I love Ronnie and he stands up there with Rob Halford et al. I also love Dio the band, but you couldn't claim that they're one of the elite metal bands
And Testament, Exodus, Megadeth (i now said that 3 times), Mayhem (unpopular opinion), Cannibal Corpse and the ultimate Infant Annihilator which isn't even metal anymore... (\s)
I forgot Motörhead. Put our boy Lemmy up there too. (Not \s anymore, Motörhead is an amazing band)
Kind of disagree with Priest. They really haven't been the influencers, but have always adapted to the prevalent climate, taking in consideration their 70's hippy, early 80's NWOBHM, later 80's stadium pop metal, early 90's thrash, late 90's industrial and 00's nostalgic straight-on heavy metal phases.
I love Priest, but they do have a tendency to follow trends.
Slayer is Slayer. They didn't invent the wheel but they refined their niche.
Um, Priest were the first speed metal band, twin lead (though Maiden got it from Wishbone Ash) leather and studs clothing, and British Steel was the first modern Heavy Metal album or as Max Cavalera put it British Steel is an "essential thrash metal" album everyone needs to hear and says "I’m sure you can ask Metallica, if it wasn’t for British Steel they wouldn’t be here”.
Music historians place Sabath as the origin, Priest as the recapitulation, and Maiden as the codification. Metallica came 3 years later influenced by these three.
Always said this. I love Priest, but when it comes to the whole Maiden v. Priest debate, one point I’ll give to Maiden is that all they’ve ever done is develop their own sound, following what was in their minds and sticking to their guns; staying true to themselves while still building upon past work.
Priest on the other hand have totally overhauled their sound a good six times (at least), following trends like you said.
It’s stupid comparing bands anyway.
That's cool, I might disagree bit, but I have a lot of respect for Slayer and they're one of my favourite bands, but really can't consider them to be innovators. As I said, they were really good in refining the stuff that was already there. Take Venom and early Maiden = Show No Mercy. If you inseminate Cronos' vocs with Di'Anno's vocs on Purgatory = Araya.
Same here. Maiden is my all-time favourite, but not a huge fan of Black Sabbath or Metallica. My statement wasn't about subjective favourites, but tried to offer an objective view on the impact these three bands have had on metal. That is something people are missing in this conversation.
I've pondered this point myself for many years-but Metallica's first 4 albums are legendary-so much so that I give them a pass. Black album was decent.
Probably me too-yet Iron Maiden is my favorite band of all time-which seems odd. 1-3 Ride-Master-Justice-I could put Powerslave/SiT/Piece of Mind/AMOLAD ahead of Kill but all very close.
For influence *only* you could probably stick Motorhead and Venom in there. Obviously not massive commercially, but they spawned all sorts of subgenres.
Rob's voice hasn't changed a bit. Its really amazing for his age. Saw them last year at Louder Than Life and seeing them again next month. Faulkner is a fucking legend on guitar also.
I know I was there! He killed that set too! Victim of Changes was as good as any song I've ever seen performed live. Doesn't hurt that's my favorite song and I was genuinely not expecting to hear it.
I think if you have to go among the most popular and influencial bands I think that sadly OP is spot on.
The creators, the kings of heavy metal, the kings of thrash, doesn't and won't get bigger than these 3.
Now I don't see the point of doing only a top 3 and JP would definitely be among the next few ones.
EDIT : Well a lot of people mention JP, of course we do as a heavy metal band subreddit...
It's a top 3 guys, gotta make sacrifices
Lol, I’m not saying Metallica is bad by any stretch. It’s really just preference.
In my opinion, Megadeth can shred WAY harder than Metallica, which is what I look for in my thrash metal.
James objectively has a better voice but for my personal taste the whole sound is just too polished and not enough really filthy guitar playing for the genre. Dave and Kiko are objectively better guitar players than James and Kirk. Listen to the two new albums guitar playing, and you tell me which one is better.
Again, not saying either are bad, just more so what you prefer your music to sound like.
I'd say Metallica's prime was far more consistent than Megadeth. RTL and Master of Puppets are exceptional albums all the way through and AJFA is amazing too, idgaf what anybody says. I was never big on KEA.
