the big 4 should really be the big 5

[tuscaneer]

all this iron maiden revisiting has had me trawling back through all the music i grew up listening to and that invariably includes thrash metal.

the time line from 1986-1990 has to be the golden era for the genre.before this it was just getting going but i found it fascinating comparing the music of metallica,megadeth,slayer,anthrax and testament during these years.

i noticed that while i wasn't looking the vast majority of releases from this era have been remastered and cleaned up so i hoovered all the best releases from these bands up on cd to compare to my old vinyl and something strange struck me.although metallica started this all off their body of work (for me at least) doesn't stand up well next to megadeth testament and slayer during these years.

metallica-'86 master of puppets
'88 and justice for all

slayer- '86 reign in blood
'88 south of heaven
'90 seasons in the abyss

megadeth- '86 peace sells
'88 so far so good so what
'90 rust in peace

anthrax- '87 among the living
'88 state of euphoria

testament-'87 the legacy
'88 new world order
'89 practice what you preach
'90 souls of black


how would all you old thrash metalers rate the line up??
i'd have to go 1) testament
2) megadeth
3) slayer
4) metallica
5) anthrax

i surprised myself because if you had asked me from memory rather than a revisit down memory lane i would have had metallica much further up the list.bottom line for me is megadeth and testament just had better written,more rounded songs during this period.

[drumsterphil]

Yep, I'd agree but then Testament were always my favourite thrash band (and they've stayed true to their thrash roots for sure).

Rather disgracefully I've still yet to see them live, but hopefully catch them next time they're on these shores

[tuscaneer]

testament-trial by fire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeP20I-E9BE



megadeth-peace sells

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KDO_yCYcuU


slayer-seasons in the abyss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xRXy7qNO3c


anthrax-caught in a mosh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlLn0UicWrM

metallica-battery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlLn0UicWrM




fk!!i love thrash!!

[tuscaneer]

drumsterphil said:

Yep, I'd agree but then Testament were always my favourite thrash band (and they've stayed true to their thrash roots for sure).

Rather disgracefully I've still yet to see them live, but hopefully catch them next time they're on these shores

saw testament twice fella! 1990 and 1991.fking brutal live and by the looks of things harder than ever in 2011

[toasty]

I couldn't agree more, Testament have always been a firm favourite.

[Z06George]

For me it'd pretty much be the same top five although I'd switch Metallica and Slayer around. I've seen Testament twice, once supporting Megadeth and Judas Priest and another time when my mates band supported them. Both times I was blown away, such an awesome band.

[gbbird]

Very tricky, but i would rate as follows -

Megadeth
Slayer
Metallica
Testament
Anthrax

I have seen all of teh above at some point or another. By far the best live were Megadeth, the poorest were Testament i'm afraid. I saw them supporting black sabbath, and the sound was just dreadful - iirc there were a few technical problems during their set and they lost amplification several times

Edited by gbbird on Monday 31st January 17:39

[james_gt3rs]

I love thrash!

1. Metallica/Megadeth
3. Slayer
4. Testament
5. Anthrax

For the Testament fans - one of their best songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBFj3uHe2k

[james_gt3rs]

Actually I'd put Exodus and Sepultura above Anthrax.

[tuscaneer]

pondered this myself.i would agree that sepultura's arise,chaos ad, and particularly beneath the remains are a better body of work than that of anthrax but the only album of exodus's that i could really get on with was fabulous disaster.bonded by blood and pleasures of the flesh just couldn't cut it for me

[tuscaneer]

the live thing is an interesting one.megadeth were as good as it gets on the clash of the titans tour whereas slayer were st.testament i found superb and metallica were never too good for me either.anthrax i never saw.

[drumsterphil]

Sepultura belongs to the period after the Big 4/5 - I'd probably group them with the likes of Machine Head, Fear Factory etc (but then that's another tour to dream about).

