1051. Megadeth / Live Trax [EP]. 1997. 5/5

At the time I found this at my favourite record store (Utopia Records in Sydney for those who are interested) Megadeth had no official live album on the market. In the years since of course there are several, as well as old concerts released on deluxe editions of past album re-released, not to mentioned bootlegged gigs. But in 1997 when I found this there was nothing, and I can honestly say I was excited to find it.

The live EP contains seven songs within six tracks, with the opening salvo of “Reckoning Day” and “Peace Sells” combined into the first track. It was recorded over two locations, at Phoenix, Arizona (to which Dave announces is now “Megadeth, Arizona!”) and California. Being an EP it is necessarily short, but the songs selection was always going to be a concern.
The opening track “Reckoning Day” sounds fantastic, and segues perfectly into “Peace Sells” through the ending kick drum from the first song into the bass opening of the second track. Perfect symmetry. I like the introduction of “Angry Again” form the Last Action hero soundtrack, it’s a great song that could easily have been written off because it didn’t end up on a Megadeth album. The live version here is terrific. So too the live version of “Use the Man” from the Cryptic Writings album, on which the band was touring on at the time. Then comes the power and joy of “Tornado of Souls” which sounds fantastic live, as does “A Tout Le Monde” which follows it. Perhaps the star attraction for me here is “She-Wolf”. Before I got this EP I was undecided how much I enjoyed the song. Once I heard it live, I was hooked and sold.

I loved this from the outset. It’s a short sharp jab that whets your appetite before finishing all too abruptly, especially when the last thing you hear is “Now here’s one you’ll remember…” before fading out.
At the time of its released, this looked as though it was going to be the only live recorded material from the Mustaine/Ellefson/Friedman/Menza line up. Future re-releases of past albums have included live gigs with these four which is exactly as it should have been. Still, as a moment in time, this is still a great listen.

Rating: “Mother of all that is evil”. 5/5

1050. Megadeth / Rust in Peace. 1990. 5/5

Dave Mustaine always felt he was in a competition with Metallica, and despite three excellent albums of his own under the Megadeth banner he seemed to think he was always living in their shadow. How much all of this was taken into account when it came to writing and recording this album I don’t know, but as good as those early albums are, the stars aligned in what became the glittering jewel in the band’s catalogue with the release of Rust in Peace.

The coming together of this quartet was the final piece of the puzzle in bringing out the very best that Megadeth the band could produce. Previous drummers and guitarists had done a good job and performed well but various problems always meant that the revolving door in the band kept swinging. By 1990 there came two wonderful ingredients that made their influence felt from the get-go. In Nick Menza they had a drummer that understood the pace, precision and intensity that the drums needed to be in order to dominate and drive the songs that were being written. In Marty Friedman they had a technically brilliant guitarist who not only added expertise to the band but drove Mustaine himself to greater heights in order to ensure he wasn’t being ‘shown up’ and to keep everything on the same brilliant level.
Here again we can best judge a great album on not only the strength of the best known songs and their influence on the fans and other bands around the world, but on the songs that fill the other slots on the album. It’s an easy task to categorise the heavy hitters on the album, with the opening hostile attack of “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due” smashing the album off on the right foot before being followed by the brilliance of “Hangar 18”. The mainstay of “Hangar 18” is not the fun filled lyrics of space aliens being contained in secret hangars, but of the fantastic trading solos that make up the entire second half of the song. As Ellefson and Menza hold everything together in the background, Mustaine and Friedman tear it apart, reaching a crescendo at the end of the song where the rhythm is also cranked up to reach a brilliant conclusion. The third of the triumvirate is the thrash central core of “Tornado of Souls”. And that is not to categorise as these three songs as the only ‘great’ songs on the album, it’s just the ones most metalheads know well. To be honest I rate every track on this album as a great song, but the other songs here, the lesser known ones to those that aren’t out-and-out Megadeth fans, are absolutely enthralling.
“Take No Prisoners” is a ripping track, spitting lyrics and with great reply vocals in the right places and a furious soundtrack throughout with more great solo’s from Mustaine and Friedman that make it a classic. This is followed by “Five Magics” with more of the same. “Poison Was the Cure” is one of the most underrated songs in the Megadeth catalogue, flaying along at an amazing speed, highlighted by the precision timing of Menza’s drums and the picking of the three guitarists who don’t have time to take a break throughout the whole song. The cackling to start of “Lucretia” sets off a song with a brilliant groove throughout and offset by the solos towards the end, it is just another awesome track. “Dawn Patrol” sets itself perfectly in place after the fire and turbulence of “Tornado of Souls”, giving everyone a chance to catch their breath before delving into the closing track “Rust in Peace… Polaris” which ends in the same fury and fire that the album began with.
True thrash metal was probably reaching its use by date once 1990 rolled around, but this is one of the great hurrahs of the 1980’s exposition of the genre. But it is a different form, because the musicianship here is astounding and outstanding. Listen to those guitars of Mustaine and Friedman. They are simply outstanding. The bass work from Dave Ellefson is also just brilliant, and so essential to the sound of the album, and not buried in the mix such that occurred on another famous band’s album that was released just before this album. And on top of this Nick Menza’s drumming is superb. What makes this album so good and so listenable even all these years later is that each member is giving their moment to shine, to make a part of a song their own, and it is so much more enjoyable because of this. And it is metal of the highest order, something that made it almost impossible to replicate down the track.

Put this album up against any other metal album ever recorded, and it holds its own against it. It is furious and unrelenting, it is heavy yet accessible, and it is as brilliant and fantastic today as it was on the day it was released, which was the day when I first bought it and listened to it. In a year of amazing metal album releases, this one towered over the lot.

Rating: “I miss the warm embrace I felt, first time you touched me”.   5/5

1049. Megadeth / Dystopia. 2016. 3/5

I was mildly disappointed in Super Collider and I must admit that I had reservations about what was to come on Dystopia. After such a long and prolific career, did Megadeth and Dave Mustaine have anything left in the tank? The addition of new guitarist Kiko Loureiro and fill-in drummer Chris Adler from Lamb of God was a chance to revitalise the direction the band was heading after a slight downward trend in the past couple of albums. But the danger now was that age may be catching up.

Is it my imagination or do all of these songs seem to sound too similar? Most of the songs here seem to have a standard riff and tempo direction which sounds fine but makes for an album that technically has nothing new to offer.
“The Threat is Real” starts off on the right foot, motoring along and dragging you into the album in the right way. This is followed by the title track “Dystopia”, which in itself is a bit whiney in both music and vocals. There isn't a real drive from the music, and the vocals aren't showing either emotion or force that Mustaine generally infuses. “Fatal Illusion” is interesting enough, by which I mean it is a good song without sending me into a frenzy of love about it. "Death from Within", "Bullet to the Brain" and "Post American World" all rattle along interestingly enough.
“Poisonous Shadow” is one of those songs that seems completely out of place, with machine-gun double kick which Adler is renowned for in his main act band, but a simple tempo song and mournful lyrics from Mustaine don’t inspire much enthusiasm. It is just really uninteresting and 'yawnable'. “The Emperor” is another case in point. The layered vocals seem almost corny, and completely out of sync with the riffs going on underneath them. It’s a bit monotone as well which doesn’t fit at all. And then when Dave says “you’re so bloody perfect”, he really just speaks it, he doesn’t spit it out in anger. And there is the difference between a great Megadeth album and an average one. If there is still anger and emotion here, you wouldn’t know it. Is it old age? Or is it just because the effort in writing and performing is now a job rather than an outlet?. Fast forward to the next song, and the vocals on “Lying in State” vary from gruff attempted singing back to virtually just speaking the lyrics. Is Dave’s voice completely shot? On the other hand the instrumental “Conquer or Die” is a nice track to have on a Megadeth album again. Though the opening third of the song is quiet and barely seems necessary, once it busts open it works well and is one of the better tracks on the album. It all finishes with a rather lacklustre version of Fear's "Foreign Policy"
The album is a hybrid of what should be good and what didn’t work. There’s an attempt at various types of metals genres which rather than meshing together into that super hybrid instead sounds like a confusing mashing of said styles. While the guitars sound like they are trying to channel some relics from the band's thrash past it never really comes close to sounding like a real partnership. It's technically proficient but it doesn’t seem to gel together like Mustaine has with others in the past. Adler's drumming is good but it too doesn't feel like it fits here. Ellefson as always rumbles along.