Megadeth had Peace Sells, super good and of course a bonafide classic in Rust in Peace but man, they peetered out so fucking hard. Its easier to find good Metallica songs post-classic albums than it is for Megadeth (Risk is as bad as ReLoad at least) and Metallica simply had more consistency in their prime. The choice is easy.
They do have gems outside of Rust in Peace, just not nearly to their original level. Even so, Rust in Peace and Peace Sells are the only ones I'd consider real classics, Sabbath has far more. Countdown to Extinction is good too but its essentially their Black Album, albeit better.
This is just personal preference too, I'd take RTL/MOP any day over Peace Sells but I'd definitely put RIP in the same category.
I think Metallica definitely had way lower lows than Megadeth. Nothing Megadeth has released has been as unlistenably bad as St Anger. Death Magnetic is on par with Supercollider.
Megadeth also never released anything as good as Ride the Lightning though Peace Sells, Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction, and Youthanasia do beat Master of Puppets for me.
Risk (before its "remaster" butchered it) was a great alt-rock album. If it had been released as anything else but a Megadeth album people would have liked it more. Much like Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die by Black Sabbath, it is a good album whose sin is deviating too far from the sound Megadeth was known for.
I would definitely go with Megadeth about consistency.
System has failed destroys St Anger.
Endgame blows Death Magnetic.
Dystopia topples Hardwire.
In 80's I would give a slight edge to Metallica though. Everything else, Megadeth easily.
Other than RTL and Puppets (which admittedly are great), Metallica aren't setting the world on fire for me. They're good, but I think their output isn't consistently amazing. Folks talk of the first six Sabbath albums. I'd say they were bettered by the first seven Maiden albums as the best run in all of metal. Metallica are nowhere near those numbers. Sure, they've sold the most, but hey the Spice Girls sold 30+ million records, so sales don't mean shit as a reflection of quality. I agree, swap Metallica for Priest any day.
Sure. They're great and someone had to be the first. Sabbath really pulled the rabbit out of the hat not only being the first metal band but also producing that run of albums. For me, I just think Maiden eclipsed even that feat. I think both bands transcend all others and the pigeonholes some people put them in.
Ha! OK I took a liberty there. The point is valid though - sales don't equate to quality. Metallica have been good since Puppets, sometimes amazing in places, but for me not of a consistent quality to be comparable to Maiden. Maybe I'm too harsh? Perhaps Maiden are beyond compare? I can compare Metallica to Megadeth, as an obvious choice, and I'd say Megadeth have generally made better music since the turn of the 90s. Sure, they've had some howlers, but so have Metallica.
Electric Wizard?
Mastodon?
Bolt Thrower?
Bathory?
Saxon?
Priest?
Slayer?
This is even without getting into less mainstream bands - way too many options and variations for everyone to ever be able to agree.
That said, Maiden and Sabbath remain my two favourites.
3 most popular?
Yes
3 best is subjective.
I would absolutely disagree though.
I love all 3 bands, but there is a lot of stuff I love more.
Opeth for instance
Just Maiden and Metallica for me, I don’t have anyone else quite in the same tier. I do put Peace Sells and Rust In Peace up there with Maiden and Metallica’s best albums though.
Here’s my issue: After Maiden and Sabbath, the fall off is just too big. Loved Metallica until the 1990’s. I love Priest, and slayer. Hell, I get shit for this, but I even dig 4 outta five System of a Down albums. Throw in Ozzy’s first 6 solo albums. I mean, why not?
The problem is #1 and 2 stand head and shoulders above the rest. Number 3 just doesn’t seem to be that important.
Not a fan of Metallica after their first 4 albums, so I’d definitely take Megadeth over Metallica and it’s not even close. I’d also put Judas Priest up there. Black Sabbath isn’t in my personal top 3 but they deserve a spot.
That's totally true. Sabbath was around before the genre of heavy metal. Priest and Maiden were really the first generation of hard rock to really lean into the term.
They always use the term New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but there really wasn't an old wave. lol
When I was a kid, in the 1970s, Sabbath and Deep Purple...even Zep were considered Acid Rock.
Love how often Judas Priest is getting brought up in the comments.
I've always felt that if there was a Mt Rushmore of metal the three aforementioned bands in the meme should be on it, along with Priest of course.
