John Bush (2,016 views)

[Smitty.]

John R. Bush: (8.24.1963)
Associated Acts: Armored Saint, Anthrax
Years Active: 1982 - Present
Vocal Range: C2 - C♯6

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vocal Summary}The vocalist for Armored Saint and best known as the ex-vocalist for Anthrax for most of the 90s and early 2000s. Bush possesses a powerful chesty, gritty tone that is very unlike his predecessors in the latter group, his main area of focus being in the fourth and lower fifth octave, while also being capable of some crazy screamed highs and a fairly strong (if under-utilized) lower range (the only Anthrax vocalist to have one of any sort really). His tone and technique have actually stayed fairly consistent throughout the years, and shows no signs of vocal degradation anytime soon. Written By Sandblasted

Significant High Notes:

C♯6 ("Scream/Killers")
C6 ("Cadillac Rock Box")
B5 ("Metal Thrashing Mad" Live In Austin Texas 2000, "Mutiny On the World")
B♭5 ("Love Her All I Can", "Little Monkey", "Safe Home" Live in Chicago 2003, "Toungue and Cheek")
A5 ("It's Late", "March of the Saint", "Stricken By Fate")
G♯5 ("American Pompeii", "Blackout", "Crush" Live Austin Texas 2000, "Deathrider", "Do Wrong to None", "False Alarm", "Gung Ho", "Head On", "I Am the Law", "In My World", "Inside Out" Live @ The Medley Montreal 2003, "Mad House", "Metal Thrashing Mad", "Mutiny On the World", "Over the Edge", "Pay Dirt", "Return to Ashes", "Seducer", "Take a Turn", "This is Not an Exit", "Tribal Dance", "The Truth Always Hurts")
G5 ("1000 Points of Hate" Live @ The Medley Montreal 2003, "Bordello Of Blood", "Bound By Silence", "Bring the Noise" Live @ The Medley Montreal 2003, "Lesson Well Learned")
F♯5 ("Aces High" Live House of Blues, Anaheim CA 2019, "After Me, The Flood", "A.I.R", "Among the Living" Live In Austin Texas 2000, "Auf Wiedersehn", "Bark, No Bite", "Black Dahlia" Live @ The Medley Montreal 2003 , "Book of Blood", "Bubble", "Burning Question", "Can U Deliver", "Creepy Feelings", "Deep Rooted Anger", "Drop the Ball", "Dropping Like Flies", "Envy", "False Alarm", "The Four Horsemen" Live San Francisco 2011, "I Am the Law", "In an Instant", "Indians", "Isolation", "The Laugh", "London", "Lone Justice", "Mad House", "March of the Saint", "Never Satisfied", "Out On a Limb", "Reign of Fire", "Released", "Saturday Night Special", "Scream/Killers", "Seducer", "Symbol of Salvation", "Stricken By Fate", "Take a Turn", "Toungue and Cheek", "Watchin' You", "What's Your Pleasure", "You Can Run But You Can't Hide", "You're Never Alone")
F5 ("Another Day", "Bark, No Bite", "Bordello Of Blood", "Caught in a Mosh", "Crisis of Life", "False Alarm", "Human Vulture", "Inside Out", "Isolation", "Long Before I Die", "King Size", "Mutiny On the World", "Only" Live In Austin Texas 2000, "Panic", "Pay Dirt", "Perpetual Motion", "Pirates", "Raising Fear", "Random Acts of Senseless Violence", "Riding Shotgun", "Think About an End", "Tribal Dance", "Underdogs")
E5 ("Alpha Male", "Big Fat", "Born Again Idiot", "Burning Question", "Chemcial Euphoria", "Crush", "Dethroned Emperor", "Dropping Like Flies", "Exit", "Frozen Will/Legacy", "Hog Tied", "Human Vulture", "Keep It in the Family", "Killing Box", "Medieval Nightmares", "Middleville", "Nervous Man", "No Reason to Live", "Nothing Between the Ears", "Raising Fear", "Refused to Be Denied", "Released", "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants", "On the Way", "Unstable", "Up Yours", "Warzone")
