Metallica vs. Megadeth
July 10, 2009 by Mike O'Cull
Metallica and Megadeth are both thrash metal pioneers who helped usher in the modern era of heavy metal and both bands have enjoyed great success and popularity amongst rock music fans the world over. The question before us today is simply which band is better, which is a subject sure to cause much controversy and discussion. Both bands are part of the Big Four (along with Anthrax and Slayer) that redefined metal music in the 1980’s and provided an alternative to the many hairspray-addicted bands that dominated the radio during that time. Both bands have maintained long careers and kept their identities and their fan bases through up and down periods and the inevitable lineup changes that most bands with such long histories must endure.
Knowing how emotional this subject could be to metal fans, we here at Gear Vault decided to look at statistics first and foremost to decide which band comes out on top. This is the record business we are talking about, ultimately, and selling records is the name of the game. Megadeth has been one of the most successful metal acts out there, selling over 20 million records since the band launched in 1983, which is a phenomenal amount of units to move. Metallica, which was formed in 1981, has sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide as of the release of Death Magnetic, their latest release. Their 1991 effort, Metallica, also called “The Black Album”, has sold 22 million copies on its own. In terms of pure sales, Metallica trounces Megedeth at the cash register.
Sales figures are only part of the equation, however, and must be looked at alongside the question of influence, which is often a better gauge of a bands’ greatness than just commercial success. Here, too, Metallica comes out on top. Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine was originally a member of Metallica until he was ejected from the group, which led him to start Megadeth. In other words, without Metallica there would be no Megadeth. This makes Metallica the ultimate progenitor, not only giving birth to its own legend but, in a not-so-roundabout way, to Megadeth’s as well. This combination of record sales and influence in the metal scene puts Metallica on top of Megedeth and gives much credence to calling the band the “Led Zeppelin of their generation”, as many fans and critics have done. Music is subjective, of course, and each band has those fans that will prefer it to the other, but the tale of the tape tells only one story: Metallica rules.
Metallica vs. Megadeth
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TO SEAN:
lmao, not as much as a person to write a comment about it….
only stating a fact
TO SEAN:
…. yes! YOUR fact
So if my fact is the truth, which it is according to you, then you mean to say I’m never wrong?
Well you two(Twiggy & Sean)have fun talking about this. Im just glad Im not involved in this stuff anymore. Keep it metal Twiggy. As for you Sean, good luck with whatever you need to prove on here, trust me, its harder than you think.
To SEAN:
Clearly you failed reading comprehension. What I said is full to the point and clear. If that’s how your mind read what I wrote, it’s all up to you kid.
TO LUCAS:
Right, Metal to the bone, REAL metal that is!
I remember you saying you were more into black metal and symphonic, or I think I read wrong. What’s your fave bands in that genre?
TO WHOEVER WROTE THIS ARTICLE:
THIS MIGHT GET ME BANNED, WHICH IN REALITY I CAN GIVE 3 FLYING FUCKS ABOUT.
YOUR QUOTE:
“This makes Metallica the ultimate progenitor, not only giving birth to its own legend but, in a not-so-roundabout way, to Megadeth’s as well. This combination of record sales and influence in the metal scene puts Metallica on top of Megedeth and gives much credence to calling the band the “Led Zeppelin of their generation”, as many fans and critics have done”
COMPARING SHITALLICA TO LED ZEPPELIN IS LIKE COMPARING A WATERGUN TO AN MACHINE GUN. LED ZEPPELIN IS A LEGENDARY BAND THROUGHOUT GENERATIONS. SHITALLICA WAS ONLY GOOD WHILE THEY WERE THRASH. SHITALLICA WERE GREAT FROM 1982-1988, THEN SHITLOAD FROM 1989-PRESENT TIME. SO WHAT? 6 YEARS OF “ULTIMATE PREGONATOR” AND 20 YEARS OF “ULTIMATE SHITNOICER”? NOT TO MENTION THE WORSE ALBUM IN METAL HISTORY “ST. ANGER.”
SO TO YOU, METALLICA IS BETTER BECAUSE:
* THEY SOLD MORE THAN MEGADETH
* ARE MORE FAMOUS THAN MEGADETH
* HAVE MORE FANS THAN MEGADETH
* HAVE MORE “PRICES” THAN MEGADETH
SURE I CAN AGREE THEY GOT ALL THAT, BUT THEY GOT THERE BECAUSE OF THEM SELLING OUT, GOING COMMERCIAL, AND THEY STUPID RECORD DEAL. METALLICA WAS THE FIRST, THRASH BAND TO SELL OUT, AND THE ONE “TO BE KNOWN” … IT’S NOT A DAMN COINCIDENCE.