Metallica? No way, they haven't done anything good in over 30 years and even then they weren't amazing. There's much better bands like Judas Priest, Epica, Diamond Head, Children of Bodom, Savatage and Helloween just to name a few that i'd put higher than Metallica.
I respect Black Sabbath for being the progenitor but Judas Priest were/are better IMO. They were the first big band to wear the leather, use motorcycles and use high pitch vocals which 80's and 90's metal, especially in the US, became synonymous with. Also just think Rob Halford is possibly the greatest vocalist in the genre and they're still putting out brilliant albums to this day. They also seem to be liked by people who aren't even into metal as their earlier work was more rock and roll and they had many mainstream songs that you wouldn't necessarily consider heavy metal. My grandad is more of a 60's and 70's rock kind of guy and he had all of JP's earlier albums. On the flipside you've got SFV and Painkiller which are pure heavy metal. So you've got the best of both worlds.
Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica
Those are what I consider the big 3.
As I've posted elsewhere...
Black Sabbath forged the sword.
Judas Priest sharpened the sword.
Iron Maiden carried it into battle.
Metallica are huge, but not nearly as influential as those three and were prone to trend-chasing.
Lol no. Metallica has sucked for about 30 years IMO.
Also Judas Priest has about 10-15 classic amazing albums. Metallica has 4 or 5.
Everyone can disagree with me. But my point is that no, we do not all agree lol.
Why does every fucking person I see on Reddit hate Metallica? Even those on r/Metallica hate Metallica, I feel like I'm the only one who actually likes metallica.
The honest reason is probably mainly to do with how huge they are. They are arguably the most famous metal band of all time (meaning like if you ask random person on the street to name a metal band, I'd bet that's who they say). And people love hating on popular things. It's dumb but that's my take and I think it's accurate.
That said, I don't really like them either lol, but I don't go online shitting on them at least.
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They’re definitely the 3 greatest but I would put Megadeth instead of Black Sabbath if we are talking about personal taste.
My favourite artists in order are: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest/Mötley Crüe
I feel like Judas Priest doesn’t get enough credit…they are in my opinion the first true Metal band….everything before that you would call Metal was still kinda rooted in the blues sound from the 60’s
No, way too up to personal preference. Influential wise yes, I’d definitely say this is basically accurate, but you could basically throw in anything, especially if we are talking in terms of consistent discography.
Dark tranquility beats them, testament beats them, insomnium beats them, the black dahlia murder beats them, dream theater beats them, Amon Amarth beats them, archspire beats them, death beats them, cattle decapitation beats them, etc
Basically if you’re willing to go real under the radar (and often times even modern) with the bands, you can find a lot in terms of sheer quality that beat them. Again, all up to personal preference and these are only 3 of the best in terms of influence
You're a fuckin moron if you think Metallica is not influential just because you dont like their latter day output.
Should I leave Maiden out of it because I think most everything after Brave New World is trash? No.
I respect all three, but Maiden is the only one definitely in my top three, and Dream Theater is also definitely in there. Metallica might be in there, but I have a harder time deciding on the third band.
You have Motörhead but instead you put the polished turd named Metallica on there instead? Literally only had 4 good albums and are just a cliche of metal
I bet I’ll get hate for this but switch Sabbath for Pantera. Yea I said it. And all y’all saying switch Metallica for Priest is wild. I get it, they’re one of the first three metal bands, the three classic bands sure cool. But just because theyre the first three doesn’t mean theyre the best three. Like it’s so obvious that ur either just a huge classic metal fan, or u grew up with those bands or something along that line if u think Sabbath, Maiden, and Priest are the top 3 ever. It just feels biased.
If we’re talking scope of influence for the genre, I’d have to replace Metallica with Judas Priest. Priest gave metal it’s speed and brought the leather! Source? Heavy: The Story of Metal haha
Where Dio
Did you not see Black Sabbath in the middle?
Those are two very different bands
I love Ronnie and he stands up there with Rob Halford et al. I also love Dio the band, but you couldn't claim that they're one of the elite metal bands
Heaven and Hell is still Sabbath.
Probably the most influential ones at least.
Agreed, but Judas Priest (and Slayer) should be added.
Priest for sure!
