PEACE SELL.....BUT WHOS BUYING ? ALBUM REVIEW

 

And The Cradle Will Rock - 95%

By Sweetie, June 10th, 2018

Written based on this version: 2004, CD, Capitol Records (Remixed, Remastered)

By now, it's obvious that Peace Sells....But Who's Buying was one of the greatest contributors to the great year of thrash. Being the most evil effort from Megadeth's discography, it was sure to turn many heads and reel in lots of attention. Very dark lyrics, fiery solos and ripping leads, bursts of speed, and pummeling drums are what this piece of golden thrash is well known for. Really, like Killing, there are underlying tactics that help drill this into the listeners brain and make it stick so much harder than the already blistering debut record. Dave and co. channel some of their wildest ideas from this time period in a very unique way here, one like the character described in the aforementioned Van Halen track. And why would I mention that ripping album opener from the Women And Children First record? Because that's exactly what was going on with the boys of 'Deth at the time. The cradle was certainly rocking, at an alarming rate.

There's no need to go into how wildly spectacular the solo work of "Wake Up Dead" is, or how evil the lyrics of "The Conjuring" are, etc. It's been touched on to death, and the message is received. The variety is key to keeping the record from going stale for even a second. Really though, almost every track has something in common that seems to be greatly overlooked, and that's the usage of suspense, build-up, and tempo/time-signature changes. The suspense, of course, is the biggest one. Slow, devious moments are implemented in almost every track. The bulk of the title track uses the same rhythm, and keeps it mid-paced, all the way up until the iconic "can you put a price on peace?". Then, it kicks into fifth gear with intense guitar work, only to finish the blow with the last minute or so of chanting the chorus. "Good Mourning/Black Friday" (my personal favorite track), does the same thing with clean guitars, a slower buildup of melody, soft singing, and then finishes with a transition into the pummeling riff we all know of. Using the same tactic doesn't get boring, due to the different methods of execution. The heavy use of bass plays a large role in this too, caking on another layer of suspense, and making a thicker atmosphere for the build-ups. All of it fits together like a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle.

Of course, you can't go into this without mentioning the early hints of prog influence. Though this wouldn't come through to its maximum until 1990, clear hints of it were peaking in 1986. Megadeth are not a prog band by any means, but their ability to shift time signatures and tempos is definitely advanced. Poland and Mustaine take turns delivering complex rhythms that don't stay stagnant, but dance all over the fret board. "Devil's Island" displays some of the best work in this department. "Bad Omen" has the the most fun and groove-infused rhythm section for sure. Of course, Ellefson's superior bass work fills in all cracks, making for a smooth ride from cover to cover. Repetitive riffs and chants are sprinkled in from time to time, and while that may not sound like a good thing, they always work. It's very much needed for the approach that's taken. A lot of talk about production is also thrown around, and while this version cleans it up a bit, the rawness of the original is definitely superior. The bonus tracks provide older mixes of half of the album, if you have this specific version.

The ability to take all of these different angles of attack; clean buildups, tempo shifts, evil themes, and speed recklessness and sew them all together in a perfect stream is talent beyond what most can display. That's what makes this record so special, and would remain a staple to their sound for records to come. The only thing that doesn't fit as well is the cover of Willie Dixon's "I Aint Superstitious", but at least it's a solid cover and it isn't bleeped out to death. As much as it would fit better as an album closer, there's no denying that "My Last Words" is an exceptional final blow, and for that, the inclusion of a stray track like this can be overlooked. Megadeth's best? Damn close, but not quite.

Track List :

1. Wake Up Dead
2. The Conjuring
3. Peace Sells
4. Devils Island
5. Good Mourning / Black Friday
6. Bad Omen
7. I Ain't Superstitious (Willie Dixon cover)
8. My Last Words

***Disclaimer*** 

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Megadeth and Capitol Recordings! 

Purchase your remastered copy today!

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KILLING IS MY BUSINESS IS GOOD ! ALBUM REVIEW

 

As good as killing business! 

By lostinbeauty, April 26th, 2020

Ah, Megadeth. Perhaps the best thrash band of all time and eternally destined to be compared to Metallica. Today they are definetly famous, but in the 80s they were still an unknown group struggling with their first album, hoping that it was good enough to bring them to light.

