After you read this review, remember this, Megadeth is Gexup’s favorite Heavy Metal band. Really, I choose them over Iron Maiden, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Motorhead, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Judas Priest, and whatever Heavy Metal band you can think of, I might be a big fan of their work, but I still choose Megadeth over all the bands in the Heavy Metal genre. They are in my Top 10 Favorite Music Bands of all time because they have the aggressiveness of bloodthirsty anarchist, the in your face riffs and instrument tricks that cannot be compared, cryptic writings for lyrics that are so creative & rebellious, and the band’s attitude of punk-rock band (alternative rock subgenre). Those four things alone have made Megadeth so great and made any fan proud that they kept such pace and holding the candle with almost 3 decade since their debut.
Before I start reviewing Megadeth’s LP let me give you a brief history of Megadeth. Before Megadeth was born, Dave Mustaine (the lead singer of the band) was lead guitarist and co-songwriter of Metallica. In 1983 he was kicked out of the band and Dave Mustaine wanted nothing but revenge out of Metallica. Though neither one of the bands had ever won nor lost between their rivalries, Mustaine has always been direct with what he always wanted to create in his music career and starting Megadeth couldn’t stop his creative control. They’ve made world-wide fame, sold over 30 million records around the world, and made a landmark on Heavy Metal, with the help of their mascot, Vic Rattlehead. As of this blog was written, the band has released a total of 13 LP’s and I will go through each of them, chronologically.
Killing Is My Business…And Business is Good
Before this album was released, Dave Mustaine was a Metallica band member and when you look at Metallica’s Kill ‘em All, it’s completely different than what Metallica is today, and without Mustaine in the band, they’ll never be in that direction ever again. If you wanted an album that’s nonstop like Kill ‘em All with memorable lyrics, look no further than Megadeth’s “Killing Is My Business…” Forming Megadeth was a continuation of what Metallica abandoned and made it even better (in my opinion). Mustaine said in an interview, "After getting fired from Metallica, all I remember is that I wanted blood. Theirs. I wanted to be faster and heavier than them." Just listening to this album from beginning to end, you can just feel that hatred and frustration Dave must have been feeling when creating “Killing is My Business” and this album was his last shot to remain his music career; a life or death situation.
A total of 8 songs were fueled by desire for vengeance, but at simultaneously this is a love letter to the heavy metal audience like asking for date; how lovely. All these songs were demonstrations of what the band is capable of and keep running wild with it. Whether you’re talking about how sexy & deadly songs like “Last Rites/Love to Death” & “Killing is My Business & Business is Good” simply pulls in anyone who likes Metal. But if you really want to know what this band is about, songs like “The Skull Beneath the Skin” & “Rattlehead” provided lyrics that describes their mascot Vic Rattlehead that they totally whored out (saying it as a good thing) because the very image of Vic Rattlehead is the coolest looking mascot since the creation of Iron Maiden’s Eddie the Head. His eyes are covered by a riveted-on visor, his mouth is clamped shut, and his ears are closed with metal caps that embodies the phrase, "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" that will be seen in later Megadeth album covers, logos, and live performances. Dave Mustaine’s voice indefinitely fits the image of Vic himself. Now if you’re a Metal fan that like sacrilegious lyrics and songs, don’t worry, you got songs like “Chosen Ones” & “Looking Down the Cross” are there to wet your beak. And the fan favorite “Mechanix” simply created that edge that embodies what Megadeth is all about.
What I find interesting with every song in this album is that the riffs and beat are fast paced and just a couple of minutes of the song playing they change pacte looking like it’s two songs colliding with one. Well you can’t blame them if you don’t like it because it’s like a person running in a track field, if you’re running in your top speed you can’ keep it up; you have to slow down the pace or you’ll pass out. But what’s always the highlight of this album are the complex riffs that I always wonder how does Dave Mustaine and his band pull of such execution? If you compare this album to all the other albums the band has made after this, this was the most intense, fastest, angriest, deadliest, and (oddly) loveliest album they’ve ever made. That can be a strength but as well as a curse because some critics argue that the songs in this album aren't completely developed, but I only can see “These Boots” that only fits that flaw while the other 7 songs in “Killing is My Business” to be simply enjoyable. If you’re one of those people who judges albums by its cover, you’re missing out, but I do agree that “Killing is My Business’s” album cover is ugly, but the 2002 reissue simply improves that albums image.
That’s better
For a debut album, “Killing is My Business…and Business is Good” was so obstreperous that it get anyone who like any formation of Metal Rock music all excited and joyful. Who knew that an album that has so much violence in its songwriting could make a normal person like me to be craving to listen to this album again and again? Never again has Megadeth been this furious with such an album and yet in return instead of hating them for directly go against Metallica (at the time when this album was released), we give them love and success for having the balls to create such anger that we have within us. There’s just so much fun with this album that I can’t overlook it. In order for Megadeth to be this furious ever again is if someone on God’s green Earth could make Dave Mustaine so pissed off that he creates another album fueled for vengeance.
Track Highlights
- “Rattlehead”
- “Mechanix”
- “Killing Is My Business…and Business is Good”
My score for Megadeth’s “Killing is My Business…and Business is Good”
Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying?
Man, just right after their debut, Megadeth made the cult following “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?” Remember when I said earlier that one of my reasons why I love Megadeth is because the band’s attitude of punk-rock band? Well, punk-rock is the anarchist’s number one choice of music where the music deals with political awareness, but with Megadeth’s pinch of a dark, threatening, typically heavy metal worldview, I’m glad that Megadeth took that direction in “Peace Sells.” Megadeth’s target was on Metallica on “Killing is My Business,” but in “Peace Sells” they’re mocking the United Nations, implying that the United Nations Organization is for sale. The cover and the title suggest that while peace is a popular theme, it has become a disillusion and trying to sell it to war no one would buy it. The very theme of this album is important to fit the tracks offered in this very album.