E♭5 ("604", "After Me, The Flood", "Bubble", "C11 H17 O2 N2 5 NA", "Can U Deliver", "Caught in a Mosh", "Catharsis", "Chemcial Euphoria", "Den of Thieves", "End of the Attention Span", "Fly in the Ointment", "For the Sake of Heaviness", "Get Lost", "Giving the Horns", "Isolation", "La Raza", "Mad House", "Mess", "Nervous Man", "NFL", "Out On a Limb", "Pay Dirt", "People", "The Pillar", "P & V", "Raising Fear", "Reign of Fire", "Saturday Night Special", "Sin City", "Spineless", "Symbol of Salvation", "Tension", "Terror", "Tribal Dance", "The Truth Always Hurts", "Underdogs", "Up Yours", "Win Hands Down")
D5 ("Get Lost", "The Hot Wind Blowing", "Invisible", "Long Before I Die", "My Jurisdiction", "Noisegate", "On the Way", "Over the Edge", "Raising Fear", "Room For One More", "You Can Run But You Can't Hide")
C♯5 ("1000 Points of Hate", "Aftermath", "Among the Living", "An Exercise in Debauchery", 'Belly of the Beast", "Black Dahlia", "Black Feet", "Burning Question", "Book of Blood", "C11 H17 O2 N2 5 NA", "Chemical Euphoria", "Control Issues", "Creepy Feelings", "Crisis of Life", "Crush", "Deep Rooted Anger", "Den of Thieves", "Do Wrong to None", "Frozen Will/Legacy", "Get Lost", "Get Off the Fence", "Harm's Way", "Hog Tied", "Human Vulture", "Hy Pro Glo", "La Raza", "Last Train Home", "Left Hook From Right Field", "Little Monkey", "Lone Wolf", "Medieval Nightmares", "Mess", "Muscle Memory", "Nervous Man", "NFL", "Nothing Between the Ears", "Reign of Fire", "Saturday Night Special", "Shadows", "Taking the Music Back", " "Tribal Dance", "Underdogs", "Up Yours", "Warzone", "Win Hands Down", "With a Full Head of Steam")
C5 ("American Pompeii", "Another Day", "Anthrax", "Ball of Confusion", "Bark, No Bite", "Blues", "Catharsis", "Damaged", "Drop the Ball", "Grunt & Click", "Gung Ho", "Hanging Judge", "Human Vulture", "If You Were God, "Invisible", "In the Hole", "It's Late", "Left Hook From Right Field", "Lesson Well Learned", "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun", "Middleville", "Missile to Gun", "My Jurisdiction", "Never You Fret", "No Reason to Live", "Paper Trail", "People", "Pirates", "Random Acts of Senseless Violence", "Room For One More", "Stricken By Fate", "Terror", "That Was Then, Way Back When", "Unfair", "What's Your Pleasure")
B4 ("Alpha Male", "Any Place But Here", "Auf Wiedersehn", "Bandit Country", "Be All End All", "Big Fat", "Black Dahlia", "Bound By Slience", "Bubble", "Burst", "Chemcial Euphoria", "Conqueror", "Creepy Feelings", "Crush", "Deathrider", "Envy", "Frozen Will/Legacy", "Get Off the Fence", "Giving the Horns", "Hy Pro Glo", "In an Instant", "It's Late", "Inside Out", "In a Zone", "Killing Box", "The Laugh", "Last Train Home", "Lone Justice", "Metal Thrasing Mad", "Nobody Knows Anything", "Noisegate", "Only", "On the Way", "Over the Edge", "Pay Dirt", "Perpetual Motion", "Phantom Lord", "Poison My Eyes", "Potters Field", "Refused to Be Denied", "Remember Tommorow", "Shadows", "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants", "Stealing From a Thief", "Strap It On", "Taking the Music Back", "Think About an End", "Toungue and Cheek", "The Truth Always Hurts", "Upon My Departure", "Watchin' You", "W.C.F.Y.A", "What Doesn't Die", "With a Full Head of Steam", "You're Never Alone")
