You should know this already, but this is the band Dave Mustaine formed after getting booted out of Metallica. One of the band's charms was their notoriety for heavy drinking and drug use, which gave lots of raw, vicious charm to their first three CDs. (The band has recently sobered up.) Unlike Metallica, I found Megadeth's later pop-metal releases to be far less annoying...at first, anyway.

"Killing is My Business...and Business is Good!"

1. "Last Rites/Loved to Deth" (4:34)
2. "Killing is My Business...and Business is Good!" (3:02)
3. "Skull Beneath the Skin" (3:43)
4. "These Boots" (3:41)
5. "Rattlehead" (3:39)
6. "Chosen Ones" (2:52)
7. "Looking Down the Cross" (4:58)
8. "Mechanix" (4:23)

A friend warned me about buying this CD, saying the mastering was much worse than the crappy vinyl version, but I hardly noticed any difference. There's some real thrash monsters on this CD, especially "Loved to Deth", "...Cross", and the concert staple "These Boots", which is a Nancy Sinatra (!) song. (Incidentally, once Nancy heard that song, she DEMANDED it's deletion from future releases, so this particular pressing has become something of a collector's item.) "Mechanix" sounds curiously similar to Metallica's "The Four Horsemen". :)

"Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?"

1. "Wake Up Dead" (3:39)
2. "The Conjuring" (5:02)
3. "Peace Sells" (4:02)
4. "Devil's Island" (5:04)
5. "Good Mourning/Black Friday" (6:39)
6. "Bad Omen" (4:03)
7. "I Ain't Superstitious" (2:44)
8. "My Last Words" (4:48)

"Peace Sells" was the first Megadeth song I ever heard, and up until then I wasn't sure if the band was worth my attention or not. No question now! Just about every song on this CD is an insta-classic. "I Ain't Superstitious" is an old blues song, I forget who originally wrote it.

"So Far, So Good...So What!"

1. "Into the Lungs of Hell"--instrumental (3:29)
2. "Set the World Afire" (5:47)
3. "Anarchy in the U.K." (3:00)
4. "Mary Jane" (4:24)
5. "502" (3:27)
6. "In My Darkest Hour" (6:16)
7. "Liar" (3:20)
8. "Hook in Mouth" (4:40)

I awaited the release of this CD with much anticipation, and was not disappointed! Dave's drugged-out rages spew forth with ultimate vigor, particularly the powerful instrumental "Into the Lungs..." and the anti-PMRC song "Hook in Mouth". The drunk-driving song "502" (taken from the California Penal Code for driving under the influence) has a great segment in the middle of a car speeding off, sirens wailing after it, followed by a resounding CRASH!! Great stuff! "Anarchy in the U.K.", of course, was originally done by the Sex Pistols.

"Rust in Peace"

1. "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" (6:34)
2. "Hangar 18" (5:12)
3. "Take No Prisoners" (3:27)
4. "Five Magics" (5:41)
5. "Poison Was the Cure" (2:57)
6. "Lucretia" (3:57)
7. "Tornado of Souls" (5:21)
8. "Dawn Patrol" (1:49)
9. "Rust in Peace...Polaris" (5:37)

When this album came out, I was blown away by the much tighter, cleaner sound and production quality, and used it as evidence that drugged-out musicians can still make great music! But then I learned that Dave & the band had sobered up before recording it. Oh well, I'm still searching.

"Countdown to Extinction"

1. "Skin O' My Teeth" (3:13)
2. "Symphony of Destruction" (4:02)
3. "Architecture of Aggression" (3:33)
4. "Foreclosure of a Dream" (4:16)
5. "Sweating Bullets" (5:03)
6. "This Was My Life" (3:41)
7. "Countdown to Extinction" (4:16)
8. "High Speed Dirt" (4:12)
9. "Psychotron" (4:41)
10. "Captive Honour" (4:14)
11. "Ashes in Your Mouth" (6:10)

With Dave Mustaine's drug ravages a thing of the past, the music now starts veering closer to mainstream pop-metal. I still think this is a good album, though many songs did get old after awhile. "Symphony of Destruction" is basically "Peace Sells Part 2", but the riff is classic enough for a second time 'round.

"Anarchy by the Bay" (CDR live bootleg; 1992, Oakland, CA)

1. "Holy Wars" (6:53)
2. "Sweating Bullets" (4:47)
3. "In My Darkest Hour" (6:04)
4. "Symphony of Destruction" (3:53)
5. "Peace Sells" (4:07)
6. "Anarchy in the U.K." (3:57)
7. "Countdown to Extinction" (4:10)
8. "Skin O' My Teeth" (3:59)
9. "A Tout le Monde" (4:28)

I don't have any firm information about this show except for the year & city. The shortness of the set makes me think it came from the "Titans of Thrash" tour, which featured three of the "Big Four" thrash bands all on one bill (the other two being Slayer and Anthrax, with Alice in Chains opening. Now THAT would have been a show to see!!) Sound quality is excellent, A+ soundboard (probably a radio broadcast.)

"Youthanasia"

1. "Reckoning Day" (4:35)
2. "Train of Consequences" (3:26)
3. "Addicted to Chaos" (5:26)
4. "A Tout le Monde" (4:27)
5. "Elysian Fields" (4:03)
6. "The Killing Road" (3:57)
7. "Blood of Heroes" (3:57)
8. "Family Tree" (4:07)
9. "Youthanasia" (4:09)
10. "I Thought I Knew it All" (3:44)
11. "Black Curtains" (3:39)
12. "Victory" (4:26)

I'm not too fond of this CD, which is total mainstream pop-metal. I only bought it coz I found a used copy for $3.99, and I don't think I've listened to it more than once. A couple good songs here, though, namely "Reckoning Day" and "Elysian Fields". "Victory" is also neat because it mentions about 20 other Megadeth song titles in the lyrics!

