Megadeth > Metallica
 

To start off:
I'm a HUGE Metallica fan. In fact my first 5 years of playing electric guitar was solely based on Metallica. I started off playing Bluegrass guitar with my dad, even though my soul wasn't bluegrass.

My first exposure to Metallica was hearing "Nothing Else Matters" on MTV before school waiting for my buddy to pick me up for school. I asked my brother if he had ever heard of them, and of course he had. He handed me a tape that had zero information of it. in that all the 'font' (for lack of a better word) was gone. It was a simple 'blank" tape. It was weathered, and the only thing I could determine that it was a Metallica tape was simply my brother's word. It was Master of Puppets Within 4 weeks, I had owned everything of Metallica and had thrown bluegrass by the wayside.

Long loving Metallica fan for years; devoted. Having heard Megadeth and loving a few of their songs, I was still committed to Metallica. However, years later, I've discovered that I may have been premature in my categorization of music.

Years had passed since I had really 'listened' to Megadeth. Years, as in 10+. Then, I stumbled upon a Megadeth record. While it escapes my memory at this point, the collective memory of the tunes has lead me to the belief that Megadeth is better than Metalica.

While some, to what degree I don't know, may have always held this belief, the discovery of Megadeth is a new one for me. After listening to many records, Im beginning to feel more confident in saying that Megadeth is better. Obviously, it's subjective.

Metallica's "Black" Album is equivalent to Pink Floy'd "The Wall" in terms of impact. However, Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction", has been severely over-shadowed by the 'Black" album of Metallica. Subsequently, as it had been up to that point, Megadeth had fallen by the wayside. "Symphony of Destructions' release around the same time, was over-shadowed by the Black album.

After what was a universal success of the Black album, Megadeth seemed to finally have received the kill shot. But, if we are to look at the records and time frame comparatively, I think Megadeth got the short end of the stick.

Since then, Megadeth has sustained their status despite radio and marketing support. I've listened to several Megadeth albums/tunes from the "Black" album going forward, and I must say they are not getting the credit that is due. In some aspects, they blow Metallica out of the water. To be honest, they are quickly surpassing Metallica.

I've always been a huge fan of Megadeth since the Mechanix type songs. But since Peace Sells Who's Buying album, Megadeth has gotten the shaft. By a LONG shot.

TLDR....but oh well.

Metallica definitely went more mainstream with the Black album and even more afterwards, plus they started doing some stupid shit like that Lou Reed thing. Meanwhile, Megadeth pretty much kept doing what they had always been doing.

Dave Mustaine has turned into a major nutjob though.

Yep. Megadeth seemed to do what they've always done; radio be damned. I think there are so many 'Metallica' fans that are missing out on Megadeth/Metallica (Kill 'Em all, "Ride the Lightning" ettc) type music they've never heard because it's never been on the radio etc.

Mustaine lost his mind??

Why? Because he decided to stop doing drugs and become a Christian?

I've seen many recent interviews with Mustaine and he's more sane now than he's ever been. He's extremely intelligent, well-spoken, and grounded.

"Rust in Peace" is the best thrash metal album ever, period. I like Slayer and Anthrax, but the Marty Friedman era of Megadeth is a lineup that transcends speed metal and puts Megadeth up there with Black Sabbath and Motorhead for me.

For anybody that's never heard it, you should do yourself a favor and listen to Friedman's 1988 solo album "Dragon's Kiss".

I guess I never really directly addressed the original question.

For me, Megadeth is in my pantheon of great bands - bands that I LOVE.

Metallica is one of those bands that I "like". I actually only own one Metallica album, "Kill 'Em All".

I'm pretty sure that it's probably because, as you said, he stopped doing drugs and became a Christian. But I would also guess the fact that he's a conservative and has been outspoken about it in recent years has made cosmo cry. :D

And as to the original topic, I was a teen during the Metallica/Megadeth origins. Like Dayze, probably one of the earliest guitar riffs I ever learned was the beginning to One. And I spent a ton of time learning songs off the Kill Em All album. I loved Metallica. But I always kind of like Megadeth a little more.

