re: What would Metallica be like if Cliff Burton had never died?

They almost have parallel careers. Both made great music in the 80s then both came out with more commercial sounding albums in the early 90s. I think the black album and Countdown to Extinction are both great by the way with the black album being a little better. Both bands went to shite in the 90s, though the Loads are still listenable and better than any Megadeth album from that time period. Both bands came back with strong efforts in the late 00s and then went back to putting out more shite. Megadeth's last few albums have at least been better than Lulu though.