Music Banter - View Single Post - Who is the Greatest of the Big Four of Thrash Metal?

Unknown Soldier · 08-16-2010, 02:15 AM

Metallica- Certainly follow in the line of Sabbath and Maiden as being one the most famous metal groups of all time. To a degree its warranted as their material pre the Black Album was pretty groundbreaking for a metal band, and they went into areas that other metal bands just wouldn`t or couldn`t go to. I also feel that their forays into a commercial sound, dabbling with blues rock influences and experiementing with nu-metal were pretty succesful, making them without doubt the most talented and diverse of the four. For the record I love "Load" and think "St.Anger" is a decent album.

Megadeth- I`d take Mustaine any day over Hetfield as a front-man and their manic sound on those early albums is the stuff of legend. The line ups of Mustaine, Ellefson, Poland & Samuelson or Mustaine, Ellefson, Friedmann & Menza are what its all about!!! The speed and musical ability at times was breathaking, making them for me the best band of the early phase. Sadly though, it was all downhill after "Youthanasia" which actually started the switch to more traditional metal and the truth is they just couldn`t do it. From this period, most of the material is crap to say the least, in fact it took them 10 years to release another great album "The System Has Failed" 2004.

Slayer-Never going too far away from their roots and sticking with what they know best (some people have criticized them for that on here) Slayer are all about intensity, take that away and you lose the essence of the band. They have actually tried to be more diverse on a couple of albums over the years as well. "South of Heaven" saw them slow things down a bit and they were heavily criticized for it, again its an album I love. "Diabolus in Musica" with its Nu-Metal influences was a no no and showed they should stick with what they know best.....intense head pounding metal.

Anthrax- Gimmicky and laying down the basis for the nu-metal movement with their crossover thrash styles a la Suicidal Tendencies. Without doubt the weakest of the four and only ever released one great album "Among the Living" Anyway, how can you take a group that sings about characters like Judge Dredd seriously? Then there is the John Bush era of the band that brought a grungier feel to the band. Admittedly he breathed some new life into them but from there on it was all downhill again.

In terms of who I sooner listen to well it would go as follows, which also indicates who I think are best:

Slayer> Megadeth> Metallica> Anthrax

08-16-2010, 02:15 AM	#7 (permalink)
Unknown Soldier Horribly Creative Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: London, The Big Smoke Posts: 8,265	Metallica- Certainly follow in the line of Sabbath and Maiden as being one the most famous metal groups of all time. To a degree its warranted as their material pre the Black Album was pretty groundbreaking for a metal band, and they went into areas that other metal bands just wouldn`t or couldn`t go to. I also feel that their forays into a commercial sound, dabbling with blues rock influences and experiementing with nu-metal were pretty succesful, making them without doubt the most talented and diverse of the four. For the record I love "Load" and think "St.Anger" is a decent album. Megadeth- I`d take Mustaine any day over Hetfield as a front-man and their manic sound on those early albums is the stuff of legend. The line ups of Mustaine, Ellefson, Poland & Samuelson or Mustaine, Ellefson, Friedmann & Menza are what its all about!!! The speed and musical ability at times was breathaking, making them for me the best band of the early phase. Sadly though, it was all downhill after "Youthanasia" which actually started the switch to more traditional metal and the truth is they just couldn`t do it. From this period, most of the material is crap to say the least, in fact it took them 10 years to release another great album "The System Has Failed" 2004. Slayer-Never going too far away from their roots and sticking with what they know best (some people have criticized them for that on here) Slayer are all about intensity, take that away and you lose the essence of the band. They have actually tried to be more diverse on a couple of albums over the years as well. "South of Heaven" saw them slow things down a bit and they were heavily criticized for it, again its an album I love. "Diabolus in Musica" with its Nu-Metal influences was a no no and showed they should stick with what they know best.....intense head pounding metal. Anthrax- Gimmicky and laying down the basis for the nu-metal movement with their crossover thrash styles a la Suicidal Tendencies. Without doubt the weakest of the four and only ever released one great album "Among the Living" Anyway, how can you take a group that sings about characters like Judge Dredd seriously? Then there is the John Bush era of the band that brought a grungier feel to the band. Admittedly he breathed some new life into them but from there on it was all downhill again. In terms of who I sooner listen to well it would go as follows, which also indicates who I think are best: Slayer> Megadeth> Metallica> Anthrax Last edited by Unknown Soldier; 08-16-2010 at 02:21 AM.