Megadeth - Super Collider

Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
Tradecraft

2013

1. Kingmaker
2. Super Collider
3. Burn!
4. Built For War
5. Off The Edge
6. Dance In The Rain
7. The Beginning Of Sorrow
8. The Blackest Crow
9. Forget To Remember
10. Don't Turn Your Back...
11. Cold Sweat (Thin Lizzy cover)

Ah, Megadeth. One of the first bands that got me into metal and still one of my favorites. Their classics have a special place in my collection and more recently the band has re-grabbed my attention with some very good albums like Endgame and The System Has Failed. I go into this one with a slight bit of skepticism though. Th1rt3en was an OK album, but has not really aged well for me and I can't remember the last time I felt the need to listen to it. It's just never the Megadeth album I reach for. Also, I do my absolute best to separate musicians as people and their work, but Mustaine really does make it a challenge. The more he screams his lunacy to the world regarding evolution or where Obama was born the harder I find it to take him, or anything connected with him, seriously. I'll try to push that to the back of my mind and hopefully enjoy some music that reminds me of my metal beginnings.

Well, it's hard to focus on the music when the music is this fucking boring. Listening to this album is just 45 minutes of your life you'll never get back. There's nothing about this album that screams "WTF?!" like say Risk, but I settled into utter apathy by the middle of this album.

Super Collider starts off alright with Kingmaker which at least has a little aggression, but even on that one the vocals are kinda phoned in and it never quite breaks out and shreds. The sad thing though is that this is as ripping as the album gets and the only decent song to make a single on an album full of mediocrity. By the time the second track Super Collider is done I feel a yawn coming on with it's sort of southern rocky/country-ish feel that recalls songs like Have Cool, Will Travel. This wasn't a particularly good idea for the band back in '97 and it's still not now. The Blackest Crow also has a similar feel and is similarly boring. Beyond this a lot of the album is just too mid-paced and trudges on as if the band is on autopilot. I think the only real time songs stand out on here is when they're worse than boring like Built For War which is disjointed and annoying. There's really precious little in terms of shredding guitar or intensity to make any songs or this album stand out and this kind of comes across as a more rock oriented album. Certainly, this is waaaay removed from anything thrash metal.

It is sort of funny that perhaps my biggest gripes going into this release turns out to be a non-factor though. I wasn't big on the idea of David Draiman on a Megadeth album, but if I wasn't told he was on it, I probably would not have noticed. His vocals are just buried backups that neither add nor subtract from the quality and it's pretty much anecdotal that he was involved.

This is just the sort of album by a classic band that nobody gives a fuck about. One of those forgotten releases that just make you shake your head and throw on one of their classic albums to make you remember what you loved about them. It basically adds nothing memorable to their song catalogue, and I'd say this is for serious fans/collectors only.

Highlights: Kingmaker

Rating - 2.0/5

Megadeth - Th1rt3en

Thrash Metal
Roadrunner

2011

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. Millenium Of The Blind
12. Deadly Nightshade
13. 13

Megadeth are both a personal favorite of mine and a band who have been on a roll of late. This is a band that hit the rocks for awhile, but really managed to rebound to find their place in metal again. Between the recent output of The System Has Failed, United Abominations, and Endgame I really didn't have much reason to doubt this. Megadeth have just been making good and have reestablished themselves as a band with some solid, talented members and good songwriting. The door on the members continues to revolve a little bit, but with the backing of Ellefson, Drover, and Broderick there is no reason for complaint right now.

I've gotta say that when I started to listen to Th1rt3en I was underwhelmed from the start though. Sudden Death and Public Enemy No 1 are so direct they just kinda passed by without leaving much of an impression. Straight forward and while not by any means slow... not ripping either. The pace of both songs doesn't carry a lot of energy, the songs don't seem very creative, and the hooks are minimal. Whose Life is a bit quirkier with almost a bit of that punk influence to thrash, but also keeps relatively the same pace and doesn't really manage to break free as a real quality track either. This is the kinda stuff I'd expect to find in the middle as deep tracks. Acceptable enough, but nowhere near single quality. Not a good way to kick off an album to be sure.

Well, I guess it's time for a bit of track by track as I wait to be interested. From there we head into the track We The People which is a bit slower, but also sounds too similar and fairly one note. By this point I was just feeling a real lack of energy in the music and even having a hard time keeping focused on the album. If the album hasn't hit by track 4... when is it going to?Certainly not with Guns, Drugs & Money which settles into a groove, but not one that really gets the head nodding either and track 5 becomes another miss.

After this we finally find a burner with a good sound to it. Never Dead is a nice, thrashier track with some attitude and finally the band sounds awake with good speedy riffing and drums that add to the energy. Took a hell of a long time to get here, but this is a noteworthy song. New World order follows this up nicely with a little less speed, but some good melodic phrasing in the guitar, a catchy quality to it, and the pickup at the end actually brings Rust to mind a bit. Take No Prisoners specifically and this is most welcome. Starting with Never Dead I really felt like I was listening to a different album and the next track Fast Lane continues to drive the point home. This one has that great attitude infused snarling and a killer guitar sound. This one is a bit more mid-paced, but sounds like it's in the best tradition of Countdown To Extinction. It also does boast a bit of a speed boost at the end and is a solid track. Black Swan follows this with a nice mid-paced energy about it and some cool sounding vocals from Dave that compliment the music well. Just one of those songs that has a good feeling to it.

