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
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