And Killing is my business ... and business is good! probably met expectations, although fortunately they made better records over time.

Among the prominent elements of this album there is immediately the intro to Last rites / Loved to deth. The first thing the listener hears, in fact, is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, played with the piano and guitar. It is a pleasant surprise, and it introduces the atmosphere well. The actual song has a quick and acid riff, a violent and overwhelming trend and great power and catchiness. It is certainly one of the most successful songs not only of the disc but of the subgenre itself. The crazy and gloomy atmosphere is a huge advantage. The titletrack is slower and smoother for the first few moments, then accelerates suddenly, and the tempo keeps changing until the end. In any case, it remains effective, well supported by a high quality riff and a memorable refrain. His only flaw is being too short, only three minutes.

The skull beneath the skin is simply brutal. Slow and threatening, dark and suffocating, with a guitar that is more acidic than ever and an additional dose of sadism in the voice. The incessant rhythm and the abrupt ending contribute to the sensation. Rattlehead is probably the fastest, less violent than the previous tracks and with particularly successful solos. About halfway it becomes a mid-tempo, but then it accelerates again and remains constant. It is the most catchy song and in some way it can also be considered proto-power metal. Chosen ones is another mid-tempo that is closer to heavy metal. Unfortunately, in some moments it almost seems to go out of tempo, there is a sudden slowdown which is quite mild but not so much as not to be noticed. Fortunately, a good part of the song is occupied by a solo as technical as it is fascinating, and at the end the speed increases allowing to forget the small defects.

Looking down the Cross, in addition to having highly interesting lyrics, is very gloomy, with a beginning marked by the threatening gait of the bass. The atmosphere is maintained throughout the piece, of which the instrumental part, almost hypnotic, is appreciable. Mechanix is ​​basically an accelerated version of Metallica's The four horsemen, and is officially its first version. It is a pleasant listening, given the excellent, fast and harsh instrumental structure, but suffers from the bland lyrics. The last song is a cover of These boots by Nancy Sinatra in an interesting thrash version and with the modified text. It is a successful experiment. The only problem is the remastered version of the album which has horrendous censorship. And not simply missing parts of the vocal lines, but an authentic whistle. The general advice is to avoid this version as much as possible.

As for the technical side, this record is an exceptional effort. The musicians are all extremely talented and competent, especially the guitarists. Moreover, Mustaine is certainly not known for the pleasantness of his voice, but the latter, in its roughness and violence, is fit for the genre.

Killing is my business ... and business is good! is not Megadeth's masterpiece, nor the best thrash metal record of all time, but it's still essential and, although too short, an excellent album.

Best tracks: Last rites/Loved to deth, Looking down the Cross, The skull beneath the skin

Track List  :

1. Last Rites / Loved to Death

2. Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!

3. Skull Beneath the Skin

4. These Boots (Nancy Sinatra cover)

5. Rattlehead

6. Chosen Ones

7. Looking Down the Cross

8. Mechanix

***Disclaimer*** 

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Megadeth and Capitol Recordings! 

Purchase your remastered copy today!

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UNITED ABOMINATIONS ALBUM REVIEW

 

Unpredictability is strong with this one 

By Mailman__, May 12th, 2018

As far as Megadeth's albums have been going pretty lately, United Abominations is literally a savior.  Every track on here has character, the production is nice, the riffs are thrashy and fun, and the lyrics are bearable.

Let's look at the riffs.  When the album started off with "Sleepwalker," I wasn't too thrilled.  It's a good song, but this was how The System Has Failed started: a good song followed by 40 minutes of snooze.  But once I got past the first four tracks without being completely revulsed, I wasn't too worried for the rest of the album.  It's weird how Megadeth does this because it's like every time they release a shitty album, they release a good one afterwards.

One of the singles from this albums was "Washington Is Next."  This is probably the best song on here because the vocal structure is actually good and the riffs make sense coming from Megadeth.  Yes, finally, a Megadeth song that sounds like Megadeth!

