10 Metal Albums That Should Have Been Great (But Totally Weren't)

The aptly titled thirteenth album from thrash veterans Megadeth, Th1rt3en (2011), is very much an album consisting of two songs: lead single and enemy to Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock players everywhere "Sudden Death" and the gloriously melancholic title track.

Other than that, this is something of a stale and overly long venture that most fans can skip. A lot of the riffs and hooks feel flat and lifeless, and those that don't were either recycled from an '80s or '90s Megadeth B-side (such as "Black Swan", "New World Order", "Deadly Nightshade" and "Millenium of the Blind") or had already been heard prior to release (with "Sudden Death" and "Never Dead" appearing in video games, and "Public Enemy No. 1" and "Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)" both being streamed as pre-release singles).

That means that, out of thirteen tracks, hardcore fans had already heard up to eight of the songs that were featured on the record by the time it came out.

And this is a true shame, as Th1rt3en was coming hot off the heels of the band's late-era masterwork Endgame (2008), as well as a newly rejuvenated fan interest thanks to both the Rust in Peace (1990) 20th anniversary tour and classic bassist David Ellefson rejoining Megadeth in 2010.

Sadly, Th1rt3en just couldn't live up to the hype.