HOW ABOUT, TESTAMENT? KREATOR? HELLHAMMER? ANVIL? DEMOLITION? EQUINOX? MORBID SAINT? EXODUS? SODOM? VENOM? ETC? ETC? ETC? … THINK ABOUT IT, IF ALL THESE BANDS WOULD OF DONE WHAT SHITALLICA DID I DISBELIEVE THEY WOULDN’T BE SO “FAMOUS”
YES, IF IT WASN’T FOR SHITALLICA, MEGADETH WOULD BE EXISTENT, I CAN AGREE WITH THAT, BUT ALL THE DID WAS GIVE BIRTH TO A BETTER BAND. THEY WERE PROBABLY SCARED OF HIM BECAUSE HE WAS TOO “HEAVY” FOR THEM, SO THEY KICKED HIM OUT, AFTER ALL SHITALLICA’S BEST STUFF WAS WHEN MUSTAINE {and BURTON} WAS THERE, THEY FELL OFF 2 YEARS AFTER THOSE TWO WERE NOT PART. CLEARLY THEY MALFUNCTIONED WITHOUT MUSTAINE AND BURTON.
Amen Twiggy. This is for everyone reading this: Just think how much better of a guitar player Kirk would have been had he not left Exodus.
TO TWIGGY: Yeah, black and melodic death metal. Anything from Norway, Finland, and Sweden to be specific. Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, Emperor, and Gorgoroth for black metal. Blackened death metal band Behemoth is really good also. Soilwork, Arch Enemy(The Gossow fronted version,) and At The Gates are my favorites in melodic death metal. I am into any kind of extreme metal really. Job For A Cowboy, Whitechapel, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Suicide Silence are some of the newer ones that I am really into. What are you mainly into?
okay i have returned , and i am officialy putting and end to this im finishing what i started , firstly im convinced that twiggy and lucas are gay lovers , you guys must just fuck and stroke each others ego’s all night, secondly , the origanal question posed , was “which was the better band, metallica or megadeth” the question was’nt who was the better thrash band or metal band the question was’t that specific,
its a simple question that has a simple answer.
kirk is better than friedman, hetfield is better than mustaine , metallica have the better drummer and have always had the better bassist , so therefore metallica are the better band, they are better not only on paper(as ihave just proven0, but they are better in practice
case3 closed
metallica rules
C MAN!
ONCE AGAIN, YOUR RECYCLED ARGUMENTS ALONG WITH YOUR RECYCLED RETARDED INSULTS {CLASSIC 15YO}. AREN’T YOU TIERD OF COMMING AND REPEATING THE SAME SHITLOAD EVERYTIME YOU COME IN HERE?
KIDDO, COMES IN HERE SAYING SHITALLICA ARE BETTER, YET NEVER WRITES A MATURE COMMENT WITH A GOOD BACK BONE, OTHER THAN WHAT THE MEDIA FEEDS HIS HEAD BY SHOVING IT DOWN HIS THROAT.
THIS IS BETTER THAN THIS, THAT IS BETTER THAN THAT, THEN BACKS IT UP WITH WHAT HE READ. THEN HAVE INSULTS REGARDING SOMEONE “SEXUALITY” {WHEN REALLY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MUSIC} AMAZING ISN’T IT?
C MAN:
THEN SAYS: “CASE CLOSED” AS IF HE HAD FULL AUTHORITY AND FULL KNOWLEDGE IN MUSIC.
TO LUCAS:
YOU ENJOY ALL YOU NAMED UP TO BEHEMOTH. AFTER THAT, I’M NOT REALLY INTO NEWER BANDS.
WHEN IT COMES TO METAL, {other than thrash}, EARLY BLACK/DEATH LIKE MORBID ANGEL. ALSO CELTIC FROST{for extreme metal}, CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER, HEATHEN{for speed metal}, NECROPHAGIST{for technical-death metal}, CANNIBAL CORPSE, I ENJOY A BIT OF EVERY RANGE OF METAL, JUST MOSTLY OLD SCHOOL BANDS.