There’s every chance I have never given this a fair hearing following my disappointment in Super Collider. The problem in the modern age is that because there is so much access to so much music, if an album doesn’t grab you early on then chances are it will be consigned to the racks. To my ears this album has no idea what it wants to be. It is filled with ideas and riffs and time changes that both sound familiar from the past and also have no place on an album like this. After a reasonable run with a couple of albums in the late 2000’s, this feels like a poor attempt to keep the old fans and grab the metalcore fans, and you can’t do both on the one disc.

Rating:  Back to the drawing board.  3/5

1048. Megadeth / Thirteen. 2011. 3.5/5

Following the excitement and joy of Endgame, Megadeth had found a way to climb back to the top of the tree of the old metal warhorses, and once again they had the metal world at their feet. They had recorded three successive albums that had along the way begun to rediscover the band’s true sound and engineering. Now all they had to do was to parlay that into their next release, which became the band’s 13th album entitled Th1rt3en.

Is this trying to be a knock off of Endgame? Because much of it sounds as though it wants to be, but at a different level. The return of Dave Ellefson to the fold also brought in new… well… old ideas, in the way that they took some older material that had never been fully realised. How well this worked on the album is open to opinion. While the idea of utilising the past to create a perfect future had its merit, for me it doesn’t really work here. ”Sudden Death” is the most recent of these recycled heroes, and it is a good start to the album, with a solo that sounds like pure Chris Poland. “New World Order” appeared on the Duke Nukem soundtrack and was re-recorded here in order to give it heavier sound, which I can take or leave. “Black Swan” came from the mid-2000’s and was unfinished before it was picked up for this album, while “Millennium of the Blind” was initially conceived back when Youthanasia was being recorded and has appeared on special editions of that album. While all these songs sound fine, the fact that they all came beyond the period of writing for Endgame does make it feel as though they are not of the same era.
As for the remainder of the songs it comes across as more of a clang than a bang. “Public Enemy No. 1” sounds a bit simple, as if the band are going for a ‘crowd’ song rather than a great Megadeth song. “Guns, Drugs and Money” is just so repetitive and quickly gets on your nerves rather than satisfy your love of the band. “We the People” gives off the same vibe. “Wrecker” and “Deadly Nightshade” are almost laughable in their definability, which makes it awkward when you just want a hard and heavy album without lyrical note taking being part of the problem.
Did the band rush in too quick? Is this an attempt to have a follow up to take an advantage of a good product that did well, as Endgame most certainly was? There had been an upward trend in recent albums, beginning from the bottom of the pile that was Risk and progressing since then. Each step along the way was an improvement, a return of some ideals and music veins from an earlier time. The return of Ellefson also pointed towards something good, but in the long run it misses the mark to a certain degree. While musically it sounds fine, with both Shawn Drover and Chris Broderick again proving the be excellent on their chosen instruments, I wonder if album producer Johnny K had too much influence on the writing and musical direction for someone who had not previously been involved with the band. Missing producer from recent albums Andy Sneap may also be a reason for the slight rectification of direction.

So this has a similar sound to Endgame but without whatever spark it had that really made it something special. Endgame was a massive surprise in the middle age of Megadeth. Th1rt3en is a good sounding album with similar-sounding songs, but without the uniqueness and real fire and power that came with it. The weaker songs bring this back to the pack. There is nothing inherently bad about the album, it’s just not as memorable as it could be.

Rating: “All your angels will ignore you, as your life flashes before you”. 3.5/5

1047. Megadeth / United Abominations. 2007. 4/5

There was a certain amount of anticipation leading up to the release of this album. Dave seemed re-energised, and was talking himself and his band up at every opportunity. He was saying all the right things – but could he back it up? I’m not sure what happened between the recording and touring of [system], but whatever it was, it probably should have happened some time ago. There are albums that can turn you off from the first song, sometimes even the first riff. And there are albums that just take off so suddenly because of the opening track that it is impossible not to like. Having been through a decade where Megadeth hadn’t quite fired on more than two cylinders, I was hooked from the very first moment of United Abominations.

“Sleepwalker” is the track, and I can’t nail down any particular moment from the song that takes me in so much, but it is the combination of all the factors – great double kick throughout, Mustaine’s vocals and lyrics, the dual guitars, the opening riff and drum kick, the solo’s and pleasingly the tempo. This isn’t one of the greatest songs ever written but as an opening track trying to bring you into the album and hopefully take you in, it works. Well, it worked on me.
Then you need to have back up, and continue the good work throughout. While I found a lot of the previous album enjoyable enough, it felt to me as though it was a bit of a drudge, caught in a rut and not uplifting or… fun! Here though the songs are at a better tempo, the drums are really driving each song and there’s a touch of Countdown to Extinction to the writing. Whether Mustaine deliberately went in that direction I don’t know but I’ve always felt there is some comparison in the sound between the two albums. It’s always dangerous trying to compare albums but in this instance I think it is worthwhile
“Washington Is Next!” careers along at that great pace, and with twin solo’s that help make the track a beauty. This jumps straight into the excellent “Never Walk Alone... A Call to Arms” which continues the fantastic start to this album. It’s truly the closest a Megadeth album had come to the great ones in over a decade. Other great songs here include “Gears of War”, “Play for Blood” and “Amerikhastan”, while the re-booted track “A Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)” from the Youthanasia album, now featuring Cristina Scabbia from Lacuna Coil in a supporting vocal role, is one I also enjoy.
The new band (yes, an actual band this time) does its job with great purpose. The addition of the Drover brothers, Glen on guitar and Shawn on drums, has added a nice symmetry to the music, while James LoMenzo on bass is terrific, offering a different sound to that of long term cohabitant Dave Ellefson. Everyone does their job well, while Mustaine appears revitalised after recovering from his injured arm some years previously. The songs have their usual political bent but the music and singing is in an uplifting way that makes it not only more accessible but more enjoyable.

Comparing recent Megadeth albums to previous releases is always fraught with danger. Certainly this was their best album since Youthanasia. It was a heartening change I trend, one mirrored by Metallica at around the same time. After a lull of a decade in two of the biggest metal bands, both looked to have found a way through it back into the sunlight. This album is still easy to listen to a decade onwards, which is a sign of its strengths.

Rating: “Did I give you concrete shoes and throw you off of a bridge?”.  4/5

1046. Megadeth / The System Has Failed. 2004. 3/5

By the time this album came to be released there had been much reporting on the demise of Megadeth as a band. Depending on what you believed, Dave Mustaine was finished with music, be it from irreparably damaging his arm and/or disillusionment with the system, that Dave Ellefson was to be ‘gifted’ the name of the band in order to continue the tradition, that Mustaine was going to do a solo album, and that finally he decided to record under the Megadeth name and that Ellefson refused to play because he was being treated like a hired hand rather than a long-time band member. Thus, by the album’s arrival in late 2004 it could be said that as a fan I was almost over it all myself.

This should have been a solo album, much like the MD.45 album The Craving Dave did in 1996. However, much like that album became (when it was remastered Dave recorded his own vocals on the songs instead of Lee Ving’s), it was released as a Megadeth album even though only Mustaine remained and wrote all of the songs on his own, and that session musicians had been hired to flesh out the rest of the album. There’s no doubt the record company wanted it this way in order to try and sell it, but the lack of an actual band to promote its release means it lacks conviction. While Dave has always been the chief songwriter on this album he is the only contributor, which does feel as though it hinders the album overall without anyone else’s input. In fact, one of the selling points of the album was the ‘return’ of original Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland to play on the album. Of course, in the long run he just contributes some solos to many of the songs, while Dave does double duty on rhythm and lead.
Beyond these elements there is some good material here and also other songs that, although they do appear to have some flaws, are still catchy enough to keep you enjoying what you are hearing. Don’t know what I mean? Well, if I was to take the three best known and probably most popular songs on the album and break them down you would probably see. Because I do quite like “Die Dead Enough”, “Of Mice and Men” and “Back in the Day” as songs, but they still have these characteristics that nag me even as I sing along with them. “Die Dead Enough” tends to drone through the chorus rather than progress with an angry spitting of the lyrics which it really feels it needs. It feels like it needs more angry emotion than gets used. “Of Mice and Men” is like a whine during the vocals. I know Mustaine has his own unique vocal sound that does on occasions sound a bit whiney, but it really does come across in parts of this song. “Back in the Day” has a faster pace and with the right attributes to make it a fun song, but for some reason it just comes across as a bit rocky, like a song that’s trying too hard to be something it quite clearly is not. As I said, none of these things mentioned stops me from loving these songs as they are, it’s just that I don’t count them as great Megadeth songs overall because of what I see are their perceived flaws.
As to the rest of the album, it too has its moments but without taking the great leap required to being a classic. “Blackmail the Universe” starts the album off well, “Kick the Chair”, “The Scorpion” and “Tears in a Vial” all have the right attributes. The second half of the album probably doesn’t live up to the first half, but that doesn’t mean it is terrible. In fact it leaves much of the previous two albums in the dust. You can pick up where Chris Poland has introduced his solos and riffs, and yes it is hard to ignore the way it leads you to be reminded of Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! in those places – for instance the start of “Back in the Day”.