What’s a big improvement for Megadeth over their last album is their songwriting; which all varies storytelling and description of things that the band is singing about rather than titles of each song to be obviously explanatory. They have to be listened to be understood and it instantly makes you a fan if you give any Metal song a chance. Like for example “Wake Up Dead” I had no idea that it’s a song that’s going to be about a man who has been cheating on his wife or girlfriend and is sneaking into his house, knowing that if his wife finds out about his other lover, she will kill him. But like many of their songs, they change pace in the course of listening like two different songs into one just to make sure that each song does not get repetitive. Speaking of not get repetitive, almost every song varies different topics like “The Conjuring” to be about witchcraft & have Satan claiming the soul of someone who has made a deal with the devil, “Devil’s Island” – being imprisoned in the place of execution, “My Last Words” - a game of Russian roulette and the fear one goes through when playing the game, and more. Pretty much the only song that actually fits the theme of the cover album is “Peace Sells” which is of course not only the best track of the album, but also is arguably one of the best songs Megadeth has ever made. It made their audience shout “Peace Sells…” “…But Who’s Buying?” like an anarchist or a person who doesn’t believe in peace.
I will have to say that the guitar riffs and how every instrument is handled in each of the songs were clearer and a more organized than “Killing is My Business.” Dave Mustaine has offered new tricks to claim rock star status. “Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying?” is one of the early examples of an album to contain the Parental Advisory label, developed by the Parents Music Resource Center, an organization made to censor music that was deemed “inappropriate;” similar to Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom to the PG-13 rating and Mortal Kombat to the ESRB Rating System. “Peace Sells” is the very album that put Megadeth on the map as one of the best Metal bands in the world. But at the same time I think “Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying?” is a little overrated because it’s the one album non-fans regard as their best because that’s the only thing they are familiar with Megadeth, while in actually they’ve made better albums than “Peace Sells.” One of my biggest problems with this album is the echoing is a little over done in this album making a bit hard to listen to the lyrics and there are slow downs with the songs like “Bad Omen,” and just mashing in songs like “Good Mourning/Black Friday” that couldn’t stand up with “Peace Sells” the song or even all of the songs from “Killing is My Business.” But without this album, Megadeth wouldn’t be who they are today and many of their later albums are a bit similar to “Peace Sells” in terms of structure and theme. “Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying?” was a fun experience but yet I can’t really say that their most popular album is their best; popularity and quality rarely go hand-in-hand.
Track Highlights
- “Peace Sells”
- “My Last Words”
- “Wake Up Dead”
My score for “Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying?”
So Far, So Good…So What?
It’s about time to see Megadeth pick up the pace from what they left off from “Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying?” The main theme about this album is war, destruction, politics, nuclear weapons, survivors, and torment of war. It seems to be an overdone subject in Heavy Metal and I think it’s the biggest weakness of “So Far, So Good…So What?” but at the same time there are many things that I expect from Megadeth. Immediately when you put on the first track “Into the Lungs of Hell” it roars epicness for an instrumental song. Afterwards, it follows up a great vicarious pleasure of destroying things in war with the second track “Set the World Afire” that has lyrics that describes in detail of massacring those who’s in your path. Then the third track which I find very interesting is that it’s a cover song “Anarchy in the U.K.” Now I want to make things clear, I am a huge fan of the Sex Pistols and I think that “Anarchy in the U.K.” is one of their best songs (I say one of because E.M.I. is the Sex Pistol’s best song) but I have to be honest, this is a cover song that’s actually better than the original. It totally fits Megadeth, a band that’s anarchist 101, that have made their version so much fast paced, and made it so explosive & aggressive whenever you start the track.
After “Anarchy in the U.K.” the shadows starts to blacken the experience you’ll get in “So Far, So Good…So What?” with songs like “Mary Jane” that deals with a girl who takes up witchcraft. But perhaps the highlight track in the whole album is “In My Darkest Hour” which is a tribute to the death of former bandmate, Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. It’s one of those songs I’m glad that Dave Mustaine has made to settle his rivalry between his former band Metallica and finally moved on, even despite people everywhere makes endless comparisons between Metallica and Megadeth. But it wasn’t directly towards Cliff, but writings and feelings of how war (or any kind of battle) affects to oneself. The in the last tracks “Liar” & “Hook in the Mouth” were good track finales of the album. Out of all the Megadeth albums, this one has probably the least history. It maybe because the album cover, maybe “Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying?” overshadows it, maybe their best track was a cover song, or the unoriginal theme. But regardless this has to be one of Megadeth’s most overlooked album, but certainly not their best. It has a lot of memorable tracks and fixed some of the issues I have with “Peace Sells” from avoiding having tracks that are too slow. Give this album a second try if you think it wasn’t as good because as I stated there are great tracks to revisit.
Track Highlights
- “In My Darkest Hour”
- “Anarchy in the U.K.”
- “Into the Lungs of Hell”
My score for “So Far, So Good…So What?”
Rust in Peace
With already three albums released you really need to make another album that has to be superior over the last three, and by golly, is it their best! Megadeth already tackled the subject of anarchy, governmental propaganda, war, but exceeded it to another level with nuclear fallout, religion, Area 51 and fantasy. I love the album cover to make it similar to “Peace Sells” mocking the Uniated Nations, but in “Rust in Peace” you got U.S. politicians running our country in 1990 like former President George H.W. Bush to be in this Extraterrestrial propaganda. But most of all, Megadeth have improved their music by making was so intensive and so aggressive that any denial of this album not considered to be at all good should be considered a sin (especially for Heavy Metal fans). This it’s the pace, creativity, and aggressiveness that I want to see from “Killing is my Business” and in “Rust in Peace” they just went full throttle and nothing could stop them in this album.