Since Metallica went mainstream in the 90s, Megadeth was easily the better band to me. More recently, I enjoyed Metallica's Death Magnetic album and felt that it was going back to their roots a bit. But it still wasn't the original Metallica. Frankly, I don't think that they will ever get back that vibe.

This is true.

Graduated HS in 1991. :D

I too loved Metallica, Megadeth, Overkill, Slayer, Death Angel, Anthrax, Testament, and too many more to name. I was skater punk, as were most of my friends.

However, I was also drawn to Ozzy, Dio, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, and stuff like that at the same time. I had a "thing" for guitar virtuosity.

For me, "Rust in Peace" and "Countdown to Extinction" are the perfect blend of BOTH and will always occupy a very special place in my musical psyche.

Where would Metallica be today had Cliff Burton not lost his life?

To me.....the Megadeth/Metallica comparisons are simililar to The Offspring/Green Day.

One was overshadowed by the other because of popularity.

Still playing....only with a good bassist instead of that dipshit they have today.

Heh, granted, but where would Metallica be without Burton's influence on the band? IIRC, and someone correct me if I don't, wasn't Burton the guy that was primary songwriter and reason for their "heavy" sound?

I know the Black Album gained Metallica a ton of fans, but it also cost them a ton of their core fans they had from the beginning. I still remember those people bitching about how they sold out.

Just a fun "What If?"

I recently read his biography-very well written and entertaining. He wrote most of the songs for Metallica-but was a pain in the ass for them. Lars wanted to be the king and as long as Dave was there telling him the shut the **** up when he got bossy- Lars couldn't control the band.

They put him on the bus from new york-hungry, hung over with zero money. He had to beg for food back to LA and move back with his Mom. It is amazing he ever came back from that.

Yeah dave can be a dick-especially in his drinking years-but when you read his book-most had it coming to them and he was standing up for himself.

That last CD totally killed it-better than anything Metallica has put out in decades.

Good place for this....

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I'm a sucker for when bands do this stuff.

While awesome.....I could totally see Lars in the back yelling about how everyone else only gets one drum. LMAO

Metallica has gone thru their mid-life and now they're just trying to stay relavent. As far as recent work... I actually liked quite a few songs off of St. Anger but it's not exactly what anyone expected.
I still think And Justice For All is the greatest metal album ever made. I'd put Rust in Peace right behind it followed by Master of Puppets.

My views of metallica has definitely dropped from when I was a kid. Now by just seem to be middle-aged dudes with penis envy.

I still prefer Ride The Lightning to any of it. Hetfields early voice was just so badass.

Ironic how now his voice is just unbearable.

I know what you mean. That's one reason why I liked Justice. His voice was just starting to change and I thought the band had reached its epoch.

I'll be the first to admit that they went downhill afterwards. The black album is nearly unplayable to me anymore. Load and Reload? Shoot me in the ****ing skull. S&M? Ok... Some songs are pretty awesome just because I'm a symphony nut nowadays.
I mean guys... C'mon. I don't expect you to go the way of ACDC or KISS, (playing for 50 year olds at the coliseum closest to the trailer park) but quit trying to change your target audience. Seriously.

Right on, brother. Class of '90 here. The only ones of those that I didn't really get into much are Overkill and Death Angel. But definitely all of those other ones. :thumb:

I don't know about that. IMO, And Justice For All was a fantastic album. I still love listening to it now. And very heavy.

Pretty cool. Kind of funny hearing Joey Belladonna singing that style.

Ironic that they all got together to play a song none of them wrote...

I just can't see Lars agreeing to do Hangar 18 or Seasons in the Abyss for some reason. ;)

Metallica is pretty good at giving Diamond Head credit when they do documentaries and such but when they play the song live, they don't often mention to the screaming masses that it's not their song.

