Metallica and Megadeth are two of the "Big 4" of thrash metal. There's no disputing Metallica is the more commercially successful band, but Megadeth has had their share of platinum albums and critical acclaim as well. Dave Mustaine's acrimonious exit from Metallica before their debut album was recorded is well documented, and adds plenty of fuel to the battle. In this week's metal debate, we try to settle who is the better band, Megadeth or Metallica? Here's the case for each band:
Megadeth fans say:
Metallica came first, but Dave Mustaine took Megadeth to a higher level. Mustaine is a better guitar player than Kirk Hammett, and they've had some great second guitarists over the years, from Marty Friedman to Chris Poland to Chris Broderick. Rust In Peace is a classic metal CD, and they've recorded several other essential albums. Megadeth's current output is also better than Metallica's.
Metallica fans say:
Look at the numbers. Metallica is the most popular metal band in the world, and one of the most successful bands of any genre. They've done just fine without Dave Mustaine, and Kirk Hammett is a better player anyway. They brought thrash metal to the masses, and Master Of Puppets is considered one of the greatest metal CDs ever released. Metallica has shown a willingness to experiment with different sounds, and don't record the same album over and over. And yeah, St. Anger wasn't that great, but they redeemed themselves with Death Magnetic.
Cast your vote, and comment below with your arguments.
Previous Metal Debates
Iron Maiden vs Judas Priest
Who Was The Best Anthrax Vocalist?
Comments
This is a rough one. I’d have to go with Megadeth for consistency and continuous output. Granted, Risk was a bit of a disappointment (I know…understatement), but Megadeth never took their musical exploration to the drastic measures that Metallica did. They all but gave up metal after the Black Album (some would say even it was a sell out and Justice was the last good record).
However, as much as I adore Megadeth, I had to vote Metallica for the sheer fact that Kill ‘Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and …And Justice for All are four of the most amazing metal albums in history. They can’t be beaten. Sorry Dave…
First, im sorry if i don’t have got a good english, it’s couse i’m from argentina.
I will vote for Megadeth, but i listen more to Metallica…
I’m voting for Megadeth because Metallica has reduced his quality after the Black Album, and has converted to a “Selling Machine”, they only think in money, or that is what i see, we can see that only looking at “Some Kind of Monster”.
Is true than the first albums by Metallica were amazing, but you can listen to “Rust in Peace” and will say “It’s incredible”
That’s my opinion
Dario
On the Kirk being better Than Dave as a lead guitarist that might Be true,but Chris Poland,Marty Freidman,Jeff Young,Al Pitrelli and Chris Broderick wipe the floor with Kirk lead guitar wise.I’ll Take Megadeth after 1990 over Metallica any day of the week.As good as Death Magnetic is, the new Megadeth is so much better musically.
Vintage Albums and best tunes Megadeth – Metallica 1
Best progressive exploration in thrash Megadeth 1 Metallica -
Best radio friendly band whilst maintaining credibility megadeth 1 metallica -
Most interesting guitar and general musicianship megadeth1 metallica -
Best Vocals and melodies Megadeth – Metallica 1
Master of puppets megadeth – metallica 1
Most pretentious bloated rockstar bollox megadeth 1 metallica 1
It’s a draw.
Well. Although i started as a Metallica Fan. Megadeth got my mind, heart and passion. Their music is just awesome. I still not agree to compare the bands. Both are Great!! comparing members of both bands is not good. each one has its styles and that makes the greatness of it.
Megadeth for me is first. Metallica is great also and i enjoy both concerts!!! the only thing that i do prefer of Metallica to learn from Megadeth, is to join the music world.. i mean, as Megadeth with the Gigantour, with other thrash bands as Slayer, Testament, Anthrax.. others as Dream Theater.. MEtallica always goes alone :S
Hi metal heads,
I think Metallica is the better band because they have more feeling for gripping song structures and are capable of expressing more diverse emotions in their music. Also Kirk’s solo’s are better: more melody, more feeling, more variation. For me, Megadeth often sounds the same.
That being said, I won’t deny that Metallica has often failed in the past: after Master of Puppets, they have gone down hill in my view, although Death Magnetic is a nice comeback.