“Holy Wars…The Punishment Due” just simply erupts like a volcano and its lava spreads out with lyrics about being a victim of war and demand vengeance. Again, it’s one of Megadeth’s songs that feels like two separate songs into one, but “Holy Wars” just pumped it up by going so fast, then so slow to create emotion, then picked up the pace so fast with the coolest guitar riffs ever played; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard of and I’m surprised that no one broke their strings when executing such a great song. It was a superb album opener, featuring many immense riffs and Mustaine's oh so original vocal delivery. Out of all the Megadeth songs I’ve listened to the most, “Holy Wars” is my most listened track. And it doesn’t even stop there with the following track “Hangar 18” that tells the story of the album cover and the sound of the guitars playing feels so sci-fi alien-like and the lyrics that feel so like a horror film couldn’t make it any more of a classic. After that you got so much head banging tracks such as “Take No Prisoners,”- terrific massacring song, “Five Magics”- another fantastic witchcraft song, and “Poison Was the Cure” were all terrific to serve those who demand nothing more than Heavy Metal. Then out of nowhere you have a great guitar solo that continues to make those who bought the album to be happy. And Dave Mustaine’s guitar skills continue to be on the line with “Tornado of Souls.” With such masturbatory guitar riffs it continues to be a tornado that you want to jump in. And finally with a great track such as “Rust in Peace…Polaris” every Megadeth member played their soul off in creating this song and everything was on the line going absolutely crazy. “Holy Wars” was the best one of the opening track for an album, so is “Rust in Peace…Polaris” as the best ending track for an album.
Crap this was a fantastic album from beginning to end. This is not just a Heavy Metal album that should considered to be one of the greatest of all time because there’s not a single bad song; it’s so good because the band offered guitar riffs, sound, beats, and the finest writings ever that we’ve never heard before. The innovative & skillful guitar riffs by Dave Mustaine, is indefinitely the highlight of the album and I’m always amazed that there’s a guitarist in this planet that could execute it so well that it’s mind-blowing. Each song consecutively gotten better and better that I love to revisit this album whenever I’m in the mood for a reckless listen. I really believe that anyone who is interested in Megadeth must put this in your collection because it’s more than worthwhile, it’s has an everlasting appeal. Yet my only problem with this album is that “Dawn Patrol” (not a bad song) was a little big of a drag. But other than that, can now you see why “Rust in Peace” is this fantastic? If not, check your ears because anyone who forgets to put this album in their Top 10 Heavy Metal Albums (or any other Megadeth album for that matter) has made incomplete list. Believe me when I say this, it is that damn good!
Track Highlights
- Um… All of their songs!
My score for “Rust in Peace”
Countdown to Extinction
What’s interesting about this album is that this is the first time that Megadeth didn’t put Vic Rattlehead in their album cover. Well you can’t expect a band that has a mascot to be in all of their album covers, do you? With or without Vic, it doesn’t affect the quality this album has because Megadeth still is focusing on war, politics, or anarchy like they’ve did in their other albums, but “Countdown to Extinction’s” main theme is on the insane asylum, psychological issues, and supernatural beings. The songwriting in this album is creative as ever with more variety of song themes such as “Skin o’ My Teeth” which is a phrase from the Bible into very well crafted song about using it as an insult to your rival. But then I started to see that Megadeth is becoming a bit more artsy with tracks such as “Symphony of Destruction,” and “Foreclosure of a Dream” using instruments that isn’t in your typical Metal Band such as instrumental orchestra. I admire the combination to create more varied songwriting and more diversity of furthering Megadeth’s songwriting. I like to think of those tracks as a more matured level of Megadeth which is something that I don’t expect to go well for a Trash Metal band. But if artsy songs bore you, don’t worry, we still have that Megadeth wildness that we all know and love such as “High Speed Dirt,” & “Countdown to Extinction.” “Countdown to Extinction” (song) had some of the catchiest guitar solos I’ve heard from this band and love listening to it again and again. But in furthering the songwriting of Megadeth, they had songs that are themed in the insane asylum, like “Psychotron,” “Ashes in Your Mouth,” & especially “Sweating Bullets.” Let me tell you all reading this, “Sweating Bullets,” is not only my favorite Megadeth song, but also one of my favorite metal songs. It is the most creative Heavy Metal song that’s on the topic of Split Personality. I love that Dave Mustaine is singing about him and act like he’s there are multiple personalities of him haunting him and every time he’s not in control something bad has happened that his other personalities have done and they’re forcing Dave himself to do what they are doing. That is so awesome and it’s the perfect song to pretend that you have split personality disorder. It takes the formula of a big-band jazz song where all the instruments stop playing for the lyrics to be heard except for the solo that needs to be played while Dave sings. I gotta say, as twisted, as dark, and as creative this album is, it’s definitely one of my favorite Megadeth albums. Sure it wasn’t as wildly spectacular or all throttle as to their last album “Rust in Peace,” but the highlight of this album is that the tracks in “Countdown to Extinction” are arguably the most creative songwriting the band has ever made. It explores so many dark themes and yet it keeps the listeners so amused and entertained with how catchy the melodies go.
Track Highlights
- “Sweating Bullets”
- “Countdown to Extinction”
- “Symphony of Destruction”
My score for “Countdown to Extinction”
Youthanasia
This is what I love about Megadeth, they just come up with so many new ideas of songwriting and not at all have they change their sound that we all know and love from this band. Now I know that there are some people who may not like Megadeth because their lyrics are a bit cryptic and focus a lot on the instruments and riffs that they are most known for, but if you judge albums for their lyrics, “Youthanasia” is the best you can get from Megadeth. “Youthanasia” is all about the lyrics & emotion that they were going for; it’s so clear, so strong, and so catchy that you probably would like to sing-along any tracks in this album in a karaoke. That’s how good the tracks are in this album. The theme in many of these songs is fantasy based, family relations, and a little bit of war. In case if you haven’t know about the war themed songs, which you should since that’s what the Megadeth has been creating for the longest time, there are plenty like it such as “A Tout Le Monde,” “Blood of Heroes,” “Black Curtains,” and “Victory” that aren’t as aggressive and chaotic as their previous albums. But what I think is unique about his album is the focus on the fantasy setting. For the fantasy based songs like “Train of Consequences,” “Elysain Fields,” & “Youthanasia” were all fun and creative to listen to this world Dave Mustaine created. I like to say that it’s twisted but not as sick and psychotic, twisted as to the songs in “Countdown to Extinction.” But if you’re one of those Megadeth fans who love the fast-pace thrash metal songs that the band is known for then there are plenty of songs for you like “The Killing Road,” & “Addicted to Chaos.” I will have to say that “Addicted to Chaos” is the catchiest of all and still I can’t get the tunes out of my head. After listening to this album you feel like humming to the riffs Megadeth has created (well for me it did). But I think the weakest aspect of Youthanasia is Dave Mustaine’s decision to make his guitar E tuning to just drag the experience that feels like it takes longer than expected for each song to finish. I don’t mind slow paced songs, but dragging it when there’s nothing else special to offer in terms of music making (not lyrics) can perhaps bore a fan whom expects and knows Megadeth for their creative riffs and beats. But this is far from a bad album because again the lyrics are just so good that hearing Dave Mustaine sing to songs that are different felt good. You can tell that he has full creative control with this album’s songwriting and the joy of finally sing out loud to an actual Megadeth album. It’s tough for me to say how I feel about this album because I have mixed feelings about it, but oddly enough I still feel like humming (& probably want to sing) the songs in this album while all the other Megadeth albums I don’t feel like humming or singing to it without the coolest of riffs.
