Welcome back to PART II of the Megadeth album by album challenge. For Part II we will by finishing off the Megadeth discography. This portion of the challenge yielded some cheers, some jeers, and some damn near tears. This is probably the most inconsistent area of the discography and it’s interesting to see how this portion truly is a roller coaster of quality for both the songwriting and the production.
Things get started on this part of the challenge with Risk and we will conclude with the latest release Super Collider. Get a drink, settle in, and take a deep breath as we plunge head on into this one. I’m very curious to hear from all of you as to your thoughts on these albums and your thoughts on my take on these releases. Just remember that opinions are like assholes, every band as 4 or 5 of them.
Megadeth – Risk
Release Date: August 30, 1999
The Good:
The Bad: Insomnia, Crush ‘Em, The Doctor Calling, I’ll Be There, Wanderlust, Ecstacy, Seven, Time: The Beginning, Time: The End
The Indifferent: Prince of Darkness, Breadline,
I had never listened to this album and now I totally understand why everyone hates on this album so much. What a huge platter of crap. I have never heard such a vast collection of lackluster metal since Metallica’s post “…and justice for all” stuff. This is just horrid. If you ever wanted to hear someone trying to cash in, this is it. Even the indifferent songs are just “meh” at best but the bad songs are just horrible. There is no focus, rhyme, or reason to any of these songs. It’s absolutely boring, lacking any dynamics and will someone please tell Dave to put the tambourine down. This album just couldn’t be over soon enough and honestly, I’m done even trying to talk about it. STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE!
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Megadeth – The World Needs a Hero
Release Date: May 15, 2001
The Good:
The Bad:
The Indifferent: Disconnect, The World Needs a Hero, Motopsycho, 1,000 Times Goodbye, Burning Bridges, Promises, Recipe For Hate… Warhorse, Losing My Senses, Dread And The Fugitive Mind, Silent Scorn, Return to Hangar, When
First off, someone PLEASE take the tambourine away from Megadave. Second, it sounds like Dave’s production style was taken right from Metallica’s “… and justice for all” album. The drums sound absolutely atrocious. As for the songs on this album, unlike Risk, none of the songs flat out suck. It’s just that the songs on this album are just extremely underwhelming. There is nothing on this album that stands out as particularly great or attention grabbing. “Dread And The Fugitive Mind “ is nothing more than “Sweating Bullets Pt. II”, “Promises” was an interesting song that kind of reminded me of something Lacuna Coil would do, and “Recipe For Hate… Warhorse” kind of reminded me of “In My Darkest Hour.” This may have been the best song on the album but that’s not really saying much. The album as a whole is nothing more than listenable. If this album was playing in the background while I cleaned house or paid bills or did some other domestic godlike chore, I wouldn’t hate it. I just feel like this album is a huge platter of mediocrity. It’s an unexciting, dull, forgettable album to say the least.
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Megadeth – The System Has Failed
Release Date: September 14, 2004
The Good: Blackmail the Universe, Die Dead Enough, Kick the Chair, Tears in a Vial, Back in the Day, Something I’m Not, Truth Be Told, Shadow of Deth, My Kingdom
The Bad:
The Indifferent: The Scorpion, I Know Jack, Of Mice and Men,
WOW. I was totally not expecting what I heard when this album kicked in but damn what a killer fucking album. I know it was supposed to be a Dave Mustaine solo album but hell, Megadave pretty much is Megadeth so who cares what you call it? The overall sound of this album is completely bombastic and exactly how I would expect a Megadeth album to sound. Dave sounds so full of anger and fire and this really shows on not just his performances but the overall songwriting in general. Having Chris Poland playing lead on all but one song on this album was also a really great treat. The songs are extremely melodic but they manage to capture that energy and vibe that was there on the Rust in Peace album. Whatever Dave did or was feeling totally shaped this album for the better. This is yet another example of why I love doing these challenges. I went into this with the lowest of expectations and ended up being floored and despite a few dudes, I found myself really enjoying this album a lot. This one will be getting many repeat listens from me from here on out. I love a good surprise!
