Megadeth
The World Needs A Hero
2001 Sanctuary
It’s amazing to think that Megadeth are out there today, in 2010, playing balls-to-the-wallthrash metal again. When you take a look at the band’s musical output from 1992-2002, it’s hard to find anything that resembles thrash metal, with a few exceptions (“FFF,” “The Disintegrators,” “Victory,” but that’s about it). This isn’t to say that the band put out all crap music during this era. On the contrary, they released a string of excellent albums that, while not thrash, were still on par with the great song writing and musicianship the band had been known for in their 80s output.
Countdown to Extinction (1992), Youthanasia (1994) and Cryptic Writings (1997) were increasingly melodic, mid-paced albums that still packed tight riffs, memorable hooks and top-notch lead guitar playing throughout. Were they perfect albums on par with thrash classics Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? (1986) and Rust in Peace (1990)? No, but Countdown is essentially a perfect heavy metal album throughout.
Youthanasia seemed even more slowed-down than Countdown, yet its bottom-heavy production gave the riffs a little more weight, and the band experimented a little more with different sounds (the harmonica solo in “Train of Consequences”) and even languages (the chorus of “A Tout le Monde”).
Cryptic Writings took these experiments even further, featuring synths sprinkled throughout certain songs, exotic instruments like sitars (“A Secret Place”), and country-tinged acoustic metal (“Use the Man”), yet it contained two absolute thrash burners, and a NWOBHM-esque masterpiece (“She Wolf”). Unlike their peers in Metallica, Megadeth showed they could experiment, yet not be seen as sell-outs and frauds.
Then came Risk.
The less said about Risk, the better. Let’s just say, in the lead-up to the album’s release, Dave Mustaine was spouting off bullshit along the lines of getting in touch with his “real” roots, referring to the The Beatles and other bands he said "really" inspired him to play music, not Venom and Motorhead. Right. Because Killing Is My Business… sounds so Beatles-esque, with hardly any Motorhead or Venom influence at all, right, Dave, right. Essentially, Risk was a misstep that made Metallica’s Load and Reload seem like metal masterpieces. Risk was universally panned by metal and rock critics, and metal and Megadeth fans alike, and for good reason – it SUCKED. They took every experimental sound from Cryptic Writings, removed any passion, intensity, or thought, and made a whole album out of it. Don’t believe me? Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDKrCr2tbEw.
After the Risk debacle, longtime lead guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza left the group (or were fired, or left, depending on who you ask, because Dave Mustaine can’t keep a story straight to save his life). Mustaine even went as far as to try and blame the commercial sound on Marty Friedman, which is ridiculous, considering Mustaine IS Megadeth, and you know, he WRITES EVERY SONG.
Rumblings were seen all over the internet that the band was recording a return-to-form along the lines of Rust in Peace, to make up for Risk. That album was to be called The World Needs a Hero. This is the story of that forgotten record.
Why Was It Forgotten?
Basically, because the album is not that good. From the opening riff of “Disconnect,” you could tell this was a band trying very hard to write a heavy metal record, but not doing a great job at it. Overall, the album is too slow, too restrained, too cheesy (the spoken word bits of “1000 Times Goodbye” are cringe inducing, as are the lyrics of “Moto Psycho”; let’s not get started on the stolen-riff fest that is “When”). You can tell Dave Mustaine really thought he was tapping into the whole old-school vibe by even using songs with ellipses in the title (“Recipe for Hate…Warhorse,” which desperately tries to recall “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due”and “Rust in Peace…Polaris” but fails miserably).
Then Dave did what many chastised Metallica for in 1997: he recorded a sequel to a very popular song. The original “Hangar 18” was one of Megadeth’s biggest “hits” and more popular songs that they still play live to this day. However, “Return to Hangar,” aside from having similar lyrics, has nothing in common with the original musically. It's pretty much a clunky, punky dud, with the exception of the last 2 minutes or so, which is just guitar shredding. If more of this all-out, fast riffing and soloing had been sprinkled throughout the album, it would have been considered a return to form. Instead, it’s mostly considered a very mediocre, cheesy attempt to reclaim past glories.
Should It Have Been Forgotten?
Yes. The band currently plays no songs from this album in its live set (although occasionally they will play “Return to Hangar” immediately following “Hangar 18,” but that’s just a good 4-minute excuse to go take a piss or get a beer). In fact, the only really good song from the album, “Dread and the Fugitive Mind,” was not even technically a new song, as it had been previously released on the awful Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years compilation (which I call awful because it barely contained any of their thrashier 80s material).
Megadeth
Still Alive…And Well?
2002 Sanctuary
BONUS FORGOTTEN RECORD – Megadeth - Still Alive… and Well?
(This came from a conversation I had with John the other day. I made a joke about this god-awful compilation that came out after the Rude Awakening live album, when the band had “broken up” near the end of 2002.)
A terrible compilation after the 'break-up' of Megadeth, compiling their Sanctuary-era releases, meaning extra tracks and live bullshit from Rude Awakening and World Needs a Hero. Still alive? Yes, they were, but certainly not well, because this was a piece of shit rip-off cash-in that sucked donkey balls. It’s amazing the band released a decent album after this in 2004 with the “comeback” (even though they never really fucking left) The System Has Failed.
Matt Steele
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