I'll admit, I got into these two bands pretty late in life - 1991, to be exact - but I'll tell you that once initiated, it was whole hog. I bought the whole catalog of Metallica, and loved it all. When 1992 came along and Megadeth released Countdown To Extinction, it was quickly embraced by me.

Then came the betrayal.

Megadeth's follow-up to Countdown To Extinction was Youthanasia, and I was so disappointed by the pretention of this album that I knew that it was all over for new Megadeth.

Load by Metallica in 1996 was the same scenario - with the exception of the song Until It Sleeps - and knew that Metallica must have been abducted by aliens, and imposters were put down in their place.

During the 5 years (1991-1996) I spent falling in love with Metallica and Megadeth, I was always hoping for a sort of reunion between Metallica and Dave Mustaine, that they would perhaps go into the studio and record together (without Kirk Hammett) their original material, and maybe tour. But after 1996, I began to wonder if it would even be worth it.

Now I'm having second thoughts as of 2006 - its time their previous careers got a jump-start, and personally I think it would help their current careers.

It's not like Mustaine was ever a part of Metallica that anybody has even heard. He was gone before they even recorded their first album.

The last Megadeth album was actually pretty decent, and Metallica are working with Rick Rubin for their new record. So despite 10-15 years of mostly poor output from both bands, I actually have hope for their upcoming albums.

Closest thing you'll get to a reunion is watching Mustaine's crybaby scene in Some Kind of Monster.

The black album ended it for me. The song until it sleeps put the nail in the coffin. I don't understand how the black album is worse than 'until it sleeps'. That song was uninspired, awful, and had the worst video I've seen in years. Metallica decked out in makeup, designer clothes and rubbing pudding on themselves...genius.

The Black Album and Youthanasia is where they both jumped the Shark IMO and should have called it a day.

I can't imagine how much more legendary Metallica's legacy would be to this day had they quit after And Justice for All.

Youthenasia/Cryptic/Risk were all shit, but the latest 2, especially The World Needs A Hero, are very good.

After Black, everything from Metallica has sucked.

Metallica died with Cliff Burton. ...And Justice for All followed pretty closely in the same vein, but after that they became another band altogether.

Y'know what, I'm sick of hearing people bash the black album. It fucking ROCKS, and if you don't think so, you're momma must've dropped you on your head too many times when you were little.

Does it throttle balls-out like "Battery"? Well, no, not exactly, but it is truly an EPIC metal album, and made Met a household name, and there's not a goddamn thing wrong with that. Now, from "Load" on, I completely agree with you all (it sucks...don't even get me started on "St. Anger"). But give the black album a break.

As for Smegmadeth, they should've stopped after their 2nd album. The revolving door membership and excessive melodramatics/egomania from Dave have fucked them up beyond repair.

The Black Album ruined it for me. Not because they got big (I had been following them since "Kill 'Em All". But because they wrote a song like "Nothing Else Matters". Worse song ever! Loved "Enter Sandman", but I could do without anything else from that album.

I liked Megadeth until they kicked out Chris & Gar.

I like all of Metallica's stuff. Never really got into Megadeth. Do I understand why lots of people prefer the old Metallica to the new? Yeah, but I really do enjoy it all. I didn't even get into Metallica until Load, and I worked my way back. Maybe that's why I enjoy the new stuff too. Eh, whatever.

I started listening to Metallica after the Black Album came out. Its not my favorite album, but I still think its good. I didnt like Load/Reload. The only song I like from those is I think Im the only one in the world who likes that song.

St Anger was the worst album I have ever purchased.

..And Justice for All is a great album, but either the production or the mix is awful. No bass, tinny thin-sounding drums. St Anger was an attempt at returning to their metal roots, but it was a really bad album, and I'm not sure the band still has it in them. They're fat (monetarily) family men now. The fire that makes great thrash just isn't there.

Megadeth's still kicking ass. The System Has Failed, their latest, is one of their best albums. It's like Rust In Peace pt. 2. BTW, Chris Poland returned for some guitar work on that record. The only record I can say I was dissappointed with was Risk.

As far as Metallica, I still only listen to the first two records, Kill & Ride. Master was their last good one besides the cover album Garage. Everything after that pretty much licks balls. Which, coincendentally, also seems to be the period they stopped using Mustaine's stuff.

I'm probably one of the few that liked Load and ReLoad. They aren't as good as their previous albums, but I can still find a lot of songs I like. The Thorn Within is fantastic.

St. Anger was terrible. I haven't found a single song on that album I can listen to. With Rick, I'm holding out hope that they can turn out another good album. I'm not ready to write them off, yet.

Youthanasia also had some good songs, for instance Elysian Fields. I can understand the pretentious comment, though. The System Has Failed is pretty good, so I can see Dave continuing putting out good albums.


I never want to see a "reunion". Oh, yeah, I don't really see a poll option for me. If "I still appreciate their output, minus a couple of misses, but I don't want to see a reunion" was up there, I'd vote for that one.

Yeah heaven forbid they change with the times. Had they stayed the same they would have died with the rest of the bands with the 80s...not become legendary. They are legendary BECAUSE of the Black album. If they hadn't changed they would probably be on some second rate reality show on VH1 now, there never would have been a Napster battle and would be playing clubs instead of arenas.The reason the first four albums have done so well is because of people getting into the band AFTER the Black album.

I liked/love the black album. Beginning to end. Load/ReLoad is what killed it for me.

Even though I agree with this post, it's kind of funny.

Metallica are on second rate VH1 shows, although not reality-style, yet. They probably will play clubs, since that seems to be the thing to do for big artists recently.

I do have respect for them changing their sound throughout (almost) every album.

