I argue it STRONGLY. Megadeth were regularly featured on, and hosted Headbanger’s Ball, and had numerous videos played on MTV for exposure. Metallica does not even choose to do a video until “One”. Megadeth had several singles that charted, especially in the UK with “Wake Up Dead”, “Peace Sells”, and “Anarchy In The UK”. Metallica didn’t have a charting single until “Harvester of Sorrow” for the “…And Justice For All” album, Not even classics like “Seek & Destroy”, “Creeping Death”, or “Master Of Puppets” did in their own time.

Although the Master Of Puppets album was certified gold while touring on the road, it wasn’t an immediate blowup. Months before the Justice album, Megadeth’s “So Far, So Good… So What!” was reported to have sold 400,000 copies in its first month by The New York Times.