MEGADETH: The Official RC Roundtable

[JayKeeley]

MEGADETH - the snarling 80's speed metal band ended at some serious low points in their career, but there is no disputing their aggression & melody back in the day on albums like Peace Sells and So Far So Good So What. When the world was fixated with METALLICA and their flavor of big power chord thrash, it was MEGADETH who in fact stayed out of the limelight (intentional or not) and delivered an angrier, more technical nature of playing.

Surely peaking in 1990, the Rust in Peace album could perhaps be the best speed metal/thrash album in existence particularly where each song hits perfection and each band member excelled in his role. I personally rank it higher than Reign in Blood and either Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets. Perhaps it's also because I was at college at the time, playing in a band and wanting to learn every fucking nuance of that CD. It's a guitar players wet dream to hear Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman trade those love/hate playing styles, and out of all the old school thrash I still listen to today, RIP probably still gets the most airtime.

Never reaching that peak again, the band started to nose dive - although Cryptic Writings was a big commercial success and it was fun to have Megadeth on the car radio for once - but it got to the point where the band had to split before things got worse. Is the arm injury real? Perhaps...but even after the split, the record companies were still trying to milk the cash cow, the biggest atrocity being Still Alive...and Well?.

Anyway, at least for what they did between Killing is my Business and Rust in Peace (and I'd include Hidden Treasures), time to pay your respects to the 'deth....

 

[NAD]

Rust in Peace is an album that is very close to my heart. I got the CD shortly after I started playing bass in '92, and Dawn Patrol was the first song I ever figured out by myself. Several years later I sat down to dissect and learn the entire album, and trust me my friend, it is not just a monster for guitarists. My all time favorite metal album, and the absolute best metal album for bass as well, David Ellefson surpassed the mighty Cliff Burton on that one.

Killing is My Business, Peace Sells, RIP, and even Countdown are all essential metal releases. Comparisons to Metallica are pointless to me, I got into both groups around the same time and the only thing Metallica did better was stay consistent (and that is not necessarily a good thing).

Apparently Mustaine is preparing a solo project, but he does say that Megadeth is over and done with.

One last thing, Cryptic Writings kicked ass! It had a few stinkers but Trust and FFF were hails to the band of yesteryear! I've never been able to bring myself to spend money on So Far..., Risk, or The World Needs a Hero though, that stupid Breadline song made me shameful of the band.

 

[bloodfiredeath]

I guess I just don't get it.

I remember my friends at the time playing the first 3 Megadeth albums all the time. The first two were ok, and I thought So Far was a joke it was so bad. I chuckle now thinking of all the jokes I made about 502 and Hook in Mouth... so awful.


I remember Headbanger's Ball played Holy Wars before RIP was released. I thought, "about time, this band finally lives up to the hype." Boy was I disappointed when the record came out, it was the only good song on the album. I find that album so mediocre and boring, and quite frankly one of the, if not the, most overrated record in metal history. The rest of their career I've only heard in pieces and I think it is all bad.

I don't know... I usally always like and respect the so called 'classics' in metal, but Megadeth is not, and was never one of them for me.

 

[NAD]

Well all I can say to that is nice avatar.

 

[JayKeeley]

After RIP, I would say that So Far So Good So What is my next favorite! Look at the tracks:

Into the Lungs of Hell & Set the World Afire both feature some of the best and heaviest guitar playing in the thrash kingdom. Both require enormous amounts of VOLUME!

Mary Jane & Hook in Mouth are great, well written songs. Mary Jane in particular is really well structured - seems all over the place, but is actually quite well contained.

Anarchy, 502, and Liar are all fun, loud songs - not the highlights by any stretch, although Anarchy did always go down well at a live show obviously. And that verse on Liar which he sings in one breath is astounding...!

And what could be the greatest Megadeth song ever...In my Darkest Hour! I love that song - first time I heard/saw it was on the "Decline of Western Civilization part 2: The Metal Years" and I thought Mustaine was so cool headbanging on stage and playing that manic outro guitar solo whilst the crowd were stage diving, crowd surfing, and just generally going nuts...!

 

[NAD]

I just realized last night that Cryptic Writings means a lot to me as well, it came out right before I started college, which was pretty much the beginning of my life.

Hook in Mouth is cool but that's all I really liked from that album. Granted, I haven't heard it for nearly 10 years, but someday I'll complete my Megadeth collection with the stinkers.

 

[JayKeeley]

I just realized last night that Cryptic Writings means a lot to me as well, it came out right before I started college, which was pretty much the beginning of my life.

It means a lot to me too. When I came over to the US (my new life), it was one of very few albums that both Haddsie and I owned. That's why I'm selling my spare copy now, heh.

So what was your favorite 'deth line up? And did Nick Menza play drums on Cryptic Writings? I forget.

And by the way, if it's been 10 years since you've heard So Far So Good So What, I would LOVE to see what you think of it today....I think you'll be surprised. But hey, what do I know.

 

[NAD]

Yup, Menza played on Cryptic Writings, just looked at the liner notes. I didn't think he did, I thought he was gone by then. Jimmy DeGrasso replaced him didn't he? That kid was good, he played on with Suicidal Tendencies when he was 16 and had some wicked double bass.

