So, my question: Do you believe that the Big 4 is right with it's current line-up? If so, please back up why, and if not, which bands would be in or out and why?
Rules of the question: I would like to keep this to American bands only (for countries like Germany have their own thrash groups i.e. the Teutonic Thrash Three), but you're welcome to list a different Big 4 for bands outside America.
My input on the topic: Ok, let's start from the beginning... We all know by now, that the first true thrash metal album was Kill 'em All by Metallica, followed very shortly by Show No Mercy by Slayer. Motorhead, Accept, Judas Priest, all had elements of thrash, and the former two i would almost consider thrash outright, but Metallica and Slayer lead the march. So, let's look at Slayer's career shall we? They have stayed thrash throughout their career, and have stayed very true to their roots. Only two albums were "bad" in my opinion, those being the back to back '96 and '98 releases of Undisputed Attitude and Diablos in Musica where they experimented a little. Otherwise, all releases were solid at the very least, and two of the thrash giants, '86's Reign in Blood and '88's South of Heaven are still gems to this day! In short, Slayer should stay in. Now, for Metallica. They had a string of 4 utterly Brutal thrash releases in '83, '84, '86, and '88, those being Kill 'em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and ...And Justice For All. However, after the black album, which was kind of a thrash/heavy metal mix in my opinion, they just left their roots, and went for the gold, getting 5 straight studio albums to debut at number 1. Their latest, Death Magnetic was a return to the black album, only halfway to where they once were, so Metallica is out. How the hell did Anthrax ride the coattails of everyone and manage to make it into the Big 4 anyway? Yeah, Spreading the Disease and Among the Living are amazing albums, and Worship Music is, in my opinion, the best album of the last ten years, after Machine Head's The Blackening of course, but that's really the only good things they released. Anthrax is out. That brings me to Megadeth, my personal favorite band of all time next to Slayer. After Countdown to Extinction, which was half thrash, they strayed away, but returned a few short albums later. I think these guys can stay unless we find someone better. Now, who is in? Well, allow me to list some candidates. Exodus, Testament, Overkill, Dark Angel, Nuclear Assault, and Laaz Rockit are a few who's catalogue is amazing. Spot number three easily belongs to Overkill in my opinion. Reasons being that they have been around longer than Metallica and Slayer, through the mid 90's went to a groove laden thrash style, but for the most part didn't change much! Now, the last spot is easily a toss up between three of the bigger bands: Dark Angel, Exodus, and Laaz Rockit. Well, Dark Angel has only released 4 studio albums, and in my opinion, only two are good, but in a huge way. So Dark Angel is out. Exodus has been around very long as well, formed in 1980 with Overkill, and though Bonded by Blood and Tempo of the Damned are crazy albums, I never thought they did much good otherwise. Now i love underdogs, but I shouldn't even have to refer to Laaz Rockit that way. They do not get the attention they deserve at all. Their discography is flawless in my opinion, and they seemed to get better and better with every album. So, I think they should take the final spot.
So now my picks for the American Big 4 (I won't even get into international), is Slayer, Overkill, Laaz Rockit, and Megadeth in that order. I hope you enjoyed, and please post what you think in the comments!
Thank you and goodbye,
-Brandon
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