Taking sides: Malcolm Young vs James Hetfield

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This is purely about rhythm guitars (although I suppose there are other parallels such as impact of alcoholic reformation on latter work, Stiff Upper Lip vs St Anger (The 'Lip by a mile!)).

These are the two best rhythm guitarists I know of (just pipping Tony Iommi). On the AC/DC C/D thread, one Chris Barrus described the genius of Malcolm Young succinctly and perfectly: "The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that Malcolm Young is one of the greatest guitarists around. Complely unerring and unstoppable rhythm work with laser accuracy."

All of this applies equally, IMHO, to James Hetfield. Witness For Whom the Bell Tolls, Harvester of Sorrow and (the rubbish song but rhythm guitar/riff orgy that is) Frayed Ends of Sanity as evidence.

― M Carty (mj_c), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 06:13 (twenty years ago) link

Interesting question - unsolveable at the minute as Hetfield attempts to do MY on 'Load' and fails, but MY's never done JH. Then again "Back in Black" is pretty fuckin' tight

― dave q, Wednesday, 1 October 2003 08:28 (twenty years ago) link

You know, I hadn't considered the Load aspect. Most of their attempts at AC/DC-like simplicity were pretty clodhopping (For example, the woeful Bad Seed from Reload). Come to think of it, Enter Sandman could be seen as an earlier example of a 'DC-like riff (or even For Whom The Bell Tolls (vs Hell's Bells)) for that matter.

The question becomes more complex.

― M Carty (mj_c), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 08:45 (twenty years ago) link

I think Iommi was the best pre-Metallica rhythm git player. Anyway, just listened to Battery - James wins on the late '80's stuff alone.

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 10:12 (twenty years ago) link

Ah come on, Dave Mustaine easily beats Hetfield riff-for-riff. Not better than Malcolm though.

― Siegbran (eofor), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 10:35 (twenty years ago) link

I don't know about Dave Mustaine - maybe I've just not heard enough Megadeth records, but his guitar sound was always a bit weedy and his riffs a bit fiddly for my liking.

For the guitar sound, compare the attempt at Metallica on the Cliff Burton tribute In My Darkest Hour to the equivalent Metallica tune (To Live Is To Die). I'd say on a riff-for-riff basis and on a guitar sound basis the Metallica effort prevails. (Actual songwriting/compositional ability is a different kettle of proverbials though, and the Megadeth one probably would win on that count!)

The guitars on the first part of Holy Wars (up to the 'arabic' bit) absolutely rule, though.

― M Carty (mj_c), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 11:53 (twenty years ago) link

Thinking about it, maybe a riff-for-riff Mustaine-Hetfield comparison isn't that worthwhile anyway, as so many Metallica songs were written by DM in the first place!

― M Carty (mj_c), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 12:08 (twenty years ago) link

Mustaine wasn't a very focused guitar player or songwriter in my mind. The Conjuring and Holy Wars have always been the only two songs I love by Megadeth and the rest of the songs - while having cool parts - wind up going into some lame riff that ruins it for me. Metallica were good simply because they could do 8 minute songs that didn't even start to get boring. Hetfield knew how to put riffs together - how to write a riff from another riff so that his songs stayed together. Let's not even get into who had the better ear for guitar tone either...

― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Wednesday, 1 October 2003 21:22 (twenty years ago) link

three months pass...

IF YOU ASK 25 PEOPLE WHO MALCOLM YOUNG IS, I BET ONLY 5-8 WOULD KNOW. MALCOLM IS THE MOST UNDERATED GUITARIST IN THE WORLD. HE WRITES THE MEANEST, TOUGHEST,BALLS OUT RIFFS KNOWN TO MAN. BALLS TO YOU!!
I BOUGHT HIS SIGNITURE MODEL GRETSCH AND I CAN SEE WHY HE HAS HAD THAT SAME GUITAR SINCE HE WAS 14.IT'S TRUELY THE BALLS BEHIND AC/DC.HELL, HE WRITES 95% OF THE SONGS.LOOK AT HIGHWAY TO HELL.2 RIFF SONG AND MALCOLM ONLY PLAYS ONE OF THEM.STILL A MILLION DOLLAR SONG?? YOU BETCHA! I DO LOVE HETFIELD AND HIS CRUNCH BUT NOTHING COMPARES TO THE QUIET ONE.

― ADAM LUCKEY, Friday, 16 January 2004 04:28 (twenty years ago) link

two years pass...

either way, you guys are all fags

― jack cough, Thursday, 4 May 2006 21:30 (seventeen years ago) link

eight years pass...

Clearly Malcolm.

Anyway (and ignoring the idiot post just above), the reason for Malcolm Young's departure from AC/DC has been given and sadly, it is dementia:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/malcolm-youngs-family-confirms-ac-dc-guitarists-dementia-20140930

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 21:24 (nine years ago) link

sad.

dementia hitting my family, and it's sad/scary stuff.

― global tetrahedron, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 21:35 (nine years ago) link

also:

― global tetrahedron, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 21:35 (nine years ago) link

otm

― u2 removal machine (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 30 September 2014 22:56 (nine years ago) link

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