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.
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Master of Puppets is the only Metallica album that approaches the level of guitar playing I expect after being a Megadeth fan for so long. Bob Rock is basically the reason I hate Metallica to this day. He basically turned them into a grunge band. I love guitar solos, why take them away?
Rock was basically a pop metal producer during that era right? I know alot of people dump on him, but he did what he did very well.
Id blame Metallica more for voluntarily changing their sound. I even like some of their stuff during tha Bob Rock era, but yea, its not like it was during the Puppets phase. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
Lars is definitely a pioneer, not only because of the fact that he helped to create Thrash but the sound of his drums were unlike pretty much any metal band up until that point.
But his timing problems are very well known.
I'm pretty sure I've shared this story before but Andy Johns told me way back in 1993 that Lars was so bad during the recording of the Black album that Bob spent months editing his tracks by hand (i.e., cutting tape). The timing was so bad that after the drums had been edited to be in time, Lars had to go back and re-hit all of the cymbals and hi hats because the decay had been cut out, making the cymbal hit end too abruptly.
I heard he had a lot of help on ...And Justice. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Deberg_1990:
Rock was basically a pop metal producer during that era right? I know alot of people dump on him, but he did what he did very well.
Id blame Metallica more for voluntarily changing their sound. I even like some of their stuff during tha Bob Rock era, but yea, its not like it was during the Puppets phase.
Blame Lars and James. It was their band. They fucked Jason Newsted and ruined Justice by turning him down in the mix. They fucked Hammett by James taking over pretty much everything on the guitar.
James and Lars are the band. Everybody else is along for the ride. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Yes, with Jason Becker, who later joined David Lee Roth only to have his career cut short by ALS.
Becker was actually diagnosed in 1990 and is STILL ALIVE. Pretty amazing story and there's a documentary out there you should watch about it.
Just watched the doc. That was tough to watch at times. What could have been... But good for Jason for being able to get back to creating music again. Amazing that he is still alive! [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe: Graduated HS in 1991. :-)
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.
Originally Posted by GloucesterChief:
I find it highly entertaining that Marty mostly now writes music for male idol groups in Japan and plays some guitar for Moimoiro Clover Z.
Yeah, he moved to Japan in 2003 and really integrated himself into society. He's written a lot of Japanese-influenced material (his obsession really started even while he was in Megadeth, Scenes is a pretty different album).
I want to say he does a lot of TV over there too. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Yeah, he moved to Japan in 2003 and really integrated himself into society. He's written a lot of Japanese-influenced material (his obsession really started even while he was in Megadeth, Scenes is a pretty different album).
I want to say he does a lot of TV over there too.
Apparently while Dave was shooting up on the tour bus Marty was teaching himself Japanese.
He is probably a bigger celebrity there than here as he was on morning shows and had his own interview show. Also, being associated with one of the biggest idol groups in the country doesn't hurt.