As far as riffs go, this album actually sounds like a Megadeth record.  It actually sounds a lot like Dystopia, which is funny because a lyric from "United Abominations" is "the threat is real."  Let the conspiracies begin.  Anyway, there are plenty of good riffs on here, something that has been quite uncommon in the previous few Megadeth albums.  "Never Walk Alone... A Call to Arms" is one example of this.  The riffs and leads are all on point, almost sounding like something off of Rust in Peace.  "Play for Blood" and the title track are also good examples because of their fun thrash metal riffs that are wonderfully fast.  They also both have nice leads.

The lyrics aren't anything new.  It's pretty much typical cheesy Megadeth.  No, not The System Has Failed or Risk cheesy; this album's "Amerikhastan" cheesy.  Or maybe "New Yorqatar."  Yes, that's a lyric from track nine.  Also, the intro to "United Abominations" sounds like a real newscast, but it's fake, so if you thought it was real, that's unfortunate.  If it is real, then that's pretty unethical broadcasting because it's very biased and passive aggressive.  Also, it's really lame and edgy.

The production, music, and lyrics are all nicely done.  So what don't I like about this album?  Well, there's always the pretty obvious option of "A tout le monde (Set Me Free) (feat. Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil).  For those who don't know, the original "A tout le monde" was released on the album Youthanasia and it became a pretty big hit (like, big enough that my mom knew about it).  Re-releasing it on this album is just Megadeth doing what they've been doing the past three albums - bringing back small elements of their better years into their music, not by making new material, but by copying the old material.  It's quite pathetic, really.

Another thing I don't like about this album is the structure.  All of the good songs are grouped in the first half of the album.  This is something relatively new as on the four albums before this, the good songs were spread out more evenly.  That's probably because they knew they were shitty albums so there needed to be something keeping it going so they accomplished that by strategically placing the good tracks among the bad ones.  This album starts to get boring around "Gears of War," picks back up, then it disappoints with "A tout le monde."  Then the last three tracks are just pretty boring with a good riff every once in a while.

Another thing I hate about this album is the album cover.  What the hell?  It's almost as bad as Iron Maiden's Dance of Death.  It's garbage and it hurts my eyes to look at.  It's like the guy who makes art for the Mission Impossible movies discovered Microsoft Paint.  Okay, that's a bit of a stretch, but whatever.  The point is it sucks.

That's pretty much it.  At this point, I can't say I know what Megadeth are going to do next.  Their discography up to this point has been all over the place, never staying consistent for more than two albums.  Well, at least this one was good.

Track List  :

1. Sleepwalker

2. Washington Is Next!

3. Never Walk Alone... A Call to Arms

4. United Abominations

5. Gears of War

6. Blessed Are the Dead

7. Play for Blood

8. À tout le monde (Set Me Free)

9. Amerikhastan

10. You're Dead

11. Burnt Ice

***Disclaimer***

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Megadeth and Capitol Recordings!

Purchase your remastered copy today!

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THE SYSTEM HAS FAILED ALBUM REVIEW

 

Because The Future Just Repeats The Past - 92%

By TheDeadEndKing, April 10th, 2020

Megadeth album vs Dave Mustaine solo album? The jury is out on this one, but the results remain the same. With Mustaine writing pretty much the whole album, the session additions of returning guitarist Chris Poland, Jimmy Sloas on bass, and Zappa drummer Vinnie Colaiuta forming the core of the albums lineup, and a myriad of other guests per song, "The System Has Failed" was Megadeth's rise from the dead in multiple ways. A return to form, a comeback for Mustaine after an arm injury, a string of lackluster material preceding, and the band's overall inactivity/breakup/hiatus/death preceding it. All these factors considered, it's amazing that this record doesn't get brought up more often. It isn't perfect, but it's DAMN good.

First, the good. And there's a lot more good than bad. For the most part, "The System Has Failed" is fist-to-your-face MEGADETH. It's exactly the kind of riff-filled, shreddy, gritty, punchy thrash that makes them who they are. "Blackmail The Universe" is a great album opener, introducing it with politically-charged samples and the classic Megadeth neck-breaking, head-banging goodness. "Kick The Chair" is arguably one of Megadeth's best songs in the past 25 years, if not longer, providing a throwback very reminiscent of the 80's style. "The Scorpion", a complete outlier for Megadeth as a whole, experiments with keyboards, more progressive arrangements, and melancholic melodies, to surprising success. A bold roll of the dice that works out to a very unique result. "Tears In The Vial", a much more traditionally approached song, is a beautiful example of "old becomes new again", recycling very familiar parts of Megadeth's past without being a clone or a mockup of that material. It adds it's own flare while holding fast to the late-80's dynamic. The combination of "I Know Jack"/"Back In The Day" has one of the best sounding riff/tempo combinations on the entire record. "Truth Be Told" is an epic example of Mustaine's innovative spark, putting ballad-esque sections nose to nose with ripping riff work, several time signature changes, and mood swings in a little over five and a half minutes. Compared to a good number of albums of theirs, both before and after this was released, this is a major breath of fresh air.

