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MEGADETHENDGAME "after the smoke had
cleared from personnel and label changes, I knew that regaining respect
for me and for Megadeth was going to be a huge undertaking,"says Mustaine
of the process re-tooling Megadeth after what is considered the "classic"
line-up. "It was much like trying to turn a battleship -- no, more like an
aircraft carrier-- around."
Mission accomplished
on ENDGAME, which is as extreme as anything Megadeth has ever recorded.
The album's signature track "Head Crusher"should not merely serve as a
wake-up for old fans but also a new generation ready to keep Mustaine
& Co.'s brand of shredding guitar and bellicose songsmanship at the
forefront of today's metal scene.
This, however, is not
surprising for the man who has created and branded "Gigantour," which for
the past three years has united some of metal's most musically literate
players including Dream Theater, Children of Bodom and Opeth. Then again,
what else would one expect from someone who culled a sound from The New
Wave of British Heavy Metal and created metal then new chic, which was
state of the art speed metal?
The Megadeth machine
is built on a blueprint of stark, complex musicianship. Over time, with
album sales nearing 25 million worldwide, Mustaine has balanced rabid-dog
aggression with staggering song-craft. The albums Killing Is My
Business…And Business Is Good!, Peace Sells But Who's Buying? , So Far
So Good So What? and Countdown to Extinction remain true metal classics.
No surprise then that Mustaine was awarded the title of Riff Lord at
2008's Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in the U.K, or that he was crowned
"Golden God" at the 2009 Revolver Golden Gods Awards in
America.
Which of course
shouldn't negate the flirting with commercial success on Youthanasia,
Cryptic Writings or Risk. Or even Megadeth's road back to the standing at
the top of metal’s top players with World Needs a Hero, The System Has
Failed and their Roadrunner debut, United Abominations. It was a good
lesson about the need to follow your heart, says Dave of the creative
process with Endgame. "I am grateful to have fans who have let me stretch
my wings musically. But this is where I am most comfortable."
At this point, Dave
Mustaine has nothing to prove. To make the record he wanted, Mustaine
found himself building a full-blown recording studio in San Marcos,
California, just outside of San Diego, dubbed "Vic's Garage" after
Megadeth's iconic, skull-faced mascot Vic Rattlehead. His rationale for
building a studio for Megadeth was simple: "When we went into the studio
last time it was too expensive, too extravagant, too arrogant and I think
it made us a little lazy," muses Mustaine.
Andy Sneap,
metal-producer and mixer par-excellence and a Megadeth cohort from United
Abominations, returned to work alongside of Mustaine. The result of this
metal-mongering synergy speaks for itself. "It's a great relationship,"
says Mustaine of his ongoing dealings with the acclaimed British producer,
also known for his work with Killswitch Engage and Machine Head. "We had a
few intense moments, but that is part of having a real working
relationship. I am a better guitarist, singer and producer due to my
tremendous respect for Andy and my open ears when he is listening or isn't
listening to my point of view."
Part of Megadeth's new energies on ENDGAME goes to the induction of guitarist Chris Broderick, who joins Mustaine, drummer Shawn Drover and bassist James LoMenzo in the ‘Megs tightest line-up in years. Mustaine even went on record to say, With this album, I am also very excited to be introducing my new lead guitarist, Chris Broderick, to the world. I have always felt lucky to have had top shredders in that position, but after touring with Chris in support of my last album, I couldn't wait to get into the studio and see what he could do." Not one to keep an
exactly cheery lyrical stance, ENDGAME finds Mustaine more scalding and
articulate than ever. Sure, there's "1,320"Â, a paean to the thrills of
nitro funny car racing, but from there, it grows darker and darker. The
Edgar Allen Poe waxing "The Hardest Part of Letting Go" Sealed With A
Kiss finds the narrator entombing his beloved in a wall of bricks whilst
Broderick shifts from beautific acoustics to Megadeth's riffy
snarl.
