Johnny Apples said:
By the mid-80s, he was arguably already a better guitarist than any of his contemporaries from the Big 4 of thrash metal. And I don't just mean in terms of guitar playing and knowledge of cool techniques, but also in terms of the tone. He had already worked out what kind of amps, pre-amps, pickups and other gear he needed in order to obtain that thick, screaming guitar sound.
I'm a tone agnostic, it's in the ear of the beholder, either in your head or in your hands, but in any case no doubt Dimebag had it and was one of the best. I'd make an all-around case for Mustaine's combination of innovation, writing, rhythm, and soloing, but it's kind of hard to fairly rate anyone, especially a cock like Dave, against a legend that was tragically taken before their time.
Johnny Apples said:
I can only wish that the '80s-era Megadeth and Metallica albums had that same crunchy, beefy guitar tones that the Pantera albums from the '80s already had. As much as "Hot and Heavy" sucked musically, that song actual had better production values than, say, "Mechanix" or "Blackened."
Yeah, but you'd rather have the music be good than the production, and the production on Kill, Ride, Master (!), Peace Sells and Rust are just fine, and Justice works as what it is. Rough production can have its charm too, but Metallica in particular flushed themselves down the toilet chasing that ghost ("durr, we're the richest metal band ever, let's sound bad on purpose!"). Spending half your production money on heroin and using it while recording is the way to get that good-bad sound!
Speaking of which, if you haven't already listen to Megadeth's infamous 2004 remasters of Killing is My Business, Peace Sells, and So Far, So Good... So What (but no more after that). I can't say they have great tone, but you asked for better production and it's pretty amazing how much he rehabilitated those tracks that they sound like new albums on par with Rust in Peace in the crazy guitars department, but they still have a bit of that rough, punkier edge. Just listen to the aggressive guitars and vocals come through on the remastered Killing is My Business:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxomLoaairQ&list=PL3ZH57R7Ql2GHJmks79bdIVrpbUY6KQxM&index=1
And the aforementioned Mechanix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfTcE89sBXU&list=PL3ZH57R7Ql2GHJmks79bdIVrpbUY6KQxM&index=7
It's like an attempted assault through music, and given his feelings about Metallica at the time, it likely was.
Johnny Apples said:
If Dimebag joined Megadeth, songs like "Hangar 18" and "Sweating Bullets" would've had way more bluesier guitar solos, played with Dime's distinctly Texan swagger. Not to mention, Mustaine probably would've forced Dimebag to stay slim and trim (did you know that Dime's weight ballooned from the svelte 160 pounds in 1990 to over 270 pounds by 1998?). With all due respect to Nick Menza (RIP), Vinnie Paul was a superior drummer. Dave could've just demoted Nick back to his old drum tech position, and hired Vinnie.
I'm guessing it was more about Nick already being owed drummer money and Dave being too cheap to eat it! Plus, it's not like Marty Friedman was a slouch, and a better fit for Megadeth's style, and of course Pantera is essential as well. So, the more great bands the better and all's well that ended well there. Plus, none of these guys would have been able to get along, particularly with Dave; it's just a chance for him to say, "I almost had the best band EVER... twice!" I bet Dimebag would have enjoyed playing like 11 solos on Hanger 18 though.
Johnny Apples said:
While the 'Pantera's fortunes may have skyrocketed in the '90s, during that same decade, Phil's vocals steadily degraded with each consecutive Pantera album. By Far Beyond Driven, Phil's soaring multi-octave singing voice from the Power Metal and Cowboys from Hell was reduced to a raspy, barely comprehensible croak. Lemmy was like twice Phil's age by that point and he had a better voice than Phil. Hell, even Rex Brown criticized him for letting his voice go like that.
Also the not as obvious reason Metallica sucked the last 20 years, because Hetfield's vocals did. Glad he/they figured it out on that Dio medley and the last album.
Lord Leith said:
What did you and Walter think of Kiss Land? Its often forgotten about since its not as good as Trilogy and wasn't as poppy and commercially successful as Beauty Behind The Madness or Starboy but I think its pretty underrated all considering.
I'm with Wally, nothing after Trilogy really grabbed me. It was like that transfixing weirdness got turned down with the improved pop sensibilities and it messed up the recipe for me.
Lord Leith said:
In regards to Megadeth, my thoughts exactly, couldn't have said it better myself. Metallica may very well be the quintessential metal band in the eyes of many and at one point in time, they undeniably were but Megadeth has always appealed to me more for being as you say the pure uncut shit.
Just a normal guy, singing from the point of view of a Polaris nuclear missile blast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLsQsirjmeo
Putting a bow on the last two points, even at Megadeth's pop peak in the 90s, it was still just weird as hell! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YFyyLI9grI
Lord Leith said:
Thanks a lot for the thorough review/analysis of Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, I can tell you're quite passionate about the subject, metal isn't my go to genre but I respect it a lot as a casual listener so your attention to detail doesn't go unnoticed. I'll give the album a listen, I did like the 3 singles you linked so I'm optimistic despite their last few releases.
Thanks and you're welcome, the first half of the album is strong. If they'd just released that plus Spit out the Bone it might have been less is more and definitely more akin to their 80s oeuvre. Others worth checking out:
Atlas, Rise! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHjw0Q7F8rA
Dream No More (cool vid under the influence) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqIQvE5R1tU
ManUnkind (pretty much just for the weird Mayhem themed video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUVr2xnGIEo
Walter said:
This is kind of how I feel too

I do try to listen to new stuff pretty regularly, but rarely does it actually resonate with me. House of Balloons did though. Shoutout to you though for turning me on to metal and associated music. While I couldn't follow you to Megadeth, I did find a ton of great albums through you, and rediscovered my love of early Metallica (Master of Puppets is my favorite still, easily).
Easily still the best, and they were just coming into their peak form too. As transcendent as that album seemingly is, if Burton didn't die I wonder if they might have churned out two or three more albums in that vein just on inertia (you can still hear them fucking around just enjoying themselves on it, goddamnit). They pretty much put everything they had left into Justice after that.
Walter said:
Oh I know, I just couldn't resist. And FUCK there's a trilogy of these?!?
Yup, there's been one on every other album since The Black Album. They kind of have to do Un4given now, right?
Walter said:
My parents listened to garbage ( no, this was well before Shirley Manson) when they listened to anything at all, so music wasn't a big part of my life until I was old enough to buy my own CDs.
As a kid I would literally tell my mom "I hate music!" and shut off the radio in the car. I realized later it was because she was putting on KBIG 104 adult contemporary trash where the coolest thing you might hear is Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics among a bunch of Sting solo stink and the like (at least put on The Police

).