Now, the bad. Or, at least, the "not as good". "Die Dead Enough" is kind of forgettable, especially nestled in between two of the album's ragers in "Blackmail The Universe" and "Kick The Chair". "Something I Am Not" is almost a radio song, with very little to pull from it compared to what it's surrounded by. The album's ending tracks, "Of Mice And Men", "Shadow Of Deth", and "My Kingdom", are lackluster. Moreover, "Shadow Of Deth" is just Psalm 23 presented "Megadeth-style", and feels unnecessary in the long run. The other two aren't all that bad, but simply don't have the fire that the rest of the album brings. It's as if Mustaine gasses out towards the end. It's not that any of these rob from the album's overall structure, but they seem almost like overflow at times.

Writing and production-wise, it's incredibly streamlined. Personally, I love that in my Megadeth. They've always had the ability to lay down filth, but they do so on polished steel. And this is a prime example of it. None of the instruments sound too drowned or out of place, mixed poorly, etc. Writing-wise, there's some suffering in some spots, but lest we forget that Mustaine wrote this entire album. For example, a guitarist writing drums can be a recipe for disaster in concept alone. However, he nailed it overall. A few spotty, aesthetic opinions from me don't really take away from the fact that this guy wrote out all the parts of every piece, and this was the result. It's pretty fantastic, all things considered. Lyrically, it's a political hellscape. If you know anything about Megadeth, this is their bread and butter, and it should come as zero surprise. I don't have to deep dive on this. It's calling card Dave, calling card Deth.

So where does this leave us? Megadeth/MegaDave put out a killer album in the mid-00's. It isn't perfect, but it's an absolute banger that Megadeth hadn't struck gold on since "Rust In Peace". I fully believe this is Megadeth's best album outside of the that era, and is a hidden gem in their discography, with one hell of a backstory. Mustaine may be a crazy s.o.b. sometimes, but you've got to give it to the guy, he can get down when he's in a zone. "The System Has Failed" proves it. It deserves accolades among Megadeth's fans, as well as metal community as a whole. Is it "Rust In Peace" good? No. Would it have fit in that era? Absolutely. It's the baby brother of the big dogs of old, and deserves a spot at the table.

Track List :

1. Blackmail the Universe
2. Die Dead Enough
3. Kick the Chair
4. The Scorpion
5. Tears in a Vial
6. I Know Jack
7. Back in the Day
8. Something That I'm Not
9. Truth Be Told
10. Of Mice and Men
11. Shadow of Deth
12. My Kingdom

***Disclaimer***

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Megadeth and Capitol Recordings!

Purchase your remastered copy today!

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CAPITOL PUNISHMENT ALBUM REVIEW : The Megadeth Years

 

Tales from the bargain bin. (Part 2) 

bY hells_unicorn, March 26th, 2009

As someone who’s been a Megadeth fan for the better part of 15 years, I’ve long been wary of the dubious nature of many of this band’s compilation releases. This one is, by far, the most dubious of the lot, essentially functioning as an ironically titled get out of jail free card for a band that spent 14 years with the same record label. That’s really the only purpose that this thing severed, aside from being a promotional release for “The World Needs A Hero”, the band’s return to the metal world after a couple of years in a modern rock hiatus, and perhaps as a place for the homeless opening track “Kill The King”, at least until 2005 when the better compilation “Back To The Start” came out.

