Thrash has came a long way, from the vibrant ways of the 80s to it’s death in the 90s, the most awkward thing is that most thrash bands are still around today (the big four are all still around) but if I had to pick my favourite record from the start of the end then it would be the thrash classic Rust In Peace which was less thrash in a way. The solos were still blistering (literally), the riffs full of muting goodness and it still had the trademark sound but something was missing and I felt it was that the raw production and treble tones were vanished. All the thrash bands suffered this around this time but though Megadeth have went off their roots, I still like them what ever they do. They are my favourite band but enough rambling, onto some history (written by me with no sources)
Back in the eighties, Dave Mustaine was a young angry man who wanted to play faster than his idols so one day he auditioned for a small local band to jam with. This band was no other than Metallica. Dave Mustaine was later kicked out for kicking James Hetfield’s dog, Dave pleaded to get back in and he got his second chance but it ran dry quite quick and Dave was kicked out again for his violent behaviour due to excess drug abuse. He sworn to get revenge on them and set out to get his own band, he pulled in a newbie bassist and two jazz players called Gar Samuelson and Chris Poland, Dave being a crazy guy made two albums with them and they got chucked out. Dave brought in two new players by the names of Chuck Behler and Jeff Young, that was probably Megadeth’s weakest line-up. After that period, Dave sobered up and gathered Nick Menza and Marty friedman into the band, they were at their peak with Rust In Peace. A short biography just to play catch-up with the review =)
What I Liked About The Album:
¦¦-- No one can complain about the guitar work at all as you can see the amount of hard work that it took to plan out the solos. Marty is an excellent guitarist, his solos are fast and technical and sometimes it can be nearly impossible to do. Trust me, I’ve been there =) The riffs are blinding with some thought out more than others with some of them figured out and not just pot-luck (Holy Wars, Hangar 18) but even the more power-chord oriented songs still have kick-erse riffs (Take No Prisoners) Dave Mustaine is the best in the riff department while Marty takes care of all the solos. The best guitar song on this album hands-down is Hangar 18 which is a solo battle between Dave and Marty.
¦¦-- The lyrics have improved greatly, Holy Wars…The Punishment Due has one of my favourite lines in it when Dave sings, “Next thing you know, they take my thoughts away” and the lyrics are about killing for religion while Hangar 18 is about what is out there (by out there I mean aliens) Dawn Patrol’s lyrics just creep me out though sometimes. The lyrics actually have a meaning which isn’t stuck behind metaphors.
¦¦-- The album flows well after each track since the best songs are at the start and at the end then it doesn’t really affect the rating that the bad songs are in the middle. Lucretia follows Tornado Of Souls and the songs have a similar guitar intro so they flow together. The two singles are paired together (Holy Wars and Hangar 18) and the average songs are paired together as well (Poison Was The Cure, Five Magics) The flow is important to me as the previous album from this, So Far, So Good, So What! didn’t flow that well IMO.
¦¦-- The album is something you can stamp classic on to. All the songs are great, even the average ones and Dawn Patrol is something I can dig. The band overall improved from their last albums and they have stronger members this time around (Jeff Young was a horrible guitarist) All the band members play their part in the music and the album wouldn’t work without the line-up that is featured on the album (anyone heard the Holy Wars demo with Chris Poland on it?)
What I Didn’t Like About The Album:
¦¦-- Every album has flaws and this album is no exception, my main gripe about the album is that sometimes they show off and there always has to be some fast as lightning solo in every song when they could work on their song writing skills to make better songs than taking all the time to write long complicated solos that are impossible to play (controversial statement I know)
¦¦-- Dave’s solos are annoying and are just there sometimes to feed Dave’s ego. He does this annoying thing where he jams notes together and it makes it sound horrible. Marty should just do all the leads and Dave should be left to making the riffs as that’s what he’s good at apparently. Dave just can’t solo, I don’t know why he can’t see that.
¦¦-- Poison Is The Cure is only 2:56 and Dawn Patrol is 1:51 and there is only nine tracks which make the album a bit shorter and brings down the fact I paid £15 for it but apart from that there is no problem with the album that I could think of.
Summary:
Megadeth are excellent at making songs, they know how to write and how to connect with metal fans, this album is no exception. It is a thrash classic which is enjoyed by all metal fans though not a lot of people that is not into the genre would like it. The musicians are incredible and the album is a worthy purchase.
Instruments: 10/10
Lyrics: 7/10
Replay-value: 9/10
Within the genre: 5/5
Outside the genre: 3/5
