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

1043. Dio / Sacred Heart. 1985. 5/5

When it comes to the year that most influenced my love of music, of the type of music that became what I loved more than any other, and in the discovery of artists and bands who became the most important in my music-loving life, 1986 is the year that wins hands down. In particular two such events could be appraised as perhaps the most important. The first was the discovery of the artist named Ronnie James Dio, his then-current band named Dio, and their third studio album which was entitled Sacred Heart.

The five piece band that wrote and recorded this album was at the very top of their form. Though there was tension between Dio and his talented guitarist Vivian Campbell, all of which has been well documented in the year since, it didn’t stop the band putting together an album that had the best of everything that the era had to offer. Some listening to the album now some 30+ years after its release may feel it is dated, or at the very least tied to the era in which it was released due to some of its elements. There is probably some truth to this, but that doesn’t detract from just how good an album it is.
As with most albums you can split it into two sections, one with the best known and most loved songs, and the other with the lesser known songs that carry the rest of the album. The best known songs here are the heavyweights, the songs that still resonate after all of these years. The album kicks off with “King of Rock and Roll” which brings the energy and drive that starts everything off perfectly. The studio-dubbed ‘live’ audience on the track works perfectly, giving the impression that the band is firing this up in a live environment. Great stuff. The title track “Sacred Heart” is a Dio epic, with its moody, melodic yet heavy theme throughout, with Dio himself stretching his vocal chords, while Campbell’s solo work is a delight.
The two singles from the album come together back to back and are still quintessential Dio from the outset. The video clip for “Rock ‘n’ Roll Children”, showing Dio in an old magical shop where the two star-crossed lovers enter and are transported to another reality is just fantastic, but even without it the song itself still speaks to the young and young at heart. This is followed by “Hungry for Heaven” which utilises many of the same elements in the music as its sister song.
Away from these heavy hitters in the Dio catalogue, a great album can only be great if the other songs on the album hold up as well, and in the case of [sacredheart] that is absolutely true. “Another Lie” is a ripper, with Dio giving us a great mid-range vocal effort that is well supported by tough riffs from Viv. “Like the Beat of a Heart” is a simple slower tempo song that chants along rather than flowing throughout. “Fallen Angels” and “Shoot Shoot” are often seen as the villains of the album with many people not believing they are up to standard, but for me they are still a major part of what is enjoyable about this album.
Apart from these eight songs, my favourite on the album has pretty much always been “Just Another Day”, a straight-up guitar song with a great riff and great vocals from Ronnie. I was taken by the lyrics as much as anything from the first time I heard the song, and after the staccato feel of “Like the Beat of a Heart” its punchy start kicks the album into gear again.
For the third successive album, this quintet put together a great show. Vinny Appice continues to pound the beat that allows the rest of the band to put their pieces together, and his big drum sound again works perfectly here. On bass Jimmy Bain again found a rhythm that laid the groundwork for each song, and his writing contribution again cannot be overlooked. Claude Schnell’s keyboards sound like they have more of an influence on this album, which given it is the mid-1980’s does fit in with the period.
Vivian Campbell is again an out-and-out star here. His guitar riffs, licks and solos are as much the sound of Dio the band as the man whose name adorns the band. That he parted ways with the band after this album is a regret for all fans of the band. Dio had some good guitarists play in the band over the following twenty years, but none rivalled Vivian and what he produced on these first three albums. Ronnie as always is magnificent. His vocals soar, his lyrics tell stories and his passion reigns supreme.
I started by saying there were two events in 1986 that rounded my love of music. The second? Well, Dio toured Australia on this album in September 1986, and it was the first band I ever saw live. Regrettably there was no Vivian by that time, replaced by Craig Goldy, but it was a spectacle I have never forgotten.

There are many who don’t enjoy this third instalment in the Dio lineage, and I really believe that most of those came onto this album after its heyday and judge it on how the music sounds now rather than how it sounded when it was released. That’s understandable and fair, but for those of us that grew up with this album, and had it burned into our psyche playing it over and over a thousand times, it will always be a great album. It may not be as dramatically awesome as Heaven and Hell or Holy Diver, and the saturation of Claude Schnell’s keyboards may date it well and truly to its time, but it still hits all the right places for me. Eight years on from the passing of the great man, Dio’s legacy is still a part of this album.

