ANTHRAX - SPREADING THE DISEASE ALBUM REVIEW

 

Please look after Mister Brown 

By kluseba, February 2nd, 2015

Written based on this version: 1985, CD, Island Records

"Young and free, something you'll never be!". The first lines of Anthrax's sophomore output resume the band's spirit back in the days very well. The East Coast thrash metal legend performs carefree songs full of enthusiasm without any compromises. Stylistically, the band sounds still much closer to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal than to the pitiless thrash metal between liberatingly humorous lyrics and socially critical statements on later outputs. The cool main riff of "Madhouse" could be taken from a Judas Priest record of the early eighties while the harmonious guitar play and the high pitched chorus of "S.S.C./Stand or Fall" have obvious Iron Maiden influences. New singer Joey Belladonna offers his most enthusiastic performance and isn't afraid of high notes or fast passages. His technical struggles here and there are outpowered by his charming juvenile spirit. The tight rhythm section of bass guitar and drums harmonizes well and grooves, pushes and rushes us through nine vivid tracks. The guitar work is extraordinary as one can hear both tight heavy metal riffs and orgasmic melodic high-speed guitar solos in all tracks of this fun ride.

Despite numerous influences from other bands, Anthrax always manages to add a surprising note to each song and keeps a high degree of original diversity without losing the carefree guiding line. Especially the opening moments of most tracks are courageous, entertaining and original. The humorous radioplay overture of the charismatic "Madhouse" reminds me of the thought provoking drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The acoustic guitar opening of "S.S.C./Stand or Fall" almost recalls traditional flamenco influences. The drum play and sound effects in the beginning of "The Enemy" make almost any metal fan play air drums and bang his head. The folk infused sounds in the beginning of "Armed and Dangerous" that are carried on by appeasing acoustic guitars and heartbreaking electric guitar solos are atmospheric and progressive but nevertheless related to classic heavy metal. This is one of the most melodic and also outthought tracks ever written by the band. On the other side, Anthrax closes the record with its fastest song ever which is the chaotic and humorous "Gung Ho" where all instruments break loose towards the intentionally random ending.

There are only two songs I enjoy a little bit less on an otherwise incredibly strong output somewhere between classic heavy metal, American power and thrash metal and a small dose of hardcore punk. "Aftershock" has some interesting lyrics and can be seen as a hint at more politically inspired texts to come from the band but the chorus lacks energy and originality and the usually emotional guitar solos on this record are missing on this tune. "Medusa" is slightly better because of a solid heavy metal main riff and a great melodic vocal performance in the verses but the slightly psychedelic and noisy chorus is rather off-putting and plain weird as it doesn't fit at all to the rest of the song. If these two tracks weren't on the record, it would maybe be the best American heavy and power metal album of all times. Despite these two average tunes, this album still is a classic must have for fans of the aforementioned genres.

There is only one thing left to talk about. I would like to know what happened to Mister Brown. The mentally disabled patient welcomes his medicine with hysterical laughter in the beginning of "Madhouse" and one can hear him again during the chaotic and liberating party that is going on during "Gung Ho". Maybe he was able to escape from the madhouse as one can hear him again in another crowd during the performance of "Bud E Luv Bomb and Satan's Lounge Band", a b-side of the band's third record. As far as I know, he was never heard of again after his appearance during this crazy concert with a couple of drunkards in a social club. What happened to Mister Brown? I hope this secret will get revealed one day and that we might hear of him again on Anthrax's next studio record.

Track List  :

1. A.I.R.
2. Lone Justice
3. Madhouse
4. S.S.C. / Stand or Fall
5. The Enemy
6. Aftershock
7. Armed and Dangerous
8. Medusa
9. Gung-Ho

***Disclaimer*** 

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

Copyright belongs to Anthrax and Music for Nations Recordings! 

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ANTHRAX - FISTFUL OF METAL ALBUM REVIEW

 

Good, But Not Great - 80%

By ThrashFanatic, April 25th, 2018

Written based on this version: 1984, 12" vinyl, Megaforce Records

Any self-respecting thrasher has certainly heard of Anthrax. We all heard the story, two classmates form a band named after a disease they read about in a textbook in their biology class. Neil Turbin, Scott Ian, Dan Lilker, Charlie Benante and Dan Spitz was the original Anthrax, and after the "Soldiers Of Metal" single was recorded, Jon Zazula signed the band. "Fistful Of Metal" was the 3rd Big Four debut to come out, after Metallica's "Kill Em All" and Slayer's "Show No Mercy". The record had some killer tracks here and there, but ultimately fell flat due to hollow production. This is a classic however, and would be the only Anthrax album to feature Lilker and Turbin before both got fired.