Track Highlights
- “Addicted to Chaos”
- “A Tout Le Monde”
- “Train of Consequences”
My score fore Youthanasia is
Track Highlights
- “Addicted to Chaos”
- “A Tout Le Monde”
- “Train of Consequences”
My score fore Youthanasia is
Cryptic Writings
Now this is where I started to worry about Megadeth’s quality in making music because as they continue to tend to focus a lot on lyrics a lot, the rest of thier music has dummed down. The excitement of the sound and wildness of what made their style so epic started to start to decrease into a lower and calmer version of them. Youthanasia was a get out of jail card for Megadeth because we expect variety and that’s what they’ve accomplished, but if they again doing it brings a little concern. I wouldn’t mind if it’s a different band, but Megadeth started out so aggressive and earn the reputation of bringing that anarchist feel that used to be exclusively in punk-rock to combine to trash metal. But thankfully Megadeth brought more metal in Cryptic Writings than what they left off from their last album. “Trust” was one of their most memorable songs that analyzes how can one be so dependant on others with love and trust to later be lied to and betrayed. So many regard this track to be meaningful but the tone of the song didn’t feel as emotional as the topic should have been. I admit that it was a fun song, but the lyric felt like it needed an emotional tone instead of that hoppy feel to jump up and down. “Almost Honest” was a continuation to what “Trust” left off and went brutal afterwards. I was surprised to see that the song admits that there’s no purpose of being honest and filled with love; sound good for a metal song. “Use the man” was an ugly song to listen to. It starts way to slow but towards the end the song picks up pace and reminds use that this is trash metal and that’s what was lacking in the first two songs and the last album including. Right after “Use the Man,” everything started to get heavier with song like “Mastermind” which tells the story of mass criminal, but not a very well told story, but the music was the metal that I expect to be uplifted. “The Disintegrators” is also trying to tell what it feels to be a Disintegrator and just went speed metal with it trying to sound like a war is going on with this rate of pace. But what I like about songs like “I’ll Get Even” has that spaghetti western feel to it like its time to pay ‘em back but ruins the experience with nothing really new or exciting to listen to. So are the other songs like “Sin,” “Have Cool, Will Travel,” “A Secret Place,” & “Vortex” that doesn’t have anything really special in their song. I was expecting like a two-song into one feeling where they surprise the listener with a new pace within the song, but just start with a sound and try to reach to the end of the song. Yeah, sure there are plenty of cool riffs, but not in the same standards as to their previous songs in their other albums. And do I have to mention that even the lyrics are weak? In “Sin” Dave Mustaine kept singing “Set Me Free,” again and again that just drags the song. Can someone tell me why does the guitar riffs “A Secret Place” sound like Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam?” And then the most unusual and most shoved in ending song ever in an album “FFF” it was a lot of chaotic feel to it, but again what was the purpose of this song?
I appreciate Megadeth bringing back that metal feel that was really lacking from their last album, but this proves that lyrics are also needed because there were just so many random lines in the lyrics that make an unmemorable experience. It to be honest, this was an underwhelming album because barely anything memorable came out of this album. There’s nothing I can really consider as their best work nor are there anything that was so terrible. It was just a forgettable album and felt like it was rushed with songs like “FFF.” I really tried to like this album, but it’s the lasting appeal that lacks the substance from their previous albums.
Track Highlights
- She-Wolf
- Trust
- The Disintegratos
My score for Cryptic Writings is
Risk
You know, we all ask for variety and different experiences with each album from our artists otherwise the band will become forgotten. But that also means that not everything they do different means it’s what we want. This is where they threw trash metal out the window in favor with metal experimentation that is just so agonizing to listen to. Their lyrics are so lazy, the themes are so unoriginal, and the choices of making their music were so generic and ugly that it’s hard to remember that they were the same band that made “Rust in Peace.” Every artist has their worst album and for Megadeth, this is their worst.
The theme of this album is a game of cat and mouse, gee why do I get the feeling that Tom and Jerry could work in a Metal album? Usually the opening song creates an impression to the listeners, but “Insomnia” was so ugly that they mashed in everything that result in an ugly fest. A violin is play during a generic metal smash, electronic wave and recordings repeats itself, and the lyrics don’t even make a lick of sense that it hurts your ears. Gee thanks for trying to make me wake up, guys. “Prince of Darkness” seemed to be a tribute to metal legend Ozzy Osborne, but again the generic metal playing sound like it belongs in a cheap club and Dave is singing so hard that it makes you want to press the next button to skip this track. The song sound so much like Nine Inch Nails, but fails to follow the direction that NIN has accomplished in featuring and again, that stupid violin that is totally out of place. The next track “Crush ‘Em” begins to show that they are really trying to be like NIN. Megadeth failed in combining metal with electronic together and that it feels worse, but at least there isn’t a single violin playing, but get this, “Crush ‘Em” was #6 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1999. Just seeing that shows that rock music in 1999 sucked if “Crush ‘Em” reached that high while their other singles seize to get that far. With “Breadline” they’ve attempted to grasp that spaghetti western feel, but then the tone and lyrics sang just felt dryer than a desert setting in a western flick. This isn’t metal any more, this is decreased to a bland hard rock that has nothing really special listening to it. Similar to this song with kind of painful experience is “Wonderlust”. Now finally half way through this album “Doctor is Calling” is just so horrible. Having a bizarre recording form a film playing and this is where Dave Mustaine’s singing starts to make your ears bleed. He sounds like he’s orgasming or probably whining that he actually has to sing the song and you can almost tell because there’s barely any effort in recording this song. The riffs were so ear-achingly torturing that I could never have been able to finish this song. And yet there’s another NIN wannabe song with “I’ll Be There” and it sounds like a romantic song but did a terrible job with the tone of the song and again the lyrics that felt like it was taking sentences and put them in a song.
