I was rather dissapointed with this album. I have only been into Megadeth since a couple of months before its release (!) but in that time managed to get a lot of their albums and quite hooked, loving all of them.
I for one was not that impressed with their return to a heavier more "metal" style. Basically, the album does seem like a blatant attempt to make a Countdown to Extinction 2, as if to say "we didn't sell out and go soft, honest"! I dont think they ever sold out - since buying TWNAH a got Risk & Cryptic Writings and both are cool albums - but the way they approached the album is like a blatant try to regain their lost respect. I wouldn't mind this if the album was actually a really good one but it does not rank up with their best ones, ie Rust In Peace and Youthanasia.
On the positive side there are some GREAT tracks:
"Dread and the Fugitive Mind" is a classic, the title track rocks with a decent 1st half exploding into an awesome ending, "Losing my Senses" has a great stop-start riffed chorus, and "Return to Hangar", while I initially thought it was a very cheap idea to do, actually totally rocks more than any other track here.
The problem with the album is that there are a few track which are some of the bands worst - "Burning Bridges", "Warhorse" and especially "When" - and a lot that just sound flawed. Opener "Disconnect" has a classic riff but is just soooo slow for an opening track and never picks up pace. A lot of tracks are like this, seeming like they will burst into an alternative rocking final section but only the title track and Return to Hangar fulfil this promise. "1000 Times Goodbye" is a good example, with a great "You know what... you suck!" lyric but it's followed by a farily dull piece of guitar work. The 1st time I listened to the album it seemed REALLY slow and unexciting but it does improve a lot with more listens and their are some very cool lyrics.
One thing I really dont like about the album is the drumming. Nick Menza rocked but the new guy is just soooo boring on this album and fails to create any sense of rhytm. Having since bought Risk on which he plays really well I cant quite get how this happened.
The single great mess-up of the album however is the final track "When". It is quite dull, unoriginal and never really gets going. What makes this worse is that it is the final track, 9 minutes long and supposed to be an epic closer to the album. If they had dropped it and ended with Return to Hangar I would have liked the album MUCH more.
The big problem with When however is that it is a total rip-off of another song, more so than I think I have ever heard in my life. The track I am referring to is the (utter classic) "Am I Evil" by Diamond Head. The 2nd half of "When" is so similar to the 1st half of "Am I Evil" that you can sing AIE along over the top, chorus and all and it fits perfectly. What makes this worse is that the AIE riff is the slow build up one in that song, after which it bursts into a kick ass high speed one but in "When", this riff IS the 2nd one that is built up to AND it is an inferior one Diamond Head's classic. Worse still, Dave Mustain is a big DH fan, having playing on their final album so he cant pretend he didnt notice he had ripped them off.
Anyway... that all sounded VERY harsh I know but I still liked the album. Its problem is that it has some of both the bands best & worst tracks on it. Id say its about 1/3 great, 1/3 v.good-but-flawed & 1/3 alright plus When!
The more I play it, the more it is growing on me. I'd still buy it if your a Megadeth fan but I wish they had dropped the last track.