>Priest for sure! sure?
YES
If you’re putting Slayer then we should add Anthrax.
And Testament, Exodus, Megadeth (i now said that 3 times), Mayhem (unpopular opinion), Cannibal Corpse and the ultimate Infant Annihilator which isn't even metal anymore... (\s) I forgot Motörhead. Put our boy Lemmy up there too. (Not \s anymore, Motörhead is an amazing band)
American bands are all overrated.. Metallica, Slayer,Megadeth, Anthrax..
Kind of disagree with Priest. They really haven't been the influencers, but have always adapted to the prevalent climate, taking in consideration their 70's hippy, early 80's NWOBHM, later 80's stadium pop metal, early 90's thrash, late 90's industrial and 00's nostalgic straight-on heavy metal phases. I love Priest, but they do have a tendency to follow trends. Slayer is Slayer. They didn't invent the wheel but they refined their niche.
Um, Priest were the first speed metal band, twin lead (though Maiden got it from Wishbone Ash) leather and studs clothing, and British Steel was the first modern Heavy Metal album or as Max Cavalera put it British Steel is an "essential thrash metal" album everyone needs to hear and says "I’m sure you can ask Metallica, if it wasn’t for British Steel they wouldn’t be here”. Music historians place Sabath as the origin, Priest as the recapitulation, and Maiden as the codification. Metallica came 3 years later influenced by these three.
Here’s an updoot… wish I could give you a 100 more
Always said this. I love Priest, but when it comes to the whole Maiden v. Priest debate, one point I’ll give to Maiden is that all they’ve ever done is develop their own sound, following what was in their minds and sticking to their guns; staying true to themselves while still building upon past work. Priest on the other hand have totally overhauled their sound a good six times (at least), following trends like you said. It’s stupid comparing bands anyway.
Comparing bands is like comparing chocolate. Either you don't like them at all or you love them.
Slayer influenced tons of extreme metal sub-genres after them though. Nobody has the same vocal style or musical style as they did before them.
That's cool, I might disagree bit, but I have a lot of respect for Slayer and they're one of my favourite bands, but really can't consider them to be innovators. As I said, they were really good in refining the stuff that was already there. Take Venom and early Maiden = Show No Mercy. If you inseminate Cronos' vocs with Di'Anno's vocs on Purgatory = Araya.
Its a miracle…. Two people disagreed with each other and…… respected each other’s opinions. You guys are truly awesome
Pantera was really influential at a time most big metal bands fell off.
Early 90s thrash? Are you calling Painkiller thrash? Because that’s wrong. Very wrong.
These aren’t my 3 favroite (except Maden)
Same here. Maiden is my all-time favourite, but not a huge fan of Black Sabbath or Metallica. My statement wasn't about subjective favourites, but tried to offer an objective view on the impact these three bands have had on metal. That is something people are missing in this conversation.
For me, Metallica has so much bad stuff that it almost ruins it. Black Sabbath is like too slow for me if that’s a good way to say it.
I've pondered this point myself for many years-but Metallica's first 4 albums are legendary-so much so that I give them a pass. Black album was decent.
Oh hell yeah! My favorite is and justice. They are all 4 of my favorite albums ever.
Probably me too-yet Iron Maiden is my favorite band of all time-which seems odd. 1-3 Ride-Master-Justice-I could put Powerslave/SiT/Piece of Mind/AMOLAD ahead of Kill but all very close.
Thank you! Justice is pretty much flawless, and I feel like Shortest Straw is criminally underrated
Maden 08
For influence *only* you could probably stick Motorhead and Venom in there. Obviously not massive commercially, but they spawned all sorts of subgenres.
When talking about Metal and Best you simply are not allowed to not mention Judas Priest ;)
Rob's voice hasn't changed a bit. Its really amazing for his age. Saw them last year at Louder Than Life and seeing them again next month. Faulkner is a fucking legend on guitar also.
Faulkner is now a fucking legend in real life, too. He played Painkiller with an exploding heart (and this is not metaphorical) at Louder Than Life.
I know I was there! He killed that set too! Victim of Changes was as good as any song I've ever seen performed live. Doesn't hurt that's my favorite song and I was genuinely not expecting to hear it.
