'Ticket's There' – Irish and International Music Blog

It’s late, I’m still in pretty bad shape from a furious session on Saturday and not eating right all week but the allure of Megadeths new album, End Game just sting there on their MySpace is far too tempting to leave alone so Tickets There is going to attempt a very, very, very hastily written review of what some people are calling Dave Mustaine’s best album in almost two decades.

Ok, we’ll do this MySpace Review style. Things kick off with Dialectic Chaos, which I actually heard the other night and all I can say is FUCKING BRILLIANT!. Two minutes of chaotic riffs, riveting, powerful solo’s and intense drums. There are no lyrics, it needs no lyrics. This song is pure fucking metal to the core and an incredible strong intro, especially for a modern Megadeth album. This Day We Fight! is next and it wastes little time starting it’s aggressive mission to send the memory of Death Magnetic into it’s grave. Dave’s voice sounds harder and grittier than normal and it swells in sporadic, plunging solos. This is a track that will send mosh puts around the world into a haze of maddened frenzy’s and ensure no fan will be able to touch there neck for weeks after a gig. 44 Minutes is next and it starts off a little tamer than the previous numbers. A police radio scrambles in over machine gun like riffs. The bass stands out like a tourist in a mosque and the Deth take a stab at delivering one of those slower numbers they’ve tried more recently. Not really as piercing or as powerful as the previous two but not bad all the same. The drums and bass make up for the songs slightly mundane structure…and the solo is pretty fucking rockin’!. When the final chorus comes in you find the whole song growing on you a little bit more. Seems to fall together and become interesting. Another savage solo and the respect increases.

1,320 is next and it kicks off with a Judas Priest style bike revving before the guitar and drums kick in, in classic Megadeth, Punk styled fury. This is thrash metal for those of you who haven’t heard it, notice the difference? The riff is fast, Dave belts out angry forceful lyrics with a vengeance as the instruments break away together to allow some incredible shredding from Dave and…what ever the new guitarist is called. Not bad to say the least. Two and a half minutes in, the guitars explode in a duelling battle that, in the words of Dylan Moran “would melt your face”. This is the kind of thing that causes tinnitus when you hear it live. The true sound of energy filled, unyielding talent that strives to out do itself with every note. Bite the Hand has the least number of plays so I’m a little weary but it starts of pretty well. The drums style keeps changing and it’s brilliant. Another full on metal track with sneering, guitars but much deeper, crunchy, bellowing riffs. Dave sings about the current economy (please note Dave has always done this, it’s not just a fad) as the band that spill their guts to keep up with him. I cannot get over the amount of solo’s on this album. Isn’t this the band that release Risk and Cryptic Writings a few years ago? Cause there’s no signs of those albums left. Don’t know why it’s the least played, it fucking rocks. Bodies jumps in straight away and crunchy bass makes a welcome return. Maybe it’s always been there and I just need decent headphones. This isn’t a bad number but possibly best described as an album track….so far, I’m only a minute in. It’s defiantly not one of their future classics but it’s decent. Great solo at the end but I wont say I wasn’t waiting for the albums title track before the end.

Endgame has the traits of a true metal blitz in the making. Not bad. Gets better and better as it continues. Pretty savage riffs, Dave’s lyrics awkwardly fall together but only hang on loosely before breaking again. Unlike Peace Sells, which was clever, Endgames lyrics sound very forced. Maybe Dave really isn’t that angry anymore? Nah, no-one happy person can play like that. Ah, not bad but I need to be in bed in 15/20 mins so lets check out The Hardest Part of Letting Go. Hmmm, acoustic guitars, violins and Chellos. Ah, this is where Cryptic Writings got to, I knew it must be around somewhere. It’s not terrible or anything but no something Megadeth need to keep in their repertoire. They already have A Tour Le Monde and that’s enough for any band. Oh Wait, two minutes in there’s an apocalyptic kind of knock on the head. Good, galloping riffs appear from no where as the lead pushed it’s self further and further into the spotlight. There’s even a few duelling moments. Tickets There is once again turned around.

The album first single, Head Crusher is next and the third last track of the album. I don’t know if any of you out there know what a Head Crusher was but its all there’s in the name really. They used this nasty little device during the Spanish Inquisitions and it could be made to last for hours, days and even weeks. The first thing that would happen is your jaws would crush together, shattering your teeth inside your skull. Then you eye sockets would buckle and they would literally pop out. Some of the devices had little metal plates, resembling small ice cream scoops to catch the eyes as they popped out. Then it got painful. May not sound as horrendously violent as the public sawings that they used to do or treatment from the Spanish tickler but pretty shocking to say the least. Oh the song, sorry. The song is FUCKING AWESOME!! NUFF SAID. Second last track How The Story Ends is thankfully not another ballad. It’s not my favourite, possibly the one I like least, though it has some of the best machine gun styled drum and guitars interaction on the whole record. Final song, The Right to Go Insane is thankfully heavy one. No soppy ballad to send us to bed, just another kick in the skull from Mustaine. Chorus sounds kind of grungy in it’s delivery but it works, works pretty well in fact. Some nice, distance between the chords in the bridge that adds some tension as you wait for everything to tear back. This is a very respectable Megadeth track and a welcome return finally to a fairly impressive album.

So, that’s it. Honestly, I was expecting more but I thought the same thing about Death Magnetic when I first heard that so you can be sure Tickets There is going to give it another few drillings before making our final decision. Might sound alot better when our minds aren’t clouded with the worry of how late we’re staying up, getting spellings correct while writing so quickly and all that nonsense. It still lacks Dave’s full on aggression though. The rage and bitterness that inspired and drove so much of the bands earlier work seems a little distant and forced on Endgame. It’s still more appealing than The System Has Failed and United Abominations but is doesn’t quite deliver the classics we know from albums like Rust In Peace, Countdown to Extinction or Peace Sells. Still well worth a go.