1054. Bloodbound / Nosferatu. 2006. 4/5

In this wonderful modern age of music, the advent of digital music platforms has not only opened the doors of bands around the world to find a larger and wider fan base, it has made the discovery of those bands and albums so much easier for the music lover. And sometimes, when all of the algorithms work right and you get recommendations for album and bands that you might like that you've never heard, you find an album or band that lights up your life for a moment in time. And that is exactly what happened for me and Nosferatu.

There are albums that technically mightn’t be brilliant but that I love just for the music and especially the vocals. HammerFall’s Glory to the Brave is a leading example of that, in that it mightn't be instrumentally perfectly proficient but it has great tunes and superb vocals. This is another case in point and given that I discovered it in much the same way as I did that HammerFall album perhaps it isn't coincidental. The galloping beat of the double kick drums sets the tempo in every song, followed by those happy power metal guitars and brilliant double tracked vocals from Urban Breed create the perfect setting for anyone who enjoys this kind of metal. For me it is important that there are no power ballads here at all, no attempt to slow the whole album down by partaking in that style of metal that requires that kind of song to make it popular with the masses. No, not here on Bloodbound’s debut, all you get is upmarket speed with great guitars and soaring vocals throughout, with no respite. This gets bonus points for that alone. This has, for the most part, my favourite parts of this genre of metal without the crap. It might sound like it’s a formula as you listen, as the base of each song has a similar feel and sound because of the way the drums and bass come together. Some would say that this is exactly what all power metal is like. Personally, I don’t care how similar sounding the songs are as long as they are enjoyable and fun. And as it turns out, that’s what this album does for me. When I put it on, it lifts my mood immediately.
The opening track “Behind the Moon” is a beauty, immediately setting forth the solid base of what is to follow. “Into the Dark” is a great follow up, while the title track “Nosferatu” is another terrific song based around the double kick drum and excellent vocals. “Metal Monster” and “Crucified” continue the excellent material well into the middle of the album, each showcasing the best moments that the band has to offer. Then “Desdemonamelia” starts off at a furious pace before changing back and forth between a traditional heavy song and its power metal roots.
While many people have likened this album to a power metal version of Iron Maiden, I think the real influences can be heard in “Fallen from Grace” and “Scream in the Night”. “Fallen from Grace” has two verses that are sung very closely to the way the verses in Helloween’s “Eagle Fly Free” are sung and remind me heavily of it, while it is the guitar solo’s in “Scream in the Night” that have a heavily influenced Helloween sound about them. Great stuff. “For the King” continues in this direction, before “Midnight Sun” and “For the Battlefield” end the album on a great note.

Music is all about lifting your mood, enlightening your day and allowing your pain and anguish to drain away while you listen to it. For me at least, this album does this with relative ease. Put it on and give me four scotches and I’ll soar with the vocals for the length of the album. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, and I can even hear where people will have issues with the music. The love of music is subjective, and Bloodbound here have created the kind of album I can get on board with without a care in the world. Long live ballad-less power metal, and long live Nosferatu.

Rating: “With the light of day comes no sanctuary, as the shadows fade away”. 4/5

1053. Edguy / Theater of Salvation. 1999. 3.5/5

Much like contemporaries such as Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius, my everlasting problem with Edguy is the composition of their albums. You can generally split the songs into two categories, that being the faster and heavier versions of their metal songs and the slower ballad version of their metal songs. And for the most part their albums always excite me but also leave me feeling disappointed because of this. Theater of Salvation is no different on that scale.