But it's a landscape
of bitter realities where Mustaine's lyrics resonate. "Bite The Hand That
Feeds" and "The Right To Go Insane"Â delve into an economically
disenfranchised nation of have and have-nots. Mustaine himself is no
stranger to politics, a self-admitted CNN junkie who in 1992 was MTV's
floor commentator at the National Democratic Convention.
ENDGAME's title track
is Mustaine at his darkest. "Thematically, I've never been known to be a
silent bystander in a world that needs our participation," he says.
"Endgame" specifically is a document signed into law that further strips
away personal civil rights. It"s a bill that George W. Bush had signed
into law that could put an American citizen in a prison, much like a
concentration camp, states Mustaine. Far-fetched? Surprisingly
not.
Musically and
lyrically Dave Mustaine remains metal's true iconoclast whose latest
musical offering rumbles with the intensity his career has been built on.
Megadeth has come full circle. Megadeth are back to the killing
business…and business has never been better. Metallica's Ride the Lightning... Twenty-Five Years Later   In the annals of the history of popular music, most second albums play the ugly step child. The songs that embody the record often do not fit with the rest of the artists catalog in retrospect. Bands demo through dozens of songs for their debut and when it comes time to do their second album, they either have the mediocre leftovers or sprint through writing songs and not allowing them to exhale and cultivate. But with Metallica, they managed to create a work that in many ways isn't so much superior to their raucous debut, Kill 'Em All, but a titanic leap forward musically and lyrically. Their debut was a speed demon of a masterpiece, high on testosterone and vitriolic muscle tone whereas Ride The Lightning houses songs equally reverberating, but instead of youthful exuberance, it shows a mature side concealed in thrash metal up to that point. Metallica was one of two bands whom I immediately bought their entire catalog when I bought a CD player in 1989. Imports, singles, rare out of print items, I bought them all. However, the one album I almost never listened to was Ride the Lightning. For some odd reason I can never quite explain, I deemed the record a disappointment. Was I on drugs? No. I simply have no excuse for explaining why I didn't feel this album was up to par with their other four records at that time, I just didn't listen to it closely enough. Over time I found myself returning to this record, discovering new mysteries and songs finding their way inside of me. There's a ferocious metal side to the record and an equally composed yet superbly solemn and stunning side as well. The two worlds of this record make it astonishing. Still, over the years, I've always leaned heavily on Master of Puppets as their magnum opus with nothing else coming close, until this year. As I stood in the hallway of the Allstate Arena (aka Rosemont Horizon) outside of Chicago last winter, I found myself talking with Tom Trakas, editor in chief of Midwest Metal and the None But My Own Blog (http://deathstar330.blogspot.com/). Tom and I met a few years back at a book signing in Chicago for Lonn Friend's Life on Planet Rock which I worked with Lonn for 3 years on. Even though our musical tastes are at times on opposite sides of the spectrum, we always love picking one another's brains for insight and the possibility to look at something in a new light. The topic turned to best Metallica album and Tom gave me his argument for Ride the Lightning and at first I was surprised. As it sunk it, it made complete sense. Tom has always been an enormous Cliff Burton fan, as displayed by the shirt he was wearing, and this album has many shining moments displaying Burton's miraculous talents. That night I went home and begun listening to this record with fresh ears once again due to that conversation. The second time this year that I begun a deep dive into this record was when I completed Joel McIver's new book To Live Is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton. McIver's book brought to the forefront as to why there was such a substantial augmentation between these two records; Cliff Burton. By the time Burton joined Metallica, the greater part of songs for the debut had been written, but it didn't stop Burton from contributing "Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)", a turn-on-your-head bass solo that redefined the instrument in ways no one ever deemed imaginable. By the time the band came to write their second record, Burton's influence was sinking in. Burton came with formal musical training and a profound knowledge of song structures and melody. Having studied classical music, he had a deeper breadth of knowledge of the history of music than anyone else in the band, and they knew it. Even though he was a quiet personality the rest of the band elevated their games when he became a member and after a year