Megadeth – Still, Alive…And Well?
Album Information
This album is a follow-up to the live album Rude Awakening, it is basically the same songs but there are two songs here that weren’t on the big live album. The songs are Time/Use The Man and The Conjuring. There are also songs from the album The World Needs A Hero and I guess that Dave needed to fill out the album, it would have been boring if it only was six live tracks on the CD. The title of the album has a reason though; Dave once had this question from an interviewer: ¨What do you want written on your tombstone?¨ Dave then told them , ¨That I am still, alive and well?¨. That’s the origin of the title to the album.
As I said this album have six songs from another album so I will not write anything about them. There is already a review on that album so I suggest that you read that because the reviewer is better at English than I and she/he may have more experience of reviewing than I have. I have only written about the live songs because I think that they are the prime songs of the album.
The Line Up
Dave Mustaine – rhythm/lead guitars, vocals
Al Pitrelli – rhythm/lead guitars
Dave Ellefson – bass
Jimmy DeGrasso – drums
Track Information
Time/Use The Man (live)
This is a song with two songs in it, the intro is from Time: The Beginning but it is not the whole song though. Use The Man later appears and it sounds good in live performance. A good song to start the album but it sounds a bit boring with acoustics during live. 4/5
The Conjuring (live)
The crowd is wild and the band kicks off with this great song. The Conjuring sounds perfect on this record than it does on ¨PSBWB¨. The bass is clearer to hear and the guitar work is great and Dave voice does a good job here. This is one of the best songs of this album! 5/5
In My Darkest Hour (live)
The song starts with these boring riffs, the acoustic part is not included and the guitars sound somewhat screamy here. But this is one of Megadeth’s proudest songs, calm at the start and fast in the end but it is play a little to fast here and the solo seems shorter and not as accurate like on the studio recording. 4.5/5
Sweating Bullets (live)
Starts with some riffs to fill out the intro of the song, the song is play in a faster pace than the original but the band is tight in their playing and it makes the song fine listening to. The song is chunky in its sound and Dave speaks more than he sings as it should be in this song. 4/5
Symphony Of Destruction (live)
This is also one of Megadeth’s greatest songs, it has this heavy main riff but this live performance does not sound very heavy. The lyrics are about how stuff can affect you and when the order is falling apart (I think). 3.5/5
Holy Wars (live)
I love this song because of its tempo, precise riffing and soloing. Al and Jimmy do a really good job one this song even that they haven’t been playing in the band for a very long time. This song is know for its solo part from the former member Marty Freidman and Dave’s solo that starts near the end. 5/5
Done, this is not a perfect album because it already has songs from other records and has only two new songs. But the songs are great and I can recommend this album to those who are dedicated fans of Megadeth. Final rating: 3.5/5