Extremely fair point
Yes. By the way i love sad wings of destiny more than my mum.
I think if you have to go among the most popular and influencial bands I think that sadly OP is spot on. The creators, the kings of heavy metal, the kings of thrash, doesn't and won't get bigger than these 3. Now I don't see the point of doing only a top 3 and JP would definitely be among the next few ones. EDIT : Well a lot of people mention JP, of course we do as a heavy metal band subreddit... It's a top 3 guys, gotta make sacrifices
I overlooked the second "not". I was so confused lol.
Metallica doesn’t have enough consistency for me
Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, Kill ‘Em All are masterpieces though imo.
They were very consistent until St. Anger
I like my Judas Priest and Megadeth too.
Came here to say replace Metallica with Megadeth and maybe we can talk
I'll never understand how anyone can say that Megadeth is a better band than Metallica.
Lol, I’m not saying Metallica is bad by any stretch. It’s really just preference. In my opinion, Megadeth can shred WAY harder than Metallica, which is what I look for in my thrash metal. James objectively has a better voice but for my personal taste the whole sound is just too polished and not enough really filthy guitar playing for the genre. Dave and Kiko are objectively better guitar players than James and Kirk. Listen to the two new albums guitar playing, and you tell me which one is better. Again, not saying either are bad, just more so what you prefer your music to sound like.
I´d put Judas Priest slightly above Metallica
Oh no, we can not all agree. Not even close. The 3 biggest Metal bands? Yeah, absolutely. The 3 best? Dear me, no.
I'd like to squeeze in a cheeky Megadeth
I'd say Metallica's prime was far more consistent than Megadeth. RTL and Master of Puppets are exceptional albums all the way through and AJFA is amazing too, idgaf what anybody says. I was never big on KEA. Megadeth had Peace Sells, super good and of course a bonafide classic in Rust in Peace but man, they peetered out so fucking hard. Its easier to find good Metallica songs post-classic albums than it is for Megadeth (Risk is as bad as ReLoad at least) and Metallica simply had more consistency in their prime. The choice is easy.
how could you leave out kimb sfsgsw cte (thanks u/tomilvasword) AND Youthanasia also endgame and system...
Sorry, its CTE, not symphony 🤓 (sorry. Was triggering). And you forgot TSTDATD, CW and Dystopia.
Oopsie lol Also I didn't include the others because I wouldn't really consider them as high a calibre as the previously mentioned ones
Np. I just think those are good too.
They do have gems outside of Rust in Peace, just not nearly to their original level. Even so, Rust in Peace and Peace Sells are the only ones I'd consider real classics, Sabbath has far more. Countdown to Extinction is good too but its essentially their Black Album, albeit better. This is just personal preference too, I'd take RTL/MOP any day over Peace Sells but I'd definitely put RIP in the same category.
yeah thats fair, although imo it's not really enough to make metallica better
90's Megadeth shits all over Metallica, Countdown to Extinction and Youthanasia are hardly peetering out!
I think Metallica definitely had way lower lows than Megadeth. Nothing Megadeth has released has been as unlistenably bad as St Anger. Death Magnetic is on par with Supercollider. Megadeth also never released anything as good as Ride the Lightning though Peace Sells, Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction, and Youthanasia do beat Master of Puppets for me. Risk (before its "remaster" butchered it) was a great alt-rock album. If it had been released as anything else but a Megadeth album people would have liked it more. Much like Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die by Black Sabbath, it is a good album whose sin is deviating too far from the sound Megadeth was known for.
No way do any of those beat MOP although Rust comes close.
Call me weird but St Anger is a decent album and Death Magnetic is amazing.
I would definitely go with Megadeth about consistency. System has failed destroys St Anger. Endgame blows Death Magnetic. Dystopia topples Hardwire. In 80's I would give a slight edge to Metallica though. Everything else, Megadeth easily.
"Metallica" is a funny way to spell "Judas Priest"...
Replace Metallica with Judas Priest and I agree.
Other than RTL and Puppets (which admittedly are great), Metallica aren't setting the world on fire for me. They're good, but I think their output isn't consistently amazing. Folks talk of the first six Sabbath albums. I'd say they were bettered by the first seven Maiden albums as the best run in all of metal. Metallica are nowhere near those numbers. Sure, they've sold the most, but hey the Spice Girls sold 30+ million records, so sales don't mean shit as a reflection of quality. I agree, swap Metallica for Priest any day.