Is this a Megadeth album in anything but name only? Given how heavily Mustaine is involved in all facets of it you have to say it is. Perhaps it doesn’t have that centred feel that albums did when there was a core band in the building, but it has the elements. As a comeback album, a redemption album or a retaliatory album, it is good enough to help dispel the doubts that may have been around regarding Megadeth and Mustaine’s demise. I enjoy the album enough to put on and listen to all the way through, but still feels as though it was a filler rather than a killer.

Rating: “The air is thick, but the oxygen's thin”. 3/5

1045. Megadeth / Rude Awakening [Live]. 2002. 5/5

That it took so long for Megadeth to release an official live album is probably disappointing in the whole scheme of metal things. Of course in recent years, with box sets and re-releases and expended edition albums coming at us with a whole cavalcade of live material none of us knew existed, it proves that shows WERE being recorded, but just not released to the public. In choosing an era in which to then record and release a live album, sometimes bands and record companies have funny ideas. Case in point – Rude Awakening, which comes after three only average selling and poorly reviewed albums, and with half of the band that many would consider the best lineup having moved on in very recent times. None of it particularly sets this up to succeed. But then, what the hell did I know?

I saw Megadeth on this tour, and it was indeed just brilliant. As awesome as they had been on the Rust in Peace tour in 1991, then they had played for only 75 minutes. On this tour it was well over two hours and contained as set list that was just about as good as you could produce from material all through the band’s career. It was sweat drenching by the end, and I only wished I could experience it again. As it turned out I could, because this was released on both CD and DVD and I got both to relive it all time and time again (although unfortunately without “The Conjuring” which they played at our show).
There are 24 songs packed onto two discs, and it is a tour-de-force of what has made Megadeth one of the biggest metal bands of the pre-2000 era. There’s no time for a break, no stopping to catch your breath, and the songs slide seamlessly together.
Some of the songs are intensified and brought out in all of their glory in the live environment. Opening tracks “Dread and the Fugitive Mind” and “Kill the King” are two of my favourite here because they sound much better played live than I felt about them of their studio versions. It improved my love for them no end. So too the live version of “She Wolf”, which is extended live to include a longer solo section for the guitars as well as a spot for Jimmy DeGrasso to show off his wares on the drums. What before this I had considered an average song I now felt (and feel) is a ripper. “Angry Again”, “Almost Honest” and “Burning Bridges” also sound great here.
Playing “Mechanix” is a nice touch and remembrance of the old days, though I’d have preferred “Rattlehead” or “Looking Down the Cross”. Also the back-to-back playing of “Hangar 18” and “Return to Hangar” works well.
And then you have the greats, songs like “Wake Up Dead”, “In My Darkest Hour”, “Tornado of Souls”, “Peace Sells” and “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”. All of this mixed in with songs from almost every album the band has released makes for a brilliant live collective for every fan.
The band sounds fantastic, and the fact that both Jimmy DeGrasso and Al Pitrelli were moved on after this tour is a little disappointing because both sound great here. Pitrelli may not have been Dave Mustaine’s cup of tea (for whatever reason) but he could sure play guitar. It was also where he parted ways with Dave Ellefson for some time.

So as it turns out, in many ways, this was the perfect time to release a live album. It showcases everything brilliant about Megadeth, and covers a goodly proportion of their first two decades as a band. It probably marks the end of the great era of Megadeth, with what was to follow heading down a new path with new band members. As a mark of that time, this is an excellent landmark.

Rating: “Who’d have thought you’d be better at turning a screw than me”. 5/5

1044. Megadeth / The World Needs a Hero. 2001. 2.5/5

After the disaster that was Risk I wasn’t certain I was brave enough to expect much from the follow up. Even the news that Al Pitrelli had been brought on board to replace Marty Friedman filled me with great confidence despite his prowess. It’s a long way to come back from the depths the band fell to on the previous album, and to be able to recover that all in one hit would be some accomplishment.

Did it happen? The simple answer is no, it didn’t. But that’s not to say that an effort wasn’t made and that some of the ideas floated here aren’t good. It’s just that the album as a whole package has its flaws, and perhaps they are more noticeable because of the previous album. In many ways this album is just as difficult to listen to as its predecessor, simply because about half of the material recorded here is inferior to the Megadeth back catalogue. However, there is enough here to derive some hope from.
So I would say that half of the songs here are passable, and the other half quite average. What tends to drag down most of the songs – good and bad – is their length. If some of the songs recorded here had been tightened up, shortened and made just a bit punchier I think the album overall would have worked much better.
The leading candidate here is the closing track “When”. At over nine minutes in length it takes up a voluminous proportion of the album, and because of its slow and moody disposition it tends to bore you to death before you are a third of the way through the song. Having followed the much more direct and clout-filled “Return to Hangar” it feels completely out of place and doesn’t end the album with any justice. The opening track “Disconnect” is a reasonable track too but just seems to outstay its welcome, especially with the very Alice in Chains-like middle section which you think is closing out the song, but it then extends for another two minutes. Same deal with “1000 Times Goodbye”. “Promises” drags out for eternity, with the repeated lyrics not doing anything to endear itself to the listener, and the strings in the track are just not a great addition. “Losing My Senses” is just not very good.
Dave has moved back to himself and others talking in the middle of tracks, which continues to be distracting in songs. Both “The World Needs a Hero” and “1000 Times Goodbye” have this, almost narrating a story throughout the song. Just make it the song Dave, we don’t need these other pieces fleshing it out! Why a phone call in the middle of the song? Most of “Recipe for Hate… Warhorse” goes in this direction too, no doubt trying to remind us all of better Megadeth days, which it does at least achieve in the back half of the song with the traded solos.
Of the good songs, well they are sometimes given more credit than they deserve just for what surrounds them on the album. “Moto Psycho” has enough energy to keep its head above water. The aforementioned “Return to Hangar” is probably saved because it’s the most up-tempo track on the album and is pretty much a rehash of its sister track “Hangar 18”. “Burning Bridges” is on the better side of average. I was initially skeptical of “Dread and the Fugitive Mind”, but once it grew on me I have always felt it is the best track on the album.

In a ratings contest, this wins over the previous album hands down, but that’s about as close as it gets to other Megadeth albums. It’s a shame more didn’t come from it, as both Pitrelli and DeGrasso are great musicians who from all reports Mustaine just couldn’t take to. Both sound great here but that doesn’t keep you in a job. Though I saw the band on this tour – which was an absolute cracker – this album only partially brought me back to thinking they may actually eventually win me back. It was at least a step back in the right direction.

