10 Times Megadeth Did It Better Than Metallica
"It wasn’t enough for Megadeth to do well; I wanted Metallica to fail" - Dave Mustaine.
Back in 1983, four excited, drunken, pimple-faced youths entered a recording studio in Rochester, New York to record their debut album. The name of the band was Metallica, a tight-knit thrash metal band from California, who had laid a solid foundation the year prior.
At this point, the band consisted of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton and Dave Mustaine. Drawn together through a mixture of adverts for starting a band, and scouting from local gigs, this foursome was driven by one purpose: Metal Up Your Ass.
In the early days of recording, guitarist and wild man, Mustaine, had become something of a liability. While his axe work was exemplary, his attitude was too problematic and the other three members predicted disaster if the man continued to run roughshod unchecked.
The band made a decision: Dave Mustaine was out of the band.
While Metallica picked up the super talented Kirk Hammett to take over lead guitar duties, a sobering Mustaine was on a bus back to California. By the time he made it back home, Mustaine made a vow to get revenge on the band that had abandoned him.
In nearly forty-years since that day, Metallica has become one of the best selling bands in history, totalling over three times the number of albums worldwide Megadeth has.
But, numbers aside, are Metallica really better than Megadeth?
10. Duelling Guitars
One of the staples of all Heavy Metal music is the use of duelling solos. Popularised by influential bands such as Diamond Head, no Metal band worth their salt can be without a shred off to show off their axemen’s mettle.
Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield are two solid guitarists and have written some hefty riffs together. Hammett is one of the last students of guitar god, Joe Satriani, and this has excelled Metallica musically almost beyond compare. Together, Hammett and Hetfield have duelled on several tracks, with the most notable taking place towards the end of the seminal anthem, One. Hammett strangles his guitar to help bring the atmosphere up to a violent degree, then Hetfield comes in with a lower tone and a slower pace bringing in a sense of impending doom.
However, as good as this is, the destructive duo that is Dave Mustaine and Megadeth’s best lead guitarist, Marty Friedman, are simply better. Sharing solo duties on numerous songs, the pinnacle of all guitar solos takes place on their 1990 masterpiece, Hangar 18.
Immediately punching through with a throbbing Thrash riff, the pace is kept throughout the five-minute firestorm. Mustaine and Friedman intercept with casual solos between each verse, to then unleash all fury in the song’s latter half. Friedman performs melodic manoeuvres with an Eastern twist, while Mustaine shreds with such precision he started getting rid of the band's old bank statements in the process.
Megadeth performed with more raw power. Simple.