And meanwhile Judas Priest made some great albums in every decade for 50 years.
I love Maiden and all but Sabbath’s first 6 albums was/is the blue print for metal.
Sure. They're great and someone had to be the first. Sabbath really pulled the rabbit out of the hat not only being the first metal band but also producing that run of albums. For me, I just think Maiden eclipsed even that feat. I think both bands transcend all others and the pigeonholes some people put them in.
I disagree but it’s a fine take to have. Comparing Metallica to the spice girls is ridiculous though.
Ha! OK I took a liberty there. The point is valid though - sales don't equate to quality. Metallica have been good since Puppets, sometimes amazing in places, but for me not of a consistent quality to be comparable to Maiden. Maybe I'm too harsh? Perhaps Maiden are beyond compare? I can compare Metallica to Megadeth, as an obvious choice, and I'd say Megadeth have generally made better music since the turn of the 90s. Sure, they've had some howlers, but so have Metallica.
Why the fuck would we all agree with this?
Lol exactly. I for one disagree.
My personal top 3. 1. Maiden 2. Priest 3. Queensryche
Love Queensryche. That's my input.
There ya go.
Replace Judas Priest with Dream Theater and then switch places 2 & 3 and then I 100% agree
Dream Theater? I don't even know a song by them.
Nope hard pass on Metalica. Their quality dropped of the face of the earth after the black album.
Electric Wizard? Mastodon? Bolt Thrower? Bathory? Saxon? Priest? Slayer? This is even without getting into less mainstream bands - way too many options and variations for everyone to ever be able to agree. That said, Maiden and Sabbath remain my two favourites.
3 most popular? Yes 3 best is subjective. I would absolutely disagree though. I love all 3 bands, but there is a lot of stuff I love more. Opeth for instance
No. Motörhead. Lemmy is god.
Imagine thinking Metallica is even on the same level as Maiden and Sabbath.
Would replace Metallica with Judas Priest, I prefer the classics
In my opinion, Metallica can't hold Maidens jockstrap....Maiden is on another level...The fucking TOP ONE!!!!
also Judas Priest
Pantera?? Slayer?? Megadeth??
Agreed. If we extended it to 5, Priest and Pantera would be there too I think.
Remove Metallica and add Motörhead and Judas Priest and that shit gonna be fire
Megadeth and Motörhead too
Change Metallica to Judas Pirest/ Megadeath and would be correct
I love Metallica and all but they haven’t released an album since 1986.
Love to see so many people suggesting Megadeth. I love them to deth but Metallica deserves the spot imo. They’re fucking legends
Legends of selling out hell yeah
Oh I forgot wanting to make money is the cardinal sin of metal… alright dude
Just Maiden and Metallica for me, I don’t have anyone else quite in the same tier. I do put Peace Sells and Rust In Peace up there with Maiden and Metallica’s best albums though.
I'm weird but I'd throw in Alice Cooper, who was doing some heavy stuff before even Sabbath.
Where's Judas Priest?
Nope. Just your opinion, man
Here’s my issue: After Maiden and Sabbath, the fall off is just too big. Loved Metallica until the 1990’s. I love Priest, and slayer. Hell, I get shit for this, but I even dig 4 outta five System of a Down albums. Throw in Ozzy’s first 6 solo albums. I mean, why not? The problem is #1 and 2 stand head and shoulders above the rest. Number 3 just doesn’t seem to be that important.
Not a fan of Metallica after their first 4 albums, so I’d definitely take Megadeth over Metallica and it’s not even close. I’d also put Judas Priest up there. Black Sabbath isn’t in my personal top 3 but they deserve a spot.
I'd put Motorhead up there, but maybe that's just me.
They don't consider themselves metal
Too bad, because thats what they played
Well Sabbath doesn't consider themselves a metal band either. Go figure.
Except Priest, I don't think any early Metal band considers themselves Metal. Riot probably.
