Lesser of two evils

It's been a while since I pitted clunkers by two normally good bands so up this time is...

Megadeth-So far, so good, so what?

vs.


Metallica-And justice for all


Gasp, Metal Mark how could say that these two bands deserve to be in this column? Well, the short answer to that question is that both these albums were highly disappointing when they came out twenty years ago and neither has aged all that well.
Now for the background on these two albums I think the story would really start in 1986 which of course was when Metallica released Master of Puppets and Megadeth released Peace sells. Both were fine albums, both elevated the bands to higher levels and many fans were thinking that these were going to be two of the real leaders in metal's future. Metallica had to endure the loss of bass player Cliff Burton before the end of 1986. They brought in Jason Newsted from Flotsam and Jetsam to take the spot. They finished the Master of puppets tour and then put out their punk and metal cover album the $5.98 EP in 1987. By early summer 1988 their highly anticipated follow-up to Master was soon to be ready, the band hit the concert trail on Van Halen's Monsters of rock and the new album was going to come out in early fall. Megadeth's Peace sells sold well after it's release in 1985 and the band toured into 1987. The band hit some problems as both guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson were out and Megadeth's former drum roadie Chuck Behler and guitarist Jeff Young were brought in to replace then. The band was back in the studio and the new album emerged early in 1988. Both bands had line-up changes before these releases, but expectations were still high and that's why it was so hard to stomach the underwhelming albums that both bands put out. Metallica's album was a big, lumbering concoction with a definite lack of heaviness and edge. Megadeth had established a definite style on their first two releases yet their third album was all over the place with some heavy songs, but also some contained some head scratchers as well. Let's get into the categories and see who is going to take this one. Just a reminder that in a Lesser of two evils featuring veteren bands that the Originality/production category is replaced by the Disappointment factor category.



Vocalist-So it's James Hetfield against Dave Mustaine in this round. If Hetfield's vocals are off from previous albums it's largely because of the change in musical direction. I think he tries to sound like he means business, but it doesn't take on this album. You can grind your teeth and try to sound like you mean it yet it rings a bit hollow on several songs here. Mustaine perhaps had a more unique style and sounded even better on Peace sells than he did on the debut. However he's far more uneven this time around. He sounds strong at times, but then mutters and comes across as more subdued at other times. Tough match-up, but I think ultimately Mustaine varies his style enough to pull this one out.

Point to Megadeth

Guitarist-So it's the duo of Hammet and Hetfield for Metallica going up against Mustaine and Young for Megadeth. For Metallica, the guitar style is similar to previous albums although slowed down. It's still heavy, but not as heavy as it should have been. Some of the solos hit and some are sloppy. While I normally think that Dave Mustaine is incredible, he was hot and cold this time around. Jeff Young is alright and perhaps gets treated a little unfairly because his one album wasn't one of Megadeth's best. The best guitar parts by the Megadeth duo are either very basic slightly watered down takes on the style that the band was so good at on the previous albums. Close but...

Point to Metallica


Rhythm section-Let me first say that I think Jason Newsted did great work on Flotsam and Jetsam's "Doomsday for the deceiver". Yet for some reason on this album the bass cannot be heard and although that is the fault of the producer it will hinder Metallica in this category. Dave Ellefson is an underated bass player and even though this album was not his best, he still does well enough. Lars Ulrich fares better than Newsted and probably beats Chuck Behler who was maybe the most ordinary drummer to ever sit behind Megadeth's kit. Still I can't get past not hearing the bass.

Point to Megadeth

Disappointment Factor-This is a tough one because both albums were very disappointing. However I think this category ties in with the one below. Master of puppets was a better album than Peace sells, but I wasn't thrilled by the $5.98 EP. Still Metallica had moments on this album that worked, but they went over far too often by trying to create some epic and it turned out dull. Megadeth had problems just figuring out where to start on several songs. Ultimately I can still today take AJFA a little more and I still shake my head more whenever I think about SFSGSW.

Point to Metallica

Who rocks more-Perhaps "who bores the bejeezus out me less" would be a more appropriate title in this case. I think the biggest problem with Metallica on this album is that they go on for too long, but the biggest problem with Megadeth is that there are too many tracks where they just never do much at all. So before I get as long winded as a Metallica song, I will say that they do a better job of having some rock parts here. No, they don't follow-up on them as well as they should have, but they are doing more than Megadeth.

Point to Metallica


So Metallica pulls it out in this battle of the albums that should not have been. I still often refer to Metallica's album as "An injustice for us all" and Megadeth's release could easily be summed up if they left off the beginning and middle of the title and just called it "Megadeth-So what?"