As far as Megadeth is concerned, Peace sells is my absolute favorite. They were never so good as on this album, not even on Rust in peace.
But hey man, that’s just my opinion…
Rock on dudes!
We should be comparing these bands at 2 different times. The first one being the period until Metallica released the And Justice For all album, and the other one starting with their Black Album. In the first period the better band was Metallica but not for very much. ON the other hand, Megadeth is the best of the two in the second period and still is and by a great deal.
Well this is tough.
I would have to say both bands put out incredible albums of integrity and ingenious in the 80’s and complete crap in the 90’s(except Rust in Peace, of course) However, Megadeth has completely wiped the floor with Metallica in the new mellenia with amazing albums like United Abominations and the STELLER Endgame.(Death Magnetic? come on…)
So ultimetly, Megadave and crew win out.
We will see for whom the bell tolls…
Megadeth is the best
Mustaine rules James and Lars are by far the most disgusting a-holes ever
I say Megadeth.
There’s no denying that Master of Puppets is nothing short of a classic. The problem is, it’s far and away Metallica’s best album, and it goes downhill from there. Yes, I know the “Black Album” sold a lot, but I think it sounds more like “metal by the numbers” than anything exciting and innovative. And there’s no forgiving St. Anger.
Megadeth has also had some low points, but never as low as Metallica (I’ll say that Risk is an okay album on its own merits and nothing more…certainly better than Metallica’s low point). Peace Sells…, Rust In Peace, and Endgame are all arguably the best of Megadeth’s line-up, and they trump the best of Metallica.
Both rock, so I won’t pick — making a greatest hits collection of each band can be nothing less that a box set. I really just wanted to comment on those who still use “sellout” when describing the Black album or call Megadeth weak for the period surrounding the Risk album. The Black album was nearly 20 years ago — get over it. And Risk was just that — they tried some different stuff and it didn’t work. It happens. If a band kept churning out the same stuff year after year, we’d rip on them for lack of creativity. Not every album is going to be Master of Puppets or Peace Sells. Nor should it. Members change. So do interests, be it personal or the music scene as a whole. I love metal, but the fans — a family of outsiders — seem to rip on the artists for being “different” all too often. Just interesting to me.
Megadeth beats Metallica by a longshot. Mustaine may have started off in Metallica but being kicked from the band was the best thing that ever happened to him. Forming Megadeth took him and his band to the next level. So he made too many lineup changes. He has had the all-time best musicians in his different lineups. (Who wouldn’t want to see Gar Samuelson and Marty Friedman). Metallica is by far one of the biggest sellouts in metal history. Every album after Black album was downright disappointing. Megadeth has only had one disappointment(Risk). Master Of Puppets is the only GOOOOD album from Metallica. However with Megadeth, you have Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? You have Rust In Peace, Endgame, United Abominations, System Has Failed and Countdown to Extinction. Need I say more? Megadeth clearly has the best music and lineups!
“Hello Me, Meet the real me!”
Metallica anyday. Everything they have done (including their so called ‘worst albums’ Load, Reload, and St Anger) are classics. They put on a better show, have better personality (James, Kirk, and yes even Lars are all nicer guy than Dave), and are actually a band (notice Dave always firing or driving away his band mates? Or should I say, ‘hired guns?’)
Megadeth hands down! It’s simple…Megadeth never made the crap fest that are “Load, Re-Load, St. Anger and Black Album” Nuff said!