It makes you dehydrated after trying to reaching ½ way at the album asking for some quenching. At that movement you start to envision Dave Mustaine as a crow because he’s starting sound like one after his poor singing and hennas lyrics we have to sit through and is completely meaningless. You know I could never finish this album and I’ve tried to give this album a chance 10 times and still can never grow to liking it. “Risk” just kept throwing you horrible song after horrible song. If the album makes me continuously press the next button without even finished a single song you know that it’s surely a bad album. What gets me is that “Risk” has more tracks in a single album than any other Megadeth album up to this point. 12 painful tracks (and that’s more tracks than your usual Megadeth album) that has nothing you want to remember, lack of effort, completely meaningless, and terrible experimentations that would actually make a science lab explode, this is clearly a lackluster album. It’s mind-blowing that out of all the bands, Megadeth made this garbage. There was nothing redeeming about “Risk” it was ugly throughout and feels like torture to sit through. There’s nothing more to say about Rick but it’s a horrible album. Every bad has their worst album but how could Megadeth be this lackluster?
My score for “Risk” is
The World Needs A Hero
Megadeth really needs its edge back and their first step is to bring back Vic Rattlehead, but out of a person’s like a chest-burster? Well, we shouldn’t judge this album by the cover art, so what about the music? I will have to say that it’s a HUGE step up from their previous album. This was pure trash metal (which is what Megadeth album should be) and that creative cryptic songwriting is resurrected. Opening with “Disconnect” felt like I was back in the 80’s but the vocal audio sounds modern to kind of ruin the nostalgia. It reminds me a lot of “Trust” from “Cryptic Writings” that examines the human behavior of distancing from each other. But where’s the violin, electronic sounds, and poor lyrics? (sarcasm =P) “Disconnect” was the opener that the album need to make us forget about the previous album and enjoy what the band should always be remembered. Next, “The World Needs A Hero” picked up the pace and went incredibly heavy with this track, but the lyrics were so ugly and meaningless that it’s forgettable. Geez how can a song that has the same title of the album be this disappointing? However, the following track “Moto Psycho” was that Megadeth sound that I want; sick riffs with lyrics that I want to sing along. It was awesome to hear “Moto Psycho” like a road thrashing metal song similar to their other track “High Speed Dirt” and hearing Dave Mustaine say “Moto Psycho” sounds almost like motorcycle. But what’s the best track of the whole album is “Dread and the Fugitive Mind” that was everything that I want to see from Megadeth; sickest of riffs and an ego -rebel lyrics. “Dread and the Fugitive Mind” was similar to “Sweating Bullets” where they play the music and stop so Dave Mustaine can sing a line and then play the instruments briefly again, then hear him sing again, till they enter the chorus like a jazz band. It was just so memorable that I just wanted to dance along with the guitar playing. Another great highlight is “Burning Bridges” that reflect back at the times where a murderous town from the dark ages want to burn someone to save their town (like Frankenstein) and putting such storytelling in a metal song couldn’t be anymore epic. “1000 Times Goodbye” I was expecting it to be a sad tone song, but it was a great break-up song where you want revenge from your girlfriend/love interest and/or move on. This song helps to cheer anyone up who’s feeling down from a girl listening to this album. This track retained Dave’s rockstar status; sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. The track has a recording of a girl saying words like “I love you… I hate you…” to get you angered at how much that girl changes over time and when she said “I love you like my brother,” that when you have to dump the bitch.
Like I said about Megadeth offering variety, this one offered slow paced songs that reminiscent contains Hispanic/Latin-music riffs that creates such emotion and atmosphere with “Promises,” “Recipe for Hate…Warhorse,” “Silent Scorn,” & “When.” Overall this is has to be Megadeth’s most underrated album because the band offered that sound we most remember them for and a year after “The World Needs A Hero” was released the band broke apart. This album was like their final attempt to give what the fans want and in the end result it didn’t grab a whole much attention like in the late 80’s and the early 90’s, which was the height of their popularity. Perhaps the artwork, the loss of popularity from the lackluster “Risk,” or people didn’t like “The World Needs A Hero” much. I, on the other hand, say that it was their best album since “Countdown to Extinction,” and people really need to give this album another chance because the variety of riff combinations, inspirations it borrows, and the creative songwriting has came back to the Megadeth audience and people overlooked this album greatly.
Track Highlights
- “Dread and the Fugitive Mind”
- “1000 Times Goodbye”
- “Moto Psycho”
My score for “The World Needs A Hero” is
System Has Failed
Man, staring to become a Megadeth fan after “The World Needs A Hero” was a bad time because Megadeth broke up, due to Mustaine suffering a freak injury causing severe nerve damage to his left arm. He was diagnosed with radial neuropathy, which left him unable to grasp or even make a fist with his left hand. This unfortunately caused Megadeth to disband. During the course of absence Mustaine slowly began to play again and after he fully recovered he had bring Megadeth back, but not only reforming the band, but also release one of the BEST comeback albums I’ve ever witnessed in all my years in the music scene. “System Has Failed,” erupted out of the metal scene grabbing millions’ attention around the world telling them that they are back and better than ever. I am amazed that “System Has Failed” captures all that quality and magic that the band is most known for. “System Has Failed” returned to that formula that “Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying” & “Rust in Peace” where the album’s theme is targeted towards politics and what other most popular (yet infamous) way to bash on politics than to bash the US Politics with both The Bush administration and the democrats who went against the Presidency. The album cover shows them all idiotically standing on front of the Supreme Court selling not-guilty verdict from Vic Rattlehead. The cover art shows this album is good that this is going to be a good album, even before listening to it.
