Countdown to Extinction have so many hidden gems... This was my life and foreclosure of a dream is one of the best songs in megadeth career. High speed dirt,Ashes in your mouth,Psychotron is other examples.
Captive honor, architecture of aggression. This whole album is soooo underatted. But i will say that most of the black album is also amazing, and has underrated gems
@@jakeguy6050 Maybe something easier, like Countdown to Extinction Lp, for the start. Then try with others and take your time-) Megadeth is great and amazing band!
Having played guitar for 25 years, the difference between Metallica and Megadeth is pretty simple. Metallica's songs are straight forward, but fast. Megadeth's are complex and fast. When Metallica made the black album, they slowed everything down, so really anyone can play them. What makes their older songs hard to play is the speed. Megadeth slowed down for CTE, but the complexity is still there, so songs like Ashes and Psychotron can still be tricky to get down. Their older stuff, has the complexity and speed, so have fun playing Lucretia.
Hearing it like this puts a different perspective than I feel in hindsight. The Megadeth riffs have more vitality, and the Metallica ones have more "weight". Equally memorable and creative.
If you look where most of the Metallica riffs are played, lower on the neck, you get a heavier sound. Most of the Megadeth riffs are mid neck, probably due to Dave's voice. I prefer Megadeth's riffs over Metallica.
Its really impossible to compare the 2. The black album is straight up a heavy metal album. Countdown is still more thrash. It's apples and oranges. A better comparison would be their best albums instead of just their most commercially successful.
"Countdown..." and Maiden's "Piece of Mind" were the reason I became a metalhead. I remember there was a TV ad of "Countdown..". Never something sounded so loud on TV before, and my curiosity just went out of space (I was 11 at the time)
"Piece of Mind" is the one's of the Maiden's best and my personal favourite (with SSOASS and SIT). Such an atmosphere and unbelievable solos. I feel bad because it's a little overlooked by fans I guess.
@@teejenkins75 for me, it's Revelations, Flight Of Icarus, Still Life and To Tame A Land. Honestly, I would like to include all 9 songs in, they are all important for that special album's vibe.
wooooooaaaauuuuu... dude 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. I've listened to these 2 albums hundreds of times, if not thousands, but if I had to take one of them to a desert island.... Megadeth!!! 🤤🤤
Both of these records were recorded at the same time. The Black album at One on One on Lankershim and Countdown about a mile away at Enterprise in Burbank.Both raised the sonic level of recordings at the time.I'll take Countdown because both of the guitarists and the guitar parts are are at another level.
I remember my dad found a copy of countdown in the garbage, and gave it to me, because I liked metal and at the time I didn't really care for them as a band, I sat down one day and just let it play, and it blew me away, it's really such a great album, and probably some of my favorite work from the Friedman, and Menza period.
These two albums were my introduction to metal 30 years ago and opened a door to a world I couldn't have previously imagined. Great job representing both! 🤘
Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell was mine back in 1980…I was 8yrs old…then as I grew older, I was listening to my headphones and the radio DJ said….”Heres something new out of SF…” he played Seek and Destroy from Metallica…and I was hooked! I was 11 years old 1983.
Hi Mike, I had an identical experience. Countdown to Extinction was the first metal album that I bougth, Black Album and CTE were my favourite ones. And now, after almost thirty years, I love listen and play metal songs. It's true love 🤟
@@justdev8965 tells us again how Hetfield’s dick taste!…You Metallicock fanboys are incapable of accurately critiquing music. You too in love with whatever Metallicock shits out. And if you think you have an argument…you don’t. Cuz your favorite band put out LuLu…enough said
I have no words to describe it, I love your videos. I believe both albums are on the same level, but not so balanced in terms of riffs and guitar solos. I see that Megadeth has well-crafted riffs and complex solos. Countdown remains my favorite Megadeth album, and between these two, I like Countdown the most, but I don't despise Black Album.
Countdown had such a great tone! I remember how exciting this record was when it first came out. I thought the black album was boring! I was disappointed when it came out.