Now before I mention the songs, I would just like to go on record by saying the production is extremely dry and hollow, and lacks any real punch. There is a reverb that I don't like about this, they could of done better. Anyways, the record begins with "Deathrider", which has some good riffs. To be honest, I'm not as crazy about Scott Ian as many thrashers seem to be. He is certainly a great rhythm guitarist, but he never impressed me as much as Hetfield, Mustaine or Hanneman. The vocals of Neil Turbin are pretty decent, but he clearly doesn't match the greatness of Joey Belladonna that would follow on the next record "Spreading The Disease". Dan Lilker is an incredible bassist, he is the standout performer here. I prefer his work with Nuclear Assault however, I just don't think he belonged in Anthrax despite the fact he pretty much founded the band along with Ian. Dan Spitz's solos are damn good, they are probably the best solos he has done along with the solos on "Spreading The Disease" and "Among The Living". Charlie Benante as we all know is one of the greatest thrash drummers on the planet, but I feel like his talents aren't showcased here as much as his later work.

"Metal Thrashing Mad" is basically the song that helped coin the term "thrash", after Kerrang! referred to the song as "thrash metal". This song shows off the impressive vocal range of Turbin, this is undoubtedly his best performance. The next track bemused me however. No disrespect to Mr. Alice Cooper, the guy is certainly talented, but which person at Megaforce Records thought it was a good idea to add a cover of "I'm Eighteen"? They must have been smoking something, because this is totally out of place and doesn't fit well on here at all. Hell, even Scott Ian himself refused to take part in the recording of the cover from what I read. This deducts points off the overall score of this review. "Panic" is easily the highlight, the awesome drum work from Benante is remarkable, and the main guitar riff is a classic. Don't forget that guitar solo! This one is a must listen. Most of the rest of the record however is pretty disposable unfortunately, there are some filler tracks which put me to sleep on occasion. This overall drains the life out of the listener, where did the exciting, vibrant thrashing madness go? Hmmm....

Well my question was answered with the redeeming last 2 tracks, "Across The River" and "Howling Furies". "Across The River" is a neat little instrumental which contains some sick shredding and "Howling Furies" brings some much needed life back into the whole listening experience. I love the guitar harmony near the middle of this track, it sounds metal as fuck! This is how you redeem yourself and save your record from falling completely flat!

"Fistful Of Metal" is definitely essential listening for any thrash fan, I mean come on, it's fucking Anthrax! However, I rarely find myself listening to this record, because there are a lot better debut thrash records out there. I have to admit that Turbin was an awesome vocalist on this album, but I feel like he wouldn't of fit on later Anthrax albums. So my overall verdict? Buy this and add it to your collection. Listen to it once or twice, then place it on the shelf to collect dust. I recommend this for fans of Judas Priest, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Motorhead and Diamond Head.

Highlights: "Metal Thrashing Mad", "Panic", "Across The River" and "Howling Furies

Track List  :

1. Deathrider

2. Metal Thrashing Mad

3. I'm Eighteen (Alice Cooper cover)

4. Panic

5. Subjugator

6. Soldiers of Metal

7. Death from Above

8. Anthrax

9. Across the River

10. Howling Furies

***Disclaimer*** 

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

Copyright belongs to Anthrax  and Megaforce  Recordings! 

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ANTHRAX

 

Image Souce : Metal Archive.com

Anthrax was founded in July 1981 by guitarists Scott Ian & Dan Lilker. They discovered the band's name while perusing a biology textbook and claimed it solely for its sufficiently evil-sounding connotation. Soon to join them were vocalist John Connelly, drummer Dave Weiss & bassist Kenny Kushner. Kushner was replaced with Paul Kahn, who was also found insufficient & ultimately galvanized Lilker to take over bass. Greg Walls joined as second guitarist. Connelly & Weiss left & were replaced by Greg D'Angelo on drums, and after a series of vocalists (including Scott's brother Jason Rosenfeld), they found Neil Turbin.

This line-up gigged frequently locally & featured original songs like "Satan's Wheels" & "Hunting Dogs" as well as covers by Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Kiss & more, then in July 1982 they recorded a NWOBHM-sounding demo. Walls left in the summer of 1983, leaving Bob Berry to replace him for a few gigs.

