Review Summary: Despite some average songs and some uninspired songwriting, there is still a lot to enjoy on this album
With Super Collider being the band's, or rather Dave Mustaine's fourteenth Megadeth release, it seems like the band is taking two steps forward, yet one step back. Thirteen (released in 2011) was a solid outing from the band, with a lot of great songs to enjoy. This album however isn't more of the same, which is a good and a bad thing. It's good because the band doesn't seem to want to write the same material over and over with each album, with each LP in their catalog sounding different from each other. At the same time, it's bad because this album is a bit of a step down from the previous album.
The album opens with Kingmaker, which is a great song, and a great way to open the album. With fast galloping guitars and a good vocal outing from Dave, it's easy to see why this was chosen to open the album. The title track follows, and even though it is a good song, it almost sounds a little out of place on this album. It sounds like it could have easily come off of something like Cryptic Writings or even Risk. The infamous Burn! is up next, and I really don't hate this song. In fact, I kind of dig it. Yeah, the lyrics are really not up to par with some of Dave's other songs, but they're still fun enough to enjoy.
After those first three songs, the album seem to be more hit and miss from here. Built For War is actually a pretty disappointing song, and one of my least favourites off the album. It seems really sloppy and it turns out to be one of the underwhelming songs on the album, which is disappointing after a great song title like Built For War. Dance In The Rain is a nice surprise, with slight tempo changes being thrown in here-and-there. It has good guitar work throughout and the drumming is good. Beginning Of Sorrow is an alright song too, but it just falls short of a great song. The rest of the album, minus Forget To Remember and the cover version of Cold Sweat by Thin Lizzy, is just alright. There isn't too much that sticks out.
Overall, this is an album that you have to go into open minded and with little expectations. That might be a challenge considering it is Megadeth, a band who has made countless excellent albums in the past and built up quite a loyal fanbase. With this album, its safe to say that the band isn't going down any time soon. Despite the obvious flaws, this is still an enjoyable album and a worthy addition to any metal head's collection.