Rating: "You don't believe in someday, and the truth is what you prove". 5/5

1042. Megadeth / Risk. 1999. 1/5

With the disastrous direction (my personal opinion) Metallica had taken on their last two studio albums Load and Reload, the announcement of a new Megadeth album was a welcome relief. It was a great feeling to know that I could expect more of the same from this band, the twin guitars of Mustaine and Friedman offset by the bass of Ellefson, and new drummer Jimmy DeGrasso was accomplished as well. No matter how bad things were getting, there was no way Megadeth could record an album as uninteresting and boring as Reload.

Error.

This album took massive liberties with the Megadeth sound and direction, and entitling it Risk pretty much covered all the bases. When I first got the album it got heavy rotation at my workplace in and in the car, and it was noticeable from the start that this had moved about as far away from the template as you could get. But I kept telling myself it couldn’t be as bad as my first impressions felt (I had tried to learn from my mistakes that came with my initial reaction to Youthanasia). And so I just kept on plugging away.
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.
As I’ve said, “Crush ‘Em” has a vibe that I 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.
But as for the rest? It doesn’t improve with age, let me tell you. “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. “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. At least it wasn’t a power ballad.
“The Doctor is Calling” has pretty much nothing going for it. Dave chants along while the drums roll slowly and patiently and the guitar 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.

Are there any redeeming features on this album? 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 has much for me either, but I can at least muddle my way through if it becomes necessary. It’s a sorry state of affairs that this is the kind of alteration to their sound the band felt necessary to make in order to make a statement, to show that they weren’t just a one trick pony. I think everyone involves has now realised the error of their ways, and attempts at redemption have come further down the line. The fact that this was Marty Friedman’s final album with Megadeth was both sad and welcome. His own path was leading in a different direction and he needed to take that on his own. For Megadeth, this is a dark day, and the direction from this point on has its high and lows.

Rating: “Step inside, you’re in for a ride”. 1/5

1041. Megadeth / Youthanasia. 1994. 4/5

My most vivid memory of this album is when I first purchased it. I brought it home, listened to it twice in the house I was 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 feeling 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 do think it was 12 months before I took it out again to listen to, and fortunately in that time what the blockage had been that had stopped me from liking it had disappeared, because what I found on 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 that was prevalent on Countdown to Extinction. It is also true that the songs have slowed down and settle themselves generally into an even tempo throughout. Thrash lovers were necking themselves over it too, 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 as much as we would like to hear it.
Instead, here we have a collection of songs that can certainly inspire some hearty singalongs and table banging along the way. 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. This segues into “Train of Consequences” nicely 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.
“A Tout le Monde” has always seemed to put fans at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Some love it and believe it is one of the band’s best tracks, while others abhor it. I still think it has its place, but perhaps strangely enjoy the version with Christina Scabbia that turns up on a later album.
There are songs here that I like but always give me the nagging feeling that they are on the weaker side. It often reminds me of how I thought of this album when I first bought it, and that my first impressions were not completely off. Much of the second half of the album does give me reservations in this way. Songs such as “Youthanasia”, “Family Tree”, “Black Curtains” and “Blood of Heroes” don’t necessarily inspire any great thoughts about the music and for the most part I gloss over them whenever I put the album on, singing along because I do still now all the words, but never really getting that magical feeling that produces a banging head or air drums or guitar or loud heartfelt off-key singing. I still get that from “I Thought I Knew It All” and “Victory” for instance, but not from those others.

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.

