Who is the better band?

I would say at their very best ('Kill 'em all', 'Ride the lightning', 'Masters of puppets') Metallica can top Megadeth although Megadeth come very close with 'Rust in peace' and 'United Abominations' and overall Megadeth have a consistantly good output compared to Metallica's more patchy portfolio.

In conclusion for the first three albums Metallica > Megadeth, for everthing since (except arguably risk) Megadeth > Metallica.

What do you think?

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Metallica definitely had the greater "peak", but then again Megadeth never sued their fans or played his music with an orchestra.

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"Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph" -- Conan

Metallica has more range, and certainly more mainstream appeal. I certainly like their stuff, even Load and Reload. I thought it was pretty impressive for them to branch out and take some risks, considering they can pretty much mash out a solid metal album in their sleep.

Megadeth is also very good, in my opinion. They haven't changed much from their roots, though their roots are very solid. I think their peak was Youthanasia (though some would argue the album before). Cryptic Writings had a couple solid songs, but it just didn't hold together as an album like Youthanasia, and I think it suffered for it (add that on top of the trend away from metal at the time of its release, too).


Bottom line, by branching out, Metallica adapted and broadened their appeal to a wider audience, where Megadeth's stayed in the metal niche. Whether its bad or good is a matter of personal interpretation.

Personally, I thought S&M was a phenomenal album, adding a buttload of depth to the songs they selected (though I would have preferred more of their instrumentals being adapted, Call of Cthulu was the best track on there).

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I'm partial to Metallica, but only And Justice For All and their previous releases. Never cared for their more commercial sounding (at least to me) titles. What amazes me about And Justice For All is how much of an influence that album seems to have had on modern heavy metal.

I like them both. I've consistently liked Megadeth, but my interest in Metallica has waned after Load.

Of course, early Metallica is also early Mustane, as he wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on their first 3 albums, including the solos. I got bored of Kirk's solos after he ran out of Mustane material and started using his own stuff, but he tapped that well dry pretty fast and he has not been original in several albums now.

Rob

..or claimed that all fans who bashed the mastering of the latest CD's have "a bad music system". Guys, digital clipping is digital clipping and overcompressing is overcompressing, face it.

But apart from those things, I like Metallica. Also live they're quite amazing. They play flawless while singing and posing at the same time. They master their instrument on a very high level.

I'm not familiar with Megadeth, so I have no opinion about it.

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since the Megadeth mission statement says something to the effect of "I'll show Metallica how big of a mistake they made by kicking me out of the band by being ten times heavier and faster than Metallica"- and 25 + years of steady progression on the part of Metallica, i'd say that Metallica has definitely won the "who's better" battle.
i like them both for different reasons- Metallica has a song for every one of my moods, but Megadeth is really only good when i'm feeling particularly angry and self loathsome.
Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer will always be the "big 4" in the metal world- everything that's going on in metal today is a direct descendant of those 4 bands, but Metallica is the only one that almost everyone can say they know at least one song. i know hardcore country listening rednecks and alternative music freaks that rock out to "Nothing else Matters" or "Enter Sandman", but ask them what they think about any Megadeth, Anthrax, or Slayer song and you will be greeted with a blank stare..

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I don't own any album by Megadeth, Anthrax or Slayer. The closest is the album "Slayed?", but that's by Slade and not by Slayer.

I do own quite some Metallica though. And some nobody-knowns-them-anymore hardrock groups from back then. Slade as I said, Tygers of Pan Tang... Most of this category is OK music but recorded horribly, but Slade and Tygers are exceptions.

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Is it even a question?


Metallica!

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"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." - Churchill

you better hope Dave Mustaine doesn't stumble across this thread- it might make him angry and sad.

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Isn't making angry and sad what metal is all about?

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All those 4 bands owe something to --- Motörhead

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SpeedFreek

I don´t like "Heavy metal". Except for "Enter Sandman", if Metallica [or megadeath or whatever] suddenly disapperared, I wouldn´t even notice.

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and Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and about a thousand other bands that came before them.
but they are considered by most of the people that care about such important things as the beginnings of modern metal. if one was to believe the recent hype around a documentary about a certain Canadian metal band, then Anvil would be the 5th "cornerstone" of metal, but since i'd only barely ever heard of them before about 6 months ago and have seen a couple of their videos since then- but not the actual documentary yet- i'd say there is a reason they didn't make it big 25 years ago that goes beyond bad management and bad timing.

