5 Metal Albums We Should Still Crank (And 5 We Should Tank)

10. Tank It! Megadeth - Risk

Megadeth has certainly earned their spot in the "Big four", and Countdown to Extinction remains an influential album for budding young headbangers. Any band who survives long enough will likely flirt with different sounds and genres. We wouldn't have Sgt. Pepper if the Beatles kept rehashing Love Me Do for seven years. Risk is no Sgt. Pepper. The album was a departure from their thrash metal roots, and to the chagrin of their core fanbase.

Risk is, in some ways, Megadeth's "Load". Risk took the band from what made them great into something that seemed great at the time. The speed had slowed and the Megadeth of 1997 was smelling like teen spirit.

Frontman Dave Mustaine has explained that while he doesn't regret Risk, the change in sound was due to guitarist Marty Friedman's pop sensibilities. Mustaine said that during Risk, he was "capitulating to Marty's desires to be more of an alternative band, and we kept slowing down and slowing down and slowing down."

Critically, the album received mixed reviews. Mustaine stood by the album on its own merit, claiming it would have been successful if it hadn't been a Megadeth album. Tracks like Wanderlust and Insomnia stood out, but overall the Risk far outweighed the reward. Tank it.