This guy is a really talented player. I think what makes his channel really interesting a fun is that he's a purist who understands the fine line between offering up a faithful rendition and adding a slice of one's own unique style. This guy knows an incredible number of songs and riffs. I've been playing for a long time and I know a lot of stuff too, but nothing like this dude. This guy can play not only whole songs, but complete albums if he wanted to. With some bands, he might know their entire discography. I'd bet money on that. And that's sick. Truly impressive. Another thing I like about this guy's playing is that he plays in a fashion that's really conducive for other guitarists to see what he's doing - to be able to analyze his technique, and also to be able to glean how these songs are played. He's really solid as a player. He's not sloppy at all, and seeing the way he does things has probably helped a lot of young players avoid picking up bad habits. He makes it all look so easy. but once you've seen a few of his videos and watched him break down songs you're familiar with you can really get a good idea of where each song ranks in terms of how difficult it is to play it. This video really highlights his talent for doing that. In some ways, this is one of the most masterful videos he's done in terms of a head to head comparison - he chose two bands that everybody always compares... He chose two albums that mark a distinct stylistic change (some might say they show a leap in maturity in terms of songwriting for both bands)... They were released around the same time, and both bands had four albums out before releasing the ones he's breaking down, so it's the 5th record for both bands... It really doesn't line up much better than that in terms of a direct one to one comparison. And in this video you can really see the wide distinction between these two records. The riffs he chose to play are some of the most interesting on each record. I think his Metallica choices were strong because in all honesty there really aren't all that many mind-blowing riffs on that record, but you can get a good feel for the standout ones here. The Megadeth riffs are infinitely superior in terms of the quality - the cratsmanship, the complexity, the intricacy, the creativity... Metallica at this point was basically just churning out B-league very forgettable tripe, and this record shot to the top on the success of a few of the singles, but the rest of the record was basically just garbage filler. There are so many bad songs on the Black Album. I know these kinds of comments usually lead to Metallica fanboys getting bent out of shape, and even seasoned metalheads like me are tired of hearing the Black Album bashing because it's been happening for 30 years and we're over it. But you came here to watch this guy play, and if you're reading this comment, you must be interested enough, so my two cents is that it's not a particularly awful album, it's just not a very good one - and to use a term I hate but has its use from time to time, it's overrated. "Countdown to Extinction" is glorious. It's technical. It's fast. It's eclectic. It's fun. It's just an all around terrific record. The riffs are really imaginative. The songs all have a different feel. The production is brilliant - it sounds phenomenal even 30 years on. I would say that it's definitely more "metal" than "Youthanasia", but "Youthanasia" with those great hooks is probably an even better example of how incredible it would be if Mustaine were to completely break away from metal altogether and try his hand at writing all kinds of other stuff - including popular music. I don't hesitate to say that Mustaine is indisputably the BEST metal guitarist of all time. Nobody comes even remotely close. The riffs you can see here are a great example of his playing and songwriting - and they're in a way simpler and more straightforward than the songs on "Rust in Peace" for example, but they're still super catchy and they're just a treat, even if you don't play guitar like most of us do, you can still just enjoy them and appreciate what goes into them. Wonderful video. Job done to perfection. This guy really provides everybody with a great opportunity to rediscover these songs and to see stuff in them that we never really paid attention to all of the other times we were hearing them.
‘Countdown To Extinction’ was the album that got me into Metal. Once I heard ‘Symphony Of Destruction’ that was it - Game Over 🤣🤘. I still remember going into the store to buy the cassette and getting blow away. So it will always hold a special place for me. The fact that these 2 amazing albums were released less than a year apart from each other is crazy. When you think about it - 5 of my most favourite albums off all time,inc these two plus : AC/DC ‘The Razors Edge’ ‘Rage Against The Machine’ RATM & Pantera ‘A Vulgar Display Of Power’ we’re all released pretty much within a year of each other that will tell you the standard of quality music released back them. Amazing. Then add Guns N Roses ‘Use Your Illusion 1 & 2’ to the mix and it’s just ridiculous 🤘
@@dark.calm.records Hetfield has a tighter tone and way better precision in his riffs, although mustaine's riffs are more complex. And you know, the downpicking technique is out of this world.
I just felt 12 years again. Man, it's a great time to be alive! Your videos are a warming ray of light in these dark times. Immediate like every time! Keep shreddin'!
This is brilliant!You're a great musician, congratulations for mastering some fantastic riffs! As for the winner, I already had Megadeth ahead by not much, but once Psychotron kicked in it was pretty much game over. And then you continued with Captive Honour and the cherry on the cake, Ashes In Your Mouth. It's cristal clear why the Mustaine, Friedman, Ellefson, Menza lineup is so legendary. They wrote some insanely great music!