Then Dan Spitz (formerly of Overkill) joined the band, replacing Bob Berry & with this membership they recorded their second 1983 demo. Come September, Charlie Benante had replaced drummer Greg D'Angelo & with this line-up recorded the 1983 Soldiers of Metal single, produced by Ross the Boss of Manowar. The single's b-side is actually the only performance to feature Greg D'Angelo that'd be grooved on an official release by the band.

This demo led to a recording deal with Megaforce Records, for which they recorded their debut album, Fistful of Metal, in late 1983. It was released in February 1984 followed by a US tour, during which tensions grew between Lilker and Turbin. Lilker left to form Nuclear Assault with former singer John Connelly.

Bassist Frank Bello (Charlie Benante's nephew) joined just before Turbin was fired in July 1984 very near the end of the tour, allowing Matt Fallon to finish the tour as temporary vocalist.

In late 1984, the band appeared as a four-piece called The Diseased with Ian on vocals, which performed a few punk covers, including Discharge's "See Nothing, Hear Nothing, Say Nothing". A recording is said to exist.

The replacement for Turbin, Joey Belladonna, first appeared on the 1985 Armed and Dangerous ep. Later in 1985, Ian & Lilker appeared on the seminal S.O.D. album Speak English or Die. Anthrax's sophomore full-length, Spreading the Disease, came soon after supported with US & European tours.

In late 1986, Among the Living was recorded & released in January 1987, resulting in another European tour with Metallica & Metal Church as well as some US touring. The 1987 I Am the Law single sold very well due to the popularity of b-side "I'm the Man", a comical rap-rock effort. It was released as a US-only ep to coincide with the US tour in the summer of 1987 & marked the band's first foray into the rap world.

1988's State of Euphoria brought more touring with funk metal act Living Colour in support. Then 1990's Persistence of Time was another success, though the recording sessions were a bit interesting, marked by the 1989 Bay Area earthquake and also a fire. Anthrax opened for Iron Maiden in Europe and co-headlined the Clash of the Titans tour in '91 in the US with Slayer, Megadeth and opener Alice in Chains. Another tour followed with rap act Public Enemy, which featured live collaborations on the P.E. songs "Bring the Noise" and "Too Much Posse".

Anthrax then recorded an EP called Attack of the Killer B's with some new material including an update of "I'm the Man" and a cover of "Bring the Noise" (originally by Public Enemy) as well as some live footage from the Persistence of Time tour. Joey did very little on this EP, demonstrating a great rift between him and the band. Scott performed most of the vocals on the two rap songs and also the anti-censorship song "Starting Up a Posse".

In 1992, Joey Belladonna was fired from the band and John Bush (Armored Saint) was brought in for the Sound of White Noise album in 1993. In 1994, Dan Spitz left the band and became a born-again Christian and a watchmaker in Switzerland.

Dimebag Darrell (guitars, Pantera) helped out with some studio tracks on the 1995 album Stomp 442 and 1998's Volume 8: The Threat is Real. For touring, Paul Crook was brought in, who also did some studio tracks on Volume 8. Charlie Benante also played guitars on the studio albums. A greatest hits album, Return of the Killer A's, was recorded in 2000 and featured a new song, "Ball of Confusion". The Temptations cover featured both John Bush and Joey Belladonna on vocals. A tour was planned with both singers, but Belladonna pulled out.

Nonetheless, Anthrax toured with Megadeth and Mötley Crüe in 2000 until the Crue unceremoniously booted them off the bill to expand the length of their own set. Undeterred, Anthrax performed at Thrash of the Titans in 2001 and also opened up for Judas Priest in 2001-2002. After the terrorist incidents of late 2001, Scott Ian jokingly mentioned on the official website that the band has changed their name to Basket Full of Puppies. This was in response to a joke made by Jay Leno.

The album We've Come For You All was released in 2003, followed by the live album Music of Mass Destruction in 2004. Also in 2004, Frankie Bello took some time off from Anthrax after 20 years in the band. Joey Vera filled on a touring basis.

On April 1, 2005 Anthrax announced a reunion of the "classic line-up" consisting of Belladona, Bello, Benante, Ian, and Spitz. This lasted until 2007 when Belladonna and Spitz departed again, though Bello stayed around. Rob Caggiano then rejoined along with new vocalist Dan Nelson. Caggiano and John Bush had both expressed displeasure (Caggiano more vocally) at the handling of the reunion and Bush declined the invitation to return.