Rating: “If you shake my hand, better count your fingers”. 2.5/5

1042. Megadeth / Risk. 1999. 1/5

By the time 1999 had rolled around, there was still a simmering of the rift between Metallica and Megadeth that had stretched back to the day in 1983 that Dave Mustaine had been fired from the band and was forced to go out and start his own brand. Despite the wonderful and brilliant albums Megadeth had released over the following 15 years, Mustaine still seemed to feel as though he was in his former band’s shadow. However, in the previous five years, Metallica had gone rogue and released “Load” and “Reload”, albums that had certainly divided fan opinion with their very obvious refining of their sound. On the other hand, Megadeth’s releases “Youthanasia” and “Cryptic Writings” had garnered cautious praise for their songwriting and absorbing of the musical changes around them without losing the essence of the band’s own sound.
The arrival of Jimmy DeGrasso as the band’s new drummer following the firing of Nick Menza on the tour to promote their previous album was the only change to the outfit leading into their eighth studio album. The band spent six weeks writing the songs before spending another four months in the studio to record it. The question of why it took this long has a different answer depending on which band member was questioned. Guitarist Marty Friedman was a major influence on the direction the new album was to take, as he wanted to create some point of difference in their music and pushed the envelope a little. The record company also wanted to see the band offer it more opportunities for exposure on commercial radio, something the single “Trust” had done from the previous album. DeGrasso himself was up for a heavy album, not surprising considering the stuff he would have been playing on tour. Bass guitarist Dave Ellefson was quoted in an interview as saying that the band’s manager wanted them to release something that would have all of the other band out their smack their foreheads and proclaim ‘why didn’t we think of that?!’
While Metallica’s decision making at that time was obviously still extremely popular and profitable, something Mustaine constantly seemed to aspire to, for much of the Megadeth fan base, the continuity that the band had been able to bring to their albums over the years gave them a sense of comfort, and when the new album was announced the feeling of excitement came from the fact that yet another Megadeth barnstorming album was about to hit the shelves with more awesome tracks and headbanging material.

Error.

This album took massive liberties with the Megadeth sound and direction and entitling it “Risk” pretty much covered all the bases. Because it was a definite risk to mess around with what had worked for the band for such a long time, in order to gain more radio airplay or more widespread recognition.
From the opening of the album, there is a highly critical difference in what is offered than what had come on their previous albums. It’s industrial alt-rock mixed with lifeless rock ballads, songs that sound like they are either stretching for commercialism or for the alt-rock credibility stakes, where sales are the driving force but the ‘hey man – this is awesome’ call from the general public.
Now, if you just want to listen to this album and not expect anything from it, there are moments that are tolerable. If you close your eyes, and see mishmash of Nickelback and Creed up there trying to create a heavier sound than they normally do, you could probably get something out of this album. Beyond that... it’s a difficult listen if you turned up for a Megadeth album.
The first half of the album is tolerable. “Insomnia” is a mish mash of strings and screams and patchy lyrics that doesn’t allow you to bang along in time or even sing along to the lyrics, such is its structure. “Prince of Darkness” is a moody, building song but again doesn’t bring any great love to the table and it isn’t a pure heavy metal song. It has its moments where it comes into its own. “Crush ‘Em” has a vibe that you can tap along to, probably because Mustaine wanted this to be an arena anthem and be played around the world. You can hear how he crafted it to be just that. So it’s okay without being any more than a chanting tune, one you could possibly get on board cheering your team into the arena by. Maybe. And “Breadline” has a very mainstream sound to it, mostly lyrically as Dave decides to try and sing in a much softer tone than he normally does which is a dead ringer for that commercial bent. The single did well on American charts, but it just doesn’t do anything as a metal song in the slightest. But at least it isn't a power ballad.
But as for the rest? It doesn’t improve with age. “The Doctor is Calling” has pretty much nothing going for it. Dave chants along while the drums roll slowly and patiently and the guitars play some semblance of a tune before an almost-solo breaks out towards the end, but without any real energy at all. “I’ll Be There” for all intents and purposes IS that wretched power ballad that destroys all heavy music. As average as most of the songs are on this album this is still the one that sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it, and not in a positive fashion. This is the kind of song that could have destroyed Megadeth if it had had any kind of success, because then perhaps the band would have felt the need to keep writing songs like it. No, this is terrible. It is the antithesis of the great Megadeth songs Dave wrote of his ex-girlfriends, the songs that are the greatest in the Megadeth discography.
I can’t even describe the reaction I get when “Wanderlust” comes on. Just what exactly is being thought of in this song is beyond me. This is followed by “Ecstacy” which is the exact incorrect emotion I get listening to this song. It again has gone for a basic musical premise in riff and rhythm, with no excitement or energy appearing in any form. Terrible. There is even less to be said about the remainder of the album. “Seven” is a mirror image of the previous two songs, while the double track at the conclusions of the album, “Time: The Beginning” and “Time: The End” simply don’t carry their weight. The majority of the first track is acoustic based and without any great drive, while the second track is more electric but in such a mournful way that it becomes depressing to even get to the end of the album.

When this album was released, I was driving taxis as my main source of income back home in Kiama after five years living in Sydney, and I spent a LOT of time listening to it while I waited for fares in the middle of the night. I still remember the excitement I felt when it came out and I bought it, and the number of times I listened to it was astronomical. Because, you know, it’s Megadeth, right? It HAS to be good! And I continued to listen to it over and over again. And, after a few weeks of doing this, I finally began to question... is this a good album? Is it enjoyable? And I finally came to the conclusion that... no, it really was not good. Indeed, it was on such a different plane from what I was enjoying at that time of my life that it was hard to believe that this wasn’t very good, and that I was still wasting my time listening to it! But, in those pre-streaming days, that’s what you did, because you could only afford to buy a certain number of albums each year, and when you did, you needed to get your money's worth out of them. The final straw was swapping it in my taxi for Gamma Ray’s “Powerplant” album one day, and the amazing difference in quality relegated “Risk” to the CD shelves for a very very long time.
Are there any redeeming features on this album? My opinion is that it really doesn’t seem like it. The first half of the album, up until the end of “Breadline”, was eventually as far as I would get if I ever put this album on. It was the finish for me, because everything after this point has got nothing that interests me whatsoever. That’s not to say the first half was much better, but I can at least muddle my way through if it becomes necessary. And the fact is that most of the people involved in that album feel much the same way about it now. The title “Risk” apparently came about from a quote by Lars Ulrich, either in a magazine article or a TV interview, where he claimed that Mustaine and Megadeth had to take more risks with their music if they wanted to achieve the kind of success that Metallica had. Well thanks very much for that Lars, way to fuck up TWO bands for the price of one. With the disastrous direction (in my own opinion) Metallica had taken on their last two studio albums “Load” and “Reload”, the announcement of a new Megadeth album had been a welcome relief. It was a great feeling to know that I could expect more of the same from this band, that no matter how bad things were getting, there was no way Megadeth could record an album as uninteresting and boring as “Reload”. Wrong.
Dave Mustaine was apparently quoted as saying “If anyone else’s name was on the cover of this album, it would have sold”. So on a couple of occasions I have put this album on, and just listened, not letting any judgement on the name of Megadeth enter what I’m listening to, just to see if I would enjoy the album as something someone had put on and asked me to listen to it and judge it without knowing who the band was. It did not improve. I have listened to this album a lot over the past month, because it is Megadeth and I needed to know if there could be any change to the way I feel about this album. There is not.
The fact that this was Marty Friedman’s final album with Megadeth was both sad and probably welcome. His own path was leading in a different direction and he needed to take that on his own. For Megadeth, the path that this album took was probably not repeated, but that didn’t mean that there were not albums beyond this that were not questionable when it came to their output.

1041. Megadeth / Youthanasia. 1994. 4/5

The journey and evolution of Megadeth the band had reached top speed with the recruitment of drummer Nick Menza and guitarist Marty Friedman, and then the release of the “Rust in Peace” album in 1990, the point at which the maturity of the thrash metal genre hit an all time high. This was then followed by “Countdown to Extinction”, a metal album released at the height of the grunge and alternative takeover of the world music scene. And it defied the general direction of the way music was going. While it was refined in the way that some of the thrash metal elements were being reeled back a bit, it was still a major success, in terms of sales still Megadeth’s most commercially successful album. The song writing team, led by band leader Dave Mustaine, had found the success it craved, and the band continued to draw sold out crowds to its concerts around the world.
When it came to thinking about the album that would hope to replicate the success over the past six years, the discussions within the band were the key to where they wanted to head. Mustaine had always had the control over what the band was going to do musically, and also was the majority shareholder in the writing of the albums. Here for their new album, he and the band looked to change things up. Mustaine has said in interviews that he let the band off the leash a little, and encouraged the band to contribute as a group to the writing sessions for the album. Just how this would have worked is of course open to question, but giving the band the opportunity to contribute more than just writing a solo or adding in a line of lyric was a big move forward for Mustaine, and the fact that all of the songs on this album are credited to all four members of the band is an interesting development.
One of the things that would have been taken into consideration was how they wanted their music to develop. By the time this album was released, the grunge movement was quickly stepping backwards, while the alternative movement was beginning to wind up to full steam ahead. The thrash bands that Megadeth had come up with were either changing their boots or taking a break. There was a slight void in the universe for Megadeth’s brand of heavy metal, and the band had the opportunity to have their say in what way the future would look in that regard. Their answer to this was the album “Youthanasia”.

