MEGADETH DOUBLE REVIEW – SO FAR, SO GOOD, SO WHAT / THE WORLD NEEDS A HERO
I think Megadeth are about to become the only band on this site with more albums reviewed than Def Leppard. Feck it, why not. About time fans of the boys got to read some shit about them. It’s just a pity many people aren’t reading them. Ah well, they’re keeping me amused although I haven’t a clue how I’m going to top the last ones. Oh I know, by writing about So Fucking Far, So Fucking Good, So Fucking What!!! And their excellent come back album, 2001’s The World Needs A Hero. Let us begin, let us taste metals divine loveliness.
Megadeth – So Far, So Good, So What
If there is one album that’s underrated, it has to be 1988’s So Far, So Good… So Wha!t. It’s short, loud, obnoxious and a fucking pain killer styled opus. Openaing track, Into the Lungs of Hell is 3 minutes and 29 seconds of screaming guitars, bleeding drums drenched in pain and a bass so heavy it’ll drop kick you into the fourth quarter. Noting bad to say, no way to flaw it.
Although the rolling opening beats of Set The World Afire goes along way in belting it’s point across. Dave’s aggressive youthful manner is still dominant here and the overly loud overdubs during the chorus only help harness the songs dark powers. There’s little melody, there’s little hope. This is a steel cage match for all things metal and Megadeth have no bother crushing every last living thing in site. God its so mouth wateringly good, it even drove away the painful memories of revisiting Cryptic Writings earlier. Next up is a classic Thrash Metal cover track. Megadeth, covering the almighty Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK. I wont go into this one in too much detail. It’s a great cover of an all mighty beast of a track.
Mary Jane brings us to the half way mark. A futuristic kind of intro, some savage guitars and a song about a very loving mistress. MJ will always be there to sooth your wows and heal you sadness. Megadeth will always be there to hold Stomp Fest annually on your grave and rob your soul of it’s quintessential essence. Ah, I’m just turning this beats up every five seconds it’s getting ridiculous. This is one of those tunes that shows what girls nu-metal and emo kids are. Korn, PaPa Roach, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance and all those little pussys. Get fucked get Megadeth and hurry your mind to catch up. Sher aggression that only the almighty Slayer can rival. Their guitars are made with the bones of humans, their drum’s are fashioned from the finest moral skin and their power, their power was electrocuted into them when Angus Young and the devil shook hands.
502’s another bloody mentalist track. Fast, aggressive and loud. Car crashes, laws being broken left right and centre and then there’s yer man with all the guitars, it’s mad!. It’s just fucking great. AWWWHHHH, next we have the stand out classic for the top ten songs you need to hear…period!. In My Darkest Hour…….head bangers get ready. The swoops, the spirals, the exploding, fiery demon riffage of the gods. Dave’s growling vocals rasp their way through this power house of an anthem, Written in memory of Metallicas bereaved bass player, Cliff Burton. Poor Cliff was killed in a bus crash while Metallica were touring their incredible Master of Puppets. One of metals most tragic losses, now honoured by Mustaine and Ellefson in one of his finest writing moments.
The hard hitting, metal grinding Liar and Hook in my Mouth finish of one of the Death’s best records. It may be short, it may not be packed with hits but it’s 100% metal. If you’re and a fan and you haven’t heard this one TT advises smacking yourself. If you’re not a fan, stick with Cryptic Writings before attempting this one.
Megadeth – The World Needs a Hero
This is the album that sealed the deal on me being a fan of the Death. After hearing Cryptic Writings and being a little bemused but interested, I got my hands on the greatest hits and record and realized Megadeth had a lot more to offer than slow riffs and violins. When this record came out, it shows Dave and the boys were determined to prove they could still rock the wallet chains and hair dye out of the younger Nu-metal groups. Did they achieve this? Hell yeah they did. The World Needs A Hero saw Vic return to the sleeve and the venom return to Megadeth in blazing glory. Ever since they’ve pushed more and more to get their old sound back and forget the days of Risk. The System Has Failed, United Abominations and Endgame are all direct results of the effort shown on this record.
Disconnect may take a wee while to get your feet moving but once that first guitar solo gets going you’ll be tapping along. It’ not the strongest on the record and it wont convince you Megadeth were on their way back to their old sound but just be patient, it’s a good song. The World Needs A Hero’s title track will however help those worries. Based on that Sweating Bullets / Peace Sells kind of structure. It still doesn’t deliver that full on thrash Megadeth and its riffs are closer to rock n roll than Armageddon but again, it’s a pretty decent track and the solo is fairly wicked.
The albums lead single, Moto Psycho is a belter. A solid, fast, thrash riff and some furious drums to boot. Dave’s voice is back on this one and now you’ll start to see where this record wants to go. Lots of solo’s, riffs n metal up the ass. Now the next one may sound like a ballad but fortunately it’s not. 1,000 Times Goodbye is a god’s honest metal love song…kind of. Intro is a slow, bruising little belter and once that snare hits in you’ll hear the old sound creeping in. Theme is about a total bitch but hey, that’s rock n roll for ya. Burning Bridges is next and this is a little slower and more similar to the bands late nineties sound. Want to move on? Ok, lets do that.
Promises is a ballad kind of track but it’s probably one of the bands best. Great bridge, great chorus and a great use of the string section. This is way up there with songs like A Tout Le Monde and shows they can do ballads properly. Although, these ballad songs look so weak compared to the thrash outputs like So Far, So Good. Really, a band called Megadeth shouldn’t be attempting any of this stuff and should stick to destroying the world with every breath. Ah well, C’est la vie! Recipe For Hate…Warhorse. Now you’re talking, metal, metal, metal. There’s some great building riffs here. Nothing too classic but heavy at least so don’t complain. I’m gonna rush along, I’m suffering from the same thing as yesterday, shouldn’t have listened to So Far first but it ain’t as bad today. Losing Senses is a pretty decent effort. I don’t like the opening but it ain’t the worst.
Dread The Fugitive Mind is finally the Deth back in blazing glory. This is their classic sound clawing it’s way back to the surface. Even the title screams set list and it’s well earned. Very similar to Sweating Bullets in many way and not as good but one of the stand outs on this record. Silent Scorn’s a strange one, strange one indeed. Sounds like an ode to the fallen but it makes way for Return to Hangar…yes, it’s the sequel and one of the albums major tracks. Personally I prefer the live recording from Rude wakening but it’s a cracker. Final song, When is like a Doomsday track. Heavy, slow n thumping!! Nice atmospheric way to finish the record.
So that’s it. Three double reviews of Megadeth at their finest, their fairly decent and there, well I see where you’re going but why don’t ya stick to what your best at. You’ve read about the best, I’ve left out the worst and soon you’ll see Killing is my Business, The System Has Failed, United Abominations and Youthanasia. There you’ll hear about some of Megadeth’s best moments and more about what lead to their latest release, EndGame.
But really you’ll hear about some Irish bands, that’s enough international for awhile, they’ve had their fun. MySpace Review time!!!!!
'Ticket's There' - Irish and International Music Blog 
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