B♭4 ("1000 Points of Hate", "Aces High" Live House of Blues, Anaheim CA 2019, "Aftermath", "After Me, The Flood", "A.I.R", "American Pompeii", "Among the Living", "An Exercise in Debauchery", "Ball of Confusion", "Bark, No Bite", "Be All End All", "Belly of the Beast", "Blackout", "Book of Blood", "Born Again Idiot", "Burst", "C11 H17 O2 N2 5 NA", "Cadillac Rock Box", "Can U Deliver", "Catharsis", "Caught in a Mosh", "Chilled", "Control Issues", "Den of Thieves", "Dive", "Do Wrong to None", "End of the Attention Span", "For the Sake of Heaviness", "The Four Horsemen" Live San Francisco 2011, "Fly in the Ointment", "Fueled", "Glory Hunter", "Gung Ho", "Hanging Judge", "Harms Way", "I Am the Law", "Indians", "Inside Out", "The Laugh", "La Raza", "Left Hook From Right Field", "Little Monkey", "Lone Wolf", "Long Before I Die", "Loose Cannon", "March of the Saint", "Mess", "Mutiny On the World", "My Jurisdiction", "Nervous Man", "Never You Fret", "NFL", "Packaged Rebellion", "Panic", "Phantom Lord", "The Pillar", "Pirates", "Poison My Eyes","Paper Trail", "P & V", "Raising Fear", "Real Swagger", "Reign of Fire", "Safe Home", "Saturday Night Special", "Scream/Killers", "Seducer", "Spineless", "Symbol of Salvation", "Tainted Past", "Take a Turn", "Tension", "Terror", "This is Not an Exit", "Toast to the Extras", "Up Yours", "Win Hands Down")
A4 ("Auf Wiedersehn", "Belly of the Beast", "Black Lodge", "Bordello Of Blood", "Burning Question", "Celebrated Summer", "Deathrider", "Dropping Like Flies", "Frozen Will/Legacy", "Fueled", "Get Lost", "Get Off the Fence", "Grunt & Click", "Harm's Way", "Hog Tied", "Hy Pro Glo", "If You Were God", "In an Instant", "In a Zone", "Invisible", "Long Before I Die", "King Size", "Lesson Well Learned", "London", "Middleville", "Nervous Man", "Noise Gate", "No Reason to Live", "Nothing Between the Ears", "Nothing", "Only", "On the Way", "People", "Potters Field", "Random Acts of Senseless Violence", "Return to Ashes", "Strap It On", "Stricken By Fate", "Superhero", "Tester", "Toungue and Cheek", "Unstable", "Watchin' You", "What Doesn't Die", "What's Your Pleasure", "You Can Run But You Can't Hide", "You're Never Alone")
G♯4 ("1000 Points of Hate", "604", "Aftermath", "American Pompeii", "Among the Living", "An Excerise in Debauchery", "Anthrax", "Any Place But Here", "Be All End All", "Big Fat", "Black Dahlia", "Black Feet", "Black Lodge", "Blackout", "Blues", "Born Again Idiot", "Bound By Slience", "Bubble", "C11 H17 O2 N2 5 NA", "Cadillac Rock Box", "Chilled", "Control Issues", "Conqueror", "Cowboy Song", "Crisis of Life", "Crush", "Deep Rooted Anger", "Dethroned Emperor", "Do Wrong to None", "End of the Attention Span", "Envy", "False Alarm", "Fly in the Ointment", "Giving the Horns", "Glory Hunter", "Head On", "I Am the Law", "It's Late", "Isolation", "Keep It in the Family", "Killing Box", "King Size", "La Raza", "Last Train Home", "London", "Lone Justice", "Love Her All I Can", "Mad House", "Medieval Nightmares","Metal Thrashing Mad", "Missile to Gun", "Muscle Memory", "Nervous Man", "Nobody Knows Anything", "Never Satisfied", "Over the Edge", "Packaged Rebellion", "Panic", "Perpetual Motion", "Real Swagger", "Refused to Be Denied", "Riding Shotgun", "Released", "Room For One More", "Safe Home", "Seducer", "Snap/I'd Rather Be Sleeping", "Spineless", "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants", "Stealing From a Thief", "Taking the Music Back", "Tension", "Think About an End", "The Truth Always Hurts", "Upon My Departure", "Warzone", "W.C.F.Y.A", "With a Full Head of Steam")