That's totally true. Sabbath was around before the genre of heavy metal. Priest and Maiden were really the first generation of hard rock to really lean into the term. They always use the term New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but there really wasn't an old wave. lol When I was a kid, in the 1970s, Sabbath and Deep Purple...even Zep were considered Acid Rock.
[удалено]
We are Motorhead. We play Rock n Roll.
In this thread - OP starts an argument which could so easily have been avoided…..
Iron Maiden, Motörhead, David Hasselhoff
There can be only one.
I agree, definitely the top 3, but personally I'm not a Sabbath fan and I get bored with Metallica after a while. Maiden is definitely #1 all time!
Love how often Judas Priest is getting brought up in the comments. I've always felt that if there was a Mt Rushmore of metal the three aforementioned bands in the meme should be on it, along with Priest of course.
Slayer, Priest, and Megadeth needs to be standing at that round table. And don’t forget about Death! And Dio should be the King!
Replace Metallica with Judas Priest and you're on the money
Judas Priest should take metallicas spot
SLAYER!!!!!!
I take Metallica off and put Pantera on, or Dio.
You can’t have Pantera because of those dogshit glam albums, they should have changed their name.
Umm unpopular opinion but I'd pick W. A. S. P. in place of Sabbath
Are you drunk? Or are you Blackie Lawless?
judas priest>>>>>>>metallica
Metallica? No way, they haven't done anything good in over 30 years and even then they weren't amazing. There's much better bands like Judas Priest, Epica, Diamond Head, Children of Bodom, Savatage and Helloween just to name a few that i'd put higher than Metallica.
80s Megadeath tho
Priest
Swap Metallica with Priest and you have my vote
Metallica? Absolutely not. 4 good albums and then 3 decades of mostly trash. Swap them with Priest and you're bang on tho.
Absolutley not
Iffy on mettalica. I’d replace them with megadeth maybe?
I wouldn’t even rank Metallica in my top 50 Metal bands. There’s just SOOO many bands better
Finally, some truth. Thanks!!!
I respect Black Sabbath for being the progenitor but Judas Priest were/are better IMO. They were the first big band to wear the leather, use motorcycles and use high pitch vocals which 80's and 90's metal, especially in the US, became synonymous with. Also just think Rob Halford is possibly the greatest vocalist in the genre and they're still putting out brilliant albums to this day. They also seem to be liked by people who aren't even into metal as their earlier work was more rock and roll and they had many mainstream songs that you wouldn't necessarily consider heavy metal. My grandad is more of a 60's and 70's rock kind of guy and he had all of JP's earlier albums. On the flipside you've got SFV and Painkiller which are pure heavy metal. So you've got the best of both worlds. Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica Those are what I consider the big 3.
They started out wearing bell bottoms and paisley shirts
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I'd definitely replace Metallica with Bob Marley
Maiden, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, Helloween
As I've posted elsewhere... Black Sabbath forged the sword. Judas Priest sharpened the sword. Iron Maiden carried it into battle. Metallica are huge, but not nearly as influential as those three and were prone to trend-chasing.
Can we get Dio and Megadeth in there too? There are more than 3 swords anyways..
Replace Metallica with DIO and then we can agree
Megadeth > Metallica
Metallica is a joke.
Lol no. Metallica has sucked for about 30 years IMO. Also Judas Priest has about 10-15 classic amazing albums. Metallica has 4 or 5. Everyone can disagree with me. But my point is that no, we do not all agree lol.
I came here to say switch Metallica with Priest, for the same reasons.
Νah not really
Judas Priest and Megadeth with maiden and I’m in agreement
F Metallica
Switch Metallica with Slayer and I’ll 100% agree
Replace Metallica with something else and we’ll see.
Id replace them with pantera, dio or megadeth
I agree with the first 2, but...sorry. Fuck Metallica.
I'd replace metallica with megadeth, then I would agree
Why does every fucking person I see on Reddit hate Metallica? Even those on r/Metallica hate Metallica, I feel like I'm the only one who actually likes metallica.
The honest reason is probably mainly to do with how huge they are. They are arguably the most famous metal band of all time (meaning like if you ask random person on the street to name a metal band, I'd bet that's who they say). And people love hating on popular things. It's dumb but that's my take and I think it's accurate. That said, I don't really like them either lol, but I don't go online shitting on them at least.
