Jump to content

METALLICA vs megadeth


Moombz

Recommended Posts

  • 2 months later...
  • 2 years later...

I prefer Megadeth by a long shot. I like Metallica, but even Master Of Puppets and Ride the Lightning seem boring to me when I compare them to Rust In Peace or Peace Sells. I also believe that all of the instrumentalists in Megadeth (classic or current lineup) are more skilled than their Metallica counterparts and they have more albums that I like at least one or two tracks on (the main exception being Risk).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, death_to_emos said:

both great band but megadeath is more consistant with good albums unlike metallica

Really?  The first four Metallica albums are one of the greatest "runs" of consistent and evolving output I could reference.  Not aware of any period of Megadeth that gets anywhere near that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, MacabreEternal said:

Really?  The first four Metallica albums are one of the greatest "runs" of consistent and evolving output I could reference.  Not aware of any period of Megadeth that gets anywhere near that.

I agree, but I'd squeeze it to three! Save for "Blackened", "One", "Dyiers Eve" and some spare moments here and there, Justice bores me.

Besides, it's the third album in a row that i) features a quiet intro followed by a fast thrasher,  ii) whose title track is placed as track number two, iii) features a lenghty instrumental, iv) features one more fast thrasher, v) feaetures one more thrash ballad.

To me Justice offers no QUALITATIVE innovation. Just QUANTITATIVE (as in more riffs, more minutes per track, stuff like that).

 

As for Megadeth... well, I love "Killing is my business", but it certainly a flawed record... "Peace Sells" is almost perfect (leave Willie Dixon to Led Zeppelin, or, even better, to Chess recording artists) and so is "Rust in Peace".

"So Far" offers the worst album sleeve ever paired with an entirely useless cover ("Anarchy in the UK" with Jones himself), some great rehashed songs ("In My Darkest Hour" is a variation on "For Whom The Bell Tolls", a legitimate one, though, as that riff was Mustaine's), some great new songs ("Set the World Afire" and "Mary Jane" above all, IMHO) and some merely ok songs ("502", "Liar" and "Hook in Mouth"). Not entirely a misfire, but definitely inferior to its predecessor and successor.

"Rust in Peace" is amazing. Every single time I listen to it I get excited by something different! It's such a RICH album! Tracks like "Poison Was The Cure" or "Take No Prisoners" say so much in so little time that they leave me speechless everytime.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Justice has been my favorite Metallica album for years now. I'd argue that you're wrong about it not being a significant step forward for them (and the qualitative/quantitative distinction is unhelpfully analytical IMO). The tonality of the riffs and melodies is darker than their previous stuff, the songs are long but manage to stay engaging and memorable without devolving into rock cliches, James's vocals are on fire. I even dig the weirdly dry and compressed sound. The kind of album structure you mention wasn't confined to Metallica by any means. I think it's a cool way of arranging albums for two-sided formats, and it gives them a little bit of an arc. Also, for my money, innovation and musicianship aren't worth too much without songwriting, and at least in their first decade, Metallica approached songwriting with a focus and clarity that put most bands to shame. "One" is the only track I'll skip; maybe it's because I've heard it so many fucking times since I was a kid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those old Metallica albums are amazing, aren't they. 

I'm going to say that overall I prefer Megadeth to Metallica. There's no getting away from the fact that 'Puppets' and 'Justice' are great, all time classics, but there's something about 'Rust', 'Countdown' and especially 'Youthanasia' that keeps me coming back to Megadeth. In fact, 'Youthanasia' is one of my favourite albums. It's so doomy and juicy. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, MacabreEternal said:

Really?  I have never heard it through in full.  Might take that as your first recommendation that you tacitly/unknowingly have just made to me and listen to it later.

Be warned, it's no up-tempo thrash classic. Very few people seem to love it as much as I do. For me it's more of a melodic metal album with an emphasis on dark atmosphere. If you're looking for another 'Peace Sells' you'll be disappointed. 

Songs like 'Addicted to Chaos' and 'Blood of Heroes' are masterpieces of mid-paced doomy melodic metal with catchy choruses. In fact, possibly with the exception of 'Holy Wars', I think 'Addicted to Chaos' from Youthanasia is, in my opinion, the best Megadeth song ever written. The structure, the amazing chorus that morphs slightly towards the end into a call and response type arrangement, the little guitar bridges between riffs. It's the full package and in 1994 was just perfect. 

Word of advice, I prefer the original 1994 mix to the more modern remix that I think was done around 2012 or thereabouts that took a little bit of the bottom end heaviness out. The original mix is the best. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Requiem said:

Be warned, it's no up-tempo thrash classic. Very few people seem to love it as much as I do. For me it's more of a melodic metal album with an emphasis on dark atmosphere. If you're looking for another 'Peace Sells' you'll be disappointed. 