The original is pretty bad ass.

I love both bands, but I just cant quite put Megadeath over Metallica... Master of Puppets is an absolute masterpiece and I'd have to put it over anything Mustaine ever did.

While I havent liked all of it, I appreciate how Metallica has broadened its horizons, have really tried to grow musically, that takes a lot of guts IMO, its a lot easier and safer to stick with the tried and true... still love Megadeath, but I just cant put them over the kings.

That dipshit they have today was in some pretty good bands back in the 80s/90s. A heck of a lot better than Metallica and Megadeth.

Megadeth tried to grow musically and I would argue that some of their "growth" was infinitely better than anything Metallica ever did. Metallica peaked with "Puppets" and it was downhill ever since.

Robert Trujillo was a member of Suicidal Tendencies. He was also a member of Ozzy's band after the end of the Zakk Wylde era and joined Zakk in BLS.

None of the bands he was in were better than either Metallica or Megadeth and it should also be noted that his ENTIRE CAREER is made up of joining established, successful bands after they've had a big shakeup. He's a hired gun and not really anything special.

EDIT: I almost forgot - Trujillo played bass for Ozzy on the 2011 re-issues of "Blizzard" and "Diary" so that Ozzy could avoid paying royalties to Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake.

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Metallica has entire albums that I listen to. Megadeath has songs.

And Master of Puppets was their pinnacle.

I really dug Death Magnetic.

I wouldn't say that they're better than Metallica or Megadeath, but the thrash metal band I like listening to the most when the mood strikes is Exodus, the band Kirk Hammett left when he joined Metallica.

Great band.

The greatest thrash lp of all time is Beowulfs self titled lp.

Agnostic fronts victim in pain is a close second.

Cro mags age of quarrel at #3

Remastering has destroyed the early thrash metal sound.

commercial success does not factor in what makes a band better or worse in this style of music.

Still doesn't take away from the fact that he's a dipshit.

Newstead was better.

Don't forget the side-project Infectious Grooves! Myself, I'm more of a Suicidal fan than either Megadeth or Metallica. I was more of a skater thrash guy. Suicidal and D.R.I. were big for me in the day and I'd still rather listen to them over the other two. For that matter I was a bigger fan of Anthrax and Testament than them as well. Don't get me wrong, Rust in Peace is a classic and Peace Sells has some good stuff, but with the exception of the Black album, I think the most disappointing album ever for me was Countdown to Extinction. How you go from Holy Wars to Sweating Bullets and Symphony of Destruction, I'll never understand.

As far as Metallica goes, sure I liked them, when I was 13. Kill 'em All is the only album I can still listen to these days. Unfortunately, as I got older and became more of a musician myself, I came to realize that there might not be any more overrated musicians on the planet than Kirk and Lars. Well, maybe Flea, but that's an argument for another day.

Black Album > Countdown to Extinction

Tell me one Newsted song where you ever thought, "Damn, that's some good bass playing!" Hell, he was completely mixed out of ...And Justice. I'm not saying Trujillo is a great player, but Newsted was a just a warm body. He contributed nothing.

Trujillo is a great bass player and Newsted didn't stand a chance because he followed Cliff, (and thus was mixed out of practically every tune).
Bowser's question was a good hypothetical until Pest shit all over it by calling Trujillo a dipshit for no reason.
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I know....**** my opinion....right?

Nah, you're entitled. But a smidge of an explanation to support your opinion might help others to understand it.

I'm a fan of Youthanasia personally. Of course Hangar 18 and Holy Wars are classics, but I thought Youthanasia was a good mix of what Megadeth was and what they were going to become. That strand of Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction, and Youthanasia were epic.

I've always preferred Megadeth more. I think their first song that ever struck me was the remake they did of Anarchy in the UK, I remember hearing it on Headbangers Ball. Up till tht point my musical taste was on the lighter side of the hard rock genre. Symophany of Destruction might be the single best FPS game soundtrack ever invented.