The instrumental short "The Healing Vision" opens the album before leading straight into “Babylon” which is a terrific opening track that flies along from the outset with great vocals from Tobi Sammat. This is followed by “The Headless Game” which has a moodier and traditional heavier start to the song with a mid-tempo pace. “Land of the Miracle” is more or less a piano based power ballad, which by my definition takes any power out of the song. It’s okay for what it is, and the vocals are what really drives the song, but it's these kinds of songs that annoy me more than most others in all forms of music.
“Wake Up the King” sounds great, though the vocal lines seem little strange, even after all these years. They just don’t seem to follow what is being played instrumentally, and this is still off-putting. "Falling Down" slips back into that mid-tempo double kick scheme with Tobi sitting more or less in the one voice register, and mixes in a nice solo slot through the middle of the song as well as an inbuilt crowd singalong "woah-oh-oh-ooooh" leading into the final chorus. This leads straight into the faster "Arrows Fly" which kicks the tempo back up again, and is one of my favourites on the album, filled with those great power metal guitars while the vocals soar over the top without trying to do anything outrageous. Great stuff.
“Holy Shadows” is another song where the vocals in the chorus just seem out of ‘tune’ to what is being played musically. It's really very strange, and don’t feel right at all. It's a shame, because the rest of the song is really quite good, but I have trouble getting past this. “Another Time” is yet another piano based power ballad, and it doesn't matter how good Tobi sounds on this, it just makes me shudder every time I hear it. Yes, as always, I know what I've signed up for when I found and loved power metal bands. It doesn't mean I'll stop complaining about these kinds of songs though.
“The Unbeliever” is a MUCH better song, full of hard hitting drums, great vocals and terrific guitars. It immediately brings the right mood back to the album, one that should never have left it. Tobi sings hard and it is infinitely better than any ballad. Another of my favourite songs on this album. The album is then finished off by the epic title track, which flows from one mood to another in a satisfying climax.
There is a reasonable argument that Tobi has moved on from Edguy the band – that his Avantasia project has become his major focus over the past decade. Even at the time that this album was released it could be said to be true. The first Avantasia album was only a couple of years away from being released, and there are passages here that are reminiscent of the direction he went with it.

I always felt that the Edguy discography was growing towards something, improving with each album along the way until they reached their zenith, the album that would give the band the standing they deserved. While Theater of Salvation is not that album, it is yet another step closer to that goal. Like their previous albums there is plenty to like here and enjoy.

Rating: "I am the vision that comes to your mind when you denounce without regret". 3.5/5

1052. Primal Fear / Jaws of Death. 1999. 3.5/5

The exponential growth of the power metal genre in Europe through the 1990’s saw an explosion in not only the number of bands coming together to create the music, but the popularity of the music as a whole. Primal Fear, the band put together by former Gamma Ray lead vocalist Ralf Scheepers and Sinner bass guitarist Matt Sinner, were already in that explosion when they formed their partnership, and the release of the eponymous debut album created a new band with a sound that was in synch with the music being created.
On initial reflection, “Jaws of Death” is an album where none of the songs are outstanding, in the way that they jump out at you and make you love them. All the songs are solid and perhaps generic as a result, but in an age where singles were rarer, this album fits in with that ideal. There aren’t any songs here that you would immediately consider putting on a playlist of favourite tracks. There are no real standout tracks.
While Kai Hansen had provided lead guitar on three tracks of the debut album, for the second album the band brought in Stefan Leibing as the second guitarist, giving the band a true five-member platform, with both Tom Naumann and Matt Sinner providing keyboards on the album when necessary.

The opening of the instrumental “Jaws of Death” which then segues into “Final Embrace” is a good solid start to the album, coming at you in a fast tempo set by the double kick drums of Klaud Sperling, with a singalong chorus that makes the opening a good one. This is followed in quick succession by “Save a Prayer” which moves along a similar path with a nice solo break in the middle of the song. “Church of Blood” has more attitude in both music and vocals, the double kick drum driving the song along and Ralf’s vocals feel like they are more engaged and makes for a better listen, while “Into the Future” carries on along that same line of punchy drums and guitars and a great example of the range of vocals that Ralf Scheepers possesses.
The beginning of “Under Your Spell” brings about very strong similarities to the start of Judas Priest’s classic track “Out in the Cold” such is the similar way the keyboard opening sounds. Unlike that terrific song, this one is a bit dreary and just doesn’t quite manage to gather the momentum that has come before it. It sounds great, but it does feel like a missed opportunity to lay down a more memorable song. On the other hand, “Play to Kill” kicks back in at the right tempo and gets the album moving again in the right direction. A great guitar riff drives the songs and sets the stage for Ralf’s vocals to steal the show.
Moving into the second half of the album, the songs continue in the tempo that the band has set up in the first half, without any real change in which to differentiate what is going on. “Nation in Fear” is a case in point, sounding a bit stale and generic in song structure. “When the Night Comes” is a slightly slower tempo, a steady track that sounds very much like an AC/DC song. It’s an interesting cohesion within. Beyond this comes the final two songs, “Fight to Survive” and “Hatred in My Soul”, both which get back closer to what would be an optimum pace for this band, with Ralf again combining melodic vocals to create a more pleasing finish.
The band sounds great. Tom Naumann and Stefan Leibing on guitars do a great job and have some excellent moments when soloing. The rhythm of drummer Klaus Sperling and band leader Matt Sinner on bass is solid throughout and provide the platform, but for me it is perhaps just a bit too regimented for my liking. The double kick drums keep an even tempo throughout, which is probably just missing a bit of excitement to help lift some songs out of the average.
Trying to blend those high range vocals into the music being written is a tough task at any level. And this is where this just falls down a bit as well. Ralf Scheepers tends to sit back in a more comfortable vocal range than he has for some time throughout most of the album. As a result, it does give the songs a flatter feel musically, because we know what he is capable of. Perhaps in trying to keep his vocals in a safe zone with the songs he has cut out one of his best attributes.