The album explodes with “Blackmail the Universe” that has the coolest of riffs and the lyrics examines how Uncle Sam hides back while the world gets killed away from home. This is the political side of Megadeth that I expect and it featured insane bleeding riffs. Then it gets better with “Die Dead Enough,” where the song focuses on survivors/soldiers that struggle from getting killed and ending up to the unknown. The best thing of “Die Dead Enough,” is the lyrics that was so creative on focusing one’s perspective on facing war and each time you hear the chorus you just beg for more and hearing the deep-throat vocals of “And now I am” & “Aye-aye-aye” like a soldier that has no will for freedom and aggressive; easily the best song of the on the whole album. Speaking of aggressive, “Kick the Chair,” the song is so directly attacking the white house and the Bush’s power at his desk. I’m hoping that Dave Mustaine didn’t get his tax increase after making this song because I bet Bush got pissed when he first listened to this song because it’s totally anti-American (expect for the freedom of speech practice). Now if you’re thinking that this whole album is just about attacking US politics as the only variety, you couldn’t be more wrong because songs like “Scorpion,” that tells the fairly tail of the Scorpion and the Frog and it documents the tail, “Back in the Day,” which examines the better times of metal and freedom, and “Something I’m Not,” tells the story of one’s life being ruined by rumors and lies from other people. It was cute to hear Arnold Schwarzenegger-impersonator as the governator conquering the USA as president with the track “Shadow of Deth” (…Austrian Death Machine?).
Over all “System Has Failed” was a really great and memorable album. It captures the magic of Megadeth being total rebels & anarchists with their previous work with “Peace Sells” & “Rust in Peace.” Of course bashing Bush was overly done in the 2000’s, but the whole US politics? That was just as capturing as when they went fleshed-out on the United Nations with “Peace Sells” over 2 decades ago. After being a band for this long, I’m surprised and proud that they were the same as they where 2 decades ago and displayed what they are most known for in this album. I admit that towards the end felt watered down & they focused on US politics so much that they forgot some originality in their songwriting, but you got to admit that Megadeth could hold on this long even with the controversy and changes they went through to make it this far.
Track Highlights
- “Die Hard Enough”
- “Blackmail the Universe”
- “Something I’m Not”
My score for System Has Failed…
United Abominations
“System Has Failed” was a tremendous album that followed the theme and style from “Peace Sells” & “Rust in Piece,” but the only flaw with “System Has Failed” is that there was a lack of imagination out of attacking US Politics. “United Abominations” however is everything that was good about their previous album and did a much better job with the creativity handled in this very album. While “System has Failed” focused on mocking US Politics, “United Abominations” instead just went with Dave Mustaine’s fantasy of attacking the US with a new country called the United Abominations. But big pro about Iron Maiden’s albums is that each time they use Eddie the Head, they change his look to fit their theme and Megadeth’s Vic Rattlehead hasn’t changed since “Peace Sell,” but 20 years later they finally changed Vic’s appearance and gave him flesh and is protected by a guardian/dark angel just for this new look for the album cover.
This is the album that critics called Megadeth’s “sound reborn” and it’s remembered as the best metal album of 2007 if not the best album of that year. Starting the track is “Sleepwalker” and already the creativity kicks in with all the problems that could happen once Dave closes his eyes and opening it with disaster surrounding him. But what’s surprising is that the guitar riffs are incredibly heavy that I kept imagining a machine gun firing rapidly that we almost can’t hear the drums and bass. When critics described United Abominations as “sound reborn” they weren’t kidding with this improved sound production that shows that this Megadeth album has entered a new era. It always give me a pleasurable feeling each time Dave sings “No one is safe…when I close my eyes…I come to take you alive.” Next we have “Washington is Next” and the machine-gun like riffs is reduced but it seem as if Dave wasn’t successful in getting US Politics attention with is last album and made this song to go straight out directly attack them. This is where they continue to make lyrics that deal with politics and the state the world is in, but unlike Megadeth’s other works, Dave wrote it like it was his last where he gave “Washington is Next” a apocalyptic feel to make fans appreciate it more. “Never Walk Alone…A Call to Arms” was a great transition to “Washington is Next” like it’s a message and their next song was like Washington responding “They want a war, we give them a war” and the whole album was a chaotic battle with soldiers who die if they’re alone. You can’t come in to this song expecting it to be similar to their other works that deals with war because of the new guitar sound quality have a clear difference. Now we get to the next song “United Abominations,” this song explains what the title and theme of the album is all about. It opens up with a weird recording playing giving the listener to envision of the UN and all the promises they’ve broken and this new UA is built for revenge. The lyrics aren’t anything new, but the guitar tricks and the new sound just keeps the album from that boring feel. And then our worst track of the album, “Gears of War,” let’s be honest here, this song was just made for the video game Gears of War and you should all know that I hate the series because it’s over-the-top & unoriginal concept of gore against aliens. The lyrics are just hennas and the guitar was uninspiring. To be honest, this album wouldn’t be hyped if it wasn’t for this song that commercialized Xbox 360 owners to increase the albums sales. It worked then, but now, how did the lasting impression seem to be so short lived? Again it’s uninspiring.
But things continue to pick itself up with the next track, “Blessed Are The Dead” and it’s amazing that the album jumps from the worst track bouncing to one of the best tracks. It does mock the people who died in war but at the same time you would want to think like that to the enemies you’ve killed. It’s a great song to listen to when you finally exact your vengeance and celebrate your victory. Next I love this following album “Pay For Blood,” which the lyrics are so interesting to listen to instead of the awesome guitar. It’s about attracting crowds if they want action & blood is the only payment as if you’re not coming back. But after two great tracks, we bounce back to a bad track and that is “A Tout Le Monde” Wait! Wasn’t this in Youthanasia? Yeah it was, but this remake just ruins the feel from the original because the new modern sound didn’t fit the structure of the song which eliminates the soul and kept ruining the song with the guest singer, Cristina Scabbia, who has no business being in this album, let alone anything with Medgadeth. I think another big reason why “United Abominations” is so commercialized is because of Gears of War and the remake of “A Tout Le Monde” to wet the beaks of fans that only are familiar with their older work to get into the album. The failure here is that it sounds mediocre. Now let’s bounce back to the good part of the album with “Amerikhastan.” If “United Abominations” is the UN turned evil, “Amerikhastan” is US turned terrorism. Creative move for a song that seeks imagination and I love how Dave picks the hypocrisies of US as them doing the same as terrorists. “You’re Dead” was a surprise return of an old song called “Wake Up Dead” from “Peace Sells” but a little too similar with the instrument notes and the lyrics that demands vengeance. Then finally our last track “Burnt Ice” I admit the lyrics doesn’t make any lick of a sense, but a good song with bad lyrics is without the music and Megadeth play their souls off of this song to display their skills.
