Megadeth

Megadeth 'Countdown To Extinction'
Capitol , 1992
Lord Pale :
Countdown To Extinction exemplifies all of Rust In Peace's best elements and puts them into a more accessible format . Some of the old aggression of the band has died but in its place is an improved production and a more professional approach , even if the technicality suffers slightly from the new more mellow direction . However this is by no means meant to alarm as the songs and lyrics don't lack bite , they are just not as musically driven . Dave Mustaine's vocals are in prime form as he switches from the deluded and insane voices of 'Sweating Bullets' through to a nastier approach in tracks like 'Skin O' My Teeth' and 'This Was My Life' through to balladesque clean vocals on tracks like 'Foreclosure Of A Dream' and 'Countdown To Extinction' . The guitar rhythms are fairly simplistic but heavy and groovy , but as always the technical lead solos are what makes Megadeth so fantastic . This is what metal is all about , and Countdown To Extinction sees Megadeth on top of their game , delivering variation , great riffs , melodic leads , samples , and most importantly great fucking songs . Any fan of metal needs to own this album . Marvellous .
Favourite Tracks - Foreclosure Of A Dream , Captive Honour , Symphony Of Destruction
Mark - 10/10

Megadeth �Youthanasia�
Capitol, 1994
Gloon:
Man was I in for a shock the day I picked this one up after school on a cold day in 94. There I was eager to open my new Megadeth album in the back of my dads car, anxiously waiting to get home and give it a spin, but even before I had a chance to listen to the first chords off of Youthanasia I began to fear something was wrong. For starters there was no Vic on the front cover just on old lady hanging out babies on a line, what the fuck was going on???? Then I lifted the CD and saw the photo of the band all playing air guitar, fuck this was a bad omen. And the final straw to add insult to injury were the lyrics I found within the booklet, by the time I got home I was ready to bin the album before I even heard it. In some regards I should of, Youthanasia was and still is a bitter disappointment, however I am willing to give it a little bit more of an objective review now than I would have back in those days when I was an angry young man. Youthanasia essentially follows on from Countdown to Extinction in style and production however that is where the similarities end. Whereas Countdown still featured the band�s anger and heaviness but in a different light, Youthanasia stripped away the anger and aggression and replaced it with leashed, restrained more melodic energy and as a result robbed the band of its best attributes. However while paling in the shadow of their earlier works it would be wrong to disregard the album as a total pile of shit, tracks such as �Reckoning Day�, �The Killing Road� and �I Thought I Knew it All� are all strong tracks and while �Train of Consequences�, �A Tout le Monde� and �Addicted to Chaos� suck there are still enough good tracks on here to carry the album. Time lessened the anger I had when I first heard this album and in time it did grow on me a little as I realized that there wouldn�t be a return to the glory thrash days of the 80s, overall in hindsight this was hardly their worst effort, it just was far from their best.
Favourite Tracks � Youthanasia, The Killing Road, I Thought I Knew it All
Rating � 7/10

Megadeth 'Cryptic Writings'
Capitol , 1997
Lord Pale :
It seems that after the commercial success of 'Youthanasia' Megadeth have got a taste for the easy life of money making as Cryptic Writings is the bands most mellow and commercialised album to date . This album is a slap in the face to all the followers of Megadeth with a very positive feeling and a lot of lyrics that just don't identify themselves with the bands earlier musical stylings . Cryptic Writings displays the bands best most slickest ( even less metal ! ) production to date and most of the tracks drip with melodicism without any real hard edge . There are two short , fast tracks 'The Disintegrators' and 'FFF' which make a good impression , and a couple of others that harken back to the old days 'Mastermind' , 'She Wolf' , and 'Vortex' , but as good as they are they still sound more commercialised . The anti drug ballad 'Use The Man' isn't something fans would normally expect from Megadeth but it is a good track in its own right which I guess could fairly well some up the whole album . There are some fairly embarrising moments however like 'Have Cool , Will Travel' , 'Sin' and 'I'll Get Even' but overall Cryptic Writing's is still a fairly good release , but we can only hope Megadeth get it together again and get Dave back on the drugs .
Favourite Tracks - FFF , She Wolf , Use The Man
Mark - 7.5/10

Megadeth 'Risk'
Capitol , 1999
Lord Pale :
Risk has finally banged down hard the nail in Megadeth's coffin , this is the album that they will not be able to recover from . Opener 'Insomnia' starts with some Middle Eastern instrumentation before breaking into a song with fuzzy crunching riffs and a fairly catchy chorus , then comes 'Prince Of Darkness' and darker slower creeping song about Satan , but is spoiled by some rather cheesy backing vocals . Sounds ok so far right ? Well maybe , but then comes the intro to exceptionally poor single 'Crush 'Em' a wrestling anthem with rather lame lyrics and some crap almost C&W riffing . Following this is a rather well executed ballad 'Breadline' with a great vocal performance by Mustaine but again lyrically focusing on themes outside of what Megadeth is about and its all virtually down hill from there with the exception of 'Wanderlust' a slower track that for some reason appeals to me and another ballad 'Time: The Beginning' the second to last song on a twelve track album . Most of this material is lo tech rocky metal with little relevant links to Megadeth's past except for their distinctive tuning and Mustaine's great voice . Alas the end of another of the big 4
Favourite Tracks - Time: The Beginning , Breadline , Insomnia
Mark - 5/10