“Youthanasia” is, once you have digested it, the logical next step in the direction Megadeth had travelled over the previous two albums. “Rust in Peace” was the amazingly perfect progression from the out and out thrash metal of the debut albums to the maturing yet aggressive nature that that album took on. “Countdown to Extinction” had, for want of a better word, matured even more, still stinging and heavy but with a slightly lesser focus on the thrash genre than the band had utilised before. And then came “Youthanasia”, an album that almost settles into its own tempo early on and doesn’t move away from that too much, and with heavy riffs that are now closely devoid of what one might consider to be thrash or speed metal, where the roots of this band exist. It’s not a case of the band selling out their sound for the era but is just part of the next step in their evolution.
So, rather than a thrash album, instead here we have a collection of songs that can certainly inspire some hearty singalongs and table banging along the way, in a way that may not satisfy the earliest fans of the band but is worthy of checking out. The opening trio of tracks all fit together nicely and create a working path into the middle of the album. The riff and drum thumping opening of “Reckoning Day” is a winner with hard edged lyrics and a great chorus. It’s a rumbling track that sets the focus of the album from the beginning. This segues into “Train of Consequences” nicely, a song which still gives the impression of that train rollin’ down the tracks. This then moves into the slightly slower and stop start motion of “Addicted to Chaos” which again mightn’t be the faster thrashier track some are looking for but nonetheless is great on this album. All three of these songs have set in motion the Megadeth sound of 1994 – it's a mid-fast tempo throughout, certainly not the kind of material that will have you thrashing in the aisles, but still retains the great riffs that the band is renown for.
“A Tout le Monde” is as close to a power ballad that Dave Mustaine is ever likely to produce, but has a perfect riposte throughout, with that guttural heavy riff through the verse and bridge that lifts it above the mundane. It is a track that has always seemed to put fans at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Many love it and believe it is one of the band’s best tracks, while others find it somewhat of a sellout. It was eventually remade with guest vocalist Christina Scabbia for the “United Abominations” album, where the controversy rose its head once again.
The middle of the album is beset by a song list that does become a bit samey in regard to the rhythm and the tempo, and again doe cause a rift in opinion. “Elysian Fields”, “The Killing Road”, “Blood of Heroes” do plod along a bit in a character that is out of sorts for a Megadeth album. Nick Menza on drums is not being asked to do much that is very difficult apart from keeping time in places, and the lack of energy can be a detriment to the songs. Lyrically they are as hard hitting as always, and the solo blocks are still where Marty shines. These are songs that are enjoyable but offer the nagging feeling that they are a little on the weaker side. It is something that can cruel first impressions of the album
“Family Tree” has a great bass line from Dave Ellefson throughout which is the precursor to lifting the song into the chorus and the solo blitz in the middle, and finally highlighted by Mustaine’s vocal melody. The title track dials things back, backed into that slow halting tempo apart from the rushed solos in the middle of the song, something that is repeated in the penultimate song “Black Curtains”, which does use a heavier guitar and harsher vocal to improve the track. The previous track “I Thought I Knew It All” is one of the best songs on the album, most likely because Dave’s vocals sound terrific and he sings with emotion, and the final track “Victory”, with Dave using a trick that had been done by other bands before him of incorporating previous albums song titles in the lyrics to give the listener a touch of nostalgia, is another great track, the fastest and most energised track on the album, and is a great way to bring the album to a close.

My most vivid memory of this album is when I first purchased it, which was very close to its date of release. I brought it home, listened to it twice in the house we were renting in West Ryde at the time, and then placed it in my CD collection, assuming I would never listen to it again. For the life of me I cannot recall why I had such strong feelings against it. I guess my initial reactions were of the change of direction this album had taken – not massive changes, but enough to perhaps make me think this was a write-off. I really have no idea, but I remember that it was 12 months before I took it out again to listen to it. It probably didn’t help that the scourge of 1995 was almost upon me and sent me off the rails for awhile, and fortunately in the time that had passed whatever the blockage had been that had stopped me from enjoying it had disappeared, because what I found upon its resurrection was just how good “Youthanasia” really was.
Megadeth had been an evolving giant throughout the course of the previous eight years, and here we have a less frenzied song structure throughout than was prevalent on “Countdown to Extinction”. It is also true that the songs have slowed down and settled themselves generally into an even tempo throughout. Thrash lovers and old school fans were reticent, and I can’t say I blame them completely because I had my initial reactions as related above. However, compare this album to Metallica’s “Load” for instance, and this comes across sounding like pure genius!
So while I can understand why many fans were turned off by this album, I actually came to love it – and more than I would ever have expected to. Yep, all of our favourite bands were changing their mark, but at least Megadeth here still stuck their guns lyrically and with power. The tempo of the rhythm of Nick Menza’s drums and Dave Ellefson’s bass may have begun to wear out a groove rather than surprise us with anything fancy, and the riffing of Mustaine and Marty Friedman may not have been the mix of furious bottom end rhythm and amazingly intricate and blazing solos. You can’t reproduce “Rust in Peace” and the band here had no inclination to do so.
For this episode I have had this playing again for the last three weeks, and have had my critical review cap on rather than just my music fan loving cap. And some of that can be heard in what I have said here. If someone was to ask me ‘what do you think of Megadeth’s “Youthanasia”?’ I would likely just say, “I love that album!” To closely study the album, there are some places where I may see a flaw, but that would only be in comparison to the albums that preceded this one. I’ve still loved revisiting it for the past few weeks.
Having experienced from both sides of the argument, I still think this is a great Megadeth album. The speed and thrash elements have been stripped away here and what we have is a more general heavy metal production than those other elements of the genre. It doesn’t showcase the individuals in the band as well as previous albums have done, though there are still moments where they all get to shine. If you can look beyond the changes to the historical music that Megadeth has produced, you will find an enjoyable album that is an excellent addition to the band’s discography.

1040. Megadeth / So Far, So Good... So What! 1988. 4.5/5

I had moved on to university by the time this album was released, and was all the more excited because of it. To this point in time I had only had Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! (as finding anywhere that imported Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? in those days was ridiculous) and I couldn’t wait to have new Megadeth material to feast my ears upon. The differences between the first two albums and this are noticeable, and some find it is too much to bear. On the other hand, there are songs here that are incomparable and still stand the test of time thirty years on.

The opening of So Far, So Good... So What! is once again once of the big strengths of the album, setting the tone from the outset. The instrumental “Into the Lungs of Hell” is a beauty, showcasing the renewed vigour of replacement guitarist Jeff Young into the fold along with drummer Chuck Behler. In the days where the one-upmanship between Megadeth and Metallica was at its height, it’s hard to say whether or not Dave Mustaine felt the need to create his own instrumental in order to counter what Metallica had done with “The Call of Ktulu” and “Orion” on their recent albums. Whatever the reason it is a great way to open up here. This segues wonderfully into the thrashing rites of “Set the World Afire” which starts out hard and ends in a flurry of Mustaine’s vocals spitting out fire and flame. I’ve always loved these opening two tracks and they are as good now as they were back when this was released.
The closing tracks to Side One of the album have not held the same love affair for me. The cover of Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the U.K.”, with the U.S.A. substituted in conveniently when necessary in the lyrics, is okay, but it doesn’t really have any of the fire and spirit you would expect from a band trying to add their own personality to it. It is the third cover song in successive albums from Megadeth and this is probably the lamest version of the three. This is followed by “Mary Jane”, and for the most part I find that the whining and warbling of the lyrics tends to harm the output of the song. It’s not a bad track by any stretch of the imagination, but it just isn’t up to the high standard you (or at least I) would expect.
“502” kick-starts the second half of the album off in style with a better rendition of what you expect from the Megadeth sound, though the middle section with transfer of the song to a car’s stereo does sometimes get in the way. I love the riff progression and spitting lyrics which starts off “Liar”, in many ways it is the favourite part of the album. I also enjoy the way it ends abruptly, because charging straight into the finale of “Hook in Mouth”. Mustaine loves a rant, and these two songs are ranting at their best.
The star attraction of the album is “In My Darkest Hour”, which along with the previous album’s “Wake Up Dead” are the two best songs from the 1980’s Megadeth releases. “In My Darkest Hour” has the most mature sound from the band to this point, with clear and distorted guitars combined with both mournful vocals and harsh anger, and combines the raw heavy metal with a distilled thrash sound towards the end that makes this a unique song for the band and the genre to this point.
There’s a lot going on here and the album has divided fans opinion ever since its release. Some feel this was a weak album with the band throwing aside most of its thrash tendencies in an effort to find more credibility and commercial bent. Others believe it is a landmark, a crossing of the divide from the first two albums to what would eventually become their masterpiece, Rust in Peace. Once Mustaine fired both Young and Behler he was critical of their contribution and of the album itself which probably didn’t help to win it any fans or any favour.