By this time in the album the turnaround was feeling real for me and Wrecker does nothing to change my mind with it's solid, driving rhythm and some more trademark snarls from Dave. Maybe not as good as the previous 4 but still better than the beginning and perfectly acceptable. Millenium Of The Blind follows this with an interesting feel to it as it sounds somewhere between a semi-ballad and a creeping doom song. Different for sure and pretty decent. Not an album highlight, but a good outside the box sorta song. Next in line is Deadly Nightshade which has a sinister roll to it and is another good track to add to the pile. Finally, closing out the album we have the title track of sorts, 13, which is a bit of a mood track. This one rolls in with a dark and melodic approach that has a good feeling and builds to a bit more of a mid-paced heaviness. A nice addition and a suitable end to Th1rt3en.

Well, that was a whole lot of words and description, but yeah I was invested in this one. Anytime an album like this comes along... an album from a favorite band... my ears are glued. Th1rt3en is not a perfect album as it does have some iffy tracks that come out and stare you in the face immediately. By the middle of the album though I was hearing some really good things. Certainly, this album's highlights state their case in making up for the lows. I can't help but be pleased with the overall experience. The rating just might have been higher if some of this album was trimmed down and/or rethought. 5 so-so tracks kinda hurt the overall experience. I don't really want to start up an album and have to skip to track 6... which is likely what I will often do.

Highlights: Never Dead, New World Order, Fast Lane, Black Swan

Rating - 3.5/5

Megadeth - Endgame

Thrash/Heavy Metal
Roadrunner

2009

1. Dialectic Chaos (Intro)
2. This Day We Fight!
3. 44 Minutes
4. 1,320
5. Bite The Hand That Feeds
6. Bodies Left Behind
7. Endgame
8. The Hardest Part Of Letting Go... Sealed With A Kiss
9. Headcrusher
10. How The Story Ends
11. The Right To Go Insane

I had a pretty good feeling about this album going in. It started with the announcement of Chris Broderick as the new second guitarist in Megadeth. Certainly, the guy is one hell of a shredder. Then when I heard songs like Headcrusher and 1,320 I just got further pumped. Megadeth really bringing the thrash? Could it be?

From the intro track my hopes continue as the album starts on a shredding instrumental intro. I love the guitar and the sound on this and it's a worthy inclusion. A lot of times I think intros are throwaways, but this is not the case here. From there we launch into a pure thrash metal track, This Day We Fight! which is a trip back to the old school of Megadeth. People have been asking for it forever and now it's here... at least partly. Would I say this whole album is thrash metal? That might be a bit of a stretch, but it is the thrashiest thing they've done in years. At the very least four tracks here (This Day We Fight!, 1,320, Headcrusher, and Endgame) are pure thrashing and I'd say both Headcrusher and 1,320 are new Megadeth classics. Most of the other songs find themselves sounding like material somewhere between Countdown and Youthanasia, which isn't really a bad thing by me either.

Overall I'd say this is a pretty good release that will please some fans who want Megadeth to hit high speed more. Now it's time for the nitpicks. This Day We Fight! and Endgame are pretty decent, but really they don't manage to reach the greatness of Megadeth's old thrash albums. Pretty good yes? Have I heard better? Yes. The same gos for most of the rest of the tracks that recall Countdown & Youthanasia. Good, but I've heard better from the band. I think this comes off as an overall solid album, but I only really see two tracks deserving of real continued live play. In terms of their more recent albums, I would say this is more consistent than The System Has Failed and brings more thrashing to the table, but it also has fewer real highlights. I'd say that album had a number of absolute great songs and this has a couple.

Basically, Endgame lacks the number of stand out songs to quite carry it to the next level. More consistent than System, but doesn't reach quite the same heights as often. I'd rate the albums about equally as it's a case of hits vs overall consistency. Certainly, this album is pretty good and worth picking up for the Megadeth fan. I'm not disappointed as this is a solid listen and much better than United Abominations.

Highlights: Headcrusher, 1,320, This Day We Fight!, 44 minutes

Rating - 4.0/5

Megadeth - United Abominations

Heavy Metal
Roadrunner

2007

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. A Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)
9. Amerikhastan
10. You're Dead
11. Burnt Ice

After the surprising success and return to form involved with The System Has Failed I had high hopes for Megadeth and rejoiced at one of my favorite metal bands coming back around. A new album from this rejuvenated lineup of Deth seemed to be a very exciting thing, but as more and more tracks were previewed or leaked out I felt that all slipping away. But hey maybe they just chose the wrong tracks to show off in advance right?

Wrong. With all the things this album had going for it, including competent backing musicians, a great producer, publicity, and a new record label... it's amazing to me how little this thing fails to capitalize. What we have here is something that sounds somewhere between the filler material that snuck in on a couple tracks of System mixed in with a hollow attempt to revisit Megadeth's thrash days. Most every track on here fails to leave an impression other than an occasional negative one. A couple glaring examples of this are United Abominations and Amerikhastan which try painfully to be topical and political in a poorly thought out Peace Sells/Rust mold. The talked out vocals in Amerikhastan in particular are laughably bad. Other songs sound slapped together like the music and vocals have no chemistry together and they just aren't memorable, energetic, or interesting. Really the best song here is the new version of A Tout Le Monde and that one isn't half as good as the original.

So if you're asking yourself 'Why would I buy this?'... I have no answer for you. This thing fails to thrash, fails at the heavy crunch tracks, and messes up a great song of the past. This is just a weak effort and one which makes me think that maybe Dave should've in fact quit while he was ahead. System Has Failed was supposed to be the last and this album is no reason to continue.

Highlights: A Tout Le Monde, Gears Of War

Rating - 2.0/5