Megadeth and Metallica are both great bands, how else would they both be in the BIG 4 of heavy metal. When Metallica cut Dave, he went out looking for blood. He was determined to best Metallica and I think he really did come out on top with Megadeth. Yes Megadeth has had a lot of line up changes, but they weren’t just because Dave didn’t like the guys. Yes Metallica has stayed constant besides Cliff, jason and now Robert, but I think that dragged them down a little. When you get new musicians it brings new ideas. Through the 80’s Megadeth had to catch up to Metallica’s lead, but in the 90’s Megadeth(unlike Metallica) kept there albums going strong and crazy in true thrash metal form. I would say Metallica sold out, but they took big chances. Load, ReLoad, and St. Anger took Metallica down. Death Magnetic might bring them back to what they were before. However I have no problem listening to all of Megadeth’s albums all the way through(even Risk). So for me, hands down MEGADETH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
megadeath kicks everyones ass and i think dave is beeter than kirk long live megadeath
People DO need to lay the Metallica and Megadeth thing to rest. It’s obviously over between them, hence the reason why they are or were on tour together. And Dave Mustaine was wrong with his actions while he was with Metallica, but It DOES NOT give them the right to STEAL Dave’s work. That’s all Metallica is known for, stealing other artists music. Now, are they a talented band, yes. I can’t say they aren’t because they obviously became popular with all you lemming fans, and critics, and who am I to judge I’m just a regular ol’ person. But both Dave Mustaine and David Ellifson are two of the most talented people known to man when it comes to Rock groups and that’s a FACT. Look it up if you don’t believe me. So for anyone to say it was OKAY for Metallica (a band known to steal other peoples music) is a complete dumbass! Sure bands need to change things here and there, but have your original music. Unlike Metallica, Dave Mustaine wrote all of his own music, and just for that makes the band MEGADETH more of a talent, and legendary.
Metallica is much better considering they’ve had thier downsides but all of thier albums bring FLAVOR and PERSONALITY to the table. Megadeth is a great band but Dave has nothing on Kirk because his solo’s are more of a powerful movement and Dave’s are just bland notes. You really never see Megadeth experimenting like Metallica.
I’ll have to say Megadeth. I love Metallica and all, but Dave’s lyrics speak more to me. ‘In my Darkest Hour” is a song that will make me cry. It is truly an in depth feeling song with still sticking to the metal roots. Peace sells is my favorite album but “Dawn Patrol” from Rust in Peace is amazing as well. Metallica’s first album, Kill em All, is my favorite and its probably because Dave wrote most of the songs. Ever since i read Dave’s book “Mustaine: a Heavy Metal Memoir” my views have changed about Metallica. But they both are still my favorite bands, despite the tension of Dave being deliberately kicked out of Metallica with no second chance…
Anyway
Rock on!!
Megadeth, hands down. Just because you sell more of something doesnt mean that something is better. and thats just it, sure Metallica was the most popular metal band but that doesnt mean they have more skill, because, simply, they dont. I love the sound metallica had on their first 4 releases but they went downhill huge after that, their riffs are simple and same with their drums. Whereas megadeth is a much more musically inclined band, more complex guitar and drums and simply havent ever had two albums that sound the same. Metallica on the other hand, from Ride The Lightning to …And Justice For All could have been all the same album just because those albums all sound the same. Not saying they dont sound good, just they are similar to one another. Dave Mustaine helped out Metallicas Kill Em All in a huge way, being as he wrote some of the material that helped launch Metallica to superstardom. Anyway, I love both these bands, especially the early stuff. But in my opinion Megadeth is more talented, they just havent sold as many albums, but i couldnt care less about that. Money doesnt make you a better musician.
Both bands may be thrash metal, but they are so different in their styles that even same riffs and same songs dont make them sound them the same. So by that logic, it would be like comparing apples to oranges, Some may like oranges more than apples, some the other. And both sets of people would have a valid arguement for it, but at the end of the day you cant compare the two.
Metallica is the band I grew up with. I started listening to metal when I was four, and my first album was the Black album. I loved it so much that it got me into their older stuff and I loved it even more. Metallica is more melodic which allows people to identify themselves with the melody and lyrics. The case and point would be Fade to Black, Master of Puppets, To live is to Die, Call of Ktulu, The thing that should not be. Each song is thematic and awesome in its own right.
I am 25 now and I caught on to Megadeth when I started playing a guitar some 10 years back, and thats when I realized megadeth was just brilliant. The songs are short and fast bursts of shear talent, talent that Mustaine undoubtedly has and surrounds himself with. I just love the Marty Friedman era albums (besides Risk obviously). Symphony of Destruction, Holy War, Peace Sells, Killing is my business…. They are musically advanced with much more complex subject matter. And this is one reason why people did not catch on to Megadeth as much as they did to metallica, cuz only the ones who can understand the inner workings of the music can understand it. It takes a genius to understand a genius, and to a common person they appear mad.