Clearly the majority of those people who are young and looking back at this album having not grown up with it are seeing flaws in the songs and the production, and that is not necessarily an incorrect view from that perspective. Judging this against an album such as Endgame one could see many differences that would colour their perspective. On the other hand, I grew up with this album from the age of 18, and I played this to death when I first bought it on vinyl, and I loved every square inch of it. I spat lyrics at the mirror imitating Mustaine and perhaps overlooked a couple of things that could have been ‘less strong’. But even taking those into consideration, this album deserves the respect it has earned, and I for one still love putting this on and singing along at high screeching volume.

Rating:  “No survivors, set the world afire!”  4.5/5

981. Megadeth / Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? 1986. 5/5

My introduction to Megadeth’s sophomore album was inevitably through the magic of music video, and their appearance on music shows such as Rage on ABCTV late on Friday and Saturday nights. Both videos for “Peace Sells” and “Wake Up Dead” were excellent, and the songs even better. My problem living in Australia in 1986 was that it was almost impossible to find this album. It wasn’t until I finally discovered Utopia Records in Sydney that this became easier. As it was, it was a miracle when I finally found this on vinyl in a rack at Wilson’s Records in Wollongong in early 1988, and I finally was able to experience the album of Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? rather than just the two songs I knew so well by that time.

Is there a finer opening song to an album than “Wake Up Dead”? It would be far too difficult to nail down an exact answer to that, but I have always felt that while there would be many songs that could be rated as an equal, certainly none is better than this. The needle would hit the vinyl, and then BANG, we are straight into the album, with Dave explaining to us about his sneak entry into his own house that evening. The difference between the opening thirty seconds of this song and everything that appeared on their debut opus is startling. That album was raw thrash just thrown out there, a wall of noise coming at you at a rush of speed. “Wake Up Dead” is heavy – fucking heavy – but refined in a way those early songs were not. The band is tight, the music is hammered together and the production is a hundred times better without stripping back any of the anger and fury that is pouring out of the speakers. This is a classic, and Dave being able to come up with songs about particular relationships was something that he can still draw on. “The Conjuring” is the follow up, and continues in a similar vein. However, though it is fast and heavy it doesn’t come across as frantic as the band’s earlier material. It is full of great riffs and fast and heavy material, but it is not in a frenzy. It is a real triumph as to how quickly the band matured in writing and playing, and about how better production can tighten songs that are pliable due to their strength.
“Peace Sells” is a classic in its simplicity, beautifully held together by Dave Ellefson’s wonderful bass line rumbling along underneath the simple by effective drum and guitar riff, while Mustaine stands on his soap box and pontificates on his vision of the world as he sees it. It also comes with the perfect lines for crowds to cry back at the band during concerts, an easy form of hero worship through the lyrics. The music video exacerbated this through its clever depiction of world events, and it spoke to the teenage generation at their hearts. Combine politics and anger in a song. It’s a winner. This then crashes straight into “Devil’s Island”, with Ellefson again flying along on bass guitar throughout while Mustaine and Chris Poland have a ball in their selected category. It’s amazing how fast a five minute song can go when it goes at this pace. Great stuff.
The opening to the second side of the album is “Good Mourning / Black Friday”. Good Mourning is just that, a slower mournful opening with Dave’s spoken feelings, before we suddenly fall downhill into Good Friday, which holds the torch for speed metal high and proud on this album. This flays along at what Dark Helmet in Spaceballs would call Ludicrous Speed. It is almost impossible for the listener to keep up with the song, and I can’t imagine how on earth Mustaine and Poland managed to pick their guitar strings at this speed. This is just awesomely fantastic, and even though it will rick your neck completely you can’t help but thrash along in time. Brilliant stuff. “Bad Omen” starts off in a similar vein to Good Mourning, but maintains a more attainable speed once the song starts, before careering over the edge as well in the final third of the song.
If there is an issue to be had, then it is with “I Ain’t Superstitious”, a cover version of the song originally recorded by blues artist Howlin’ Wolf. This version is (of course) a lot different from the original, but it is still noticeable that it doesn’t completely fit the vibe of the rest of this album. It is listenable, yes. And it must be said, even perfect albums can have a slight flaw in them (yes I know that is basically a contradiction, but I don’t care). Everything is forgiven by the closing track “My Last Words” which again starts with a slower riff before bursting into the heart of the song at speed, and Mustaine taking the bull by the horns and letting it charge. This is a terrific closing track, leaving you just as high and blazing as you are by the opening of the album. Just scintillating.

Apart from any reservations raised by “I Ain’t Superstitious”, it is practically impossible to find any weaknesses in this album. While Gar Samuelson’s drumming is sometimes criticised, his work here is solid and builds the basis for the other three musicians to weave their spell. Dave Ellefson is tremendous, and his bass guides throughout are a major component of what makes these songs so heavy in the bottom end. Chris Poland and Mustaine himself once again show a wonderful combination in their guitaring, and it is a disappointment that Poland was dismissed following this album (along with Samuelson) for excessive drug use as their partnership is just fantastic here. On top of all of this, Mustaine’s vocals continued to suit his songs, and with a deepening political and social bent in his lyrics the album ticks all of the boxes. Even as a stepping stone to further great albums to come, this still holds its own and stands the test of time some 30 years on.

Rating:  “I want to watch the news….. this IS the news!”  5/5

921. Megadeth / That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires. 2007. 3.5/5

When it comes to live albums, for it to be a successful and worthwhile adventure, you need to have a set list that not only commends the work done on the album that you are promoting on that current tour, but has the best tracks available from your back catalogue. You also need to have a band that is tight, raucous and so damn energetic that you can feel that pumping through your speakers when you play it at home. On the first point, this album does a pretty fair effort on the collection of songs recorded. On the second point... well...

Dave's vocals are fine here, but his actual SINGING on some of these songs is almost diabolical. I know in some ways that's a tautology, because his singing has never been the main focus of what makes Megadeth great. But in some places he's just all up in the air, no focus, no attitude. Where the hell is the attitude in "Wake Up Dead"? The lyrics are just floated out there, and let's get on with the song. It really loses its drive because of it. This is a criticism only for the fact that it is the way he sings these songs that gives it the real anger that they were written with, and if they aren't sung 'correctly' the they lose a bit of their power. Judge that against the following song, "In My Darkest Hour", which really needs to be sung right, and it is. It doesn't need the attitude as much as the angst, which is delivered well enough. This is a small and perhaps petty outlook, but this is what Megadeth is, attitude and angst, and if the leader isn't giving off the right signals, then they cannot possibly come across in the right light. "Reckoning Day". What the hell was happening there?! And yet "Angry Again" is perfect! Come on Dave.
Glen Drover is just not very good. For a guy who is in a supremely high profile metal band, his technical ability is very low. And I know he has had to come in following a couple of pretty amazingly technically brilliant guitarists in Marty Friedman and Al Pitrelli, but if you are going to play someone else's material, you either have to play it the way they did and well, or make it your own and play it well. I have no real argument with the songs he has been involved with from The System Has Failed album (though he didn't write or record them), but in the main the older songs really are lacking in his guitaring. Absolutely I am biased, because I had the misfortune to see him completely fuck up the middle part of "Holy Wars" in Sydney in 2004, so much so that it was embarrassing. James McDonough on bass and Shawn Drover on drums are both solid without being anything outstanding. As much as Dave gives them grief, Pitrelli and Jimmy DeGrasso were (and are) far better on their instruments than the Drover brothers.
The set list here is well balanced between the songs that are from the current album they are touring on, and all eras of the band. The dragging feature for me is that the new songs, with the possible exception of "Die Dead Enough" just aren't very interesting, and in the main the other songs that were on the previous tour, and found themselves on Megadeth's first live album Rude Awakening, sounded much better on that release. And the older songs obviously sound more upbeat and aggressive, because they are and they were! Compare the drudgery of "I'll Be There' and then the excitement that bursts immediately following with "Tornado of Souls". It's no contest.