The important thing to note is that this is a promotional compilation guising as a best of, because you don’t have a best of compilation when you start off with two new songs and essentially throw in a miniscule collection of radio hits in backwards chronological order without any accounting for pacing or stylistic contrast. For those who have already heard Megadeth’s entire discography, the abrupt change in feel that occurs between “Trust” and “A Tout Le Monde” is a surreal reminder of the band’s confusion during the mid 90s, let alone the massive jolt that occurs between “Symphony Of Destruction” and “Hangar 18”. All things considered, if you know most of these songs, or even if you don’t, listening to this straight through is not advised.

Naturally many of the songs on here are obligatory classics, while much of the rest is solid, but having an entire album set up without any thought of what it would sound like when played through defeats the purpose of a compilation. Granted, in this age of ripped playlists, CD compilations are obsolete minus as a dumping place for unreleased rarities, which is what they’ve become. But considering this came out a good 9 years ago, before buying individual songs online became truly widespread, there’s no excuse for this. Throwing together a bunch of songs that happened to be audience and radio favorites happens, but at least format it in a way so that it doesn’t sound like it’s on random play.

And as if the bad track ordering wasn’t enough, before the whole thing withers away and dies we are treated to a trippy medley of Megadeth classics, put together to form a random, jagged collage of sound that I don’t care to listen to again. Random art might be a fancy for some, but anyone who thought that “Risk” had too much quirky sound effects and production gimmicks; this makes that entire album sound like Danzig’s debut. But for all of you who love old Megadeth but scrambled your brains a bit too much head banging to “Peace Sells”, which would probably explain why you might have bought this at full price when it came out, this translates into “this is pointless, don’t spend money on it”.

That’s basically the best advice I can give for anyone toying with buying this for the sake of having a good listening experience. Maybe if you can find it for under $2 at a flee market bargain shop the way I did it might be worth it for “Kill The King”, which is a pretty solid song in the slower “Youthanasia” style. This now has a bright future of picking up dust while sitting in on my shelf between my heavily dust covered copy of “Risk” and my moderately dusty copy of “The World Needs A Hero”, a fitting fate for a compilation that was probably put together over a weekend yet might have made Capitol Records more money than “Risk” did.

Track List :

1. Kill the King
2. Dread and the Fugitive Mind
3. Crush 'Em
4. Use the Man
5. Almost Honest
6. Trust
7. A tout le monde
8. Train of Consequences
9. Sweating Bullets
10. Symphony of Destruction
11. Hangar 18
12. Holy Wars... the Punishment Due
13. In My Darkest Hour
14. Peace Sells

***Disclaimer*** 

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Megadeth and Capitol Recordings! 

Purchase your remastered copy today!

MEGADETH - CAPITOL PUNISHMENT FULL ALBUM  :  The Megadeth Years

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DYSTOPIA ALBUM REVIEW

 

Fatal intervention 

By Demon Fang, May 19th, 2020

Megadeth is a band that, when they’re on, they’re on like Donkey Kong. Peace Sells, Rust in Peace, most of Countdown to Extinction, those three songs from Endgame we all know and love – this is the kind of stuff that kept Megadeth firmly stamped right on the map. They dropped off for a while with the two albums after Endgame, but there’s much ado about their 2016 release, Dystopia. With Kiko Loureiro serving as the other guitarist, having the album more closely resembling Rust in Peace is a safe bet – nothing like him and Dave Mustaine coming right on out with some high-flying solos accentuating catchy riffs. It isn’t quite as strong as those albums I just mentioned, but it’s definitely got its strengths.

Sure enough, the album starts off pretty good with the triple threat of “The Threat is Real”, “Dystopia” and “Fatal Illusion”. The intro song operates at a mid-pace, mixing some chugs with some mid-paced gallops and throws all that your way. Thankfully, this comes across more like an earworm than a non-entity. The titular song is more lively given the faster strumming and leads permeating throughout to get it in your head. “Fatal Illusion” creeps up on you with a somewhat angular groove – somewhat reminiscent of what you’d hear from Angra – before picking up the pace and ratcheting up the tension with some thrashing riffs. Big fat fucking spoiler alert, alongside the fiery fretboarding solo-laden instrumental “Conquer or Die” and the out and out fucking catchy affair that is “The Emperor”, these are the best songs on the album, mainly because they’re the most melodic and lively songs on the album.

