Editing Fistful of Metal (section)

==Reception==
{{Album ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref name="AM">{{cite web|last=Huey|first=Steve|title=Anthrax: Fistful of Metal|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=fistful-of-metal-mw0000192834|pure_url=yes}}|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=March 14, 2013}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Martin Popoff|Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal]]''
|rev2Score = 8/10<ref name="Popoff">{{cite book|last=Popoff|first=Martin|author-link=Martin Popoff|title=The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties|publisher=[[Collector's Guide Publishing]]|date=November 1, 2005|location=[[Burlington, Ontario]], Canada|isbn=978-1894959315 |page= 23}}</ref>
|rev3 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
|rev3Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|year=2011|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|page=2006|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8|edition=5th|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}</ref>
|rev4 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
|rev4Score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref name="New RS">{{cite book|last1=Brackett|first1=Nathan|last2=Hoard|first2=Christian David|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|date=2004|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/20 20]|title-link=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide}}</ref> 
}}
Critical reception to ''Fistful of Metal'' was mixed. Xavier Russel of ''[[Kerrang!]]'' called it a great debut album, with songs played "at a hundred miles an hour" which could just have been "slightly more original."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Russell|first=Xavier|journal=[[Kerrang!]]|title=Anthrax 'Fistful of Metal'|page=8|issue=62|publisher=Spotlight Publications Ltd.|date=February 23, 1984|location=London, UK}}</ref> Writing in the ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]'', [[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]] called the cover art "tasteless", but commended the album's small, but steady commercial performance.<ref name="Larkin"/> [[AllMusic]]'s Steve Huey said Anthrax had not found its distinctive style yet, sounding more like a [[Judas Priest]] cover band. Huey found the lyrics utilizing heavy metal stereotypes and opined fans would find the record "off-putting".<ref name="AM"/> Canadian journalist [[Martin Popoff]] praised the well-produced sound and the "almost operatic anti-thrash vocals" from Turbin, considering the album responsible for "putting New York back on the US metal map, and quality back in the books of bruising and uncompromising underground metal."<ref name="Popoff"/> The term ''[[thrash metal]]'' was used for the first time in the music press by ''Kerrang!'' journalist [[Malcolm Dome]], referring to the song "Metal Thrashing Mad".<ref name="Dome">{{cite magazine|last=Dome|first=Malcolm|author-link=Malcolm Dome|title=Exciter 'Violence & Force'|journal=[[Kerrang!]]|date=February 23, 1984|issue=62|page=8}}</ref>

''[[Guitar World]]'' magazine placed the album on their list of "New Sensations: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1984".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guitarworld.com/new-sensations-50-iconic-albums-defined-1984#slide-2 |title=New Sensations: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1984 &#124; Guitar World |website=www.guitarworld.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720062416/http://www.guitarworld.com/new-sensations-50-iconic-albums-defined-1984#slide-2 |archive-date=20 July 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In June 2019, [[Decibel (magazine)|Decibel]] inducted ''Fistful of Metal'' in their Hall of Fame, due to its reputation as one of the best early examples of thrash metal.<ref name="dBHOF">{{cite web |last1=Tepedelen |first1=Adem |title=Anthrax - Fistful of Metal |url=https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2019/07/17/anthrax-fisful-of-metal/ |website=[[Decibel (magazine)|Decibel]] |date=17 July 2019 |access-date=2019-10-12}}</ref>

Despite its acclaim, ''Fistful of Metal'' is considered to be one of Anthrax's least represented studio albums. Most of the songs from the album have rarely been played live since the band rose to popularity with their next two albums, ''[[Spreading the Disease]]'' and ''[[Among the Living]]'', although "Deathrider", "Metal Thrashing Mad", "Panic", "Soldiers of Metal", "Anthrax" and "Across the River" have seen periodic revivals in later years. No songs from this album have ever appeared on any of the band's compilation albums, including ''[[Return of the Killer A's]]'', ''[[Madhouse: The Very Best of Anthrax]]'' and ''[[Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985–1991)]]'', though they did re-record the heavily requested "Deathrider", "Metal Thrashing Mad", "Panic", and "Anthrax" for their 2004 album ''[[The Greater of Two Evils]]'' (the latter appearing on the 2-disc Japanese version as a bonus track).

In 1986, the album was banned in Germany by the [[Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons]] for its violent cover artwork.<ref>{{cite web |title=Indizierte Tonträger (archived) |url=http://www.bpjm.com/icdmc_gruppen_04.htm |website=bpjm.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050725234402/http://www.bpjm.com/icdmc_gruppen_04.htm |access-date=23 July 2021|archive-date=2005-07-25 }}</ref> The ban has since expired.