At the end, “United Abominations” is remembered as one of the best albums of 2007 and 2007 was a huge year in music. Just check out any best of 2007 albums list and you can see so many albums that came out that year to be instant classics from LCD Soundsystem’s “Sound of Silver,” Daft Punk’s “Alive 2007,” Radiohead’s “In Rainbows,” Battle’s “Mirrors,” ect. With the exception of “Gears of War,” & “A Tout Le Monde”, Megadth’s decision to use the new audio quality and display them off with highly skillful music-making was a wise one. I will however say that the regular copy is NOT enough because there’s one more track that they SHOULD have put in the regular copy of “United Abominations,” but is only exclusive for the pre-ordered copy is just one really, Really, REALLY great song; “Black Swan.” Even though all the songs in “United Abominations” is so heavy and nerve-wracking (in a good way) “Black Swan” was a step back to old sound and is completely creative with the songwriting. The instrument notes are slow-paced and the lyrics are so clear and depict the horrors of seeing an illusion of the black swan when the guardian angel left. Now before you call rip-off on Megadeth, I like to remind you that this song was made in 2007 and the Black Swan movie was released in theaters in 2010, so it should be the other way around. But I just love to finally hear Dave Mustaine sing lyrics of him (or someone) vulnerable being haunted by this Black Swan creature. It’s soulful, insightful, and so catchy that it has a better lasting impression than ALL the songs in “United Abominations,” and why was “Black Swan” not in the regular copy? I mean this song is so under the radar that it deserves to be in Megadeth’s Top 5 best songs ever! I don’t know, I’m upset that UA was great, but should have been better for just one song missing. Well, if you got the pre-ordered United Abominations, I consider youself lucky, but for the rest of us, we had to wait till years later when it’s finally released in a hard copy in another album. Well, just UN alone, it was a great turn for the band and is remembered as the best metal album of 2007.
Track Highlights
- “Black Swan” (GOD DAMN IT!)
- “Sleepwalker”
- “Blessed Are the Dead”
My score for United Abominations…
My score for United Abominations the pre-ordered version (inclusion of “Black Swan”)…
Endgame
Now, we’ve already had two great consecutive albums of Megadeth dealing with politics and it’s time for something new with “Endgame” to be creative. The title of the album is the same title of an anti-political documentary called Endgame. The theme of the album “Endgame” is about power and controlling the lower class. There isn’t much to say about the album other than the music is more interesting than the theme. It opens up massively with “Dialectic Chaos.” Wow! That is an amazing way to open up an album with the band’s best instrumental song because of the best riffs they’ve pretty much came up with. Already you’re brain has melted from awesomeness, but you need to clean up the remaining parts of your brain to finally pay attention to the lyrics with the following song, “This Day We Fight!” There was no slowing down with this song and continues to go rapid with the chaos started from the first track. Next we have “44 Minutes,” which was plain epic. The lyrics were so clear in describing the situation of recruiting armies/criminals where they have to practice such activities within an hour before the mission starts. You know, I’ve already reviewed 12 albums now and how is that Megadeth sticks with the same topic of songwriting but manages to make each of the songs feel like a different experience? That I don’t know, but I like to keep it that way because “44 Minutes” demonstrates their ability to make things fresh. Next “1,320” as lazy as the title is, the song was so thrashing as to almost every other Megadeth speed song, not much I can say about this album other than if you like their fast-pace tracks like “High Speed Dirt,” you’ll like this one.
Next, we have a track called “Bite the Hand,” I came to expect that this song was self-explanatory of betraying someone but no, they just went all on the US economy and the Wall Street Crash. This is Megadeth’s political side at their finest because they depict everything that we relied on Wall Street and how it backstabs us by costing everyone like the mad dog biting the hand the feeds it. The following track is “Bodies,” and it was an okay trash metal, but wasn’t really the strong with the lyrics because it was similar to “Blessed Are The Dead” & “Never Walk Alone” from “United Abominations” and it wasn’t as strong as those songs I’ve compared to. At least the riffs are something to think about. After that forgettable track, we have the track with the same title of the album “Endgame.” It’s another political song, but unlike their other ones, this one is on the topic on having another president but is no different than the last. Well considering Obama promised to stop the war in the Middle East, now in office it’s ironic that we’re still there. But the killer appeal is again, the riffs, that surprisingly has a bit of a horror-like feel to it like it’s a nightmare come to life but it’s sometimes ruined from secondary guitar riffs that went over-the-top and never was on par. Already 7 songs just went nonstop and with that kind of tone that has the same pace just doesn’t make any much of variety, up till the 8th track “The Hardest Part Of Letting Go... Sealed With A Kiss” Finally the pace slowed down, but then it turns out to be a love song. At first I was uncomfortable with this direction of Dave singing the lyrics like a love poem, but it turns out to be a powerful and deep songwriting; A new side of Dave that I haven't really seen before, but then it ruined the epic feel with the change of a faster pace to make it an ugly mess. This song proves that true artists express their feelings and turn it into a master piece, but the decision to make it a hardcore metal in the middle part of the song disappointed me. Boy, it was this close to be in my Top 10 Megadeth songs if it not for that middle part. After the nice attempt to make a sweet slow song, then it blows away with “Headcrusher,” this is a lazy song in my opinion. The lyrics and describing this headcrusher felt childish like a violent cartoon character a kid made and just kept repeating the name of the character “Headcrusher! Headcrusher!” Already I’m starting to get “Risk” flashback with this song (Skip! Skip!) Now to probably one of the better songs of the album “This Is How The Story Ends,” that has a really great back & forth riff and lyrics that shows that not everything ends well. Not much I can say that’s interesting. But I will say with the similar tedious pace with almost all the songs in this list, the last one “The Rights To Go Insane,” was pretty much a great track that depicts the injustice of being imprisoned because of their mentality and their rights of keeping it.