This is at least better than anything they’ve done since Countdown to Extinction. Having said that, the other songs are considerably weaker – but they’re not without some merit. “Post American World” and “Bullet to the Brain” have memorable choruses thanks to a slightly more urgent pace in the instruments. Like, I dare you to get their choruses out of your head. But both are bookended with lame, plodding chugs that serve as the verse riffs. Seriously, this shit chugs like a fucking choo-choo train! “Poisonous Shadows” could’ve worked as a neat mid-paced song if it were about two minutes shorter. It’s got a decent rhythm that would stick more if it didn’t drag on for six goddamn minutes. As it is, though, it just kind of plods along – and, when taking the other faults into consideration, it lets the album down a fair bit.

Much of the album consists of mid-paced grooves and thrashy-sounding riffs, interspersing shreddy as fuck solos throughout. This is all with Chris Adler providing a solid backend, David Ellefson providing a few bass licks to bring us back to Mustaine and Loureiro’s riffing, and Mustaine bringing about a venomous vocal assault that provides bite to the angry lyrics whilst also providing additional melody to the songs – said venom, the likes of which we haven’t heard since Rust in Peace. But that album presents somewhat technical and highly melodic riffs, and the songs are a lot more interesting as a result. On Dystopia, the songs vacillate between fairly non-descript chugging and vague thrashing with great solos, and enjoyable guitar technics. In cases of the latter, the songs are consistently enjoyable. The titular song’s theatrics make it pop while “The Emperor” has yet to leave my head in the four years this album has been out as of writing this. But in cases of the former, I’m just waiting for a catchy chorus or for either Mustaine or Loureiro to let it rip so that the song can do SOMETHING.

And it all comes back to how, when Megadeth are on, they’re the main event at the Apollo Theater. Half of Dystopia stands a bit below the band’s best work, but then that’s a monolithic standard to try and meet, so to come close to that while still being a band for over 30 years is pretty impressive by any metric. But the other half lives and dies by the solos and maybe the choruses because everything else is kind of lame – just like most everything that they’ve done between Countdown and here. As it stands, it’s good, but I’m also hoping that the Mustaine/Loureiro partnership can produce some truly stellar stuff in the future.

Track List :

1. The Threat Is Real
3. Fatal Illusion
4. Death from Within
5. Bullet to the Brain
6. Post American World
7. Poisonous Shadows
8. Conquer or Die!
9. Lying in State
10. The Emperor
11. Foreign Policy (Fear cover)

***Disclaimer*** 

I do not own any copyright for any of this material!

Copyright belongs to Megadeth and Capitol Recordings! 

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END GAME ALBUM REVIEW

 

Rust In Peace II... No but it is a modern classic!

By Inhuman_Abomination, October 22nd, 2020

Written based on this version: 2009, CD, Roadrunner Records

Post Risk Megadeth releases can be effectively all classified as half tributes to the different eras of the classic material, mixed with their current attempts to marry older ideas with said past glories. Sometimes these collections fall flat or come off as simply acceptable. However, sometimes these attempts hit all the right notes; Endgame is one of those times. Endgame was expectedly dubbed as a return to form, as with most releases by the Megadeth, or the Big Four in general. Forwarded by claims that the album could be slotted right in there, between album X and album Y of the first 5 classics, or 6 depending on who was doing the talking. If you had been a fan of Megadeth long enough, you have heard the same claims about The World Needs A Hero, The System Has Failed, and the previous stab, United Abominations. To be fair, this was true in some form or another, that the material on those albums, is definitely better than the releases that saw Megadeth distance themselves from thrash, and on some occasions, heavy metal altogether.

As with all Megadeth releases, being the zealot that I am, I buy it the day it comes out, or even finding a leak if I can beforehand. I picked up the album from HMV, got back to the car, and threw it in. I think that because of the past albums never really living up to their claims, that the material entered my ears with a doubt filter installed. Anyway, after a few listens I was thoroughly impressed. But this was not Rust In Peace, and it was never going to be. It was Endgame that drove home the idea, that outside of Dave deciding to record only super tech songs, and chase an early 90’s production style; it was never going to be like Rust In Peace. There are, however, lots of shining moments that harken back to the classic albums, but they also found a way to pick the best parts of the new releases.