ONE MORE THING LUCAS:
I BET YOU A MILLION, IF HAMMET HAD NEVER LEFT EXODUS, AND SOME OTHER GUITARIST WOULD HAD JOINED SHITALLICA, *C MAN* THERE WOULD INSIST THAT WAS A BETTER GUITARIST {just for being part of shitallica}, AND HAMMET A SUCKY ONE SINCE HE WOULD OF BEEN PART OF EXODUS AND NOT PART OF SHITALLICA.
YOU COULD PUT A CHIMP TO BE PART OF SHITALLICA AS A GUITARIST OR ANYTHING AND *C MAN* WOULD HAVE CROWNED HIM!
i love how you take all this shit so personally , i may repeat myself , but i only do that because it needs repeating , you just dont get it , you must be some kind of retard, and if you want redundancy and repeats you should look at your own comments , you list the same shit over and over , i get it metallica sighned a shitty record deal i get it metallica “sold out” , no one needs you to say it a thousand times ,and the way you keep listing bands as better alternatives to metallica , makes me wonder if maybe YOU think YOU are the grand exalted authority on metal
metallica are better than megadeth and the record sales and consistent fanbase are evidence to that fact and even mustaine has been quoted to saying this
get over old man
hammet would rule no matter where he would have wound up , and just cause a musician is or was in metallica doesn’t mean that i automatically rank them as “Good” , thats simply not true, jason newstead was the crappiest bassist i have ever heard , and lars is pretty shitty , but he is okay (as a musician, not so much as a person), kirk is good , but not simply cause he’s in metallica and hetfield is a better guitarist(rythm)and song writer than mustaine
metallica rules
Would anyone here admit–at the very least–that both bands kick ass? Personally, I like both. I love the older Metallica! The newer stuff makes me think they’re selling out and banking in. Megadeth, to me, has been more consistent at making kick ass music.
C MAN:
LMAO, IT’S ALL I SAY.
TO NAMM:
I APPRECIATE THE WELL USE OF THE BRAIN YOU OWN. HOPE THIS ISN’T TAKEN AS AN INSULT.
Rummaging around in a dirty, shit filled lake looking for used syringes is better than listening to dave mustaines failure of a band
TO SEAN
IRELEVANT SELF-THOUGHT-OUT COMMENT… SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE TRYING TO COME IN HERE TRYING TO PISS PEOPLE OFF, SURELY IT DIDN’T WORKED WITH ME, ALL IT DID IS PROVE HOW BAD YOU WANT TO SPEAK OUT YOUR “HATE” ON SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW PERSONALLY.
YOUR COMMENT MEANT WHAT EXACTLY? DON’T SEE A USE FOR IT.
AND NO I’M NOT A MEGADETH FANATIC, AND AS YOU CAN SEE, ONLY YOU AND PLAN C, ARE THE ONLY ONES WRITING BACK BONELESS COMMENTS, WHAT A COINCIDENCE YOU’RE BOTH SHITALLICA LOVERS!
Well said Twiggy
hey what do you know twiggy has something to say what a surprise(not)
sean just stated an opinion , why is that you always feel the need to stick up for megadeth and label metallica fans as shitallica fans?
i don’t get it has metallica done you wrong in anyway?no i’ve stated my opinons on the matter and so have you , that should be the end of it , but you attack every metallica fan , you don’t see me atacking every megadeth fan , you’re the onlyone who has actually admitted that you’re a fan, what does that tell ?
Your quite right twiggy. All ive come here to do is voice my opinion in such a way that every megadeth/Dave mustaine fan would go ahead and personally attack the user who made the comment. Naturally i could do the same with metallica fans but i personally prefer metallica over megadeth.