Having been drawn into Primal Fear by the Gamma Ray connection on their debut album, it was a no brainer that I had to check out the follow up release in order to see just what the band could produce on their sophomore album. All of the right ingredients had been put forth on that first album without creating any massive waves. My hope was that the band would gel together better both musically and in the writing process and produce something that would be amazing. That may have been ambitious thinking on my part.
There is a trade-off between what you want and what you have. Primal Fear is a heavier version of the power metal genre because they stick with the dual guitar attack and tone out the keyboards to a bare minimum here. On the other hand, they also omit the super double-kick pace that comes with the speed metal aspect, and that drags the whole feel of the album back a little. And while everything sounds good here, there’s just a feeling that it is missing something that would have taken it to the next level.
I first ventured down the Primal Fear path just over 20 years ago, at the time when I was going down the Euro metal rabbit hole. The first album that I heard was actually the band’s follow up to this album, “Nuclear Fire”, and then “Black Sun”, both of which I loved immediately. Once I went backwards to get the first two albums, both seemed like they were a first step towards the sound that came on those two albums I first heard. It isn’t that “Jaws of Death” is an average album, it is just one where the band hasn’t quite found the best way to utilise their talents and find the sound that was to become their ideal medium. I have pulled out this album over the last week to catch up on what I have missed, as it has been a long time since I listened to this album, and overall my opinion hasn’t changed that much. The album is fine, but it doesn’t have the hooks you need for an album to grab you. Better was to come, at least in my opinion, and that was when Ralf pulled out his whole singing arsenal, and the band pushed harder and faster alongside him.
When it comes to the bands that led Europe through the 1990’s power metal explosion and into the 2000’s, Primal Fear is one of the flag bearers. Their style of music is not the keyboard-dominated one of many of the power metal bands of the continent and as a result they have the harder edge to their music that allows them to cross genres. Both the eponymous debut album “Primal Fear” and this follow up album “Jaws of Death” are a building of that style that Primal Fear took on as their own. As a result of finding their own style these two albums are both good without pushing the boundaries to their limits. That was something that came after this.

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 seemed as though he felt that he was in a competition with his former band Metallica, something that was probably real in his own head but surely in the minds of the fans of his band Megadeth was not an issue. And yet despite three excellent albums of his own under the Megadeth banner, Mustaine still acted as though he felt he was always living in their shadow. The praise, and perhaps the increasing and enduring love that was being shown by the critics for Metallica’s albums, up to and including 1988’s “...And Justice for All”, seemed to be weighing him down. Megadeth’s debut album “Killing is My Business... and Business is Good!” was an excellent riposte to Metallica’s own debut album, but the fact that it came two years after that release, and that Metallica already had their sophomore album out, “Ride the Lightning” (which, just for the kicker, still had songs that Mustaine had contributed parts to), it must have felt as though Megadeth was lagging. Megadeth’s own sophomore album “Peace Sells... But Who’s Buying?” was a brilliant response to showcase the maturity in thrash that the band had made... that unfortunately then came up against Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”. Tough crowd! And then their third album “So Far, So Good... So What!” measured up against the aforementioned “... And Justice for All”... and... well... you know... it’s a tough marketplace when you are trying to compete in your own mind against four of the greatest thrash metal albums of the 1980’s... even when you have produced a couple of them yourself!
How much all of this was taken into account when it came to writing and recording Megadeth’s fourth studio album is unknown, but you could make a couple of good guesses. It was the coming together of a new quartet that helped to change the narrative slightly, and was perhaps the final piece of the puzzle in bringing out the very best that Megadeth the band could produce. By 1990 there came two wonderful ingredients that made their influence felt from the get-go. Mustaine had already fired guitarist Jeff Young and drummer Chuck Behler while on tour promoting the previous album, which caused that tour to cease immediately. Mustaine had promoted yet another drum tech into the position of number one stick twirler in Nick Menza. Previous drummers had done a good job and performed well but various problems always meant that the revolving door in the band kept swinging. In Nick Menza the band now 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. Initially Mustaine had asked Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott to join the band, though Dimebag’s one requirement – that his brother Vinnie Paul be allowed to join the band as drummer – was something that could not be acceded after the hiring of Menza, and so the Abbott brothers remained in their band, about to make their own breakthrough. Jeff Waters from Annihilator, whose debut album “Alice in Hell” had caught the attention in 1989 was another who was considered, and former guitarist Chris Poland actually returned and provided some guide tracks on demos for the album. Years later in an interview on the Blabbermouth website, Poland said: “Dave kept asking me to join Megadeth again. I actually was 99 percent going to join Megadeth, and then Janie Hoffman, who was managing me, for two days, she told me, 'If you join that band, you're going to die.' I'm totally sober at that point, and I'm not 100 percent sure that they are. She said, 'If they're not sober, and you join the band, you're not going to make it.'”. Instead, a guitarist late in the piece sent Mustaine a copy of an album he had played on called “Dragon’s Kiss”. After he had listened to it, Mustaine brought the guitarist in to audition, and soon offered him the guitarist slot in the band. 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. With the players now in place, alongside Mustaine and his long time bass player Dave Ellefson, the stars aligned in what became the glittering jewel in the band’s catalogue with the release of the album “Rust in Peace”.