Songs like 'Addicted to Chaos' and 'Blood of Heroes' are masterpieces of mid-paced doomy melodic metal with catchy choruses. 

Word of advice, I prefer the original 1994 mix to the more modern remix that I think was done around 2012 or thereabouts that took a little bit of the bottom end heaviness out. The original mix is the best. 

Agreeing with this,  no thrash here but not shit by any means.  Better than I recall although unlikely to rush out and buy it.  Better than any post Black album Metallica anyways.

EDIT - Been back to this twice now this afternoon/evening and the hard rock riffs are in blatant abundance on here but the thing is they really work with that slowed down and melodic edge you mention.  It's an album that if you knew no better you could almost assume to be a side project of Mustaine's with only that allusion of a more technical edge to the lead work showing the only other familiar hallmark of the Megadeth sound aside from Mega Dave's vocal style.  

Just listened back through some "Countdown..." tracks earlier and fuck me do they sound tired and poorly composed nowadays.  I actually enjoyed the blunt edge of "Rust In Peace" better when I played that earlier also.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, MacabreEternal said:

Agreeing with this,  no thrash here but not shit by any means.  Better than I recall although unlikely to rush out and buy it.  Better than any post Black album Metallica anyways.

EDIT - Been back to this twice now this afternoon/evening and the hard rock riffs are in blatant abundance on here but the thing is they really work with that slowed down and melodic edge you mention.  It's an album that if you knew no better you could almost assume to be a side project of Mustaine's with only that allusion of a more technical edge to the lead work showing the only other familiar hallmark of the Megadeth sound aside from Mega Dave's vocal style.  

Just listened back through some "Countdown..." tracks earlier and fuck me do they sound tired and poorly composed nowadays.  I actually enjoyed the blunt edge of "Rust In Peace" better when I played that earlier also.

Another thing 'Youthanasia' has going for it is what I consider the optimal Megadeth lineup of Mustaine, Ellefson, Friedman and Menza. A champion team and a team of champions. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Skull_Kollektor said:

I must give "Youthanasia" a try then. I'll try to pick a used copy of the original release (remixes do not make sense).

I have the same feeling about "Countdown". That records fucking sucks cocks in hell.

'Youthanasia' is a lot more lush and orchestral, if I can use those terms, compared with the colder and more sterile sounds of 'Countdown'. I actually really like 'Countdown', but it doesn't have the emotion and gravitas of 'Youthanasia'. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really prefer Megadeth, even though it just seems obvious Metallica is the superior band. But I love those early Megadeth records because they have so much personality. The vocals are so unique and idiocyncratic, and the guitar style is fantastic. Of course, with Megadeth the focus is mostly on Mustaine, whereas with Metallica all four members are fantastic musicians. Trujillo is an extremely underrecognized musician for being such a rockstar IMO.

One issue I have with Metallica is that when I first heard them and explored their stuff as a teenager, to me James Hetfield really sounded like a whiny, dweeby jock trying his best to sound tough like Lemmy Kilmister and failing hilariously. Obviously, this is a bit off base, but it was sort of the first impression. But maybe because Metallica tempered their thrash sound with a sort of broad appeal hard rock sound, they always felt kind of watered down for me - when I hear them, I tend to feel like I want something more substantial to sink my teeth into, whether it be Slayer, Cro-Mags, or whoever. Megadeth isn't really any harder, but they have such a unique sound that they feel like a singularity - when I hear Mustaine, I'm not reaching for anything else, because there is no one else quite like him.

As a side note, though I do love those early Megadeth records, I did think it was ridiculous and kind of pathetic when Mustaine had Rotting Christ kicked off a festival because he'd gone fundamentalist Christian. 

A little more positively, I recently watched part of Some Kind of Monster, and I burst out laughing when Mustaine said to Ulrich "I never talked to my little Danish friend again..."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/21/2017 at 2:06 AM, Amebix said:

I really prefer Megadeth, even though it just seems obvious Metallica is the superior band. But I love those early Megadeth records because they have so much personality. The vocals are so unique and idiocyncratic, and the guitar style is fantastic. Of course, with Megadeth the focus is mostly on Mustaine, whereas with Metallica all four members are fantastic musicians. Trujillo is an extremely underrecognized musician for being such a rockstar IMO.

One issue I have with Metallica is that when I first heard them and explored their stuff as a teenager, to me James Hetfield really sounded like a whiny, dweeby jock trying his best to sound tough like Lemmy Kilmister and failing hilariously. Obviously, this is a bit off base, but it was sort of the first impression. But maybe because Metallica tempered their thrash sound with a sort of broad appeal hard rock sound, they always felt kind of watered down for me - when I hear them, I tend to feel like I want something more substantial to sink my teeth into, whether it be Slayer, Cro-Mags, or whoever. Megadeth isn't really any harder, but they have such a unique sound that they feel like a singularity - when I hear Mustaine, I'm not reaching for anything else, because there is no one else quite like him.

