Listen to Orion and you will have no doubt that Cliff is far superior. Cliff is also a better musician in general. He wrote a bunch of the music and lyrics to the songs in the first 3 albums. He can play melodies in songs, but also thick and supportive bass lines. Cliff > David.
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David Ellefson vs. Cliff Burton
- Thread starter Contractor821
- Start date
I still think it's a stupid apples and oranges comparison.
I like Burton better, but that's because I like Metallica's music from the period better and I think of him mainly as one of the songwriters responsible for that music.
I like Burton better, but that's because I like Metallica's music from the period better and I think of him mainly as one of the songwriters responsible for that music.
Ellefson clearly has better technique and can play with more precision; Cliff is very sloppy. That said, Cliff is a pivotal musician (not only bass player) in thrash and metal history, and his contribution is unmeasurable. Cliff's attitude and tone are more important than his sloppiness, and actually that sloppiness in part is what make him, and metal of that era, so special... It's not the perfected ProTool metal (and music in general) we hear today, but humans sounding human. And all that said, Ellefson is amazing in his own right, and also a big contributor to metal bass.
Yoor a ideeot. kilff plaed w/ mettalica and mgadeath r a ripoof of them. adn ,playin w/ pick is a SINN.
LOL, JK! Serious time now. I think they are both great in their own rights. Dave is a driving force who lets himself be known, but doesn't steal the show. He plays tightly and melodiously, and shines at writing great basslines. Plus, his tone is very clean and bright. Listen to Peace Sells and you'll understand. Cliff, on the other hand, was a good bedrock for James and Kirk, but wasn't one to stay out of the spotlight all of the time! Cliff played very hard with his fingers, and to achieve his desired tone, he lost a little bit of tightness and tonal purity. It's nothing bad, and it served the song well. However, whilst Dave spread out all his genius throughout the song, crafting a great bassline, Cliff let the guitars take over and stayed relatively simple, save for a fill here and there...until he unleashed his talent at once in a burst of incredible soloing. Then he went back to letting the guitars do their thing. Listen to Orion to see what I mean. Both were good at doing different things, and because of this, they are both awesome. Peace out.
I do agree that Metallica is better than Megadeth. I like some Megadeth (Peace Sells, a Tout le Monde [original verison], Sweating Bullets and, of course, Holy Wars, amongst a few others. Ask me if you want to know what they are) but EVERYTHING off the first 3 Metallica albums is INCREDIBLE. Plus, most tracks off Justice and Black Album are good. Metallica>Megadeth, and Cliff=Dave. (It means they are equal, not exactly the same, BTW.)
Bass is prominent in a sizeable amount of early Metallica songs and Peace Sells by Megadeth. After Cliff went to give God bass lessons, they toned down on the four string. (Partly because Jason was less flashy. Not less good, just less flashy.)
