Review Summary: Turns out the pessimists were right for once.
Megadeth have been in a critical flop for quite a while. With some mediocre releases along with some damn good ones over the past 15 years, the bad seems to outweigh the good to most of the band's thrash fanbase. While I personally tend to alienate myself from that fanbase because I don't think Megadeth songs need to be faster than a coke-addicted cheetah farting rocket fuel to be good, "Super Collider" not only gets rid of the thrash, save for a few shining moments, they also get rid of a lot of the metal aspect in general in favor a softer, more hard rock feel that hardcore fans of Megadeth's 80's and early 90's endeavors will understandably be very disappointed by.
The opening track "Kingmaker" is probably the most classic sounding track on the album and is honestly the best track as well. It's got quite a bit of horsepower in it's engine and will whet the appetite of most thrash fans. While the vocal hook has been compared to Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave", the chorus switches things to a more bouncy feel reminiscent of something off of "Countdown to Extinction". What follows is the infamous title track and, as many of you know, nobody likes this friggin' song, and for good reason. Dave simply holds notes for longer than his 51 year old vocal cords can handle. The riffs are extremely simplistic, the audible bass goes to waste, and this song starts a trend of bad lyricism that will continue throughout the duration of "Super Collider". If you need anymore proof of this, the chorus to "Burn!" starts with "Burn, baby. Burn!"
"Built for War" picks us back up with a more heavy beat that is pretty passable. Dave tries to sound more vicious on the chorus and in some ways, he succeeds. "Off the Edge" gives us another hard rock piece of mediocrity which has some of the weakest writing moments in the LP and perhaps the most boring Megadeth chorus in years.
"Dance in the Rain" is actually a stand out track despite it's flaws. Flaws such as a sudden, unexpected tempo change about a minute in as well as Dave showing his "Paranoid, republican grandpa" side with yet another mention of government spying. The first three and a half minutes aren't much, but after that, it picks up with a very "Rust in Peace" sounding segment featuring fantastic vocal work from Disturbed's David Draiman. It is absolutely wonderful. If this one segment was the entire song, it would be a must listen. Not to mention David actually manages to NOT make this sound like Disturbed, which honestly was the opposite of what I expected after hearing Device's debut, but I digress.
Now that that's over, let's get back to the mediocrity, shall we? "Beginning of Sorrow" delivers an extra-generic vocal hook along with terrible vocal effects in the chorus. "The Blackest Crow" proves that banjo and Megadeth should never cross paths. "Forget to Remember" honestly does not sound like a Megadeth song. It sounds like some weird combination of Disturbed and Escape the Fate and has to deal with whiney relationship issues. It just really doesn't belong. An odd choice was to end the album on a Thin Lizzy cover. "Cold Sweat" was done decently by Megadeth, but could have been sooooo much more if Dave added a bit more intensity to the chorus, but really, this entire album could due with a bit more intensity. If you want a good "Cold Sweat" cover, listen to Dublin Death Patrol's.
Megadeth has delivered again on a release that fails to meet fan expectations and continues to remove what they're known best for. While there are certainly some stand-out moments to be had here, it is not worth buying, and if you're a hardcore classic Megadeth fan, not even worth a listen.