As a side note, though I do love those early Megadeth records, I did think it was ridiculous and kind of pathetic when Mustaine had Rotting Christ kicked off a festival because he'd gone fundamentalist Christian. 

A little more positively, I recently watched part of Some Kind of Monster, and I burst out laughing when Mustaine said to Ulrich "I never talked to my little Danish friend again..."

What makes Metallica seem like the obviously superior band? Popularity?

Also, I think in Megadeth, while there is focus on Mustaine, to me it seems that the lead guitarist (currently Kiko Loureiro) is almost always shown off in the music.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hard for me to look twice at nowadays Metallica due to Trujillo. Ever since he agreed to record bass over Bob Daisley's work on 'Blizzard of Ozz' and 'Diary for a Madman' I wrote him out of my will. Glad they reinstalled the original drums and bass for those albums. 

As for Hetfield's vocals, I've never really been a fan. I much prefer Mustaine's voice. It's cool. There was always something about Metallica that put me off a little compared with Megadeth. Like a certain dryness to their sound and approach. I don't know how to explain it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Will said:

What makes Metallica seem like the obviously superior band? Popularity?

Also, I think in Megadeth, while there is focus on Mustaine, to me it seems that the lead guitarist (currently Kiko Loureiro) is almost always shown off in the music.

You're right that the guitar work in Megadeth is a major focus, and they're often considered the most technical of the big 4 of thrash. That said, when people think of Megadeth, it seems like they think of it as "Dave Mustaine's band," as if the two are almost synonymous.

 

The thing that makes me see Metallica as the superior band is the range and diversity of their music, and their influence. Like a lot of people, Metallica completely lost me with the Black Album. But they kept moving forward and being relevant, and even before that they had diverse, ambitious albums that were massively influential - I'm surprised how often I hear Ride the Lighting come up when bands talk about influences.

 

Again, I prefer Megadeth, but I find that their development wasn't quite as successful. When I think of Megadeth, I just want to hear those early albums like Peace Sells, and I'm expecting that aggressive guitar noodling, Mustaine's growl, and pessimistic, socially critical subject matter. For my personal taste, Metallica never came up with anything that matched that dynamic with me, but to me Megadeth was that dynamic. When they moved on and changed their sound, they always sounded more bland to me. I never wanted to hear Mustaine learn to sing with cleaner vocals, and I never wanted them to get big budget production and almost proggy theatrical ideas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Requiem said:

Ever since he agreed to record bass over Bob Daisley's work on 'Blizzard of Ozz' and 'Diary for a Madman' I wrote him out of my will. Glad they reinstalled the original drums and bass for those albums. 

Oh yeah! That was one sin that shall not be forgiven! What a shame...

The originals are two of my all time favorite records!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Join Metal Forum

    joinus-home.jpg

  • Our picks

    • Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little to comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron Reagan and now a full length.

      Notable addition to the ranks for the current throng of releases is former Machine Head sticksman, Dave McClean.  Love or hate Machine Head, McClean is a more than capable drummer and his presence here is felt from the off with the opening and title track kicking things off with some real gusto.  'Divide & Conquer' and 'Salvation' muddle along nicely, never quite reaching any quality that would make my balls tingle but comfortable enough.  The looming build to 'Manifest Reality' delivers a real punch when the song starts proper.  Frenzied riffs and drums with shots of lead work to hold the interest.


      There's a problem already though (I know, I am such a fucking mood hoover).  I don't like Phil's vocals.  I never had if I am being honest.  The aggression to them seems a little forced even when they are at their best on tracks like 'Manifest Reality'.  When he tries to sing it just feels weak though ('Salvation') and tracks lose real punch.  Give him a riffy number such as 'Killing Machine' and he is fine with the Reich engine (probably a poor choice of phrase) up in sixth gear.  For every thrashy riff there's a fair share of rock edged, local bar act rhythm aplenty too.

      Let's not poo-poo proceedings though, because overall I actually enjoy "Awakening".  It is stacked full of catchy riffs that are sticky on the old ears.  Whilst not as raw as perhaps the - brilliant - artwork suggests with its black and white, tattoo flash sheet style design it is enjoyable enough.  Yes, 'Death Valley' & 'Something to Believe' have no place here, saved only by Arnett and Radziwill's lead work but 'Revolution' is a fucking 80's thrash heyday throwback to the extent that if you turn the TV on during it you might catch a new episode of Cheers!

      3/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 10 replies
    • I
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
      • Reputation Points

      • 3 replies

    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 4 replies
×
×
  • Create New...