anthrax’s latest effort ‘We’ve Come For You All’ has seen album sales that have been disappointing. and drummer Charlie Benante is tackling the issue with Brendan Manley of the Long Island Press. “We’re very happy with [the record],” says Benante by phone from his Pittsburgh hotel room. “We just want it to start selling more. Whoever has it loves it. It’s just [a matter of] reaching these other people that are just sleepin’.” For the lack of sales and attention, Benante blames current trends in American pop music, which he says place a premium on hit singles and star quality. “I think that people [in America] are just stupid,” he said, prehaps insulting his potential target audience. “They are not like the Europeans. The Europeans fu**in’ love it, ya know? They love their music; they’re loyal. See, over there, it’s about the record, it’s about the band. Over here it’s about the fu**ing song. … It just doesn’t make sense to me sometimes. What happened here? It’s sad.”