Nelson left for unspecified reasons in 2009 after Anthrax had already completed work on their next album. John Bush stepped in for a few live appearances before Joey Belladonna joined for the third time in May 2010.

Scott Ian appeared on the VH1 Rock Honors playing bass in an all-star band paying tribute to Kiss. The line-up of the band was Rob Zombie (White Zombie) - vocals, Slash (Guns'N'Roses, Velvet Revolver, Slash's Snakepit) - guitar, Gilby Clarke - guitar, Ace Frehley (Kiss) - guitar,Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe, Methods of Mayhem) - drums.

Some of their songs are included in the film Pledge Night. Joey Belladonna also makes a brief appearance as an actor in it.

Anthrax Discography  :

Fistful of Metal Full-length 1984
Spreading the Disease Full-length 1985
Among the Living Full-length 1987
Fistful of Anthrax Compilation 1987
State of Euphoria Full-length 1988
Persistence of Time Full-length 1990
Attack of the Killer B's Compilation 1991
Sound of White Noise Full-length 1993
Live - The Island Years Live album 1994
Stomp 442 Full-length 1995
Fistful of Metal / Armed and Dangerous Compilation 1998
Volume 8 - The Threat Is Real Full-length 1998
Moshers... 1986-1991 Compilation 1998
Return of the Killer A's Compilation 1999
Madhouse: The Very Best of Anthrax Compilation 2001
The Universal Masters Collection Compilation 2001
The Collection Compilation 2002
We've Come for You All Full-length 2003
Music of Mass Destruction Live album 2004
The Greater of Two Evils Full-length 2004
Alive 2 Live album 2005
Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991) Compilation 2005
Extended Versions Live album 2007
Colour Collection Compilation 2007
Caught in a Mosh: BBC Live in Concert Live album 2009
Worship Music Full-length 2011
Icon Compilation 2012
Snapshot Compilation 2013
Aftershock: The Island Years 1985-1990 Boxed set 2013
Essential Compilation 2014
Sound of White Noise / Stomp 442 Compilation 2016
For All Kings Full-length 2016
Kings Among Scotland Live album 2018
Chile on Hell Live album 2018

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MEGADETH

Image Source : Metal Archive.com

Megadeth was formed in late 1983 when Dave Mustaine (formerly of Metallica) threw a potted plant through the window of David Ellefson's apartment because Ellefson was practicing his bass too loud. When the band was formed, Dijion Carruthers was their drummer and Greg Handevidt their second guitarist. They quickly replaced Carruthers with drummer Lee Rausch, recorded a demo, and secured a few gigs in the San Francisco Bay area in February 1984. After Handevidt was fired for incompetence (he later formed Kublai Khan), they quickly found second guitarist Kerry King (Slayer), who played Megadeth's first three gigs: February 15th, 18th, and 19th of 1984.

The band name was selected from a term referring to a million casualties, as a result of nuclear fallout. It was coined in 1953 by RAND military strategist Herman Kahn. The extra "a" was dropped by the band.

King left later that month when Mustaine wanted him to choose between Megadeth and Slayer. Then, Chris Poland was brought in, and more gigs were played, starting on April 15th, 1984. A demo was recorded with this lineup, and then Lee Rausch left (he would later that year show up in Dark Angel), and was replaced by Gar Samuelson. This lineup recorded the first two albums.

There were troubles with Chris Poland. He was replaced with Mike Albert for part of the 1985 tour, and was finally fired in 1987, for stealing Mustaine's guitars and other transgressions (read the lyrics to "Liar" for a somewhat biased but not entirely untrue account), and Gar Samuelson left as well (his parting wasn't entirely amicable, either). Chuck Behler came in immediately, and several guitarists were tried out, including Jay Reynolds of Malice, who played a few gigs on the 1987 tour, before giving way to Jeff Young. This lineup recorded So Far, So Good... So What!, but after a subsequent tour, both Young and Behler were fired.

Nick Menza, Chuck's drum tech, went behind the kit himself in 1989, and the band recorded, as a trio, "No More Mister Nice Guy", an Alice Cooper cover for the "Shocker" soundtrack. After tryouts that included Criss Oliva (Savatage), Jeff Waters (Annihilator), Eric Meyer (Dark Angel), Dimebag Darrell (Pantera, and Damageplan), a 15-year-old Darrell Roberts (W.A.S.P.), a 16-year-old Jeff Loomis (Nevermore), Lee Altus (Heathen), and even Slash (Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver), Marty Friedman of Cacophony was hired in February of 1990, and this lineup lasted for about 8 years and produced four albums and most of the songs on an EP, before Nick Menza left due to a knee injury.