Significant Low Notes:

E♭3 ("1000 Points of Hate", "American Pompeii", "Another Day", "Belly of the Beast", "The Bends", "Black Lodge", "Born Again Idiot", "C11 H17 O2 N2 5 NA", "Chilled", "Fly in the Ointment", "The Laugh", "Left Hook From Right Field", "Lone Wolf", "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun", "Loose Cannon", "Missile to Gun", "Never Satisfied", "Phantom Lord", "Poison My Eyes", "P & V",, "Real Swagger", "Saturday Night Special", "Tainted Past", "This is Not an Exit", "Upon My Departure", "We're a Happy Family", "Win Hands Down")
D3 ("Dethroned Emperor", "Drop the Ball", "Fueled", "Get Lost", "Grunt & Click", "In My World", "Noisegate", "Paper Trail", "Perpetual Motion", "Replacing You", "Return to Ashes", "Riding Shotgun", "Superhero", "Tester")
C♯3 ("Big Fat", "Black Feet", "Black Lodge", "Bubble", "Do Wrong to None", "Dive", "Get Off the Fence", "Giving the Horns", "Harms Way", "In an Instant", "Inside Out", "Muscle Memory", "Pay Dirt", "The Pillar", "Potters Field", "P & V", "Refused to Be Denied", "Safe Home", "Symbol of Salvation", "The Star Spangled Banner" Live @ The Key Club 2011, "Strap It On", "Tension", "This is Not an Exit", "Toast to the Extras", "Unstable", "Watchin' You", "We're a Happy Family", "W.C.F.Y.A", "What Doesn't Die")
C3 ("Bare", "Blues", "Damaged", "The Hot Wind Blowing", "Nothing", "Replacing You", "Room For One More", "Superhero", "Unfair")
B2 ("Alpha Male", "Chilled", "Head On", "Hog Tied", "Keep It in the Family", "Perpetual Motion", "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants", "Stealing From a Thief", "The Truth Always Hurts")
B♭2 ("An Exercise in Debauchery", "Belly of the Beast", "Catharsis", "Dive", "Inside Out" live Montreal 2000, "Paper Trail", "Tainted Past" 2001 Acoustic Version, "Tester", "That Was Then, Way Back When", "Unfair", "Up Yours")
A2 ("Middleville", "Never Satisfied", "Symbol of Salvation")
G♯2 ("Bare", "Catharsis", "Cowboy Song", "In an Instant", "Toast to the Extras")
G2 ("Drop the Ball", "Exit", "Get Lost", "Symbol of Salvation")
F♯2 ("Dethroned Emperor", "Tainted Past" 2001 Acoustic Version)
F2 ("After Me, The Flood" Live Columbus Ohio 2000, "Cowboy Song", "Unfair")
E2 ("Control Issues")
E♭2 ("Safe Home" Acoustic Version)
D2 ("Exit", "Superhero")
C♯2 ("Crush", "Mess")
C2 ("Ball of Confusion")

..................................................
Blue denotes falsetto and whistle passages.
Green denotes harshly distorted passages.
Boldface marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities.
Italics denote non-melodic and spoken passages.
Underlines denote obscured and background passages.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}B5 ("Gung Ho" ^[2])
B♭5 ("What's Your Pleasure" ^[1])
G♯5 ("Caught in a Mosh" ^[4], "Deep Rooted Anger" ^[1])
F♯5 ("End of the Attention Span" ^[2], "What Doesn't Die" ^[3])
E♭5 ("That Was Then, Way Back When" ^[4])

