Megadeth - 13

It's more memorable than End Game. I listened to that album 20 times and I still can't tell you what half of the songs are called. These songs are more distinct.

To me it's the other way around. But it's good that taste is different, otherwise probably there will be only 2-3 bands outside :saint:
 
Megadeth has been my favorite metal band for years and I always enjoyed their efforts to some extent (defending albums many see as their weak efforts, TWNAH and UA, which I both love). It actually took me some time to really appreciate Endgame. Not that it was ever bad but it was just there for me. It did grow on me however.

The new album, Thirteen, is much the same way initially - but worse. While I could see how Endgame could grow I feel like Thirteen is just the product of a very tired band. Its not bad or anything but its rehashing and kind of boring to be honest.

Again these are only my first impressions and they will change once the material has matured in my mind. For now I am very disapointed however. Its clear that Ellefssons return to the band didnt exactly lit a creative fire with any of the other bandmembers :(

Oh and the drumming is still increadibly boring and robotic...
 
Iced Earth cd is pretty disappointing. Don't know if I can handle a dissapointing 'Deth cd on top of it.
 
While I could see how Endgame could grow I feel like Thirteen is just the product of a very tired band. Its not bad or anything but its rehashing and kind of boring to be honest.

For now I am very disapointed however. Its clear that Ellefssons return to the band didnt exactly lit a creative fire with any of the other bandmembers

This! :kickass:
 
Ellefsson only co-wrote one song from memory??

Have found the new album to be to Endgame what Countdown was to RUST. A different direction and drastically different production (coincidentally I do love the guitar tones on this one - have real older school metal feel as opposed to the multi-tracked Sneap smother job on Endgame).

Problem I have is that too many songs appear half finished and lazily assembled. If you are going to write a melodic, chorus dominated album then you gotta have two things - good melodies and good choruses..and this one does not. Simple. Just my $0.02.
 
Drove down the highway to the new album yesterday. Very good crusing music.

New Steel Panther is great as well. Balls Out was meant for the car.

There are some good moments on Balls Out but dunno, to me this time out they have lost the playfulness and innocence of the first one and parts of it have become a little....well, crass and offensive. Dunno what it is but I am hoping this band do not release a 3rd. The joke is past it use-by-date.
 
There are some good moments on Balls Out but dunno, to me this time out they have lost the playfulness and innocence of the first one and parts of it have become a little....well, crass and offensive. Dunno what it is but I am hoping this band do not release a 3rd. The joke is past it use-by-date.

Lyrically, you've got a point. It does get old and offensive, and there are a lot of people I simply won't listen to this album around.

Musically, IMO, this is one the best albums to come out this year. You could replace all of the lyrics for something more serious, and still have a great record.
 
Lyrically, you've got a point. It does get old and offensive, and there are a lot of people I simply won't listen to this album around.

Musically, IMO, this is one the best albums to come out this year. You could replace all of the lyrics for something more serious, and still have a great record.


Yeah 100% agree with you there. Musically speaking, they are very good.
 
I am pleased to say that the album has grown on me. Its not up there among the best but its not as dissapointing as I thought after my first few listens.

At first very little of the material was memorable to me with few exceptions. It even took time for me with Public Enemy No. 1 which has been praised as a great song elsewhere. Now I find that Thriteen starts of pretty damn good for the first 3 songs. Especially "Whose life (is it anyways)" has grown on me alot since my first listen.

After that it goes downhill for a bit. "We the people" is an ok song but the verse has been heard before and the chorus isnt strong enough to carry the song. "Guns, drugs and money" is really subpar and should have been scrapped alltogether. "Never dead" is a nice enough track but cant quite lift up things from the previous track.

Then comes a good block of three good songs. I already knew I liked "New World Order" from the demo versions previously released. Following is "Fast Lane" - one of my favorite tracks. Its chorus is pretty damn catchy. And then we have "Black Swan" which is also a great track with a chorus that really lifts the song nicely.

Sadly this is followed by another bad track in "Wrecker". What did Mustaine think with this track? Neither music nor lyrics hold up.

Then comes the quite awesome "Millenium of the blind" - one of my favorite tracks on the album and it definately holds up with some of the best stuff Mustaine has done (then again I knew that from teh early demos).

Then its "Deadly nightshade" which is the third track on the album which I would have deleated permanently. It does nothing but bore me really.

The album closes with "13" which I think is nice enough. I keep having the feeling this song was supposed to be more epic and/or bombastic (which I think would make it better) but I think it holds up well even so.

Basically I think Megadeth put to much material on this disc. Personally I would have prefered a track list like the following and it would have been a good album straight through:

"Sudden Death"
"Public Enemy No. 1"
"Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)"
"New World Order"
"Fast Lane"
"Black Swan"
"Millennium of the Blind"
"13"
 
fast lane is garbage too. one of the cheesiest songs megadeth ever released. as far as the other tracks you picked those are basically the ones i like too but it says a lot that out of the 8 songs you picked 4 of them were released in some form prior to 13 coming out
 
Whose Life stinks. The lyrics are awful. Dave is all like "Oooh, you don't like the clothes I wear and the people I hang out with". Dave, you're a fifty-year-old millionaire, your mum's not telling you what to do. No-one gives a toss what you wear! You big rebel you.

The lyrics in the title track are pretty diabolical too. Who really honestly rhymes "life" and "strife"? That's cheap, man. That's number one on the list of obvious rhymes never to be used in song... I thought Mustaine was better than that. Guess he's all out of ideas.
 
Who really honestly rhymes "life" and "strife"? That's cheap, man. That's number one on the list of obvious rhymes never to be used in song...

Actually number one will be higher-fire-desire.
 
fast lane is garbage too. one of the cheesiest songs megadeth ever released. as far as the other tracks you picked those are basically the ones i like too but it says a lot that out of the 8 songs you picked 4 of them were released in some form prior to 13 coming out

I think "Fast Lane" is nice, straight forward and catchy (in a good way). It also sounds somewhat new compared to what Megadeth usually does.

But you're right, a big chunk of the best tracks are the ones written years and years ago. A shame really. I hope Dave can come back with more inspiration for the next album.

Whose Life stinks. The lyrics are awful. Dave is all like "Oooh, you don't like the clothes I wear and the people I hang out with". Dave, you're a fifty-year-old millionaire, your mum's not telling you what to do. No-one gives a toss what you wear! You big rebel you.

Yes, I agree - the lyrics are questionable. In this case I dont think it ruins the song though.
 
Whose Life stinks. The lyrics are awful. Dave is all like "Oooh, you don't like the clothes I wear and the people I hang out with". Dave, you're a fifty-year-old millionaire, your mum's not telling you what to do. No-one gives a toss what you wear! You big rebel you.

The lyrics in the title track are pretty diabolical too. Who really honestly rhymes "life" and "strife"? That's cheap, man. That's number one on the list of obvious rhymes never to be used in song... I thought Mustaine was better than that. Guess he's all out of ideas.
i like the title track but i agree the lyrics to "whose life" are sketchy. the only thing is the music hides the singing a little better than "fast lane" so you don't hear the lyrics as easily as in "fast lane"
 
I like the album, yeah there's some filler, but that's how it's been ever after Cryptic Writings IMO. And Dave's lyrics/vocals have definitely taken a dive, but I feel the music makes up for it.

The good tracks are classic Megadeth in a way that's been missing for a long time, 'course that's because there's some re-recorded tracks but still...
I also prefer the overall sound/production of this album over Endgame.