Jimmy DeGrasso (of Y&T and White Lion) was brought in, and Risk was recorded. Then, Marty Friedman left, citing a desire to play Japanese pop music, while Mustaine wanted to return to heavy metal. Thus, Al Pitrelli of Savatage, as well as Trans-Siberian Orchestra joined the band. A new album, The World Needs a Hero, was recorded and a tour with Iced Earth launched afterwards.

Dave Mustaine, citing an arm injury that left him unable to play guitar effectively, dissolved Megadeth in April 2002. On January 13th, 2004, Mustaine, following his alleged "religious awakening", announced his plans to reform Megadeth with former guitarist Chris Poland. David Ellefson, Al Pitrelli, and Jimmy DeGrasso did not want to rejoin and went back to working on their other projects. They initially formed a band of their own, which never got off the ground. Dave Ellefson went on to join Soulfly.

In August of 2004, the new album, The System Has Failed, was completed with the help of session drummer and bassist Vinnie Colaiuta and Jimmy Sloas. Former guitarist Chris Poland was also brought back to record lead parts.

New guitarist Glen Drover and bassist James MacDonough were recruited for the tour, which would begin in September. Nick Menza briefly returned, but was dismissed after being deemed unfit to perform such a lengthy tour. Glen Drover's brother and Eidolon bandmate Shawn Drover was brought in. This was confirmed as the permanent lineup by Dave Mustaine in 2005. Typically, though, this was not to last and MacDonough left at the beginning of 2006 to be replaced by James Lomenzo.

It was confirmed in mid-January 2008 - after considerable rumour - that Glen Drover had left Megadeth due to their heavy touring schedule conflicting with his family interests. Chris Broderick was immediately brought in to replace him.

James LoMenzo left Megadeth in February 2010, heralding the return of original bassist David Ellefson.

Megadeth Discography  :

Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! Full-length 1985
Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? Full-length 1986
So Far, So Good... So What! Full-length 1988
Rust in Peace Full-length 1990
Countdown to Extinction Full-length 1992
Megabox Single Collection Boxed set 1993
Youthanasia Full-length 1994
Hidden Treasures Compilation 1995
The Originals Boxed set 1997
Cryptic Writings Full-length 1997
Risk Full-length 1999
Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years Compilation 2000
The World Needs a Hero Full-length 2001
Rude Awakening Live album 2002
Still, Alive... and Well? Compilation 2002
Unplugged in Philly Live album 2004
The System Has Failed Full-length 2004
Hell Wasn't Built in a Day: The Complete Remasters Boxed set 2004
Greatest Hits: Back to the Start Compilation 2005
Unplugged in Boston Live album 2006
Extended Versions Compilation 2007
United Abominations Full-length 2007
That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires Live album 2007
Warchest Boxed set 2007
Anthology: Set the World Afire Compilation 2008
Endgame Full-length 2009
Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? Boxed set 2011
Th1rt3en Full-length 2011 
Rust in Peace / Countdown to Extinction Compilation 2012
Super Collider Full-length 2013
Countdown to Extinction: Live Live album 2013
Icon Compilation 2014
5 Classic Albums Boxed set 2014
Countdown to Extinction / Rust in Peace Compilation 2014
Dystopia Full-length 2016
Warheads on Foreheads Compilation 2019

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MEGADETH - TH1RT3N ALBUM REVIEW

 

Good Album with its potholes - 75%

By FozzyOgoody, March 7th, 2014

I had the highest expectations for this album, first off David Ellefson had finally returned to the band and this was his first album back with the band since "The World Needs A Hero". Second, I thought Megadeth was out of creative juice until they pulled a treat like "Endgame" out, so i had high expectations that they were gonna get back on the right track. But even before they actually released the album i was already disappointed, seeing that when the band revealed he song names i had already heard a large amount of the songs in the first place.

