Megadeth’s final album was released today, including their cover of “Ride the Lightning”.
Who did it better?
Who did it better?
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Whose “Ride the Lightning” was better?
- Thread starter Greenman72
- Start date
Metallica and it's not close. The bass fills, the production, Kirk's solo, it's all so much better in the original.
I just listened to Megadeth's version and everything about it felt weak.
The mix could have been better (the bass in particular could have been brought more to the forefront-on other tracks it sounded better) the voice I am OK with. It's not bad, though I was expecting the solo to diverge way more from the original.
No hate for the album, however, as it sounds like Megadeth, and has lots of old school goodness that many of the later albums lacked. Given the lukewarm reviews, I thought it was bad, but I even think it's great!
Kreator's newest has been better received, and I like Kreator way more, but for me, the Megadeth is more thrash, while Krushers of the world is more "classic" modern Kreator, which is thrashy but not very old school thrash, which I prefer. My favorite modern Kreator is Hordes of Chaos.
I do not love the new bass player as much as Speesy, but if they were unhappy together, that's the way it was meant to be. Speesy is more interesting, even if less vocal and lesser known. He never ever did a bad job since he joined, up to his departure.
Back to the topic, I like Megadeth's version, but it's obviously not going to be as impactful as the original classic. I voted Metallica for the poll, but greatly enjoyed their last album.
No hate for the album, however, as it sounds like Megadeth, and has lots of old school goodness that many of the later albums lacked. Given the lukewarm reviews, I thought it was bad, but I even think it's great!
Kreator's newest has been better received, and I like Kreator way more, but for me, the Megadeth is more thrash, while Krushers of the world is more "classic" modern Kreator, which is thrashy but not very old school thrash, which I prefer. My favorite modern Kreator is Hordes of Chaos.
I do not love the new bass player as much as Speesy, but if they were unhappy together, that's the way it was meant to be. Speesy is more interesting, even if less vocal and lesser known. He never ever did a bad job since he joined, up to his departure.
Back to the topic, I like Megadeth's version, but it's obviously not going to be as impactful as the original classic. I voted Metallica for the poll, but greatly enjoyed their last album.
The met version being the original is the yardstick by which we measure the other.
The meg version just sounds sounds thinner and lacking low end. However this is closer to th ‘standard’ Meg tone.
Neither are worse than the other, just different iterations or interpretations of the same song in a similar way to the way jazz musicians interpret standards
The meg version just sounds sounds thinner and lacking low end. However this is closer to th ‘standard’ Meg tone.
Neither are worse than the other, just different iterations or interpretations of the same song in a similar way to the way jazz musicians interpret standards
The album isn't bad, actually, but the recording is just kind of sterile and uninspiring.
Oh man! Ride the Lightning was the album that got me into thrash metal in 2021. The song Ride the Lightning is special.
Short Answer: Metallica's version is better.
Long Answer:
Megadeth did the song justice overall and the respect for Dave Mustaine's former band is clearly there. But there's something about Cliff Burton's bass tone, fills, note choices, and presence on the original that weren't there on the Megadeth version. James LoMenzo (Megadeth's current bassist) made a great effort, but Cliff (RIP) is a legend! The lack of bass on the recording is most apparent in the intro and before the third verse starts. Listen to the original and the Megadeth version back to back and it's obvious.
I love songs in D Standard (it's even my preferred tuning), but it didn't sound right on the Megadeth version of "Ride the Lightning". 64 year old Dave couldn't hit the vocals that 20 year old James Hetfield was hitting in 1984 - even pitched down roughly a whole step. Dave's vocals were the reason why Megadeth switched to D Standard tuning in 2013. That's totally understandable. But still, I was never a fan of Dave's vocals to begin with. That's why I focused on the other three members of the Big Four of Thrash (Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer) and other thrash bands (e.g. Overkill, Nuclear Assault, Exodus, and more recently Sacred Reich).
Some of the parts of the guitar solos sounded like the original (which was in standard tuning + about 25 cents) in terms of pitch, which was weird because the Megadeth version is tuned to D Standard. I was listening to that part and I was confused. Perhaps that's Dave using his creative license as a co-writer?
Metallica's version is better.
Short Answer: Metallica's version is better.
Long Answer:
Megadeth did the song justice overall and the respect for Dave Mustaine's former band is clearly there. But there's something about Cliff Burton's bass tone, fills, note choices, and presence on the original that weren't there on the Megadeth version. James LoMenzo (Megadeth's current bassist) made a great effort, but Cliff (RIP) is a legend! The lack of bass on the recording is most apparent in the intro and before the third verse starts. Listen to the original and the Megadeth version back to back and it's obvious.
I love songs in D Standard (it's even my preferred tuning), but it didn't sound right on the Megadeth version of "Ride the Lightning". 64 year old Dave couldn't hit the vocals that 20 year old James Hetfield was hitting in 1984 - even pitched down roughly a whole step. Dave's vocals were the reason why Megadeth switched to D Standard tuning in 2013. That's totally understandable. But still, I was never a fan of Dave's vocals to begin with. That's why I focused on the other three members of the Big Four of Thrash (Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer) and other thrash bands (e.g. Overkill, Nuclear Assault, Exodus, and more recently Sacred Reich).
Some of the parts of the guitar solos sounded like the original (which was in standard tuning + about 25 cents) in terms of pitch, which was weird because the Megadeth version is tuned to D Standard. I was listening to that part and I was confused. Perhaps that's Dave using his creative license as a co-writer?
Metallica's version is better.
Last edited:
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