Guitarist talks about the relationship between the bands
In an interview with Bravewords, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian spoke about the relationship between the Big Four thrash metal bands and revealed his favorite albums from each of them. When asked if he listens to the latest releases from Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth, Ian said:
“There’s no competition, I’m a fan of everyone. I always want to know what they’re doing. Sometimes I get really lucky and Kerry King comes to play new compositions for me backstage, before the songs even have vocals. We’re all close, and I think I can say that for sure. The fact that everyone is performing at the level they are, and the number of times we see each other… I think I did 200 shows with Slayer last year! So I can say we’re all pretty close.”.
We may not see each other every day, but there's a connection. I can't speak for other people in other bands. Like, are Kerry [King], Dave [Mustaine], or Kirk [Hammett] paying attention to what we're doing? If I had to guess, I'd say yes. We all pay attention to what each other does because we come from the same place. I'm genuinely curious to see what the next riff Mustaine is going to write is, or the riffs James has been doing on the new album. I'm a fan. I'm curious. So I always pay attention.”
The interviewer then asks Ian, as a fan, which albums really caught his attention: “In our history? Well, my favorite Metallica album is “Master Of Puppets”, my favorite Slayer album is “Reign In Blood” and my favorite Megadeth album is “Peace Sells”.