I stopped listening to Megadeth at Sweating Bullets.

I never said it did.

Musically, nothing Trujillo has done is better than Metallica or Megadeth. Suicidal Tendencies was close. BLS is good but not Megadeth good.

And Trujillo's stint in Ozzy's band didn't even produce a studio album that I know of.

I didn't forget Infectious Grooves but there's enough crossover in membership that mentioning them separately from ST is a waste of time. Even then, ST is better than Infectious Grooves (IMO) and ST is not better than either Metallica or Megadeth (again IMO) so I didn't feel like typing it out. :)

I too was a skater. But I was also a guitar player. That's most of it, I'm sure. I loved ST, Bad Brains, Mr. Bungle, Voivod, and lots of other stuff. But for me Megadeth, specifically "Rust in Peace" was the perfect combination of the thrash metal I loved as a skater and the guitar driven neoclassical fusion (Vinnie Moore/Tony MacAlpine) that I was listening to at the time as a guitar player.

It's easy to understand when you hear or read about it now. Critics called "Rust in Piece" a masterpiece, an album for the ages...and it peaked at #2 on the charts right behind?

Metallica's Black album

Dave became consumed with the competition (and heroin) and commercial success. You start to hear it on "Countdown" and it's really prevalent on "Youthanasia". By "Cryptic Writings", Friedman (and a lot of fans) were ready to quit the band.

Same here. I ultimately became much more interested in Metallica's influences (NWOBHM bands like Motorhead and Diamond Head) than Metallica themselves.

Black Album < dog shit

I thought people stopped listening to both Metallica and Megadeth after age 15.

To me, those 3 albums are all Marty Friedman. If you have any of the re-issues, you can hear some of the demos Dave cut by himself and they're absolutely not the same.

That's not to say that Marty was the sole creative force because in reality Dave was the only real creative force. It was the effect Marty had on Dave that made those albums special. He brought a polish and musicianship that was really unparalleled at the time, IMO. The thing is, Friedman wasn't a typical thrash guitar player but he also wasn't a traditional neoclassical player, either. Sure, since Malmsteen and Rhoads broke on the scene in the early 80's, all kinds of guys were playing sweeping arpeggios and harmonic minor scales. Friedman took it to a whole new level. He wasn't afraid to mix it up in mixolydian or pull out some exotic Arabian scale. Combine that with some very unconventional phrasing and he was just uber-unique.

Again, you should listen to "Dragon's Kiss". Friedman's solo album is one of the best albums I've ever heard.

Exactly. Newsted wasn't mixed out because he sucked, he was mixed out because Lars and James are assholes.

Well, for his role in Ozzy's 2011 re-issue scam, Trujillo is a dipshit.

Oooh, a Tony MacAlpine reference... htis knows his guitar players.

Funnily enough, I was listening to an interview with Marty last night on Sirius. Guess he has a new album getting ready to drop. I knew he had disappeared to Japan, but I didn't know that he's mostly known over there for his TV work rather than his music. Odd considering the Japanese' love for that era of metal.

You're pretty knowledgable about this era, so I assume you're familiar with the Jason Becker story. If not, he was partners with Marty in the band Cacophony when they were still high schoolers. After they split, he went on to replace Vai in David Lee Roth's band. He recorded one album before being diagnosed with ALS. He was told he didn't have long to live but he's still around and he composes music with his eyes, the only part of his body that still works. There's a great documentary called Not Dead Yet about him that I highly recommend. It was on netflix, but apparently isn't anymore. It's worth finding if you can.

Both bands hold a special place in my heart. Metallica was my first concert in 91 on the black album tour (first show in the US in lovely Peoria, IL). I saw Megadeth a year later on the Countdown tour (with STP opening up and getting booed off the stage).

