Metallica: 6 Reasons They're Undeniably Better Than Megadeth

5. Total Number Of Albums Sold

The race for most albums sold between the two most influential metal bands of all time is not even close: Metallica outsells Megadeth at a ratio of over 2 to 1. With Megadeth's 50 million records sold, to Metallica's well over 100 million sold, this category is a no-brainer. But it is a category not without controversy. Most would argue that Metallica "sold out" in 1991 with the release of their self-titled disc, better known as The Black Album. This album alone has sold more copies on its own than the entire Megadeth music catalog. But longtime Metallica fans were not very receptive of this album, having been produced by glam-rock icon Bob Rock, whose previous production work had included Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet and Motley Crue's Dr. Feelgood. But what fans new and old couldn't argue was that The Black Album was a heavy, radio-friendly rock opus that could not be ignored. It spawned five singles, five music videos, and is still in the top ten of the best selling albums of all-time since the inception of SoundScan. Megadeth's highest selling album to date is 1992's Countdown To Extinction. While radio-friendly much in the same way The Black Album which proceeded it was, Extinction never caught fire like Metallica's 1991 disc did. And because of that giant discrepancy, Megadeth was never able to catch Metallica in generated sales and units sold numbers.