of constant touring they were ready to take on the world. Ride The Lightning is the sound of a band that was fully confident in their craft. Even the often deemed throwaway "Escape" has bite. This was the first collection of songs that largely evolved between the Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton and Hammett. While Dave Mustaine still receives a writing credit on the title track, this was the first true band effort from Metallica's original line-up. The album's opening track "Fight Fire With Fire" begins with the sound of acoustic guitars (and some bass deeper in the mix), a far cry from the howling "Hit The Lights" pronouncement of Kill 'Em All but the song quickly dissolves into a rapid-fire scorcher more devastating than anything on Kill. At the time, the mere inclusion of an acoustic was enough to make the metal community think the band has gone soft, but they did anything but. Particularly interesting are the wailing orchestral solos provided by Kirk Hammett adding a texture to the band that would be mimicked time and time again. On the title track, it opens with a call-to-arms melody forged with the most glacial rhythm guitar riffs imaginable. This was one of two songs to make the record that Dave Mustaine had worked on when he was still in the band. "Trapped Under Ice" is as merciless as the title as features an uncommonly rapturous guitar solo right past the thirty-second mark. "Escape" has never been performed because it was the one track the band attempted to record for airplay and when it was over, it didn't sit well with them and as a result it's largely forgotten but even amidst seven other stone cold classics, it still feels fresh, dangerous and at the forefront of metal. The album's closer, an instrumental, "The Call of Ktulu" is the sound of Beethoven two centuries onward in the band's most complex and rewarding composition yet. If Beethoven was alive in the 1980's and had a love for thrash metal, this is what it would have sounded like. The album's two truly classic tracks, "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "Creeping Death" showcase a band not just attempting to out-distort their contemporaries but who could ever so gently wrap melodies around these impenetrable thundering walls of music. The former doesn't even feature vocals for the first two-minutes and a Cliff Burton bass solo that sounded like a guitar solo. Metal fan or not, in 1984, nothing else sounded like this. Great art doesn't come easy and there's no formula to follow. The key to being truly innovative is to take chances and throw yourself out there to be chastised. This happened with more orchestral arrangements, an acoustic guitar opening and even dare I say it, a ballad, "Fade To Black". Granted, "Fade" is unlike any other ballad you have ever heard, but still, to the thrash metal hard core, it was viewed as a sell-out. Lyrically the band took a step forward as well. Digging beneath the destruction and death vehicle, "Fade To Black", while ultimately tragic was a song that that fans to this day wrap themselves up in. This is one of those songs that people put the headphones on in their bedroom, they grab their vinyl, stare at it and somehow they hope that the circular disc can make sense of their inner tribulations. Instead of focusing on darker themes, they managed to create epics that wouldn't just let you bang your worries away, but you could also crawl inside of to find shelter. Thrash was still in its
infancy here, yet on Ride the Lightning Metallica sound like
masters of their domain. There's no scent of a sophomore album slump
anywhere to be found and to this day, many feel Lightning is their
preeminent record, even surpassing the monumental Master of Puppets
released in March of 1986. The fact that four men barely old enough to
drink legally created such a weighty masterpiece that wasn't just
reflective but a leap forward musically for an entire genre of music is
something to be in awe of. I may have foolishly not acknowledged this
album's greatness initially, but I'm on board now. To this day, Ride
the Lightning didn't just transform Metallica into the band they
eventually became, it helped take heavy metal in a direction I'm not sure
if anyone every deemed possible. It provided a road map of possibilities
for an entire generation of metal music fans allowing the genre to become
something more than a fly by night fluke; they helped metal become art.
One listen to the record and you can hear the world spinning on its axis.
Illustrious music evolves from artists who don't play by the numbers.
Metallica didn't just spin the metal world on their heads, they showed us
that heavy metal could be something more than anyone ever imagined. They
could have done the easy thing and followed trends but instead, they
created them and that is why twenty-five years onward, they are still the
biggest, baddest and best metal band on the planet.
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