Maiden and Megadeth remain two of my all-time fave metal bands. Sure, Metallica had their good albums (Kill 'em all up to the Black album), but I vastly prefer Megadeth to them.
Guns N' Roses, since it was considered metal in that era. I haven't heard one album before or since that could top Appetite for Destruction in my book. Metallica was cool...but I'm from the school that prefers their more groove-oriented stuff than that speed metal shit.
Not enough Priest praise in this thread. Rob Halford is and always be the "Metal God". The fact that his voice actually sounds better now, at age 55 than it did at the peak of Judas Priest's career is absolutely phenomenal. As mentioned, Iron Maiden is at the very least equal to Judas Priest and slightly better than or slightly not as good as depending on your preference (for me, I prefer Priest...but I listen to both about the same amount). 80's metallica definitely defined it's chapter of metal, and made some of the best music ever created in metal. But their blatant slap in the face to what makes good music (St. Anger) pretty much makes me embarrassed to even acknowledge them if they thought that album was worth releasing. Every band has a few stinkers, but that should have been the first clue to themelves that they need to retire. Their judgement is clearly not what it is used to be. I think Megadeth (or Mustaine's Solo band, whatever you want to call it) is just simply better. Other than "Risk", Dave still makes actual METAL and not whatever the hell St. Anger was. Plus Dave still sports his long hair, which Metallica chopped off like 10 years ago (Which btw, I actually didn't hate Load or Reload....St. Anger was definitely the final straw for me, though). Other favorites of mine are Motorhead (nice to see a few others mention them in here), Dio, and Manowar.
ZOMG! Lar's can't afford that new boat because of you! Anywho, not really being a metal fan, and more of a rock fan, I'll go with GnR. A band who could have been legendary.
I specifically remember an article in one of the music mags after Appetite for Destruction came out titled "GnR: Led Zeppelin for the 90's?". Granted, that's a stretch - but if Axl wasn't such a complete goof, I think they could have come close in some ways.
Load wasn't nearly as shitty as St. Anger, IMO...but it was still a far cry from the Black Album. And just to stay on topic, Metallica for the mother fucking win.
Did anyone here but me listen to metal that wasn't mainstream? I mean, don't get me wrong, Metallica was the momma pumpin' shiznizzle back then, but there was plenty of damn fine metal that didn't make it out of the basement. Powermad Flotsam and Jetsam - (Jason Newstead heads that didn't know this one should just give it up now.) Atheist - late eighties, early nineties Forbidden Testament - probably my actual favorite that wasn't mainstream at the time Nuclear Assault - mush-metal for the win! Exodus Hell, I could go on all day. I can't be the only one who remembers them, can I?
I see a lot of hate for St. Anger and the Black album. My least favorite is Load. I went to the midnight release for it and listened to it straight through. It was so bad I never listened to it again. And this is coming from a 20+ year Metallica fan. Anyone else miss the 10+ minute long metal ballads?
Oh HELL YES. Overkill's Years of Decay has to be one of my fave albums from them. Every single track on that album is fucking brilliant.
Hells yeahs. I have always felt that metal was headed in a real special direction when the nineties wave of crap known as grunge hit and suddenly everybody tucked tail and ran at the same time, trying to hurry up and simplify their music to dumb it down to fit in. Only now do we see bands even thinking about heading back in that direction, and NO band has brought back the ten + minute complicated song. As for Overkill, they still rank within my top three. Skullkrusher is the best slow-metal song of all time in my mind. And just this weekend I was showing off my new car's stereo to my best friend with The Wait. And if you don't remember the title, surely you'll remember the "Ready. . .HERE COME DA PAIN!" (Carlito's way provides the perfect transition to power-cordy mayhem.) I freakin' love that riff.
Metallica - I only like their stuff from "...And Justice For All" through to "S&M"; the early stuff wasn't my style and St. Anger was just...wrong. Megadeth - "Risk" was the last album of theirs I liked. They do have a 'consistent' sound, but then so does Nickelback, so that's not always a plus. Iron Maiden - I actually like Bruce Dickinson's solo stuff better, but his best isn't '80s, so a vote for Maiden anyway. Dio - That's right, Dio. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Guns and Roses - Great music and fun to listen to.