Rating: “Don’t want no revenge, ain’t no payback time”. 4/5

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

1039. Anthrax / Kings Among Scotland [Live]. 2018. 4/5

For a band that has been around for four decades, it is unusual that Anthrax has never really had a definitive live album. Iron Maiden, Slayer, Ozzy Osbourne… they all have live albums that are legendary and are caught as moments in time of the era they were recorded. Anthrax has the afterthought of their Island Records contract when it released Live: The Island Years, and then the John Bush-headed recording of Music of Mass Destruction, before the reunion with Joey Belladonna release of Alive 2 (2005). All three are good solid live albums, and Music of Mass Destructionespecially at least stands as a monument to the Bush-era songs, but for a quintessential live recording of the band there has been somewhat of a gap.

Does that make this release the live album we have been waiting for from this band? Well, to be fair to the band that moment when they could have released a live album that would stand the test of time has probably passed. Music of Mass Destruction is probably the closest they will come. And the songs have had to be naturally altered with some tuning and a slower pace in order to accommodate the changes in the techniques of the individuals in the band. Yes, tuning down in order to allow Joey to come close to singing some of the older songs that they have in this set list. For me a live recording on the Persistence of Time tour would have been the ultimate goal, but seeing as this was when I first saw them perhaps I am blinded by that.
So does this have a chance to be that definitive live album? It does have a chance, for two reasons. Disc One is a mix of the old and the new. Amongst songs taken from the album on which the band is touring, For All Kings we have a mix of classic Anthrax tunes. The new songs all sound good in this live environment, and given they had been toured for a while before this gig was recorded it shows. “Evil Twin”, “Blood Eagle Wings” and “Breathing Lightning” showcase the best of the latest studio album, and new crowd favourite “Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t” from the Worship Music album still comes across well. Liberally splashing with the crowd pleasers such as “A.I.R.”, “Madhouse”, “Medusa” and “Be All End All”, there is something for everyone.
What will elevate this live album into a more accessible category is the second disc, which was the second act of the evening during the tour. It involves the playing live of the entire Among the Living album which is revered and generally accepted as Anthrax’s finest moment. It is not played here in correct running order, but that doesn’t matter in the slightest. Each of these nine amazing songs are played in full and with reverence. The crowd know all the words, and especially in the backing vocals of Scott Ian and Frankie Bello you can hear the crowd at full volume joining in. The album and gig then ends with a rousing rendition of “Antisocial”.
The band are older, and perhaps wiser. Joey Belladonna may not be quite the vocalist he was, but no one is at his age. He still does a great job throughout, and even where he has to make changes to accommodate it comes across well enough to keep the doubters at bay. Jon Donais on lead guitar does a sterling job, while Ian and Bello are as enthusiastic as always. Charlie Benante still amazes on the drums, and again while it may not be his heyday his drum sound is still one of the best in the business.

I’ll admit that after the first two or three times I listened to this I was wondering if this was just another album I would buy and within a couple of weeks would return to the collection to be hidden forever. That may still happen, given I am less likely to drag out a live album to listen to that a studio album. But I have softened my hard resolve against the tiny things I held against this release, and now I can happily continue to listen to it despite the fact I wish it had been released in 1988 and not 2018.

Rating:  “Evil witch casts her spell”.  4/5.

1038. Michael Schenker Fest / Resurrection. 2018. 4/5

Michael Schenker has been shredding his guitar for half a century now, and for much of it he has been doing it superbly. He has been in different bands with different musicians and band mates, and at times his work has been astounding. But how do you keep producing material that your fans are interested in without having it sound like the same stuff over and over again? Or is that exactly what you try and do?