I would have to go with the Menza / Friedman line-up, although Poland / Samuelson were incredible and probably fit the band better. Mustaine and Ellefson just reached their peak at the time when Menza / Friedman line-up happened.

By the way, Ellefson is one of my all time favorite bassists, I learned sooooo freakin' much from that guy.

Next Columbia House spree I'll order So Far... I'll probably like it now anyhow. :Spin:

 

[ChiefB]

Megadeth WERE such a fantastic band. I loved all the albums up to Cryptic Writings, but I must admit that Hidden Treasures always worried me, because there was an early element of cashing in.

When you now look at the state of Dave Mustaine - the VH1 Behind the Music episode just tore into him - you realise that this guy completely lost the plot. I believe the compilation albums were just 'cash cows' to feed his spiralling drug addiction.

If Mustaine is really pursuing a personal project, it will ultimately fail. He is self destructive and most probably still believes that he needs to prove himself against Metallica, that is his cursed demon.

 

[JayKeeley]

Megadeth - So Far... So Good... So What!
Megadeth - Hidden Treasures
Megadeth - Risk
Megadeth - The World Needs a Hero

Got them cheap from http://www.secondspin.com , completing the collection.

Damn! You start a roundtable and look what happens...

SFSGSW is exceptional. The production is so hollow and treble-biased but like ...and Justice, you can't have it any other way now.

Hidden Treasures highlights: Breakpoint, Angry Again, & Diadems...but the absolute best is Go to Hell. Look out for the first guitar solo by Mustaine after the mid-song riff change towards the end. He goes from 4th fret -> 16th fret -> 4th fret in a flash. They even had a close up of it on the video just to prove that the tabs weren't wrong.

Risk: You know what, I liked some of it. It got a bad rap for songs like Crush 'Em and Breadline, but I can live with Insomnia, Prince of Darkness, Doctor is Calling, I'll be There, and Time: The End. Sure, it was all Megadeth-lite, but still Megadeth.

World Needs a Hero: I'll take 1000 Times Goodbye, Dread and the Fugitive Mind (that Pitrelli guitar solo at the end is reaches god-like status), and maybe Return to Hangar. Otherwise, my least fave Megadeth album.

 

[Demonspell]

I agree that despite the bad production and the ill-suited lineup, So Far was a great album, and that Dave completely lost it after Youthanasia...Hero was a sad example of why hearing the words "back to the roots" makes my skin crawl instantly.

 

[Papa Josh]

The mighty Dave "Buttstain" Mustaine...

My preference is as follows,

Peace Sells
Rust In Peace
Cryptic Writings
So Far, So Good... So What?
Killing Is My Business
The World Needs A Hero
Youthanasia

And I don't know what this "Risk" is that you all are talking about, such a thing exists?

I don't own that pile of crap..

 

[JayKeeley]

You forgot Countdown to Extinction in that list!

 

[JayKeeley]

By the way, I have a hypothetical question for you lot: Dave Mustaine was always quite keen to work with Hetfield and Ulrich again back in the day. Had they been willing, what do you think a line up of Mustaine (guitar/vocals), Hetfield (guitar/vocals), Ellefson, and Ulrich would be like? With equal song writing duties too.

Assume the year is 1988: "MetalliDeth" - Hit or Miss?

 

[NAD]

MISS. Metallica was always good, but not great (how many verses do you need anyway?!). Lars as a drummer was never good as far as I'm concerned, and two awesome rhythm guitarists wouldn't work well in that situation (I do like Mustaine's solos, but his rhythm is much much better).

Then again, the songs where Hetfield, Ulrich, and Mustaine collaborated on are some of Metallica's best, Ride the Lightning and the Four Horsemen / Mechanix are some of my favorites.

 

[NAD]

The point is moot though, an Ulrich / Mustaine Egomonster would slay all that oppose it, provided it didn't self-implode first.

 

[ProgMetalFan]

Despite the constant bashing it receives... I think "Cryptic Writings" is a rather good slab of pop-metal... and ranks as my 2nd favorite Megadeth album after the excellent "Rust In Peace". I loved "Peace Sells" years ago... but I tried listening to it recently... and I just couldn't get through it. I don't care for the rest of the albums.

 

[Papa Josh]

You forgot Countdown to Extinction in that list!

oops, list it after So Far, So Good...

 

[NAD]

Got my shipment in. I'm listening to Risk right now and its not half bad, but The World Needs a Hero sucks ass! Single guitar lines with occasional weak solos? No thanks.

Return to the Hangar should not have happened, sounds like a very VERY poor imitation of something not Megadeth. uke:

 

[JayKeeley]

Got my shipment in. I'm listening to Risk right now and its not half bad, but The World Needs a Hero sucks ass! Single guitar lines with occasional weak solos? No thanks.

World Needs a Hero: I'll take 1000 Times Goodbye, Dread and the Fugitive Mind (that Pitrelli guitar solo at the end is reaches god-like status), and maybe Return to Hangar. Otherwise, my least fave Megadeth album.

*cough*

I mean, motopsycho? PUH-LEEZ.