Also a big fan of John Bush era. I got into them relatively later and got to see them in 2003 with Bush. Never got into the timbre of Joey’s voice. Guitar tones were great on those earlier albums for sure. Scott Ian surely knows how to play some rhythm.
I remember the House of Blues website had streaming concerts (feel like this was just before YouTube was a thing) and used to watch their Salt Lake City show from July of 2000. Paul Crook plays some cool Mockingbirds too! Love their versions of Inside Out and Bring the Noise.