I feel like I lean towards megadeth just hearing the rhythm riffs. But when you hear the solos that Marty and mustaine have, it’s a definite W for megadeth.
Might have been Metallica’s best selling but Master and RTL were better albums with much more complex rhythm and transitions and are way above any Megadeath not to mention Muataine singing wears me out quickly. Long live Cliff Burton 🤘
@@lancemanyon7645 your opinion on megadeth means nothing when you can't even spell it correctly . shows you're spouting opinions on a band you don't even listen to
Excellent video, as always. But of course you can't compare them musically. "Countdown..." is way better album all around. With "Black Album", Metallica got closer to the mainstream metal that would be their characteristic in the years to come. Keep the great work. You rock!
I'm a huge fan of both bands and every era of each of the two To be honest I don't see this big of a difference between the records, it's not like countdown is much more experimental or unusual than the black album, both move towards the mainstream... I'd go as far as saying that black album has more variety and dynamic songwriting than countdown And the following years literally everyone moved on with the times, the myth of metallica being the only one """"selling out"""" makes no sense Megadeth released youthanasia, cryptic writings and risk wich are all pretty poppy Anthrax released sound of white noise and Exodus released force of habit It made no sense to make thrash in the 90s with the alternative explosion and everyone knew that
@@Taylor-ou7xp I agree with you. That's why I clarified Black Album as Metallica's first mainstream album, not calling them sellouts. And to me the main difference is that Megadeth after some bland records (Youthanasia) or downright shit ones (Risk), eventually went back to what made the great with "The World Needs a Hero". Metallica went a different direction and here we are. The 90's were a weird period for metal. And once again I agree with you: almost every Thrash band did some regretful work, IMHO. I believe that the only ones that maintained their sound, among the most well known bands, were Slayer and Sadus. Cheers, my friend.
@@danredding7901 yeah I do prefer more raw sounding material myself (profile pic is pretty explanatory for this) but as a general music enjoyer I don't mind some of the 90s material
Both albums defined my teen years and were massive steps on my metal journey and made me want to play on guitar. I'm sure dad was a fan as every morning I'd blast out architecture of aggression when I woke up 🤘🤘
What interesting is i feel more of the songs from the black album work for me than Countdown but the ones i like from countdown were so amazing and memorable beyond anything on the black album. There was more of a overall sound to the black album, and many very distinctive tracks from Countdown. Love them both. Thanks for the very well played rifts and love your guitars. Just discovered this channel on the last one i saw, the death metal tracks and this is the second loving it, thanks, What about Slayer/Pantera? I know most would say Anthax but never really liked them as much as Pantera or others.
That Megadeth album was infinitely more enjoyable to me than the Black album; though the Black album sold something like 15 times as many copies as Countdown did.
In my opinion, these are the first albums for both bands respectively that evidenced them as having already passed their peaks; not as commercial successes - obviously - but in their abilites to remain true to their original sounds whilst at the same time having the inspiration to produce something original and fresh with every new album. I am a huge fan of both bands, btw - but mainly for all their albums they released prior to each of these.
I would agree with that statement on the Metallica side, but while Megadeth have a had a speed bump or two along the way, overall, Dave has put out a lot of great music. I mean, United Abominations, Endgame, and Dystopia are all amazing albums and their last record was pretty damn good too. A lot of their recent music definitely holds its own against most anything.
It was neat to hear the riffs without the vocals, helps to see the actual structure of the song. Its crazy how much of a difference vocals make when you are just casually listening :)
Missed a huge opportunity at the end...you should have had both sides play the harmony solo together. Countdown kicked Black's butt and that would have been the icing to prove it!
Metallica=catchy and heavy. Megadeth=musically better and more technical. IMO. Both great just different! Put hetfield instead of mustaine and you get a real nasty hybrid
@@antonioramonconcepcionvida4489 It's good that you removed the part whjere you were saying Megadeth albums sounds all the same. Even you realized that nonsense. And no KEA, RTL and MOP are mostly the same, Load and Reload are the same and the last two too. Mustaine also has a hand in starting Metallica so hje changed the world too. Without him, they were a NWOBH band.
Well, in my opinion the two albums are excellent, but….for me, Countdown to Extinction, has mutch more guitar work and the guitar solos… uauuu!!!! Amazing!!!!! 🤟🤟
Son dos excelentes álbumes para disfrutar a 2 bandas de metal, pero como argentino mi corazón está con la sinfónica del redhead Mustaine, las guitarras de Megadeth son sencillamente formidables. Aguante Megadeth!!!!!