With the formation of Michael Schenker Fest, what is being presented to us is a collection of songs that under any other circumstances may be seen as a fair result, though without the kind of excitement or intensity that would make it stand out from the crowd. Perhaps that is what it is anyway. But what does inspire here is the band that centres on Schenker himself also has Ted McKenna (drums) and Chris Glen (bass) from the original incarnation of the Michael Schenker Group from the early 1980’s, and they all bring that old feeling back to this album. It’s feels like a comfortable pair of shoes, you can slip into this album and feel like you are in your comfort zone.
As if that isn’t enough, just to sweeten the pot even more, we have not one, not two, not three but FOUR former vocalists who have collaborated and recorded with Schenker through the years, all here to not only perform on individual songs but to even come together and do some of the songs together. And THAT is more than enough to give this album a listen.
OK, so you have to know coming in that you are just not going to get those most memorable and brilliant guitar riffs and fireworks that you got from Schenker in his days with UFO and Scorpions and those early days of MSG. Don’t even try and kid yourself that that is going to happen. But if you come in with an open mind and you just allow the music to wash over you, I think you’ll find this is actually better than you first imagine. Because I came in wanting this to be a shred-fest and it isn’t, and it coloured my initial judgement. Once I got away from that and just listened to the album for the fun of it, I found it was terrifically enjoyable, and that Schenker’s guitar work may be toned down from his glory days but it is still excellent nonetheless. As a counterpoint, take the instrumental “Salvation” which comes at the rear of the album. THIS will straight away take you back to those MSG days, of the magic of “Into the Arena” and “Captain Nemo”. This is a great song and showcases Schenker’s best. Once you have heard this and enjoyed it, you can then focus on the rest of the album. Because there are some good moments here, and at times it sounds similar to some of those best songs we know from the band back in the 1980’s.
It’s interesting that the songs which Graham Bonnet sings on have a somewhat slower and stilted feel to them, more in the style that some of his other solo material has headed than his best MSG material. I was most looking forward to the songs he participated in. “Night Moods” fits this perfectly. “Everest” segues in from the previous song and is immediately a better fit for Bonnet’s vocals. Gary Barden has at times had problems in a live environment, but in the studio he still has the pipes to do the job. In many ways he is still the quintessential MSG vocalist and he still sounds that way in his songs here, and they sound most like the old MSG songs. “Messin’ Around” and “Livin’ a Life Worth Livin’” are his contributions here and they do exactly that. Robin McAuley may not have the same singing style as he did thirty years ago, but he still has the energy and drive in his vocals that lend themselves to the songs in a great way. His two songs are probably my favourite on the album, probably because they are the fastest and only songs with a double kick throughout. He has the opening track “Heart and Soul” which also features Metallica’s Kirk Hammett on guitar which adds to the great guitar sound it exudes, and Robin’s other track is “Time Knows When It’s Time” which also sounds great and utilises his vocal range to its utmost. In amongst all of this, current Temple of Rock vocalist Doogie White does his work well. Having worked with Schenker on that project in recent years he is obviously comfortable in his setting, and his songs, “Take Me to the Church”, “The Girl with the Stars in Her Eyes” and “Anchors Away” still have that touch of his previous band’s work in them. Then you have the complete collaboration songs, where all four vocalists combine to add their vocal chords to the same progression. The second song “Warrior” and the closing track “The Last Supper” both feature the entire ensemble, and it’s great to hear everyone together and enjoying themselves so much.

As is usually the case with some who is as revered as Schenker is in the metal music community, and who continues to record music beyond what could be considered his ‘golden years’, opinion on this album will come down to how much you allow sentiment to alter your perception. If you love Schenker’s music and also enjoy the vocalists who are on show here, then you will really enjoy what this album has to offer. As long as you aren’t expecting to hear anything ground-breaking and are happy to accept that, you will find this collaboration is worthy of your time, and an enjoyable experience.

Rating:  “We are all the same, no one is to blame, and we live on to tomorrow”  4/5

1037. Slayer / Seasons in the Abyss. 1990. 5/5

I can totally understand why Slayer fans who came into the band all the way back at the beginning in 1983 have problems reconciling what is offered on Seasons in the Abyss. Where you have been raised on a diet of pure thrash and speed metal that the band delivered on their early albums, coming into this album must have been a slightly off-putting experience. On the other hand, for those that found Slayer at about the time this was released, it could be seen as being a liberating event. This is where I met Slayer.