Thus we have an interesting comparison between band members and released music. This line up of Megadeth would be close to its least interesting, and some of the songs close to its least interesting. When the old songs come on the album lights up, and yet when the newer songs are on it is like a morgue. In the long run, as an overall package, there are better Megadeth live releases out there.

Rating:  "You feel my fingertips, you won't forget my lips".  3.5/5

850. Megadeth / Endgame. 2009. 4.5/5

Megadeth had been a bit wonky for awhile, with mixed reviews and feelings from their fans over their albums in the years from the late 1990's to the early 2000's. It was not all bad, but they were certainly uneven. In many ways, United Abominations started to set that right, and made the fans feel more comfortable about the direction the band was heading in once again. That job could almost be said to have been complete with the release of Endgame.

In the main, previous albums had spent an amount of time in experimentation, changing things up a bit and moving away from the formula that had been the band's hallmark for its first decade. It was far from awful, not like another band of its generation that could be mentioned, but it had alienated some of the fan base, and it was suggested that perhaps they had strayed too far from the template. Whatever may have been the misgivings, there can be little bad said about this album if you wanted something like a return to the band's glory days. of course, this is NOT a return to that, but it has its basis in that, and brings it forward to add a modern, polished sound to the music.
The album opening is a pointer to how the renewed direction of the band has come. "Dialectic Chaos" is a great instrumental, acting as the prelude into "This Day We Fight!", where the music comes at a speed that has been severely lacking in Megadeth's music for some time. It obviously has been a determined effort to infuse this through the majority of the album, because there is barely time to catch your breath at any point during the course of the 45 minutes it takes from start to finish. "44 Minutes" dials it back just a touch without losing the heavy attitude, before zeroing in to "1,320", where the double time and energy of the song is focused on the lyrical content of pace and energy, embellished by the brilliant soloing which is speed personified. "Bite the Hand" and "Bodies" both continue the flow of excellence, concentrating on the heavier aspect of the guitar riffs than the speed metal aspect of the earlier tracks. The title track "Endgame" is a ripper.
The only real compromise to the sound of the album comes on "The Hardest Part of Letting Go... Sealed With A Kiss", which necessitates the remorseful parts at the beginning and the conclusion of the song, punctuated in the middle by a much more atypical blazing guitar sound. This is obliterated by the unadulterated smashing of drums and guitars from the outset of "Headcrusher", the most refined speed/thrash metal song on the album. If not for the clarity in the sound it could be believed it had come from 1985 rather than 2009. "How the Story Ends" takes up from here with a more traditional metal feel, while the final track "The Right to Go Insane" chugs along in comfort.
Everything here is big, fast and loud. Shawn Drover has got his drum kit into gear on this album, as not only does it have a great booming precise sound to it, he has to move between the standard timing and speed to the overpaced radical technique required when the songs reach the peak of their speed. It may not be the most technical he has ever had to play, but he has to be precise which is what he does extremely well. James LoMenzo's bass work is as solid as ever, providing the perfect undertone to the songs which are dominated by the other instruments. Dave Mustaine and Chris Broderick on guitars put in an awesome performance. For a guy who was going to retire because he wasn't going to be able to play guitar anymore, Mustaine does some fabulous stuff on this album. He is matched by Broderick all the way through. Not only do their duelling guitars come across in perfect harmony, Broderick's solo's are blistering in places, fully justifying his elevation to the band on the previous tour.

As a fan you would have to say that Megadeth has earned redemption for any past wrongs with this album. While the first half of the album probably outweighs the majority of the second half, this really does get back to the band's roots by incorporating both heavy riffs and speed solos, all with the typical Mustaine lyrics commenting on a varied amounts of topics close to his heart. Anyone who has steered clear of the band following past inaccuracies will certainly find better material here should they wish to return to the fold, whereas those that have continued to stick by the band will be rewarded for their patience here.

Rating:  It doesn't get any better than this, it just feeds my need for speed  4.5/5

786. Megadeth / Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! 1985. 4.5/5

There would be very few people in the world who would argue that one of the best decisions that James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich ever made was to fire Dave Mustaine from Metallica. Sure, they could probably have done it a little earlier than six weeks out from recording their debut studio album, and also done it a lot closer to home than being on the completely opposite side of the country from where they all lived. However, sack him they did, and so the lead guitarist, co-vocalist and co-writer of some of the bands earliest great songs was left to catch a bus to cross the country back to the west coast, and brood and simmer and feel sorry for himself for the predicament he now found himself in. For someone who had been so close to the dream of recording your first ever album, it had to be a crushing feeling. More so a couple of months later, when the songs that he had been a part of creating, that he pleaded with his now former bandmates not to use on the album now that he wasn’t to be a part of it, had in fact been used, even if they had changed them enough that they felt they could use them with impunity.
So yes, it became a very good decision, but maybe not for the reasons Metallica might have thought. Sure, they got a great replacement who was a more stable influence, and then went on to create some of the greatest metal albums of all time, but it also released Dave Mustaine on a bus trip that fostered his wall of anger and desire to create a band that, in his own words, ‘was heavier and faster than Metallica’. And eventually, Mustaine’s dismissal allowed Metallica to find their legendary status, but also planted the seeds for what became a band that would eventually challenge their status as best metal band on the planet.
On his return to the west coast, Mustaine went about trying to find the right personnel to put together for his new band, a process that as expected wasn’t the easiest thing to do. His initial foray back into the business was to form a band called Fallen Angels in April 1983. This band underwent much movement of players, but two things from its earliest formation became permanent fixtures. The first was the recruitment of a replacement bass player by the name of David Ellefson, who was Mustaine’s neighbour at the time. He came into the band in one of its earliest formations, around the same time that the name of the band changed to Megadeth, and the name stuck. Other band members though were hard to recruit and then hard to hold on to. Over a dozen drummers were auditioned for the band, and three or four worked their way into and out of the band for various reasons. After six months of looking for the right lead singer for the band, Mustaine finally decided to do the role himself, as he had done on occasions for his previous band. The second guitarist's role was just as difficult to fill. Kerry King from Slayer famously played five gigs for the band in the role before getting out and heading back to his main band. Eventually, Gar Samuelson, a jazz fusion drummer, came in and performed the role that Mustaine was looking for. Just as importantly, his former bandmate from the jazz band The New Yorkers saw Megadeth perform as a three piece one night, and decided he wanted to be a part of what was going on, and after an audition Chris Poland became Megadeth’s second guitarist. After 20 months of hard slog in trying to find a line up that would produce the kind of music he was looking for, Mustaine finally had his four piece sorted in December of 1984.
Mustaine signed the band to Combat Records after considering several offers, as they offered the highest budget to record and tour. They received $8,000 to record and produce the debut album, though after spending half of the budget on drugs, alcohol and food, the band fired the original producer and finished the recording themselves. The end result was the album “Killing is My Business... and Business is Good!”, one that had been a long time coming, but was now unleashed to make up for lost time.