Over all, Endgame just didn’t do well for me. The lyrics are from quite good to okay, but the pace & tone in all the songs was the same fast-paced which lacks variety. I don’t mind them at all, but the riffs and notes all sounded the same. They didn’t feel like different songs, but instead feel like there were no original ideas left but the lyrics. It causes the lack of variety, but most of all the most disappointing thing of this album is that none of the songs (except for the opening instrumental) was unmemorable. It’s good to listen but after finishing the album or getting to the next song, I completely forgot what each of the songs was like. No notes or melodies pop open as a reminder of that song, they all they went all over the place with the instruments forgetting about what made their other albums so special. I’m pretty sure someone might find some appeal to this album and see it differently than I do, but I’m not mad, but under-whelmed that I can’t remember anything that spectacular that hasn’t already been done.
Track Highlights
- “Dialectic Chaos”
- “Bite The Hand”
- “The Hardest Part Of Letting Go... Sealed With A Kiss”
My score for Endgame…
Th1rt3en
There was nothing more that I want than a Megadeth album that was as creative, inspiring, and memorable as United Abominations and fortunately we only had to wait 2 years for something that anticipated. Now on their 13th album, cleverly called “Th1rt3en” (similar to seven as Se7en) was a gigantic celebration for Megadeth in reaching Dave Mustaine’s favorite number. “Th1rt3en” spared no expense by focusing on fine songwriting. Opening with “Sudden Death,” after the long intro the guitar riffs started sounding like machine guns and Dave sings about fighting others to the death. It was a great opener, but the following track blew my mind with the epic, “Public Enemy No. 1.” I bet Megadeth fans who followed the band and listened to them when breaking the law needs to start listening to this because it was just sick. I love the lyrics where Dave loves the pleasure of breaking every law that has made and listening to the finest chorus the band has made “I'm invincible. You might say despicable. Punishment's reciprocal. Public enemy number one! I'm unbeatable. My mind's untreatable. Crimes unrepeatable. Public enemy number one.” just makes me want to listen to the song again and again. This was sheer brilliance and very well paced. Then finally the pace picks up with the following “Whose Life (Is It Anyway)” that has the similar feeling to “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” where Dave is basically talking back at his parents. It’s childish, but I bet you feel the same when anyone thinks of you that way. And Megadeth is without a political song and “We The People” is another one in hand. It’s another song where Dave sings about the ironies of being free and it’s nothing we’ve haven’t heard of before, but still is tolerable unlike the previous album where all the songs didn’t have melodies to help us identify the song. Now “Guns, Drugs, & Money” is where it’s at. It’s almost like a song made for the mob and was almost a clean follow-up from “Public Enemy No. 1.” Dave was not afraid to depict the harsh realities of “Guns, Drugs, & Money,” but what metal band is afraid to even sing about sick things? Next, we have “Never Dead” that was started out quietly and silent, but then blows off to a speed metal. The lyrics I admit was lazy, but I did like the up-and-down riffs that kinda tickles my ears. However, the next track “New World Order” was just plain badass. The lyrics were fine with rebelling against the higher power and the instruments playing kinda made a nice feel of chaos and destruction. Afterwards, we have another speed metal song “Fast Lane.” The music quality is much better than “Never Dead” was Megadeth’s best driving metal song since “High Speed Dirt” because the lyrics encourages listeners to move fast as possible.
But now I’m at the biggest part of the album, the one song I grew so emotionally to “United Abominations” for not including the best track in the hard-copy, only exclusively on pre-order. That track is “Black Swan,” and you should know that I love that track to no end and FINALLY “Black Swan,” is featured in a hard-copy with no separated edition, but unfortunately this isn’t the same “Black Swan” from UA the has that soulful and energetic feel in it, but instead “Th1rt3en’s” version just went over-the-top with a secondary guitar running back and forth during the magical notes from the original. Make the comparisons now and if you say “Th1rt3en’s” version was better, I’ll give you another try because “Black Swan” on the UA was more hypnotic and this one was trying way too hard to amuse its listeners. Well, I’m not as mad as I should be, maybe because I have the gratitude for Megadeth giving us something different and the newer sound didn’t sound anywhere close to be awful, but not everybody knows of the UA version of “Black Swan” and I think it’s better to just keep that version unchanged. It’s both a disappointment that Megadeth done this, but at the same time, it’s nice of them bringing back the single that not everyone got a chance to hear. Next we got “Wrecker” that went awol and hard rocking. It’s similar to High Speed Dirt and focuses on hitting and running. But the following song “Millennium of the Blind,” was an insightful song that shows Dave Mustaine’s frustration on giving a message but being ignored. It looks like the newer generation in the wrong direction and Dave is their last chance. It’s preachy, but I’m glad for the different pace. “Deadly Nightshade,” the next track, is not really one of their best songs, but I think it should be remembered as one of Megadeth’s coolest. This is one of the instances where the bass finally shines and creates a groovy feel to it. I kept, thinking of Vic Rattlehead’s shades that cover his eyes and wonder if they’re singing about that. And finally our last track of “Th1rt3en” is well… “13,” and I like the fact that it’s a coming of paced type of album where it starts out slow but then changes the song completely towards the end.
I admit that there are some ups and downs with “Th1rt3en” (especially “Black Swan”) but I just admire the fact that it was so much improved over “Endgame” by “Th1rt3en” memorable tunes and great appeal listening to it. Not much I can say because it’s a new album, so if you’re a fan of the band and have not yet checked “Th1rt3en”, I suggest to do so because it really was a good album
Track Highlights
- Public Enemy No. 1
- Sudden Death
- Black Swan (Inferior to the United Abominations version!
My score for Th1rt3en is
Well that's my review on all of Megadeth’s albums and for your patience of reading the entire review (except for the people who just scrolled down ignoring what I have to say) here is a video of my Top 10 Favorite Megadeth Albums. It’s my first new video in a long time and hope you all get into Megadeth after watching this video
Till then, here’s an album cover of my next music written review.
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