That it took me so long to get around to listening to Slayer is not only a bit surprising it is also disappointing. I should have been listening to Slayer a lot earlier than this, but as none of my friend group with whom I shared all of our album purchases with had found their way into the band either, none of us had a reference point. Don’t get me wrong, I had heard snatches of songs at record stores and on metal programmes along the way, but had never actually made the connection to go out and buy their albums. As a result, it wasn’t until a few months before this album came along that I finally started divulging in the band, and it was this album that was the first of theirs I bought and obsessed over.
This is where the two sides of the fan debate will part, and maybe I feel a little fortunate that I was able to take in and love this album without the past albums intruding to colour my judgement, because if I had I too may have felt that this album changed everything that Slayer had produced before. Yes, I’m talking about the speed and ferociousness of the songs in general. It’s not the case for the whole album but there are certainly moments where the groove and riff sets in rather than the pure speed or high level thrash that dominated the band’s earlier albums. “Dead Skin Mask” and “Seasons in the Abyss” are the two high profile songs on this album that do this. They are both terrific songs in their own right, but they are not like anything that came from their early days. Perhaps the best example on the album is perhaps my favourite song, “Skeletons of Society”. It’s a simple groove and riff, it tends to plod along, but I love the song and the lyrics. It mirrors “Expendable Youth” though the soloing goes off on its own track as well.
Still if you want thrash you’ve still got it here. Album opener “War Ensemble” is a killer track, set off on the back of the remarkable drumming of Dave Lombardo who ignites the song at a fever pitch but is challenged by the riffing of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King as Tom Araya somehow plays the bass at this speed while spitting out the lyrics in the same speed. “Blood Red” and “Spirit in Black” continue in a similar vein, as do “Hallowed Point” and “Born of Fire”. Another favourite is “Temptation” with dual vocals tracks that Araya had recorded separately (one the way he wanted to sing it, the other the way writer King thought it should be sung) that were then put together on the song when it was thought it worked. And it does!

In a year where so many fantastic but ever-changing heavy metal albums were released, you can’t deny that this one is still at the top of its game. All four band members are on fire here, Hanneman and King’s amazing guitars brought to the fore with Araya’s bass and vocals pushing the limits and Lombardo’s drumming smashing the silence and at times the sound barrier. While we will always have the raw majesty of Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits, and while Reign in Blood will always stand as a pinnacle, and while South of Heaven still ranks alongside these other albums, this album shows that thrash metal can show a maturity without overly compromising its principles. As I said initially, I can understand where those early fans are coming from with their criticism of this album, and find I am thankful in this instance for the fact that I was able to fall in love with this album for the right reasons and not just be angry about any perceived changes in the make-up of the songs from their earlier vintage. This still ranks as one of the greats.

Rating:  “The final swing is not a drill, it's how many people I can kill!”.  5/5

1036. Dokken / Return to the East Live [Live]. 2018. 2.5/5

The heyday of bands can stretch for any length of time, but once that heyday has been reached and passed there is no returning to it. Nostalgia can often carry a band to further heights at a later stage, and classic line up reunions can do the same. Dokken appears to have gone for most of those things combined with this live album release, and while there will be fans of the band out there who will lick this up, many others will rightly ask whether or not this release was necessary in any shape or form apart from being a money spinner.

The classic run for Dokken of Tooth and Nail, Under Lock and Key and Back for the Attack was completed by the release of the live album Beast From the East, which tied up the ends nicely before they disbanded for other projects apart from each other. Despite other albums coming and the band members changing once a reformation of sorts was accomplished seven years later, nothing has approached those four albums in the Dokken discography.
Once again though, the ‘classic’ line up reformed a couple of years ago, did a run of shows with their greatest hits through Japan again (where surely their main audience still resides), recorded a new tune and put this album together along with a live video of the shows and titled it Return to the East Live (2016). No doubt looking for the nostalgia buffs.
If you truly loved Dokken in the day, or discovered them later on, then there is no real need to invest in this package. To be honest, it is somewhat of an injustice to the memory of just how good this band was in the 1980’s where their greatest material was written and recorded. One of the first problems you run into on this recording is that there just doesn’t feel like there is any energy coming through. Dokken always thrived on stage, and on their studio albums you felt that energy pumping out of the speakers. Here however it is almost like they have produced an easy-listening version of their songs, and that they are playing in front of a crowd of grannies at an old folk’s home. It’s a soft comeback, and while I’m happy to attribute some of that to the advancing age of the participants on the stage, and perhaps even that this still wasn’t the happiest of reunions apart from being a grab for cash, it still doesn’t excuse the lounge act kind of atmosphere that most of this album seems to sound like.
One of the inescapable facts of the album is that Don’s voice just cannot do the things that it used to do in those more enlightened times. Every song has been tuned down and altered vocally so that Don can at least give a semblance of a performance of the lyrics, which is interesting because for the most part Jeff Pilson’s supporting vocals still sound the same as they ever did. So I guess for much of the time I spend listening to this album I keep hearing how the vocals SHOULD sound and in trying to marry that up with the way that Don HAS to sing them now, and it just doesn’t come together very well.