Megadeth 'Capitol Punishment'
Capitol , 2000
Lord Pale :
A contract killing release for Megadeth to end their time at Capitol Records featuring 2 new tracks and basically the bands singles list reading like a cash in flier with 6 pre Youthanasia tracks and 6 post Youthanasia tracks . What does interest me is the direction of the new material , with both 'Kill The King' and 'Dread And The Fugitive Mind' coming across as more structured and more Megadeth than anything on Risk . Both new tracks are essentially produced in the same fashion as the Cryptic Writings material and like that album feature long excessive solo's which is a promising glimpse of the future , with 'Dread And The Fugitive Mind' even reminding me a lot of Countdown To Extinction era Megadeth . 'Peace Sells But Who's Buying' aptly rounds off the album before breaking into a musical medley of sampled material from Megadeth's entire career which is an interesting enough listen the first few times I guess . I've never been a big fan of best of albums and this is certainly not a best of in my opinion , and with me already owning and having access to all of Megadeth's material then this release has little to offer me .
Favourite Tracks - Holy Wars ... The Punishment Due , Symphony Of Destruction , Hanger 18
Mark - 6/10

Megadeth 'The World Needs A Hero'
Sanctuary Records , 2001
Lord Pale :
Well it seems that Megadeth are still attempting to peddle half arsed rehashes of their earlier glories and disappointments , this time in the form of 'The World Needs A Hero' a comeback album ? I think not . With a ton of 'Sweating Bullets' try hard tracks with of kilter vocals and crappy samples , and the ultimate cash in 'Return To Hanger' a farcical attempt at recapturing the past in the form of basic simplified version of 'Hanger 18' with a few rewritten lyrics and rehashed lame riffing . Megadeth albums should not swagger and 'The World Needs A Hero' swaggers with the best of them . Still incorporating embarrassing elements like the tambourines in 'Disconnect' through to the chorus of 'Moto Psycho' to the lame arsed vocals of 'Promises' . Megadeth are officially dead , I stuck in and refused to admit it , but I will now accept the truth . Avoid , unless of course you liked Machine Head's new album that is , in that case you may well appreciate this album that does little to trap the attention .
Favourite Tracks - Dread And The Fugitive Mind , Silent Scorn
Mark - 3.5/10

Megadeth �The System Has Failed�
Sanctuary, 2004
Gloon:
How many bands get a second chance at a comeback album? Not many. After the failed return to metal which was 2001�s atrocious �The World Needs a Hero� Megadeth disbanded after Dave Mustaine suffered what was at the time, a career ending injury to his arm, and not many metalheads cried for the death of the band. 2004 and Dave is recovered and tells us he has seen the light and wants to return to the folds of classic metal for real, lets just say we had heard this before. Skeptical is the only word I can think off to describe my feelings as I decided to give ol Rattlehead once last chance but for the most part I am glad I did. �The System Has Failed� plays like a patch work of all that Megadeth has done to date but its played with the passion and conviction of old and dare I say even a bit of anger, something lacking of late. Opener �Blackmail the Universe� smacks of a rejuvenated Mustaine and band with some real heavy 80s guitar and a return of the confident swagger of old. Dave seems to have recaptured his pessimistic nature too as lyrics focus once again on politics and self introspection. Other stand outs include �Kick the Chair� a welcome return to the speed and intensity of the Rust in Peace days, �The Scorpion� an eerie and atmospheric piece similar to a �Captive Honour� or �Symphony of Destruction�. But the real surprise is the Manowar-esque cheesy metal tribute �Back in the Day� where Dave reminisces about the old days of the thrash movement, classic stuff. Overall a return to form by remembering where they came from and why they were so loved in the first place, if they left on this note lets just say a lot more people would weep their demise.
Favourite Tracks � The Scorpion, Of Mice and Men, Kick the Chair
Rating � 8/10

Megadeth �Greatest Hits: Back to the Start�
Capitol, 2005
Gloon:
Replacing the now deleted �Capitol Punishment� compilation is �Greatest Hits� a collection of the good, the bad and the ugly of Megadeth�s patchy career supposedly picked by the fans over the net. First the good theres all the usual MD hits here from �Mechanix� and �Peace Sells� through to �Holy Wars� and �Symphony of Destruction� no real surprises from the bands first 5 releases. Then theres the not so good, the material from Youthanasia and Cryptic Writings just don�t hold there own against the glory era past. Finally theres the ugly mainly �Prince of Darkness� from the abysmal Risk. Though an improvement on their first best-of attempt (no Crush em, Use the Man) it still features 11 of the 14 songs from the original Capital Punishment which begs the question why bother? Also theres no new material plus two of their so called classics aren�t even songs from their album career (Angry Again, Kill the King). Overall a waste of time and money for fans that are already familiar with the band and their output the only selling point would be that all versions of the songs are from the recently remixed re releases, and that in itself isn�t the best of endorsements. Go buy the first 4 albums instead to hear the real Megadeth, this just gives you a small frustrating glimpse of the band at its best.
Favourite Tracks � Holy Wars�.Punishment Due, Wake up Dead, In My Darkest Hour
Rating � 6/10

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