Megadeth - Super Collider Review
rating: 4.5
Release Date: 4th of June Super Collider is Megadeth's fourteenth studio album and the first to be released on Dave Mustaine's new label, Tradecraft. This is not the album that fans were expecting from the current generation of the band, and as such it has already drawn a fair amount of fire and hate from many with statements such as those from this Metal Sucks review:"Super Collider is undoubtedly the worst Megadeth album since 2001's The World Needs a Hero, and it is very possibly as bad as 1999s infamous Risk...This isnt metal its muzak, an album populated predominantly by old man rock..."Reviews such as this one are dismissive, plain and simple. Born from this line of thinking: "I dislike either the person, or the band, so this is instantly bad." My advice, look out for a "MegaDave" reference, or an abundance of Metallica invocations. If you find either of these disregard the review, as their comments have no real grounding and are a reflection of personal dislike. Just because something is different, it doesn't mean it is bad. Yes, this is not a "pure thrash record" but it never claimed to be. Megadeth have done the thrash thing at least 10 times before, and very well I might add, they are allowed to try out new sounds and structures. It is called being creative. This album should draw no comparison to St. Anger, even though for some reason it has done, as that was not creative at all. I agree that it does sound a lot like Risk, but how is any of this a bad thing? Megadeth gave us four thrash albums prior to this; a shakeup was needed. Slayer stayed the course with the pure thrash approach for example, and we got World Painted Blood. Was that a good album? No, but in theory it was what fans wanted and it had one good song. Guys, doing the same thing again and again gets old very fast, pun intended. Chill and give this one a chance...
Okay, so onto the record itself. Overall the album is a good release and is worth buying. It is slower than most of their post-2002 previous releases, and it does jump between radio hard rock and fast paced metal. There is a strong undercurrent of thrash metal throughout but it is still a very experimental Megadeth album. I believe that this is what Risk was aiming to be. The title track Super Collider, Don't Turn Your Back and Beginning of Sorrow are straight up rock songs, and the tracks that will turn off most. I must admit that Super Collider and Don't Turn Your Back fail to impress. They are the most "paint by the numbers" in both structure and lyrical content on the album, but even if they were stellar they would still be a tough fit on any modern-Megadeth record. While Beginning of Sorrow walks the line between metal and rock nicely, with a strong opening bass riff and a neat call and response vocal interplay between Dave, David and Chris. It showcases what the goal of this record was: to push the boundaries of what we think metal should be and create new ones. Anthrax have done the same with their last album, Worship Music. The obvious highlights are Kingmaker, Dance in the Rain and Built for War. These are more in line of what people expect from a Megadeth release. Kingmaker is a great opener that will recall the glory of Sleepwalker, with galloping guitars, tight bass lines and interlocking drums all married to some nice guitar solos. Built for War has some really cool riffs, solos and a very interesting melodic bridge with a unique Megadeth take. Although I found Dance in the Rain to be the most interesting from a lyrical standpoint. Featuring David Draiman from Disturbed on backing vocals, this song is a commentary on post-911 "Amerika" as Dave Mustaine sees it; he snarls about government spying, Big Brother, corruption etc. Also, this song has an awesome pay off in the coda that will please even the most hardcore thrashers. The standard issue of the album closes out with a cover of the Thin Lizzy track, Cold Sweat. This is a typical -Megadeth cover i.e. it is very close to the original but has a heavy-Mustaine stamp. Think of their cover of Out on the Titles from a few years ago, this is more of the same. http://youtu.be/IgYOaUZ29ws So, is this a good album? Yes. Is it a thrash metal album? Sometimes, but sometimes it is a hard rock album. Is it a bad album, or a "comedy album"? No, but it is not what you were expecting from a Megadeth release following Thirteen. At least we saw Risk coming. That said, Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson are two of the most influential musicians that exist today. And as such, they know what they are doing. It seems that if band veers from what certain fans think that they should play in any way, there is a torrent of abuse in the form of articles, blogs and YouTube videos the world over. All of the "Big 4" experience this. Didn't innovative drive the birth thrash metal in the first place? As a result, Endgame, Thirteen and everything after Rust in Peace is never graded fairly by fans and critics; many are of the opinion that they peaked in the early 90's and nothing can beat those albums, that they should just play the thrash status quo for the remainder of their careers. This is both narrow and counterproductive, as art is all about expression, creativity, personal growth and risk. Super Collider is not Rust in Peace nor is it Peace Sells, but it is not a bad album. It is a ballsy attempt to try and grow as artists. I feel that once the heat dies down around this album, it will be viewed more favourably. Super Collider overall gets a personal rating of 7 out of 10, or 4.5 stars. Top Songs: Built For War, Kingmaker, Dance In The Rain and Don't Turn Your Back.