So I ll cut it short by saying that…. I love to listen to Metallica when I drive or when I feel bad or great. But I listen to Megadeth when I want to think and will always aspire to their brilliance. To give an analogy, in some respects Metallica would be the thrash metal equivalent of AC\DC, while Megadeth would probably be Iron Maiden.
I used to be a big fan of metallica,nodoubtlly i worshiped them and i started digging into megadeth only after knowing Dave was the former lead guitarist of metallica.At first i listened to a tout le mond which i didn’t like at the first time due to dave’s voice and after a while,my friend played train of consequence at my com and that was it ,what a riff.then i started listening to megadeth,now i worship them even greater,now i addicted to Dave’s voice like a druggist i listen megadeth than any other bands and maximum practice megadeth songs.They are a god to me..
So,when it comes to comparing these to awesome bands megadeth rules over metallica..
LONG LIVE MEGADETH……..
Megadeth blows Metallica out of the water every day of the week and twice on Sundays…Mustaine by himself is more talented and creative than those other sellouts combined, ultimately it comes down to consistency and after Justice metallica has showed NONE –Megadeth although dwarfed by metallicas success shows superior musicianship and overall talent, they are more technically proficient and def the better band….
80s: Metallica
90s: Megadeth
00s: Megadeth
10s: Megadeth
I pick megadeth but if overkill was in the list I would pick overkill over these two,o and also metallicas death magnetic album sucked dick , megadeths album endgame and overkills album ironbound is 1,000,000 times better!!!!!
Megadeth. Megadeth’s best album (Rust In Peace) is better than anything Metallica’s ever done. Plus, Lars is an awful drummer.
However, Dave Mustaine is a gigantic tool. The man is a dweeb, but can write and play some tasty riffs! (And solos.)
Both suck. Listen to Hour of Penance.
Ok Metallica is a bit comercial, but truely without them there wouldnt be much left in the metal field. On the other hand Megadeth “Rust in Peace” surely is a surprisingly good album – if they had a singer. Dave surely is not hence thats why with one Megadeth album its enough,really.
Megadeth gets my vote.
“Why Megadeth?” You ask.
Because Megadeth will never release “Lulu” or “St. Anger”
That said, Metallica used to have some hefty balls which, unfortunately, were cut off in 1991.
I normally don’t partake in these debates but will since this one is a common metal discussion. The point of view I normally take is a simple one, who’s body of work overall is better? I believe firmly that title will go to Megadeth with ease.
I don’t care about record sales or concerts & dismiss the Mega-haters who cry they “arent thrash”……nor is who is the lessor of two idiots….
At the end of the day when I proudly support BOTH bands, I’ll have to go with MEGADETH.
Master of Puppets and Rust in Peace are both brilliant. Load, Reload, and St. Anger stink, but So Far, So Good…So What! and Risk are equally fetid piles of poo. Dave Mustaine has mellowed with age, but in his heyday he was a complete douche. Lars Ulrich is much better these days at hiding his dickheadedness. There are so many parallels… But here’s the clincher: Metallica wins because they never wrote a song as crappy as Hook in Mouth.
Megadeth are better, primarly because they didnt really slow down after the success came and also because of the quality of their records, which didnt decrease big time like in the case of Metallica.Also it seems Dave has a much stronger drive than Hetfield, he was through drug and alcohol addiction, had some serious injuries,but he is always coming back, whereas Metallica have lost it somewhere at the beginning of the 90s . Nothing what they did after the black album (although there are some good songs on load) deserves much attention, they are still in the business for one reason alone , and thats money, their name still sells.But exactly for that reason i cannot even give them credit for having been better in the eighties, because they spoiled even their glorious days with the crappy records they have recorded afterwards. Metallica are sellouts, Megadeth are not..
MEGADETH! peace sells,so far….,rust in peace ,and endgame are enough to explain and the trend!after the systme has failed being released megadeth is still rising.at the career beginning metallica did something but now only they produce music with commercial doubts.and they are very far away from real metal/trash fans right now.