Countdown es simplemente perfecto. tiene excelente producción, riffs espectaculares (esa linea de guitarra del coro de this was my life, increible), y es interesante en base a ritmos, claves y tiempos (excelente Nick Menza). Los dos son muy buenos pero Countdown es simplemente un trabajo hecho con hambre de éxito y se nota.
Siempre chupando huevos con megadeth, solo por que mustaine dice que los argentinos son los que mas les aplauden y apoyan.....no me jodan....METALLICA son la hostia la banda mas grande, iconica, y de mas calidad del thrash metal de la historia....sin mencionar que tiene muchísimos mas millones de fans, que los megadeth.
I've been listening to both if these albums for close to 25 years. Dont play either much anymore, but if I was to grab one to put on and listen all the way through, countdown wins. Black album had too many singles played to death on the radio
They are both still really benchmark albums in many ways ..and I've listened to them both thousands of times and play a lot of songs from both albums on guitar. It's also awesome with modern day Amp modellers we can get exact album tones at home.
Skin of my teeth - Sad but true - Architecture of aggression - the Unforgiven - Wherever I may roam - This was my life - Countdown to extinction - High speed dirt - The god that failed - Captive honour - Ashes in your mouth ... In a head to head comparison the winners .. but depending on my mood, one day I love the Black album over Countdown to Extinction but it can change within half a day lol.. both are great albums where , imho, Countdown isn't even Megadeth their best album. Metallica explored more different paths where as Megadeth was more consistent in style. There's a reason both are part of The Big Four ..
Still have love for both these albums. I havn't listened to them in a good minute. Great playing, the tones sounded perfect. Thanks for the upload and some fond memories. 🤘🤘
Your videos rock man!! This is just a matter of taste.... I go with Megadeth. A bit of a mystery for me how these albums are these bands best selling albums....
@@MikeysMorgue My point was that both bands have albums that kick much more ass. Metallica's album is actually easy to understand why it's their best selling considering how much exposure those songs got on the radio.
Both bands are great and both bands are cornerstones of the metal community. I just personally think Dave writes more technical music than James. That's not to say one is better than the other. Metallica have more ballads and Megadeth have more technical musical masterpieces. I think Megadeth is more interesting to the ear, but there's something to be said for Metallica's tone and doing a lot with less.
Agreed. I've always felt Megadeth has a more trash metal feel to it. And more melodic style of riffs. Obviously complementing Dave's vocal range and style. Metallica went from early trash to more i would say matured kind of sound within their catalog. The Black album sounded very different. A little more restricted heavy if you know what i mean. The 'less is more' kind of thing you're referring to.
Fake news, Hetfield is still so much better with his rythm parts in Metallica's hits. No doubt that Megadeth has made some good stuff, but just because Metallica is way more famous and bigger doesn't mean that they are "bad". Because look at the time when they realeased ...And Justice For All they weren't even so crazily famous, they were heard of. But after the MTV awards where they won, they got known as "mainstream" but actually aren't. They can't count for the reason that they got famous. They played because they liked playing and having fun, that doesn't make Megadeth more original at all.
Loved both these albums. As a guitarist I probabaly nerded out a bit more with countdown. But years later and having not listened to metal on a regular basis for sometime like i did back in those days, more of the black albums tracks come to mind more readily. The song writing was probably tighter on that album. But symphony definitely has its moments too.
Absolutely killer albums, both of them, but Countdown just has some of the most interesting and creative riff writing I've ever heard. Dave is truly a riff master, while of course the guys in Metallica can write some real catchy stuff. But ultimately the riffs that continue to blow my mind to this day and give me that really nostalgic feeling of remembering how blown away I was when first trying to learn them on guitar are the ones that Dave writes.
It's honestly amazing how popular Countdown to extinction got. A commercially mainstream album that was heavier than Glam ,got in the top 10, and didn't sell its soul. This video does highlight part of what made the Black Album popular+ Simple but powerful riffs that are catchy and fun to play. These short bursts make the Black Album look amazing, but in it's full duration it just got a bit underwhelming (to me). i Know Downfall network has an edited and remixed version of the Black Album called "Enter Sandman", and it's a better version of the album IMO.