By the time this album was released, it was over two years since Mustaine’s firing from Metallica, and the subsequent release of their debut album to wide acclaim, and then their follow up album some 15 months later. This would have given Dave cause for retooling his own songs that he may have had lined up for his own band’s album. Metallica had used a total of six songs over the course of those two albums that he had had a hand in creating, whether it was much of the song or a riff or live of lyrics. It meant that he had to either use whole different tracks or republish songs or ideas that he had helped create that had already been used and would be now better known as ‘Metallica’ tracks rather than ‘Mustaine’ tracks. He had also lost two years that both Metallica and other bands from the Bay Area that had gotten record contracts now had on him and his new band. He only had to see the difference that was seen from the band Exodus at that time, who had only just released their debut album “Bonded in Blood” shortly before this album. Exodus had once been heralded as the leading light of the Bay Area scene, and yet had now fallen to the middle of the pack themselves. It was something that Mustaine wanted to avoid now that Megadeth was up and running.
The album begins with the wonderful piano tinkling with bass accompaniment of "Last Rites", the unusual and unexpected beginning to the album, until the crashing and cascading into the opening riff of "Loved to Death". It's raw, it's furious. The solos sometimes sound like they had been worked out on the spot, but it's good old fashioned thrash metal from the outset. Great lyrics focusing, not for the last time in Megadeth’s existence, the song drawn from the broken relationship of Mustaine’s love life. Is there a double meaning in the lyrics directed towards his old band? Perhaps, but it is the broken relationship that Dave returns to for some of his greatest material as we track along his discography. This is followed by the title track, with "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!" not only being written about a hired killer but showcasing what Megadeth as a band is going to be from the start - combining interesting subject matter in the lyrics, layered with a great drum beat and bass track, scintillating guitars and Dave's distinctive vocals over the top of everything. It mightn't be a classical voice, but it isn't the screams that were heard in his early days with his other band either. It has definitely 'matured' for this album release, and as it is going to be a full time gig, it makes its distinctive mark on the songs from the outset. The speed of the double kick drums throughout here, with Poland’s solo tracking over the top is just sensational. As Dave ends the song with... ‘you’d better believe it!’
"Skull Beneath the Skin" is another great song that again combines all of these characteristics. It’s an awesome riff at the opening along with the solo over the top. Speed metal yes, thrash metal yes, but some great headbanging riffing that kicks this song into gear. With lyrics ostensibly about human torture, as well as dabbling in the occult and black magic, Mustaine and his crew succeed in drawing ire from many groups for the content both lyrically and musically. For the teenage metal fan, it ticked every box. Then this is followed up with These Boots", a song that I thought was a Megadeth original on my first listens to the album. It did seem a little out of context, but it was enjoyable. It wasn’t until a little time later that I discovered that it was a cover of a Nancy Sinatra song “These Boots Are Made for Walking”, with lyrics adapted and changed by Mustaine to make it more suitable for his band's audience. It explained why this song is a little out of step with the rest of the album, but I still enjoy it. The writer of the original track, Lee Hazlewood, eventually chucked a wobbly and insisted that it be withdrawn from future editions of the album. Seems like a bit of a dummy spit, but there you go. My original copies of the album still have this in its full purity.
"Rattlehead" is a great song from the start, demanding from the outset and laying down the law of the land. In every way, lyrically and musically, this is Dave answer to Metallica's "Whiplash" - same subject matter, same furious pace throughout the song, and the same mentioning of the band's name as a part of the song. Terrific. A great song that is just amazingly fast and performed brutally.
On the first occasion I was played this album, when it got to the song "Chosen Ones", I was implored to listen to the lyrics and come up with what they were and what they were referring to. Both of us were (and still are) huge fans of Monty Python, and it didn't take long for me to recognise the first verse of the song, and where it had come from: “You doubt your strength or courage, don't come to join with me, For death surely wants you, with sharp and pointy teeth, An animal so vicious, no others fought and won, So on the fields of battle, we are the chosen ones”. They are (liberally) the words spoken by Tim the Enchanter during the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, and the whole song is about that scene in the movie about the attack of the killer rabbit. Brilliant. Genius. Hilarious. And perhaps, as much as I had enjoyed everything that had been played to me on this album previous to this, it was this song that tied me to this album, that gave me a connection that enticed me to listen to this album again and again. An album always needs a hook. This album for me does have more than one of those, but this was the one that first caught me in its headlights.
The song that has become one of my all time favourite Megadeth songs is "Looking Down the Cross". It is still somewhat of a mystery as to why this has not become a classic, one that is permanently in the live set list and played with venom at every gig. Beginning in a menacingly slow style with the piano and Mustaine's spoken vocals, before exploding with guitar riff and rolling drums into the heart of the song. Mustaine spits his lyrics out with venom, his description of Christ’s crucifixional demise on the cross spoken in the first person by Dave himself, taking on the role and speaking honestly and aggressively from the outset of the fate that befalls him. While this song obviously is his retelling of the story, is there not just a little part of Mustaine in the role himself, having been crucified by his former band mates and sent out to face his fate? Reading the lines: “Down the walkways, through the blood-stained town, Looking down the cross, bleeding from the crown, Led to stay, to die beside the thieves, Kill the king of the world to be” is there not just a little bit of Mustaine being sent back to the west coast on that bus about this? I could easily be reading too much into it. Either way, Mustaine’s description of Christ’s eventual fate is scored perfectly by the rise and fall of the music, ominous yet pounding, before finishing on a high of aggressive guitars and drums as Mustaine completes the tale. This song, composed and written at this stage of the band’s career, is a high water mark, one not often spoken about but surely one of the most underrated of Megadeth’s songs.
When my heavy metal music dealer played me the final song of this album and insisted I would be surprised by what it contained, it was immediately recognisable. The music was from another song, though it seemed to have missed a bit in the middle, and the lyrics were different and it was infinitely faster. When I looked questioningly at him, he told me that Dave Mustaine, the leader of Megadeth, had actually been an original member of Metallica, and this song was the one Metallica had originally played until Mustaine had been fired from the band. They had then revamped it and recorded it as "The Four Horsemen". This, however, was the original - "Mechanix" - and thus duly recorded here in all its glory, at that amplified speed as well. It's great. I love it. Some have a problem with it being here, suggesting that he should have left it off and written another track to take its place, but why should he? It’s his song! He has the right to record it! And while it feels as though this whole album is directed as a middle finger to his former band, this song in particular has that historical reference.

During my heavy metal awakening in the final years of high school, I had had a number of amazing albums that had been my first entry point into band that became so important to me of the next 40 years. Iron Maiden’s “Powerslave”, Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”, Dio’s “Holy Diver”. All bore an indelible mark that I retain to this day. All of these albums of course had been released some time before I actually heard them and they were not the first albums released by those bands either.
Midway through 1987, my heavy metal music dealer asked me to come down to his parents’ new home, just a short walk from where we attended high school, to listen to an album he had just purchased. Over the past six months or so, he had purchased his first denim jacket and had been slowly buying metal patches to plaster all over it. In this way it had actually become a kind of ‘magic jacket’, because when he bought a patch of a band that he had heard of but hadn’t actually heard any music of, they immediately turned out to be awesome! On the back of this, he had recently bought a patch of the band Megadeth, a name we both agreed sounded great, and whom he told me had been formed by some guy who had once been in Metallica, a band that we had discovered at the beginning of the year. And now he had found that band’s debut album, purchased it, and insisted I come down and listen to it, because it had many amazing parts to it. So during our lunch break at school, off to his house we went, and he then placed his vinyl on the turntable, turned it up and let it fly, all as we scoured over the cover and the inside linear notes. I knew nothing about the band or the album, but Kearo very kindly filled me in as we listened to the album – Mustaine's history with Metallica, experiencing the awesomeness of “Rattlehead” and “Looking Down the Cross”, listening to the lyrics of “Chosen Ones”, and laughing out loud when I immediately recognised where they came from, and then hearing “Mechanix” for the first time and finally understanding the link between Mustaine and his former band. That afternoon sent me down the rabbit hole that was to become another of my real obsessions over the next few years, travelling the Megadeth road to brilliance.
My love of this album can still be traced back to that lunch time. Over the years any number of friends and acquaintances, album reviewers and keyboard warriors have complained that this album is nothing but a poorly organised and produced set of songs, most of which are average at best, and sound dated to an era that has so many better examples of speed and thrash metal that this barely rates a mention. And to this, I just nod my head slightly and say very little, because what can you say to people who either don’t want to see the big picture in regards to what this album started, or just can’t enjoy and album for what it is rather than what they demand that it should be? Is the sound quality not perfect? Is it a bit scrappy? Sure. Show me an album of a thrash band starting out in that era that isn’t. But are the songs fast and thrashy and contain wonderful guitars and drumming, with lyrics that are fun AND thought provoking? My word they are. I love the goofiness of “Chosen Ones”, the ungodly genius of “Looking Down the Cross”, the outright thrash demands of “Rattlehead” and the title track and “Loved to Deth” and the stick-it-to-the-man attitude of “Mechanix”. I mean, what’s not to like?!
I don’t play this album as much as I used to. I will go for other Megadeth albums when I want to hear the band. But I’ve had it back out again this week, and I have loved it. Again. Because even though it may not be a masterpiece like a few of their albums are after this, it has everything you could want in a thrash metal album. And isn’t that what we all signed up for in the first place?