“Who's better – Megadeth or Metallica?” Are you still there?

Hi friends. It's Andriy Vasylenko – musician, teacher and a big fan of Metallica... and Megadeth.

I never cared about the crap happened to be between these two bands.

And it still takes place among fans, even after official 'end of feud'

We had 'The Big 4 tour' and Dave playing on Metallica's 30th anniversary.

Dave (June 1993): "10 years of bullsh*it is over between Megadeth and Metallica"

Mustaine admitted that 'the measuring of dicks' made no sense, since he's also successful.

Even if Metallica beats Megadeth in 'the war of sales'

Dave and company still have won some 'local battles' for the 'metal throne'.

So, here's my top 5 things in which Megadeath and Dave Mustaine are ahead of Metallica.

And write in comments if I missed something.

One note: if you are still thinking this way:

'Megadeath rules, Metallica sucks!' 'Metallica rules, Megadeth sucks!'

Try to listen to f*cking music.

#1 - One-take 'Youthanasia'

Did you know that instruments from 'Youthanasia' were recorded together?

It means that the band played simultaneously, and all of that was being taped.

Except for vocals and some extra guitar.

You may say 'Yeah, that's how 'The Black Album' was recorded!'

Nope. Metallica was just playing together to create

the vibe of live performance for just one instrument to be recorded.

In case of Megadeth, everything started again if somebody f*cked up.

So, the number of takes was varying: from 2 to 42.

It requires great professionalism and composure, especially from drummer.

#2 - Creative internationalism

Both Metallica and Megadeth are popular worldwide

They are listened by people from different countries and speaking different languages.

But if 'the four horsemen' only greet the fans in their mother tongues

'the ginger motherf*cker' went further.

French is second language we can hear at Megadeth concerts, and not just in France, but everywhere.

You know why: 'A Tout Le Monde' was partly written in French.

ave took lessons to sing the lines as good and possible.

Dave: "Better?" Teacher: "Not better"

Get ridding of an accent is a very hard thing, and I totally understand Mustaine's efforts.

"HI FRRRIENDS! \m/"

Another example – Spanish version of 'Trust'.

I bet, it's a big pleasure to hear your favorite band singing in your native language.

Or even dedicating a whole song to your country!

#3 - Back to the roots

Whee did Metallica go back to the roots?

Somebody counts Death Magnetic, or Hardwired, or that they still are swimming far away from there.

Talking about Megadeth, their first attempt to back to the roots was in 2001 with 'The World Needs a Hero'.

So, they did it much earlier than Metallica.

Moreover, there're three things on 'Hero' which we may count as direct references to the old-school Megadeth:

a sequel to 'Hangar 18' called 'Return to Hangar'

a composition called 'When' which is a mix of 'The Call of Ktulu' and 'Am I Evil?'

and 'Dread & Fugitive Mind', the solo of which (and riffing on it) reminds me 'Tornado of Souls'.

"I need a break"

[playing 'In My Darkest Hour' and 'The Call of Ktulu']

Was that a real 'come back'?

Comparing to the previous record 'Risk', which was the most pop sounding album by the whole 'The Big 4'

'The World Needs a Hero' was true metal.

#4 - Total albums / songs count

And we just can't miss the fact that Megadeth has released more albums and songs than Metallica.

Side-projects and covers don't count.

Megadeth: 15 studio albums / 169 songs

Metallica: 10 / 115

Not talking about how good or bad they are: just dry numbers.

And there's one more thing: Megadeth has a ton of bonus tracks (12-20, depends on how to count)

And they all are pretty legit.

A few to remember: 'Angry Again', 'Kill the King', 'Duke Nukem Theme', 'Absolution'

Metallica has only 5 or 8 – 'Beyond Magnetic', 'Lords of Summer', 'I Disappear, 'No Leaf Clover', '-Human'.

#5 - Mascot

Well, it's an arguable 'VICtory'.

But if to scale the albums artworks considering throughout conceptuality and hidden details,

I'd give preference to Megadeth.

Dave came up with the mascot Vic Rattlehead

n adorable skeleton, a kind of post-apocalyptic version of the '3 wise monkeys'

and he appears in almost every album (in different variants), sometimes being quite hidden.

Perhaps, Metallica never needed a mascot

But the fact that Megadeth has one gives them a few extra points.

Anyway, I'd like to hear your thoughts about that. What could also give some points to Dave and company?

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Thanks for watching. It's Andriy Vasylenko. #BeInMetal \m/