Anthrax’s Rob Caggiano: The Music Industry Needs to Change

Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano is no doubt stoked about the band’s latest album, 'Worship Music,' which finally saw the light of day Sept. 12, and their killer Big 4 appearance with Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer at Yankee Stadium two weeks back. But, the legendary six-stringer isn’t so optimistic when it comes to the state of today’s music business.

In fact, Caggiano insists that given the decline of rock clubs around their old stomping grounds of the Bronx, plus the current state of the music industry, Anthrax would have literally no shot at “making it” if they were cutting their first riffs starting out today.

“There’s no artist development,” Caggiano, who now lives in Manhattan, told YourNabe.com. “You had A&Rs going to clubs, and artists weren’t really successful until their third or fourth record.

“Springsteen hit it big with Born to Run [his third album], nowadays he would have been dropped,” he added. “Nowadays if you’re a young artist, you would have to be out of your mind to commit to this. But that has to change.”

It’s a far cry from how Anthrax came on the scene, gutting out show after show at every dingy club in New York City. “As a band in New York back in the day, you had to play [all over] the city,” he said. “But, the Bronx is a very creative place to come from.”

Check out Loudwire’s review of Anthrax’s latest album, here, and learn why it "absolutely smokes.”