Among those four, it's an easy answer for me "Megadeth". If I had to choose an album too, it would be "Youthanasia".

Looks like the discussion is about American Bands only. Things could have been different if Sodom was on the list! :-)

Nightwish. They're from Sweden. And you Europeans think we 'Muricans don't know good culture! Pah!

Good choice. Personally I love that album and Risk. They're different.

I'd go with Megadeth first, then Metallica and Slayer. Never really listened to Anthrax. Specifically I like Megadeth's riffs over the other three.

The first time I ever heard Megadeth and Metallica the first thing I thought was "Who would listen to this crap?" I now love them :P

Metallica then

Megadeth then

Slayer.

Never listened to Anthrax.

Yeah mine would be the same as ScotchMonkeys!
Metallica first, then Megadeth and Slayer. I Dont realy listen to Anthrax.

Aaaaah, Nightwish. Truly the most brutal Finnish Thrash Metal Band from Sweden.

Metallica for me, their albums have been more consistently good as far as my taste is concerned.

I like "Countdown to Extinction" and "Cryptic Writings" too. "Youthanasia" is chronologically in the middle and combines the sound of both.

Really interesting classification!

So, Nightwish is not a Finnish Death Metal band from Italy... :-)
I love (ex-Nightwish) Tarja's voice by the way.

Right on! Nightwish is a great band, loved Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerium. Didn't quite get into Endless Forms Most Beautiful though, a bit too pretentious for my cup of tea. Can't believe it's been nearly 15 yrs since I first bootlegged their albums (weren't available in the UK at the time). Great live band too. Shame Annette went the way she did, she was fantastic live before her mental breakdown.

I thought Finland was in Sweden.

Ha. Kidding of course. I love to give you Norwegians a hard time.

I look at it two ways, I respect the band for not taking the time to slow down. They eliminate every problem in their way. However if it is true, that was pretty cold.

No band really ever survives a lead singer change. You can change bassists or drummers all day long, hardly anyone cares. You replace the throat mechanic, everyone does. The Misfits were always best with Danzig, Van Halen was always best with Dave, Nightwish was always best with Tarja. You can change the beat, you can't change the heart.

Um... AC/DC released some of the biggest rock anthems after Bon, Van Halen's 5150 and other albums sold very well. Nightwish is not the best with Tarja and I can tell you that from experience. Annette and Floor are much better singers live. Accept are having massive success in Europe after replacing Udo. Anthrax was huge after replacing Belledonna. Black Sabbath with Dio. Deep Purple dumped their singer Gillan and released Burn with Coverdale/Hughes, one of the best '70s metal albums. Thin Lizzy replaced the legendary Phil Lynott and now have huge success as Black Star Riders. Not including their endless sell out shows before they changed the name. Misfits released American Psycho and Famous Monsters were very well recieved albums (unless you include the narrow mind Danzig fan boys) and sold reasonably well. Something their original albums did not do.

I think this is enough examples. Your way of thinking is naive.