To start off, the first song on the album "Sudden Death", had already appeared on Guitar Hero so i was somewhat familiar with song even though they did a great job rerecording it for the record. Second, the 7th track on the album "New World Order" had been a demo song floating around for a while which was on the remastering of "Youthanasia" as a bonus track, but then again the did another great rerecording of the song. Now 3rd, the song "Black Swan" which is the 9th track on the album had already appeared on the Japanese version of "United Abominations" which turned out good but then again it was nothing new. Now last is another demo song which also appeared on the remastering of "Youthanasia" and that is "Millennium of the Blind". However they really gave the song a makeover, moving the intro towards the end of the song and then adding now verses and its own chorus (where now Dave makes it yet another political song). So to sum things up, by the time i actually received the album there were only 6 songs i hadn't hear yet because of the songs i just mentioned and the fact that "Public Enemy No. 1" and "Never Dead" had already been revealed. But the good thing of this, all those songs were great, they were nothing less of thrash with some killer riffs to add to it. My personal favorites were "Sudden Death" and "Never Dead" because of the great soloing, killer production, and overall song writing.

Now to talk about the 6 songs i didn't hear yet when i got the album. First off "Whose Life (is it Anyways?)" is an overall okay song, the lyrics are cheesy for Megadeth as well as the intro to the song as well. In fact most of these songs are cheesy for example the chorus to "Guns, Drugs & Money", it is such a simple, poorly written chorus and for me it ruins the whole song, the pre chorus however in this song is much better than the actually chorus itself! Other songs too like "Wrecker" just make me cringe listening to it, anytime Mustaine goes near a love song or talking about women i cringe. The whole song is a about how a woman or having a wife will wreck everything you own, the whole song is pointless. "Deadly Nightshade" is a pretty good overall song, the overall riff through the song is good, even though the song sounds more Mettalica based than Megadeth.

Now the title track on this album was okay as well, the beginning of the song (especially right at the start with the acoustic) had me cringing from Dave's vocals, to the lyrics as well. But the song picks up and has some decent riffs that come out of it, so overall the song wasn't bad nor good. "We the People" was a good song overall, fun and catchy but didn't rock my socks off. The last song i haven't mentioned makes me sick thinking about it, i would of given this album a better review if this song wouldn't of soiled the album. And that song is of course "Fast Lane", a total abomination of a song, from the brain dead 12 year old lyrics, to the mediocre rushed song writing on all instruments in the band. The whole song just screams rushed, it is a horrible filler written last minute with one of the most disgusting choruses ever spawned. Just take this part of the song: "Fast lane, like a jet plane Like a freight train, I’m driving insane", that whole snippet of the chorus shows the careless rhyme scheme that was written, absolute garbage.

My conclusion however is still more of a positive one. No, it didn't keep the momentum of "Endgame" going, and yes i heard a large amount of the songs before hand, i was still entertained by it and absolutely loved several songs on the album like "Sudden Death", "Never Dead" or "Millennium of the Blind". I wouldn't however say this is a solid album however because it does have its pot holes, but it does however have its good moments so ill leave the review at that.

Track List  :

1. Sudden Death
2. Public Enemy No. 1
3. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)
4. We the People
5. Guns, Drugs & Money
6. Never Dead
7. New World Order
8. Fast Lane
9. Black Swan
10. Wrecker
11. Millennium of the Blind
12. Deadly Nightshade
13. 13

***Disclaimer*** 

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

Copyright belongs to Megadeth and Capitol Recordings! 

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MEGADETH - THE WORLD NEEDS A HERO ALBUM REVIEW

 

Megadeth returns...well kinda sorta 

By DethFanatic, May 26th, 2003

The World Needs A Hero (TWNAH for the rest of this review) was released on a rabid Megadeth fanbase in 2001. Now why were those fans rabid? After the overblown split with Capitol and the release of Risk, many a 'Deth fan salivated at the kind of music a pissed-off Dave Mustaine might conjure up for his next release. Add to that the fact that Marty Friedman had left the band to pursue "softer" music, and the recipe seemed to be set for a bonecrushing return for the Megadeth boys.

This, of course, was not exactly what happened.

First off, every Megadeth fan in existance wanted and expected a rehashing of Rust In Peace. This was not a valid expectation, no matter how many people bitched about Risk and Cryptic Writings. Evolution, people. Progression. Say what you want about the band, they have at least learned to evolve and progress. Back to the album.

TWNAH starts off with Disconnect, a personal favorite reminiscient of Youthanasia's more mellower metal tracks.

Next up is TWNAH the song. Another good one, and a great Megadeth tune in that it makes use of the attitude from one Dave Mustaine. Proof that great songs can be made using simple guitar riffs.

Moto Psycho is #3, and this one is not one of the better ones. Yeah, it sounds like a great bunch of riffage, but there are really only one or two riffs that just get rehashed throughout the entire song. A direct contrast to TWNAH, where that actually worked well. Also, the lyrics and subject matter are a bit silly after the first listen.