Is it a bad album? No it’s not, but it is different. This was all done better on the 1988 live album when the band was at its peak, and this is just a reunion show playing much the same material but 30 years later. The new single recorded for the release, “It’s Another Day”, does sound fine, mostly because it is recorded with the band’s current requirements being taken into account. There are also two acoustic track, “Heaven Sent” and “Will the Sun Rise”, which I can take or leave without too much trouble.
If you don’t know Dokken and want to see what they are all about, then the four albums listed above will give you the best chance to grow to love them. Unless you are a completely obsessive fan who is a die-hard lover of the band, you don’t need to hear this.

Rating:  Only for the mega-fan.  2.5/5

1035. Stryper / God Damn Evil. 2018. 3.5/5

Before I sat down to write this review of Stryper’s new album God Damn Evil, I took a look back at what I have said about their last four or five albums. Not to steal from them, but more to confirm that in essence how I feel about this album is exactly how I have felt about those albums. I didn’t want to head into writing what I guessed was essentially the same old feelings without knowing that was what I was going to do.

So yes, that’s pretty much what I’m going to do. Because here is yet another excellent sounding album by a band that rediscovered its mojo with their 2009 release Murder by Pride and has maintained that level of excellence since. And I can’t really say anything different this time around because all of the same things stand true here as they have on the previous three albums. Those being:

1. This is a Christian band, and these are Christian-themed lyrics in each song. If you are in to that kind of thing then you are in the right ballpark. If you aren’t, then you should ignore what might be being proclaimed in the lyrics and just enjoy the songs, because they still sound great.
2. The musicianship and production is fantastic. Robert Sweet’s drumming is still terrific, and drives each song perfectly. He has always seemed to get a great sound from his equipment on Stryper albums, which is not always the case on studio recordings. New bass guitarist Perry Richardson does his job admirably in support of the rhythm section.
3. The guitars of Oz Fox and Michael Sweet are just incredible. Not only the sound they get, but the brilliant riffs and soloing from the two of them has always been one of the major themes that draws me to this band. Whatever you might think of their themes, the actual guitaring is always magnificent and more than worth coming back to hear time and time again.
4. The vocal chords of Michael Sweet. I’m not sure if he has ever gotten due praise for his voice. It is one of the best in the business, in any genre of music. In harmony with Oz Fox, these two just nail every song and still hit notes that are surely impossible to sing.

I don’t always find particular songs to rave about on Stryper albums now, but I can put on this album and listen all the way through and then have a repeat dose. There are some things mixed in on this edition, the chorus high pitched screaming of “TAKE IT TO THE CROSS!” on the opening track of the same name is a change in habit, and then the drop back in intensity in “Sorry”. The hard core riff and beat of “God Damn Evil” is followed by the smooth and rumbling “You Don’t Even Know Me”. The closing track “The Devil Doesn’t Live Here” is another favourite.

In the long run, if you have enjoyed Stryper in the past you will enjoy this album as well, even though it probably isn’t quite as heavy or creative as the previous couple of albums. The groove is well maintained here, and the best parts of the band are highlighted and maintained. If you are not a fan of the band then you won’t find anything here to change your mind.

Rating:  “You better change your reflection and start a new crusade”.  3.5/5