People have such strong beliefs. They believe what they believe so much they force away any alternative to their way of thinking and what they think is right. It is sad that some people are like this, so narrow minded but it is a part of who we are as humans. You guys need to take a good look at yourselves and stop shoving your opinions up each others asses
TO SEAN AND C MAN:
DEAN FIRSTLY: THANKS FOR LAST COMMENT OF YOURS, SMART AND TO THE POINT. AND I CAN AGREE. BUT, THE PROBLEM WITH ME AND ‘C MAN’ WAS IN THE BEGINNING, WHEN I STATED BY OPINION OB METALLICA, AND HE STARTED INSULTING MEGADETH AAND THE FANS, AND POSTING THE DUMBEST COMMENTS … I CAN ADMIT WE’RE ENTITLED TO OUR OWN BELIEVES AND HAVE THE FREE ADMISSION TO POST WHAT “WE BELIEVE” BUT HE WAS POSTING USELESS COMMENTS TOWARDS A BAND *COUGH* JUST LIKE WHAT YOU DID WITH YOUR PREVIOUS COMMENT, I THOUGHT IT WAS RETARDED, YOU DON’T LIKE MEGADETH, THAT’S GOOD, THE INSULTS HAVE TO GO. I DON’T LIKE METALLLICA, BUT THE MOST “DISS” I’VE SAID TOWARDS THEM WAS CALL THEM SHITALLICA … HAVE NEVER SAID SOMETHING RETARDED {EG:”I’D PREFER TWEAKING WORMS AND ROASTING SNAILS INSTEAD OF LISTENING TO SHITALLICA”} OKAY HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO A CAUSE? NOT PROVING ANYTHING. PEOPLE ARE FREE TO DISLIKE ANY BANDS, WHAT NERVES ME UP IS RETARARDED COMMENTS.
C MAN: MORE OF YOUR LAME COMMENTS. PLEASE [CUT&PASTE] ON WHERE I SAY “I LOVE MEGADETH” UNTIL YOU CAN’T PERFORM THAT SIMPLE THING, DON’T MAKE UP SHIT, I NEVER SAID I WAS A FAN OF MEGADETH, I JUST PREFER THEM A MILLION TIMES OVER SHITALLICA…. LEARN HOW TO READ, HERE LET ME WRITE THIS MORE THAN ONE TIME SO YOU WON’T GET CONFUSED, I’LL EVEN WRITE IT IN DIFFERENT FORMS SINCE YOU LACK READING SKILLS:
I PREFER MEGADETH OVER METALLICA, MEGADETH AND METALLICA JUST ABOUT IN LAST PLACE ON MY FAVORITE THRASH METAL LIST
I ACCENT MEGADETH OVER METALLICA, I LIKE A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER THRASH BANDS OVER MEGADETH OR METALLICA
I HAVE RESPECT FOR MEGADETH FOR KEEPING LOOKING IN TRASH INSTEAD OF SELLING OUT, BUT I STILL PREFER OTHER THRASH BANDS OVER MEGADETH OR METALLICA
THERE 3x! IF YOU STILL CAN’T UNDERSTAND, COMPREHEND, ASSIMILATE, PROCESS THOSE 3, THEN I CAN’T TELL YOU MORE. IN THE MEAN TIME CUT&PASTE WERE I CLAIM I WAS A MEGADETH FAN … I’LL BE WAITING FOR IT!
Twiggy the most annoying thing about you at the present time is not your views but the fact that you seem to love the caps lock button. It would be a great benefit if you typed normally mate, cause its quite annoying
wait i don’t understand. . . . . . . . .what. . . . . . . are . . . . . you . . . . . . . trying . . . . . . . to say?
im . . . . . . .so . . . . . . . . .confused. . . . . . . ..must. . . . . . . .type. . . . . . . . sporatically . . . . …
I’ve listened to 1320 & headcrusher. They’re both lame & sound repetitive, like sleepwalker, and megadave’s always using these signature progressions on his guitar any amateur could make. Only that he needs shredding to fill in the space between ‘em, and that makes it awesome?
Whatever. -yawn- They’re not back to the old days, and certainly not better. Get over it.
okay i read your last entry {dromak} and it doesn’t even make sense i really don’t get what you’re trying to say ){}( lol
Excuse me Mr. Writer:
Why are we judging them based on album sales? That is primarily conducted by the media.
Why are we judging them based on their influence? If the media force-feeds them to all aspiring guitar players, of course they’ll be a influence.
Let’s look at the music! The music.
Twiggy Jordison u are truly a wise man. everything u have sayed couldent have sayed better myself, horns up to yu kid.
