Review Summary: Megadeth has created a masterpiece that has yet to be surpassed by any band, you will enjoy Rust in Peace if you like metal at all.
Megadeth- Rust In Peace
The Background:
Well there’s not much to say about Megadeth’s history, except for the fact that you could call them the “rival” of Metallica. This is true due to the fact that Metallica essentially kicked Dave Mustaine out of the band. This, obviously, pissed Mustaine off quite a bit; so he naturally dedicated his life (at the time) to creating a band faster and better than Metallica. This is where Megadeth comes in, Mustaine being the frontman and vocalist of the band. He also is a brilliant songwriter and insane guitarist, although Chris Broderick, the lead guitarist, is even more amazing as he does most of the soloing. But Mustaine still gets his fair share of spotlight throughout his career in Megadeth.
The Album:
Rust in Peace, what metal lover has not heard of this, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if rap lovers have once heard of this album’s near perfection. Notice the words I chose, NEAR PERFECTION, not perfection, as this album is not perfect in every way. While the overall feel of this album is fast and melodic guitars, quick drum beats, and scratchy vocals, some elements are better than others. The songwriting, in my opinion, is on par with some of the best I have ever heard, I mean every song is varied in style and format. When listening to this album you will definitely know the difference between all the songs, and when something like that happens.
Now I’m actually one of the few lucky people out there that got their hands on the remastered bonus tracks version of this album, so I got a great experience out of listening to this album in amazing quality. You literally can hear everything, nothing is left out, its absolutely amazing to listen to. I suggest anyone who is a fan to download the remastered version.
Anyways, back to the review; this album has defined Megadeth to be one of the four gods of thrash metal (excuse that kind of fanboyish vocabulary). There is a good reason for this, as Rust in Peace presents ridiculously good guitar work and beats Metallica’s work in the process, thus making Mustaine’s dream become a reality. Every song on this album, and I mean every song, has an amazing guitar solo that could take even a seasoned guitarist a decent amount of time to master.
Now earlier I was speaking of this album’s near perfection, this album would have reached a classic rating if it weren’t for the sometimes annoying vocals. Not to say that the lyrics are bad, it’s just that Dave Mustaine shouldn’t be allowed to pick up a microphone. His singing is mediocre at best, although on “Tornado of Souls” I can actually deal with his annoying vocals. He sounds like a dying cat trying to meow into the mic in most of the songs, but this is just a minor setback for this album, because the obvious goal of this album wasn’t amazing vocals, it was amazing musicianship.
The Songs:
As I mentioned before, “Tornado of Souls” is the only song on this album that succeeds decent vocals, and it is also the greatest track off of Rust in Peace. I can listen to this song thirty times in a row and still enjoy it the whole way through, especially at the incredibly fast guitar solo. Near the end of the solo Broderick plucks the guitar strings so fast its expected that his fingers fall off. Also the combination of heavy riffs at the outro of the song sends chills down my spine every time.
Another great track is “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due.” This song is a masterpiece, it defines what metal should be: A heavy intro with quick double bass and guitars, followed by the chorus, which bitchslaps you in the face, all then repeating and leading up to the amazing bridge with yet another brilliant solo. The part of this song that really strikes me is the beginning of the bridge when both Broderick and Mustaine do this kind of distorted guitar riffing, its just such a great time and place to do that type of thing. This song is the best when it comes to songwriting.
The song with the best chorus is probably “Five Magics,” as the bass drum pounds your ears with vibration and the guitars provide the heaviest riffs present of the entire album. You won’t be able to contain yourself when you listen to this song, you will sing along once you learn the words. Its like mind control through the form of music, its just fascinating how bands can make you do this against your own will.
Last Words:
This album is the epitome of what metal is, if you don’t already own this album, go out and buy it now! It is filled with excellent musicianship and songwriting throughout, and every song is memorable. Anyways as I said before the vocals might not be the best, but their definitely not the worst (ahem….. Matt Shadows). Well hope you guys enjoyed the review, I put a lot of effort into this one!
But yeah, Bacon is probably my favourite artist, I love the way he depicts horror.