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. Because this album has some of the best songs in the entire Megadeth catalogue, and yet in many ways it is the songs that were not publicised as heavily, the songs that if you don’t listen to albums and only listen to singles and best of compilations you wouldn’t know at all, that make this such a fabulous album.
“Take No Prisoners” is a ripping track, crashing in after the opening assault of the opening two songs, with spitting lyrics and with great byplay vocals that trade off against each other in the right places, all complemented by a furious soundtrack throughout with those great solo’s from Mustaine and Friedman that make it a classic. There is a stinging anger coming through in Mustaine’s lyrics here again, bringing the wrath of war and its consequences, and sewing it all together into a brilliant thrash metal classic.
This is followed by “Five Magics” with more of the same. Dave is back with his black magic craft and obsession – at least until his rediscovery of God – and he brings out all the stops here lyrically. The lyrics are actually a lot of fun if you are happy to take them that way, speaking of witchcraft, of sorcery and alchemy and wizardry. And my goodness, the music of this track, so amazingly crafted in itself. The quick pace opening of drums and guitars falls back into the slower pace of Ellefson’s bass guitar rumbling along with the guitars less intensely over the top, before the crash into the song proper at the halfway mark, with speed and hard core riffing and thrashing as Mustaine commands centre stage vocally and Friedman solos with abandon. This is one of the heights of the maturing thrash the band brings to this album. It is outrageously good, covering every facet of the genre and utilising ideas that most bands would be hesitant to consider in case it should turn away the fan base. Megadeth just turn it up further and punch harder. Outstanding.
“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. Once again Ellefson is given the chance to lead the opening of the track which proves to be a real focal point. I’ve often wondered, given the well documented fact of there being inaudible bass guitar on Metallica’s album released prior to this, whether Mustaine thought “well, how about we HIGHLIGHT the bass guitar on this album, just to prove a point?” If he did, then kudos Dave, that is a genius move. The speed of the track once it kicks into gear once again is just amazing, and all four are incredible, but that guitaring from Mustaine and Friedman... far out, it is truly amazing. And then we have the cackling to start off “Lucretia”, which culls the outrageous speed back to slightly over the regular speed limit and sets off a song with a brilliant groove throughout, and offset by the solos towards the end. It is just another awesome track, and everything about this album is cooking.
After the fire and turbulence of “Tornado of Souls”, “Dawn Patrol” sets itself perfectly in place, giving everyone a chance to catch their breath before delving further. Based completely around Ellefson’s bass guitar and Menza’s drums, this is beautifully composed and performed, the dire warning of nuclear holocaust that acts as the segue into the closing track, a short foreboding that identifies as a song itself but as the lead into the finale, wonderfully vocalised by Mustaine again. That following final track then is “Rust in Peace… Polaris” which ends in the same fury and fire that the album began with. The drumming here is a leading light. Nick Menza is quite amazing throughout this album, but it is the little things on this song that really stand out, the cymbal and hi-hat triplets and tom rolls and snare crashing that stands out on this song. As a closer, it acts as the perfect bookend to what has come before it, the increase in speed and aggression to the very end is perfect.
Those songs as described here are why this album is so magnificent, because if it was just them, this album would still be legendary and still be spoken of in the highest terms. But outside of these wonderful songs, there are three others that we haven’t covered yet.
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. It is difficult to express just how amazing this song was when you first bought the album back in 1990, and first heard this coming out of the speakers at you. In essence, it is the same experience as hearing “Painkiller” for the first time. This crushes out of the speakers at you immediately, the first time hearing both Nick Menza on drums and Marty Friedman on guitar – wondering just what their contribution to Megadeth would be like. And then you hear “Holy Wars” for the first time, and stare at your stereo with gaping mouth. The guitars and drums to start with, and then Dave’s lyrics – and then the breakdown that leads into “The Punishment Due”. I mean... who writes a song like this?! The cut back to the groove of the middle of the song, the wailing and methodical guitar solo pieces, the unmitigated anger and aggression of the lyrics, until the break back to the obscenely fast conclusion that just piles on the speed and brilliance of the guitars, and Dave doubling down vocally to complete one of their greatest compilations. And then just for fun it is 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. It seems such a simple song in structure and lyrics, but those duelling guitars are absolutely magnificent. The third of the triumvirate is the thrash central core of “Tornado of Souls”. Crashing out of the blocks once again, Menza’s drumming is superb, leading the song out and creating the flair that brings this song all together. The duel solo section of the middle of the track is again superb, but it the build to the conclusion of the song that really brings it all together, with lyrics that spit ire as the music reaches its crescendo: “And now I fill your brain, I spin you 'round again, My poison fills your head, As I tuck you into bed, You'll feel my fingertips, You won't forget my lips, You'll feel my cold breath, It's the kiss of death”. Just superb. And this is not to categorise these three songs as the only ‘great’ songs on the album, it’s just the ones most metalheads know well. As I believe I have made perfectly clear, I rate every track on this album as a great song, and the album as a whole is so magnificent because the lesser known songs to those that aren’t out-and-out Megadeth fans, are absolutely enthralling.