I think that this discussions are a litle pointless because the both bands are great but if I have to say which is better than: of course Metallica is better! And I`m sure that if there were no Load/Reload/St.Anger albums no one would even ask such questions. Megadeth is a great band (except for Dave`s vocals) but they will never be THAT great to beat Metallica, no one will because Metallica are too special band – they`ve made so many classics and after 25 years they are still so full of energy, and make gig after gig, and write awesome songs (don`t dare to say Death Magnetic is anything but awesome) and they have the charisma to make people love them. And it`s important that they are a BAND and Megadeth is Dave and some other people, trying to take revenge on Metallica. Metallica are much more positive and they put a lot of heart in what they do and really care about the fans. They are legends and they`ve made history with their early albums (you can`t deny it). Of course they`ve been through some heavy years which resulted on their albums (here I mean ONLY St.Anger because I think that Load/Reload are great albums, they just aren`t thrash) but now they are strong and confident once again. In fact Megadeth have been in not-so-good-days-and-albums too (Cryptic Writings, Youthanasia, The world needs a hero and especially RISK). This is normal – a band can`t do thrash forever, they need to try something new and to be creative,…and they can fail – it is NORMAL. So please stop with this sh*t about Metallica! If you don`t like them just don`t listen to them and shut the f*ck up!!! Anyway no matter if you listen to Metallica or Megadeth keep rockin` and have a beer.
Wow whose stupid enough to put metallica vs. megadeth.
You know all these single minded people are going to go off and fight about who the fucks better. There going to waste half of their lives sitting here fighting about 2 bands. That are amazing. In seperate ways, so big whoopdy fucking doo lets fight about whose better! Or just fucking like the kinda music you like without telling off other ppl. Wow hard resolution right?
@ Tom : Thanks man, I’ve been rockin out to metal since I was 14, and this was back in 1983 lol.
@ Mistress os Puppets : What a load of bullshit. A whole paragraph on how YOU feel about a band, but no concise points. You are hypnotized by what the music industry has shoved down your throat. If the papers were inverted, and Megadeth the most “famous” one, you’d be a #1 Megadeth fan just because that would be what the shitty money-whoring industry would be putting in your plate. It’s what ALL kids do know, accept whatever the media puts in front of them!
To Twiggy Jordison:
Easy, man! I DO like Megadeth, I DO think that Dave is genious and Rust in Peace is one of my favourite metal albums, so relax… What I am saying is that in my opinion Metallica is way better and this has NOTHING to do with the media and music industry and bla, bla, bla because they were in their greatest before they’ve made a single clip and before they’ve become so famous. Yes, I put a lot of feelings but I always get emotional when people are talking shit about bands which I love! The problem for me is NOT which band is better because it’s a matter of taste, the problem is all the comments of hate. Look, I NEVER talk shit about other bands because I know how it hurts and it would be so great if other people do like me. Can’t you just enjoy music?! I was on the Big four show, in the first line and I enjoyed ALL the bands and they enjoyed themselves too and were happy to be together and I think that we the fans should do the same…
I think Twiggy is right. Megadeth rocked all the way through, as opposed to Metallica, giving us piles of crap like “The Unforgiven” and all those sleepy cheesy ballad shit. They sold out a while ago (when Burton died, just so we’re clear) and that’s where they lost my respect. I’m sure Megadeth could have sold out too, but they kept their integrity through it all, continued to put their shoulder to the wheel and dished out some pretty wicked shit.
What is it with these guys? Were they afraid that their band would suck and not work since Burton wasn’t there to carry them? What made them sell out like that? Take a look back after the black album. What happened? Total mid-life crisis, emo haircut, nail polish, etc.
At least, Megadeth doesn’t have a closeted lead guitarist that let his ego show before his talent.
So, when you talk about Metallica selling so many albums more than Megadeth, you also don’t say that Metallica isn’t even a metal band anymore. It’s easy to sell more albums when some people call your music metal for the metal fans, and rock for the rock fans and alternative for alternative fans, so long and so forth. That’s called an identity crisis and it comes with the big fat contract the record company makes you sign.
Since Metallica cannot be qualified as a “metal band” anymore since 1988-89, I’d say Megadeth wins. That logic is infallible.
Metallica sucks
What a load of bullshit i’ve read here, ¿Metallica being th father of Megadeath? What in the name of all that is holy are you people talking about?
Metallica is the child that’s orfan cause his mother kick away his father!!!!
People, Mustaine was the master composer behind Metallica and look what happened a few years after he was fired….That Titanic was way down the water.
But one thing is true, Metallica sells more their first cds and its more popular. That doesnt make it a better band, just more popular.
And Hammet better than Friedman???…give back the ear to van gogh there!!!
Ulrich better than Mensa???? My god, do you even have a piece of shame on you???
Ulrich use to be amazing but he lost his mojo in his later years. Nick Menza was amazing when he was with Megadeth!