Review Summary: An exercise is boredom
Inconsistency has been the name of the game for thrash metal veterans Megadeth. From their earlier run of albums, where "So Far..." and "Countdown..." bring certified classics such as Peace Sells into disrepute by dropping the ball in quality comparisons, to the middle of their career where their form fell into the lavatory on Cryptic Writings, Risk, and The World Needs A Hero. More recently, Super Collider and Dystopia worked to undo all the hard work the band had undergone in re-establishing themselves with Endgame. 2007's United Abominations was further evidence to the band's lack of consistency, slotting in between The System Has Failed and Endgame, and fading into obscurity.
Primarily known as the album where the band attempted to recreate their earlier thrash sound, spawning successful songs such as Sleepwalker and the re-working of A Tout Le Monde, this album never really convinces that the band are back to firing on all cylinders. Sleepwalker and Washington Is Next are a strong way to open the album, yet Never Walk Alone feels like a Bon Jovi song, and the title track utilizes snooze-inducing spoken word sections and pretentious politically charged lyrics to no effect. Gears of War never really lives up to its video game namesake, lacking the gritty action of the source material, and A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free) does everything worse than the original except the solo. Cristina Scabbia's guest vocals are underutilized, and Dave sounds tired as opposed to actually matching the dark, suicidal lyricism. Burnt Ice attempts the Hangar 18 soloing bonanza, and perhaps rears its head as the strongest song on the album, ensuring it is bookended by the standout tracks. Amerikhastan and You're Dead ensure that the listener will be bored and wishing for the album to end, therefore diminishing the impact of Burnt Ice.
United Abominations sucks, and it's a shame because the albums either side of it were so much better. If Megadeth were able to put together an unbroken run of three great albums, perhaps their legacy would be further cemented, but their inconsistency has long been a drawback. Dave's vocals are strained and don't fit the music, the soloing is nowhere near as interesting as Marty Friedman's solos or, later, Chris Broderick's, and the drumming lacks the passion that made tracks like Rust In Peace... Polaris so fun. This is the definition of mediocrity.