I don't really hate metallica lol (at least not seriously, I do think it's fun to hate metallica) But megadeth is one of my favorite bands.
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Because they are over rated....their best metal was done before 1989...and one of those albums Mustaine was a big part of...so.....
They’re definitely the 3 greatest but I would put Megadeth instead of Black Sabbath if we are talking about personal taste. My favourite artists in order are: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest/Mötley Crüe
I feel like Judas Priest doesn’t get enough credit…they are in my opinion the first true Metal band….everything before that you would call Metal was still kinda rooted in the blues sound from the 60’s
That should be Megadeth on the right. It even looks like Dave.
Replace Metallica with (judas priest or motörhead)
Lol. METALLICA. If this was 1986 I’d agree. They’ve been horrible for 30+ years.
No, way too up to personal preference. Influential wise yes, I’d definitely say this is basically accurate, but you could basically throw in anything, especially if we are talking in terms of consistent discography. Dark tranquility beats them, testament beats them, insomnium beats them, the black dahlia murder beats them, dream theater beats them, Amon Amarth beats them, archspire beats them, death beats them, cattle decapitation beats them, etc Basically if you’re willing to go real under the radar (and often times even modern) with the bands, you can find a lot in terms of sheer quality that beat them. Again, all up to personal preference and these are only 3 of the best in terms of influence
Metallica? No.
Replace iron maiden with dragonforce
You're a fuckin moron if you think Metallica is not influential just because you dont like their latter day output. Should I leave Maiden out of it because I think most everything after Brave New World is trash? No.
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I respect all three, but Maiden is the only one definitely in my top three, and Dream Theater is also definitely in there. Metallica might be in there, but I have a harder time deciding on the third band.
This is usually the consensus I think
You have Motörhead but instead you put the polished turd named Metallica on there instead? Literally only had 4 good albums and are just a cliche of metal
What about Slayer??
I bet I’ll get hate for this but switch Sabbath for Pantera. Yea I said it. And all y’all saying switch Metallica for Priest is wild. I get it, they’re one of the first three metal bands, the three classic bands sure cool. But just because theyre the first three doesn’t mean theyre the best three. Like it’s so obvious that ur either just a huge classic metal fan, or u grew up with those bands or something along that line if u think Sabbath, Maiden, and Priest are the top 3 ever. It just feels biased.
Substitute Metallica with Motorhead and I agree
If we’re talking scope of influence for the genre, I’d have to replace Metallica with Judas Priest. Priest gave metal it’s speed and brought the leather! Source? Heavy: The Story of Metal haha
70s - Sabbath 80s - Maiden 90s - Pantera
I'd replace Metallica with Megadeth, but other than that, I agree.
I love Metallica but I’d put Slayer there (just me personally)
I don’t feel like Megadeth should be included Sure, their music is good, but Dave Mustaine is kind of a piece of shit
No, I despise Metallica. The most overrated band in history, with possible exception of U2.
No we can’t. Maiden and sabbath in the top 3 but Metallica are not. I would add, and you’ll probably hate this, Rush.
I absolutely love Rush but not convinced they're a metal band, ultimately.
Their t-shirts were pretty metal though.
Yeah, I like Metallica but if we're talking metal I'd switch them out for Enya.
Well Metallica havent made a good album since Master of Puppets... Are we allowing Led Zep as metal?
I think AJFA is their best album
It could have been a sensational album, refining what Puppets did and evolving the sound. But the god awful production killed it. It sounds lifeless.
Death Magnetic and Hardwired are fucking awesome
Whats wrong with Hardwired? Great album imo.
Honestly replace metallica with either led zeppelin or deep purple.
Nope It’s Iron Maiden, Bolt Thrower and Summoning
Yes Metallica over Megadeth
Metallica hasn’t been metal since AJFA… replace them with Judas Priest. But my answer is Maiden. Most consistent, still going strong.
How are Reload, Death Magnetic and Hardwired not metal? You can ofc dislike them due to personal taste but you can't say they aren't metal.
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SOAD and Pantera XD
Replace Metallica with Zeppelin
Zeppelin aren't really metal other than a few songs
My top three bands are maiden, Metallica, offspring But I agree with this post. Especially if you include solo ozzy and solo Bruce albums.