I am definitely more of a Megadeth guy now. They did go through a real rough patch with the roster turnover but have settled into a nice groove now with Chris Broderick on guitar. I saw them with Slayer on the 20th anniversary show of Seasons/Rust in Peace, and with Testament opening, it was almost too much metal for one evening.

Did you know Tony played piano/keyboards on Vinnie Moore's first album? :)

What's even more odd is that the music he has produced since moving to Japan is the furthest thing from metal or neoclassical fusion. It's Japanese music, by and large.

I watched it a couple of weeks ago on Pivot. They gave him 3-5 and he's still alive 22 years later. Amazing!

I was really amazed with his recording methodology. Having his dad play each note slowly on the acoustic and recording it into the computer. Then he arranges it with his eyes and played back, it sounds just like some of the stuff from his Shrapnel days. He can still SHRED!

I was actually waiting for an opportune moment to bring it up but you beat me to it.

No sir, I surely didn't... but I do know it takes a hardcore enthusiast to know that name and his music.

Chris Broderick is an amazing guitarist but sometimes I swear to God he's a robot. No emotion.

I started out on Megadeth, almost in protest over the popularity of Metallica in 1986. Master of Puppets was owning the world, and Peace Sells was big, but not as big. So I settled on Megadeth. Over the years, my Metallica love has certainly grown, but it all ended after the Black album, which I really regard as a great album...then they went all...goofy. Megadeth is indeed still Megadeth. I'm 43, so I don't really pay much attention to it all anymore, but I definitely have strong affectionate memories of cruising Dodge street, windows open, stereo blasting Peace Sells...goddam great times!

Ah, I'll have to give that a listen later this afternoon :thumb:

I fixed the link. Don't listen to the whole album (unless you want to, it's pretty good). I just wanted to link to 1 track that demonstrates Tony's "skill" on the ivory.

Shit, I didn't know that. Now I have a new ace-up-sleeve to stump musician friends in trivia.

He does tend to have the John Petrucci thing going on where everything is just too easy for him.

I still remember when they played Tornado of Souls live the first time I saw them after he joined the band, wow.

Rust in Peace live goodness:

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would've been cool if James let Newsteads's bass come through at Justice.

that entire record has no bass; or at least, I can't hear any.

I have a personal reason for preferring Metallica beyond the music... back when they had just broken off from opening for Ozzy because Master was blowing up, I got to see them on the very first leg of their tour headlining career at the Decatur, Ill civic center.

No seating all standing, it was the stage with no barricade whatsoever and a row of dudes in front of me and my bud, I was basically right there in front of the stage... so they go offstage for a quick break, when they come back out they're all carrying huge plastic cups of beer, so Burton see's me and my pal hitting on a smokeless "baseball bat" type pipe and with a big grin leans out and gives it to us... other guys were trying to grab for it, but nope, he wanted to make sure we got it.

The show was just mindblowing being right there like that, a true sonic assault, I'd been to several concerts, but never to anything SO heavy, THAT type of heavy was brand new where I come from at the time, and never SO close to the stage... it was just FURIOUS from start to finish, I'll never forget how often Lars had to huff on his oxygen mask just to keep up.

I love the song Peace Sells But Who's Buying.
it always gets me to crank it up.

and Mustaine blows away Hetfield on guitar in every possible way.

Does mentioning Blues Saraceno, Richie Kotzen, Akira Takasaki and Harry K. Cody establish me as a hardcore enthusiast?:hmmm:

Yeah, Chopin Prelude... that's beautiful work, very nice... this is why I always have to disagree with those who always say all heavy rock is blues based, the lightning fast scales and runs in much heavy music owes far more to classical music than to the blues.

Never heard of Cody, but outside of that, yeah... I'd say your bona fides are in order :D

Absolutely.

Kotzen has a new band that's pretty good, he was on TMS recently.

Cody was from a very cheesy Swedish glam band called "Shotgun Messiah".

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I remember Becker and cacophony before Friedman joined megadeth. Good stuff. I'll have to check out that documentary.

It'd be nice if you bought it:
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