A2 ("Perpetual Motion" ^[4])
G♯2[ ("P & V" ^[4])
F♯2 ("Chilled" ^[4],"Phantom Lord" ^[4])
B1 ("Get Lost" ^[3])

.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}With Armored Saint:
March of the Saint (1984): E♭4 - B5
Delirious Nomad (1985): E♭3 - G♯5
Raising Fear (1987): E♭3 - F♯5
Symbol of Salvation (1991): G2 - B2 - G♯5
Revelation (2000): E2 - F♯5 - G♯5
Nod to the Old School (2001): F♯2 - B♭5
La Raza (2010): B2 - B♭5
Win Hands Down (2015): C♯2 - G♯2 - E5 - F♯5
Punching the Sky (2020): F2 - G♯5

With Anthrax:
Sound of White Noise (1993): F2 - G♯5
Stomp 442 (1995): F♯2 - G♯5
Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998): C♯2 - G♯2 - F5
Inside Out (1998): B♭2 - F5
We've Come For You All (2003): D2 - C3 - C6
Summer 2003: F2 - F♯5
The Greater of Two Evils (2004): B♭2 - D3 - G♯5

.......................................................
Blue indicates Eps

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Pretty solid research! Though the C♯6 (and F♯5 + B♭4) clip would be better listed as "Killers" live House of Blues Sunset Strip 2000. I'm not really sure why "Scream" is listed in the title of the video, but the notes are from an Anthrax live cover of the Iron Maiden song "Killers".

Nice job on checking most of his guest appearances and stuff too. I only have a couple other rare tracks to contribute here:

vocaroo.com/16I9NpQuQize
This one is a song that he did with David Ellefson's solo project, but for some reason doesn't seem to be available anywhere on YouTube. Anyway, I uploaded it here and checked it - lots of A4s and C5s on every chorus.

E♭5 here I guess, sounds like a cover of AC/DC's "Sin City" actually.

Lastly, I reckon the C♯5s here on the choruses here should really be listed, as well as the D5 at 3:10. Also I'm hearing the B♭5 listed as an A5 (at 2:41). Oh, and you have it listed as "Tounge and Cheek" several times in the thread btw.

Other than that, I'm genuinely having a hard time finding much to add to this thread, so well done! It's possible he could have some more stuff on his live albums with Anthrax or Armored Saint, but that's all I can really think of.

[clem]

Cool thread :) I'd italicise that C6 though

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Checking some live material for Armored Saint; dude has a lot of live screams that get higher than the studio versions of songs.


Sounds like a slide up to a short F♯5 here?


Singing up to a screamy F♯5 here, an E5 at 2:26, and some pretty good D♯5s at 3:51.


E♭3 here, and a possibly questionable G5 at 3:57? I'll leave it open to discussion.


E♭3 here, a slide up to a quick F♯5 at 2:30, and an F♯5 with a possibly questionable trill up to G♯5 at 4:48.


E5 here.


Brief F♯5 here, might be a spoiler note though. Similarly brief F5 at 4:15.


E♭3 here, and a cool E♭5 at 5:17.


Brief F♯5 here.


He somehow manages to overshoot both the F♯5 here and at 2:26 up to G5, so...throw that in the spoiler section I guess. 

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Gets up to F5 in this version.


Sounds like short D5s here and at 1:10, 1:30, 1:46, and at 2:51.


F5 here.


C♯5 here and D♯5 at 5:32.


Slides up to an F5 here.


Short F♯5 here in "Human Vulture", and another F♯5 at 52:56 in "Long Before I Die".


F5 here from "For the Sake of Heaviness", then sounds like an E5 at 52:03 in "Tension", with a slide up to F5 at 57:25 from that song as well.


F♯5s here and at 7:42 from "Glory Hunter", and a B4 at 5:02.