Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian recently spoke with The Quietus and looked back 30 years to reveal his favourite albums from 1986.

"It was a great time to be 22," says Ian. "I listened to a lot of good music in '86. And you know what, I still listen to all this stuff."

Iron Maiden – Somewhere In Time

Ian: "Maybe Maiden was never underappreciated! You know what though, I bet in 1979, way back when they first started, there were probably a lot of people who thought they were shit and then at some point claimed they'd loved Iron Maiden since day one. Every band goes through that. I was a massive Maiden fan. All the way through the '80s, the whole decade, I could safely say Maiden was my favourite band. They had never ever let me down. Every time they put out a record, I was fucking all over it, and I saw every tour. You could pick any year from the '80s and I would somehow fit a Maiden record into the list because they were my gods.

If you look at the transition they made from Piece Of Mind to Powerslave, where the songwriting really started to change a little bit, the longer songs started to come in, and then they get to Somewhere In Time. This is the transition record where they went from the Maiden of the '80s to the Maiden that would go into the '90s and the 2000s, with much more epic, longer songs. Granted, 'Rime Of The Ancient Mariner' was before this, but I still always looked at Somewhere In Time as a transitional record, going into Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son and all the records that came after that, even all the way up to now. The new Maiden record, I think, exists because of Somewhere In Time. I think the underrated track is 'The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner'. It's one of my favourite Maiden songs. I don't know if they ever play it live. I love that song."

Madonna – True Blue

Ian: "I was a massive Madonna fan, certainly in the '80s and into the '90s. At some point I kinda fell off but I love the first, like, five records. I just love good pop music and I thought she wrote great pop songs in the '80s, so this was right up my alley. Our agent, John Jackson, took Frankie Bello and I to see Madonna at Wembley Stadium in the summer of '87 and it was fucking incredible. I was a big Madonna fan. I still am. There are amazing pop songs on this record. Not all music is for all people, I understand that. There's plenty of crap I hate but for some reason Madonna moved me and not just because I thought she was hot but because I actually loved her songs. When I say I love pop music, I'm a bit of a dick about it because I don't love all pop music. For some reason, I connected with Madonna. I really felt the songwriting was great on this record."

Go to this location for Ian's complete list.

The video for "Blood Eagle Wings”, the epic eight-minute track from Anthrax's just-released album For All Kings, made it’s world premiere recently (streaming below). In this new video from Louder Noise, Scott Ian and Frank Bello talk about the creation of the song, which they consider the centerpiece of the new album.

“Blood Eagle Wings” video:

Five years after the release of Worship Music, Anthrax’s Grammy-nominated "comeback" album, For All Kings (Megaforce Records), the hotly-anticipated, 11th studio album from the thrash-masters finally found its way into the hands of fans last Friday, February 26th, and is off to a sizzling start at retail, radio and press.

All five band members - Joey Belladonna, Frank Bello, Charlie Benante, Scott Ian, and Jonathan Donais - all had something to say about this jewel in this new video clip:

Check out BraveWords scribe Aaron Small’s new Anthrax feature at this location.

For All Kings tracklisting:

CD1:
“You Gotta Believe”
“Monster At The End”
“For All Kings”
“Breathing Lightning”
“Suzerain”
“Evil Twin”
“Blood Eagle Wings”
“Defend/Avenge”
“All Of Them Thieves”
“This Battle Chose Us”
“Zero Tolerance”

CD2 (Bonus Live CD):
“Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t”
“A.I.R.”
“Caught In A Mosh”
“Madhouse”

Anthrax began their For All Kings World Tour on March 1st, opening for Iron Maiden in Monterrey, Mexico. Their complete live itinerary can be accessed here.

To read BraveWords scribe Martin Popoff's review of For All Kings, click here.