1000 Times Goodbye is another example of turning Dave's attitude into song. Not as good as TWNAH again, but much better than Moto Psycho. Yes, more relatively uncomplicated riffwork, but on a whole it fits the song again.

Burning Bridges is next, and this one is not very good. The song would have been perfect on Risk, and that about sums that up! The biggest problem is that Dave's vocals seem a bit forced during the chorus.

Promises is a great song. Maybe not a great Megadeth song, but definitely a great song on its own. The lyrics are moving, the musicianship is excellent, and the song itself is great to listen to.

Recipe For Hate...Warhorse is one of the finest tracks on the album, and one of the best Megadeth tracks since Train Of Consequences. The guitar work in the second half of the song is just superb, and reminiscient of what Megadeth fans had been expecting the whole CD to sound like.

Loosing My Senses is just weird. Forget this song, it just doesn't work.

Dread And The Fugitive Mind. One word: filler. Not a bad song, but we'd heard it already guys.

Silent Scorn is the latest instrumental from Megadeth. Even with the weird horn accompaniment, the song is catchy and great to listen to (and play on guitar!). Megadeth has proven able to write this kind of music, and Dave needs to do mroe of this in the future.

Return To Hangar. At first I thought this was a cheap attempt to get fans of old-school Megadeth to buy the album, but after hearing it I realized that the song was a great piece of work. Had the whole album been composed of songs along the lines or Recipe... and Return To Hangar, this album would have been recieved much better by fans. The lead guitar tradeoffs between Pitrelli and Mustaine are excellent and bring back memories of Rust In Peace's soloing.

When finishes out the album, and is Megadeth's longest song ever (ok, not counting the remix of Symphony!). It starts out alright, although Dave's vocals could have been better here. Once the distortion kicks in life gets a little better. Not too much, because you're distracted from the quality of the song by the obvious nod to Diamond Head's Am I Evil?

All in all, a decent release. For shits and giggles, lets compare TWNAH and Metallica's Load/Re-Load debacle. TWNAH is a decent Megadeth album. This is its strong point; it's clearly recognizable as a Megadeth release. The Loads, on the other hand, great hard rock albums. The difference is that in this case, they aren't good Metallica CDs. On this point Mustaine and Co. score a point, they have maintained their image and "essence" if you will regardless of the iteration of their music that one might hear. Metallica, on the other hand, evolved a little too much.

Summing up, there's a lot of good Megadeth material on this one. The only problem is that there's not a lot of GREAT Megadeth material on this one. However, the one clue that the album wasn't going to be a total load of crap is found in the credits...Dave Mustaine was the sole author for nearly all of the tracks. For thos of you not paying attention, there was at least one co-author on nearly all of Risk's tracks. You do the math.

Track List  :

1. Disconnect

2. The World Needs a Hero

3. Moto Psycho

4. 1000 Times Goodbye

5. Burning Bridges

6. Promises

7. Recipe for Hate...Warhorse

8. Losing My Senses

9. Dread and the Fugitive Mind

10. Silent Scorn

11. Return to Hangar

12. When

***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 - THE WORLD NEEDS A HERO FULL ALBUM

( Poor Quality Audio )

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What! SO FAR, SO GOOD...SO WHAT! ALBUM REVIEW

 

Dave's brightest hour 

By TheArchivist, May 30th, 2019

1988 was a very memorable year for heavy metal, if only for the release of Megadeth’s “So Far, So Good, So What!” which undoubtedly, is one of the group’s strongest efforts, crafting thrash metal with substance and passion. Unlike other thrash bands of this specific period who are trying to “out-thrash” each other, Dave chose to do the right thing, which is to write tastefully made thrash that would rise above the hoard of copycats saturating the market.

Assisting and helping Dave on this new mission is former guitar instructor turned ‘Deth lead guitarist Jeff Young, who is probably the most unappreciated ‘Deth “session player” or “hired gun” in the band’s history; he may not be a Chris Poland or a Marty Friedman but his solos show noteworthy aptitude and feeling which other thrash axe-slingers have great difficulty conveying in this type of music. New-fangled drummer, ex-roadie Chuck Behler may not have possessed the technical chops of Nick Menza or the virtuosic approach of Gar Samuelson but he is very competent in his own right, as proven by his furious pounding of the drumkit on songs “In My Darkest Hour” and “Hook in Mouth”.