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Megadeth – United Abominations
Release Date: May 15, 2007
The Good: Sleepwalker, Washington is Next!, Never Walk Alone, United Abominations, Gears of War, Blessed are the Dead, Pray for Blood, A Tout Le Monde, Amerikhastan, You’re Dead, Burnt Ice
The Bad:
The Indifferent:
I picked this album up the day it was released and I remember feeling like this was Dave once again trying hard to return to form and doing a great job at doing so. Now, I still feel the same way. There are A LOT of really good songs but aside from “Washington is Next” and “A Tout Le Monde”, none of them are truly great. This doesn’t mean they suck. It just means that they’re just missing that punch and that fire. The anger and fire that Dave had on The System Has Failed isn’t really present on this album but it is still a good Megadeth album. I’m not a fan of Glen Drover’s guitar playing as I feel like everything he did was just forgettable but Shawn Drover on drums is what made this album sound as solid and crushing as it was. Not a bad album and not a great album. This is just a GOOD album.
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Megadeth – Endgame
Release Date: September 9, 2009
The Good: Dialectic Chaos, This Day We Fight, 44 Minutes, 1,320, Bite the Hand, Bodies, Endgame, The Hardest Part Of Letting Go…. Sealed With A Kiss, Headcrusher, How the Story Ends,
The Bad:
The Indifferent:
Without a doubt, this is my 2nd favorite Megadeth album just behind Rust In Peace. I know, I know. People are going to say, “Brah, no way is it better than Peace Sells…” Well, I mean, here’s the deal. Maybe it’s not better but I LOVE this album more than I do Peace Sells. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s that this just feels and sounds like redemption at its finest. The first time I heard the song “Headcrusher” I just had high hopes for this album and I wasn’t disappointed in the least. This is the first album to feature Chris Broderick on guitar and having that guy in the band did something to Dave. It’s like Broderick pushed Dave to the limits and you can just hear it on this album. Lyrically, this is some of Mustaine’s finest work and musically it just sounds focused, locked in, and full of fire. The versatility of the music on this album is also a really welcomed thing but the versatility doesn’t make for inconstancies. It just makes it a really great listening experience. This album very well could have been the follow up to Rust In Peace more so than Countdown to Extinction. This is a really great album and I find myself loving song for song. I also have to give props to bassist James Lomenzo as this was his last album with Megadeth before Dave “Junior” Ellefson returned to the fold. Lomenzo did an amazing job during his stay in Megadeth and it was a bummer to see him go but it was cool to hear that Junior would be returning.
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Megadeth – TH1RT3EN
Release Date: November 1, 2011
The Good: Sudden Death, Public Enemy #1, New World Order, 13
The Bad: Guns, Drugs & Money, Black Swan, Millennium Of The Blind,
The Indifferent: Whose Life (Is It Anyways?), We The People, Never Dead, Fast Lane, Wrecker, Deadly Nightshade,
Megadeth yet again returns to the land of “meh” with TH1RT3EN. The bad songs on this album are atrocious, the indifferent ones are barely listenable but the good songs are stellar. I’m just not sure why Megadave just can’t make consistently great records. It almost feels like that whenever he makes one stellar album, he uses up all his awesomesauce and even taps into the reserves leaving nothing for the next few albums. This album was a really though listen. It just felt thrown together, uninspired, and had absolutely no flow to it. At this point, I have to even wonder why Dave even makes new albums since Megadeth tours usually end up being nostalgic/hits based setlists. I’d almost rather see Megadeth release EPs with maybe 4 or 5 amazing songs on them than to try and come up with 12 or 13 really solid songs. This album was a real bummer.
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Megadeth – Super Collider
Release Date: June 4, 2013
The Good: Kingmaker, The Blackest Crow, Don’t Turn Your Back
The Bad: Super Collider, Burn, Built for War, Off the Edge, Dance in the Rain, Beginning of Sorrow, Forget to Remember,
The Indifferent:
I almost didn’t include this album but I figured I needed to do so for completeness. Well, I’m glad I finally listened to this album and it just totally left me scratching my head. It just feels like that starting with TH1RT3EN, Megadave just started working backwards. All of the comparisons I’ve heard to the Risk album couldn’t be more precise. I just don’t understand what Dave was trying to go for. He already tried once to go the more commercially accessible route and it failed. Why would it work now and why go this route when you’ve just spent the last 7 or so years reclaiming your fanbase? The skills and abilities of this band line up do not match the lack of quality of these songs. While the majority of this album is pretty much crapolla, I do have to say that “Kingmaker” is a great song and “The Blackest Crow” is a really unique and cool song featuring some banjo playing that gives the song a really eerie quality. Closing out the album with Thin Lizzy’s “Cold Sweat” was bad to the fucking bone and nearly made me forget just how shitty the rest of this album is. Is this the end as we know it? Is this how we’re going to remembering Megadeth? I can only hope that Dave might have another Endgame up his sleeve for us before calling it a day.
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