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I disagree. They may owe something to "Wanna whole lotta love", but the Led Zeppelin guys never regarded their sound as "Heavy Metal". And Deep Purple is definitely another kind of animal.

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Neither did AC/DC, but to say that they didn't influence countless bands after them is kind of silly.

Someone mentioned earlier that Metallica has more "range." Well, if falling from the peak of Master of Puppets to the total piece of garbage known as "St. Anger" with sideroads into Top-40 material is considered "range", then I would have to agree.

Def Leppard had range, too.

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"Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph" -- Conan

For me, the best Metallica was the epoch around the first three LP's, and I can never decide if I prefer Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets. At the time they were released, each was a revelation! So I have to agree with the OP.

But the "Big 4" definitely owe a lot to Motörhead, Diamond Head, Iron Maiden etc, the bands that inspired speed/thrash metal. Anyone remember Venom?

If you want to trace musical roots backwards, you can end up anywhere, I was just raising an objection to the notion that everything happening in modern metal is a direct descendant of Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer. As an old Motörhead fan I felt it was my duty to point out who inspired those bands!

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SpeedFreek

the guys in Metallica have talked a lot about what they were influenced by- and even put out an album with something like 28 cover tunes. i've heard the Anthrax and Slayer guys talking about their influences, too, but i honestly can't ever remember Dave Mustaine talking about his influences. of course, i tend to tune him out, because he always seems to be whining about something. he writes some awesome lyrics and puts them to some insane music, but i just can't stand whiny people.
anyways..
yes, they owe a lot to the bands from their youth- Motorhead, Iron Maiden, etc- but they took that influence and made it theirs, and the bands of today are taking the music of Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth (and other bands from the era- but those are the big ones) and putting their own twists on it. actually, there is a whole generation between then and now- the Panteras and Sepulturas and what not, with some of that grunge goodness (AIC, Soundgarden, Nirvana, etc) and some rap thrown in for good measure- that are influencing the new music of today. there aren't too many teenagers starting garage bands today that look or sound like Motorhead- they tend to look and sound more like Dethklock or Anthrax when they hooked up with Public Enemy 20 years ago, which is kind of funny when you think about it.

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"blacker than the blackest black... times infinity."- Nathan Explosion
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I do not particularly like either Metallica or Megadeath. However, from a musically artistic point of view, I perceive Metallica's band members to be more accomplished musicians, based on their performances, than those from Megadeath.

it's Megadeth.. there is no "a"- it's more metal that way.

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Well, that's certainly subjective. I will agree that James is a riff master on the same order as Tony Iomi. But I don't think Lars has the same chops as Nick Menza had - no comparison. Lars has trouble keeping time in live concerts.

And if you'd ever heard Marty Friedman play, I would challenge you to think that Kirk could hold a candle to his musical abilities.

Rob

Kirk and Marty have different skillsets for different music- Kirk Hamster is more of a metal god type of lead guitar player that is most in his element in front of 30,000 people, where Marty Friedman is more of a technically perfect player that does his best work in the studio. they are both great in different ways.
and, last i heard, Kirk is still in Metallica and Marty got the boot from Megadeth about 10 years ago..

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"blacker than the blackest black... times infinity."- Nathan Explosion
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Metallica or Megadeth? What a choice. I'd rather listen to country music--and I don't like country music.

there is also the choice to not click on threads about subjects you don't care about. but since you are here, which would you say is a better song- "A Tout Le Monde" by Megadeth or "Mama Said" by Metallica?

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That's pretty funny. Besides, I didn't say either group was bad. I just said I didn't like either of them, just like a couple of other posters have done in this thread.

ETA:
Sorry, forgot to answer your question. I listened/watched both videos and I don't like either one. What can I say . . .

I think metallica's master of puppets was a good album but there black album was better than it ...There death magnetic album is alright also ...But as far as tho OP question goes , metallica rules over megadeth ...In my opinion anyway's ...

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that's a valid answer.
i just took it as an excuse to post up the "Mama Said" video just to mess with anyone that thinks that Metallica is only just a metal band, and "A Tout Le Monde" is about my favorite Megadeth song, lyrically and stylistically- and, oddly enough, i never knew they made a video for it until about 10 minutes before i made the post here..

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"blacker than the blackest black... times infinity."- Nathan Explosion
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Gotcha. More metl tht wy...

Consider that you're speaking about individual talent. I was speaking of the band as a whole, the sum of which is greater than the parts.