Moving on to the album itself, five of the eight tracks stand out in this metal compendium which is a feat in itself considering how most thrash compilations are quite uneven, containing both great and not so great songs. Tracks “Into the Lungs of Hell” and “Set the World Afire” are excellent album openers, perfectly setting the stage for the record’s blazing brand of thrash metal; “Into the Lungs of Hell” is an instrumental track much like Metallica’s “Call of Ktulu” and works fine without any vocal accompaniment while “Set the World Afire” is literally a scorching thrasher. Listening to Dave’s pissed off singing, you can actually feel his burning but restrained anger rising to the surface; the rage and frustration Dave felt after being unfairly kicked out of Metallica (a band in which he was a significant contributor) can be palpably sensed here and the malignant misanthropy expressed in this thrash anthem is readily understood by any discerning listener.

“Mary Jane” is also a worthy addition to the Megadeth catalog, possibly as a response to Metallica’s “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”, both songs share themes and subject matter concerning insanity (a favorite topic in thrash metal along with war and death); the major difference is that the former is a billion times better than the latter. Dave’s song simply packs more emotional wallop and resonance than James and Lars’s quasi-ballad which suffers from being a bit cheesy and juvenile. Also ‘Deth’s performance does not lose the thrash factor, keeping the thrashing element alive and relentless towards the end of the song. Later, Dave would revisit this theme on “Sweating Bullets” but the resulting output would not be as effective (after reading the lyrics of the song on the Archives though, I think Dave was singing about a bad marijuana trip and not schizophrenia as I previously suspected, the cassette tape I had back then had no lyric sheet, ha ha).

“Hook in Mouth” is another masterful Mustaine composition, featuring one of the most brutal thrash riff to be recorded on tape (okay, maybe not as brutal as any of the riffs on Pleasure to Kill); the band did not require any accompanying growling vocal or death metal riffing to achieve this. It is also worth mentioning for advocating the fight against censorship and for criticizing Tipper Gore. The real icing on the album’s cake though is “In My Darkest Hour”, arguably one of Dave’s best songs, if not the best Megadeth song; the track is possibly one of the most “pop” sounding in ‘Deth’s repertoire (the other one is “Trust” from Cryptic Writings) or rather, it is a dark, heavy song with a sort of pop sensibility (whatever that means). The track earns a lot of brownie points from fans for its progression and thoughtful arrangement; it is also one of the most heart wrenching songs written by a thrash band, penned by Dave after his troubled relationship with then girlfriend, Diana. While functioning as a sad “love song” of sorts, it also tackles the taboo subject of suicide which kind of makes it resemble Dave’s ex-band mates’ “Fade to Black” or even Judas Priest’s “Beyond the Realms of Death”.

Now, on to the album’s weak areas; the Sex Pistols cover “Anarchy in the UK” should have not been included as it offers nothing new to the table. Dave merely copied the original, note for note, without adding fresh elements to make fans bother to listen; to be honest, I still prefer Motley Crue’s version of this punk classic which is why I think the MegaDave adaptation had no redeeming value whatsoever. Also, “502” is a really annoying hard rock song about drunk driving, which reminds me of some lame and lousy Poison song; not to mention the fact that hearing about the victims of those driving under the influence should make the song doubly uncool in anyone’s book. And finally, “Liar” is just filler used to pad up the album’s short (but sweet) running time; honestly, I really don’t care about Dave’s beef with Chris. In my mind, the squabbling in the band sounds very petty and vulgar.

To conclude, “So Far, So Good, So What!” is the most underrated thrash album by Megadeth and is often neglected for their other much hyped albums “Peace Sells…” and “Rust in Peace”; it really doesn’t get the attention and praise it so richly deserves since it is one of those thrash records which managed to break free from the monotony and mediocrity of a large percentage of 80s thrash. Young and upcoming thrashers should go out and get a copy of this album, to fully appreciate the intensity of early Megadeth; hopefully, these new thrash maniacs would be inspired by the music found within and form their own thrash bands, giving birth to a new thrash metal renaissance (not the “new wave of thrash metal” crap a decade or so ago which is only a regurgitation of what once was).

Track List  :

1. Into the Lungs of Hell

2. Set the World Afire

3. Anarchy in the U.K. (Sex Pistols cover)

4. Mary Jane

5. 502

6. In My Darkest Hour

7. Liar

8. Hook in Mouth

***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 - SO FAR, SO GOOD...SO WHAT! FULL ALBUM 

( Poor Quality Audio )

Read More