Spring 1990 in the southern hemisphere. I am already drowning in new release albums from my favourite bands, and the majority of those albums are the equal if not better than any album they have previously released. It's a plethora, a smorgasbord of music, and it truly is a great time to be alive. I already adore Anthrax’s “Persistence of Time”, I am enthralled with Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”. And there are still albums to come that I will put alongside those two albums – when this album is released. The album cover was enough to create excitement for all of us awaiting its release. It just looked... cool. And inviting. The album was released on a Monday, which is surely the most inconvenient day to ever release albums, though for a time this was the norm.
So I buy the album. And I take it home. And I put it on, in my downstairs bedroom on my own stereo. And for the next 40 minutes, my mind gets blown in a way that has rarely happened before or since. My first reaction when I get together with my friend group to discuss matters is “where the hell did this come from?!” Because this was not on the same pathway that the band’s three previous albums had taken. Indeed, this album appears to be a culmination, a morphing and merging of the best parts of each of the first three albums, throw into a blender, processed by the solid two members of the group and the incoming two new members with fresh ideas and thoughts from the outside – and then turned it into one of the greatest thrash metal albums of all time.
How did this occur? Is it just the maturing of the writing and playing aspects of the band? There is certainly some of that here. Mustaine has moved from angry man at being kicked out of his previous band to angry man at people in his own band, to angry man at the world around him and the global events occurring at that time. That brought a different focus to his lyrics and his music. There is no doubt that, despite him not really being around for the writing process, that Marty Friedman was a defining influence on the music on the album. His incredible guitaring skills allowed Mustaine to push harder than he could have with his earlier bandmates. And this is also true of Nick Menza on drums. His technical prowess here is a step up as well. So their entry to the band has had a significant impact here.
All I can vouch for here is that this album had a major and significant impact on my life at this time. In recent episodes, and in coming episodes as well, I have and will talk about the albums released in this period which can be classed as top shelf. “Rust in Peace” is more than that. “Rust in Peace” is a singularly brilliant album on every level. And it dominated my music listening for months after its release, leading up to the FUCKING FINALLY first tour of Australia by the band in February 1991, where I saw them on both of their sold out nights at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre, playing much of this album and just blowing the audience away.
You probably won’t be surprised to hear that I have had this album out on my stereo again for the last two weeks. It might even be longer than that. At last count it was 22 times I’ve listened to this album again on this round to prepare myself for this podcast episode. And know even as I speak that I will not have done this album justice. It is one of those landmark albums in my life, one that defies explaining how much I love it and what it has meant to me over the 35 years since its release.
True thrash metal was reaching its use by date once 1991 rolled around, and this album is one of the last 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 given 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. Indeed, it towers over almost every other album ever recorded.

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