There's truth to the fact that The Black Album made Metallica a household name. Without that 1991 album, you NEVER would have heard songs like Master of Puppets or For Whom the Bell Tolls on K-ROCK 92.3 Radio (New York hard rock radio station) in the 90's.

Granted, their 1984 album Ride The Lightning went to #100 on Billboard's Top 200 Album chart, and each subsequent album reached the Top 30, so they were very successful in their day prior to 1991.

But The Black Album sinched it for them.

^ Correct.

But, for the record, in retrospect I do enjoy the Black Album now... Didn't like it when I first listened to it but now I see it as a friggin' work of genius compared to the material that followed it.

Megadeth, after Rust in Peace... Friedman rips on that album. I've never cared for Countdown to Extinction.

Anthrax: Everything after Persistence of Time pretty much stinks.

Slayer: Still going strong. God Hates Us All was a great disc and the new one with Lombardo back on drums is due soon. Looking forward to it.

And that was my "big 4" update...

I really liked their first album with John Bush, "Sound of White Noise". But after that, they really dropped the ball. A shame, 'cause they could've done some great music.

As for Metallica, I'm one of the few who finds something to like about all their albums, even the unpopular ones.

I haven't paid much attention to Megadeth since "Countdown...", and even that wasn't a spectacular album.

Slayer's last solid album (from start to finish) was "Seasons...". Every album after that has a couple of good songs surrounded by filler.

I consider Master of Puppets the greatest album ever recorded. The Black Album was a departure from what they'd been doing, but I saw it as a reaction to the excesses of Justice. It still rocks. Load/ReLoad are completely different and I understand why they put off so many fans. I happen to like them, mainly because I really dig the blues metal thing that was so prevelant on those albums. I think people are really hard on them, mainly for the image thing, and I get that to a point. The videos from Load are so terrible that I don't even want to think about them. The music, in my opinion, is still pretty good. St. Anger is a return to the we don't care what anyone thinks Metallica, and I like about half the songs, and hate about half. The production really destroys the few things that are good about the album also. As I said in my review at the time, I think Metallica needed to make St. Anger to work some things out of their system, and I have really high hopes for the next album. Bringing in Rubin only increases my faith.

As for Megadeth, Rust is one of the greatest thrash albums of all time. Surprisingly, my 2nd favorite album is probably Cryptic Writings. There's just something about that perfect production by Dan Huff that really hooks me, and turns off a lot of other fans. Risk was shockingly awful and The World Needs a Hero wasn't much better, but the System Has Failed was a strong return to form. It's not the Megadeth of old, but it's getting there.

As for the thread's topic, I think hooking up Mustaine with Hetfield would be amazing... I'm just not sure either of them would create the music that we would expect them to.

I grew to appreciate The Black Album, especially after watching their vid `A Year and a Half in the Life...`, but it did not quite infuse itself into my psyche as Puppets or Justice did.

I went to a Metallica/Suicidal Tendencies/Danzig concert with some friends in the mid '90s and we sat next to some "new" fans. I was asked a couple of times which albums some of their thrashier songs were from but as soon as "Enter Sandman" was played they were all up in their chairs rockin' it out!

I like Megadeth and Dave Mustaine, but Dave needs to mentally move out of Metallica's shadow and move on with his life. Rust In Peace is a killer album. I wish Junior was still in the band though...

Well the Black Album was supposed to be a departure from what they were doing before! They said in interviews that they were write songs that were way simpler with less parts. When they said during the same interviews they were going to record "The Prince" and "Killing Time", I thought that they were going to do songs like that.

I was expecting something like Entombed (without the guitars being so turned down), but instead I got "Nothing Else Matters". And 15 years later, I'm still reeling from the shock!

The Black Album was tough to swallow at first seeing as I was total disciple of all their stuff up to that point, and our high school garage band covered everything they did. I remember learning Enter Sandman to play at a block party before the full album was even out, and it felt so weird to be playing something that simplistic from Metallica.

I've however come to really appreciate the record and it's place in time. It has a great feel and awesome sound. It gets a little weak towards the end, but still a great overall record. And for the record, I love Nothing Else Matters.

Everything since then I just can't get into. Doesn't have teeth anymore.

On the other "big ones":

Anthrax: Have to agree Persistence Of Time is the last great one. SOWN is OK. I heard Stomp 442 once when it came out, don't remember anything. Never heard Threat Is Real. However, We've Come For You All is actually pretty kickass, and the drumming is insane in some parts.

Slayer: Haven't gotten into anything of theirs since Seasons In The Abyss. I think part of the reason for that is I got into Fear Factory in a huge way, especially with Demanufacture's release. After hearing such a huge sounding heavy angry record, it's kind of tough to listen to new Slayer stuff, which still has the sort of "thin" trademark Slayer sound.

Megadeth: Last record I was gaga for was Rust In Peace. Countdown was very well made and has a lot of great moments, but I kept waiting for them to kick it in the ass and they never did. Youthanasia has a much more raw vibe than CTE, some good tunes and riffs, but not a home run at all. I've heard all their subsequent releases, but nothing has really stuck with me.

Metallica: Love everything from Lightning to the Black album, everything after that sucks.

Megadeth: Everything through Youthanasia ranks from good to classic...Risk & Cryptic for the most part sucks...nice come back with Hero & System...System in particular.

Anthrax: All Joey albums are great, Sound of White Noise was very good, everything else with Bush is ok at best with a few standout songs (Nothing, Safe Home).
The new Alive 2 album is really good with Joey.

Slayer: Always hated this band and could never get into them.

Since this has turned, somewhat, into the "big 4" thread...is Anthrax going to record an new album with Joey?

Is it true that John Bush turned down a singing gig with Metallica in the early days?

funny cuz i think the drums are some of the best ive ever heard on an album. the drums stand out so much. thats what makes it one of my fav metallica cd's.