The album kicks off with ‘Dialectic Chaos’, an instrumental that conjures a likeness of Into The Lungs Of Hell. It's stuffed with thrash riffs and exceptional lead work from Mustaine and new guy, Chris Broderick. In fact, being a Mustaine fan, I was outright animated, that aside from a few songs on here, Mustaine and Broderick are trading shred for shred. ‘This Day We Fight’ doesn’t waste any time ripping into an amalgam of Rust In Peace like material, right down to a riff that is quite similar to one from Five Magics. ‘44 Minutes’ is a track that could have easily been written for United Abominations, with its Gears of War feel. Its recount of the 97’ North Hollywood shootout, using a narrative vocal style that Mustaine has been doing more and more as of late. ‘1320’, a song about drag racing, musically drums up a So Far, So Good’s 502 vibe. ‘Bite The Hand’ and ‘Bodies’, imprinting a United Abominations/World Needs A Hero aura respectively, are the only slight weak points of the record. They aren’t bad or even mediocre, but they do have a few lyrical and musical moments that don’t appeal to me. Though, I do enjoy ‘Bodies’ melodic approach more than ‘Bite The Hand’s’ disjointed riffing and lyrics.

The title track ‘Endgame’, could have been written for United Abominations, as it fits its character to a T. With its narrative/diatribe vocals, back and forth lead work, and those under-solo Hangar 18-esque riffs, it tears into American politics. This is another element to return that I have enjoyed with current Megadeth albums. Mustaine, never being shy about speaking his mind about current events, for a while those topics took a back seat to lyrics about his personal life. There is only so much about his past drug use and religion that one can appreciate. ‘The Hardest Part Of Letting Go... Sealed With A Kiss’ is a bit of a refugee on the album. It definitely has an A Worlds Needs A Hero vibe but it also has an almost European power metal feel, which I can only really attribute to Chris Broderick’s involvement in the song writing. ‘Head Crusher’ is as the title appears; it is the heaviest crushing track on the album, definitely at home among the So Far, So Good styled songs. A maverick of the album, it stands out in many ways, and most likely due to Drover writing the bulk of the music. ‘How The Story Ends’ is an infectious track, with a The System Has Failed/United Abominations feel, with even a few riffs that could have been lifted from The Disintegrators type material off of Cryptic Writings. This track is a personal favourite of mine, with killer catchy riffs, a cool acoustic solo by Dave, and a ripping lead from Broderick. Easily the one song I look forward to the most when spinning the disc. The album ends with ‘The Right To Go Insane’, and is very United Abominations in its feel. It is a good track, but not the one that should have closed out the album. If one was to switch around the last two tracks, that would have made a great ending to the disc.

Sonically the production on this album is stellar, thanks to returning producer Andy Sneap (Nevermore, Testament) at the helm. The sound is crisp, clear, and well mixed; like an updated Max Normal production. As usual, Megadeth is second to none when it comes to its execution, and Dave would accept nothing less. Mustaine’s vocals are great, his leads are some of the best he has done, and his rhythms are razor sharp. The aforementioned Ex Jag Panzer/Nevermore guitarist, Chris Broderick, completes the guitar duo. Skill-wise, Broderick is the closest Megadeth has found that matches Marty Friedman. His lead work is phenomenal but only time will tell if his leads will be as memorable as the classic Friedman or Chris Poland solos. Shawn Drover and Journeyman bassist, James LoMenzo, return on Endgame for their second outing. Both doing a great job, but they don’t stand out like Gar, Nick and David did.

How does the CD stack up to the classics? Well, I think it should be considered a modern classic. If you are a Megadeth fan, you are almost guaranteed to love this album. If you only like the first 4, you might not receive this album as well as I did. So if Rust In Peace is a perfect album like I think it is, and then this album is its younger brother that isn’t so serious all the time. I highly recommend that you add this to your collection.

Track List :

1. Dialectic Chaos
2. This Day We Fight!
3. 44 Minutes
4. 1,320'
5. Bite the Hand
6. Bodies
7. Endgame
8. The Hardest Part of Letting Go... Sealed with a Kiss
9. Head Crusher
10. How the Story Ends
11. The Right to Go Insane

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Copyright belongs to Megadeth and Capitol Recordings! 

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MEGADETH - END GAME FULL ALBUM 

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