My rating for the Big 5 would be -

1. Testament
2. Metallica
3. Megadeth
4. Slayer
5. Anthrax

As for Exodus, I'd be inclined to add Dark Angel to the list as they were playing far faster/thrashier than Slayer ever did and 'Darkness Descends' is a seminal thrash album imo

[tuscaneer]

drumsterphil said:

Sepultura belongs to the period after the Big 4/5 - I'd probably group them with the likes of Machine Head, Fear Factory etc (but then that's another tour to dream about).

My rating for the Big 5 would be -

1. Testament
2. Metallica
3. Megadeth
4. Slayer
5. Anthrax

As for Exodus, I'd be inclined to add Dark Angel to the list as they were playing far faster/thrashier than Slayer ever did and 'Darkness Descends' is a seminal thrash album imo

yeah,you are right about sepultura being from the second wave.i suppose the criteria for being one of the big 4(should be 5) has to be overall influence and how much they shaped the future sound.that's why i wasn't talking about the likes of dark angel/death angel/kreator and all those other bands who(while being great bands)didn't really sell enough records to influence enough people on a world stage.

i'm amazed that metallica have sold over 100 million albums compared to the next biggest in the list being megadeth with worldwide sales of "only" 25 million.can't find the sales volumes for the other three but if anyone knows i'd be very interested

[Gompo]

I'd probably have Testament instead of Anthrax, although to be honest I'd need to go through each album (which I've never done) to make sure. The order of my 'Big 3' would be:

1. Slayer
2. Metallica
3. Megadeth

[Z06George]

tuscaneer said:

i'm amazed that metallica have sold over 100 million albums compared to the next biggest in the list being megadeth with worldwide sales of "only" 25 million.can't find the sales volumes for the other three but if anyone knows i'd be very interested

For me I'm not supprised that Metallica have sold that much more than Megadeth and I assume the others as they left their roots IMO. I'm not sure If I want to see them live because I fear like many things they wont live up to what I want them to be and also the fact I really don't like anything post And Justice For All.

[captainmatt]

Not much love for Anthrax here!

Can't get into Testament, but really not a fan of Metallica. Far too overrated.

1.Slayer
2.Anthrax
3. Megadeth
4. Metallica
5. Testament because I haven't given them a proper chance yet. Currently into different styles of metal, will probably revisit thrash soon.

[Gompo]

..Didnt think about it before and would have to check out their other albums, but for 'Darkness Descends' I'd probably put Dark Angel in at number 4.

[tuscaneer]

Z06George said:

For me I'm not supprised that Metallica have sold that much more than Megadeth and I assume the others as they left their roots IMO. I'm not sure If I want to see them live because I fear like many things they wont live up to what I want them to be and also the fact I really don't like anything post And Justice For All.

with you there fella,even justice suffers from appalling production quality but the songs themselves work(even though you can't even hear the bass).the black album was a bit like a long drink of water for me and then after that everything has been a fking embarrasment.

[tuscaneer]

captainmatt said:

Not much love for Anthrax here!

Can't get into Testament, but really not a fan of Metallica. Far too overrated.

1.Slayer
2.Anthrax
3. Megadeth
4. Metallica
5. Testament because I haven't given them a proper chance yet. Currently into different styles of metal, will probably revisit thrash soon.

noticed the anthrax hate myself!!thing is there just isn't enough solid work there.spreading the disease was fairly good and then among the living was superb but after that it went downhill fast.one of the biggest dissapointments in my life was racing home from probe records in liverpool,ripping off the cellophane from state of euphoria,dropping the needle and then spending the next 40 odd minutes of my life being distinctly underwhelmed.
they were far more important for their influence on the rap/metal that was to come later down the line.bring the noise with public enemy is fking epic!

[drumsterphil]

Problem I have with Anthrax is the constant line-up changes and the way John Bush has been treated while they chase the money train with the 'classic' lineup - of New York thrash bands I'd place Overkill above them.

I only really enjoyed Persistence of Time (with Joey) and SOWN, Vol 8 and Stomp 442. The rest is rather forgettable (especially when compared with Master of Puppets, The New Order, South of Heaven, Rust in Peace). They've never really had a killer album like the rest imo.