"Train of Consequences" (single)

1. "Train of Consequences" (3:28)
2. "Crown of Worms" (3:21)
3. "Black Curtains" (3:40)
4. "Peace Sells"--live (4:14)
5. "Ashes in Your Mouth"--live (6:29)
6. "Anarchy in the U.K."--live (4:09)

A fairly rare CD single with an unreleased song, "Crown of Worms". Whoever did the liner notes must have been a scab...not only are the time lengths WAY off, the live tracks are listed in the wrong order!

"A Tout Le Monde" (single)

1. "A Tout Le Monde" (4:28)
2. "Symphony of Destruction"--demo (5:30)
3. "Architecture of Aggression"--demo (2:47)
4. "New World Order"--demo (3:46)

Okay, this is interesting...the song "New World Order", written by Megadeth, was recorded by Zöetrope several years ago, and for a long time I didn't even know Megadeth had recorded it themselves until this CD single came out. (The "demo" designation is superfluous since, as far as I know, no other recording exists.) The other two demo tracks here are pretty damn crappy.

1. "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (3:02)
2. "Breakpoint" (3:29)
3. "Go to Hell" (4:36)
4. "Angry Again" (3:47)
5. "99 Ways to Die" (3:58)
6. "Paranoid" (2:32)
7. "Diadems" (3:55)
8. "Problems" (3:57)

I get annoyed by the tendency these days for bands to put songs out on various artist compilations & movie soundtracks w/o including them on their own CDs, but Megadeth was nice enough here to provide a compilation of their non-album tracks. Of course, I already owned most of them! At least buying this EP allowed me to sell my Shocker soundtrack, which "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (originally done by Alice Cooper, of course) is from, and their "Symphony of Destruction" CD single, which contained "Breakpoint" and "Go to Hell". ("Go to Hell" was on the Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey soundtrack, and "Breakpoint" was also on a soundtrack but I have no idea which one...I think it was some bad Patrick Swayze movie.) I still have the original releases that contain "Angry Again" (Last Action Hero soundtrack), "99 Ways to Die" (The Beavis and Butthead Experience), and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" (Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath). "Problems" is yet another Sex Pistols cover.

"Cryptic Writings"

1. "Trust" (5:11)
2. "Almost Honest" (4:03)
3. "Use the Man" (4:36)
4. "Mastermind" (3:45)
5. "The Disintegrators" (2:50)
6. "I'll Get Even" (4:24)
7. "Sin" (3:06)
8. "A Secret Place" (5:25)
9. "Have Cook Will Travel" (3:25)
10. "She-Wolf" (3:36)
11. "Vortex" (3:35)
12. "FFF" (2:38)

Bought this new release without listening to a single song from it. Big mistake. A lot of the songs attempt to diverge themselves from the shameless pop-metal crap they've recently dished out--reverb guitar, even harmonica in one song--but it simply doesn't work. "Trust" is a good song, albeit no heavier than anything from Countdown to Extinction, and "The Disintegrators" is a fast, energetic throwback to their Rust in Peace days; but on the whole, I really feel like I wasted my money...

"Unplugged & More" (CDR; 12/11/97, Buenos Aires)

1. "I'll Get Even" (4:38)
2. "A Tout le Monde" (3:52)
3. "Countdown to Extinction" (4:41)
4. "Almost Honest" (4:13)
5. "Trust" (4:35)
6. "Angry Again" (3:44)
7. "Use the Man" (2:57)
8. "Anarchy in the U.K." (3:15)
9. "Symphony of Destruction" (4:11)
10. "My Sweet Lord" (2:03)
11. "One Thing"--studio track (4:39)
12. "Reckoning Day" (4:19)
13. "Peace Sells" (3:55)
14. "Angry Again" (3:45)
15. "Use the Man" (4:23)
16. "Tornado of Souls" (5:51)
17. "A Tout le Monde" (4:51)
18. "She Wolf" (3:35)

"Megadeth Unplugged"?? Now THAT is funny! Ok, seriously, this is a cool acoustic set which shows the "lighter side" of the band, whatever that means. "My Sweet Lord" is the George Harrison song (or should I say the Chiffons? LOL!) -- Dave mixes up the lyrics a bit, instead of "Hallelujah, I really wanna know you" he says, "Buenos Aires, I really wanna live here!" Gee, way to kiss ass, Dave! The studio track "One Thing" was a bonus on the Jap import of Cryptic Writings, so that's a nice plus. Tracks 12-18 are normal, "plugged" live versions from a show somewhere in Arizona (which I only know because Dave mentions it -- my artwork scans are too blurry to read!) Sadly, the last two tracks on this disc are defective, and suffer from major "clipping".

"Risk"

1. "Insomnia" (4:34)
2. "Prince of Darkness" (6:25)
3. "Enter the Arena" (0:52)
4. "Crush 'Em" (4:57)
5. "Breadline" (4:24)
6. "The Doctor is Calling" (5:40)
7. "I'll Be There" (4:20)
8. "Wanderlust" (5:22)
9. "Ecstasy" (4:28)
10. "Seven" (5:00)
11. "Time: The Beginning" (3:04)
12. "Time: The End" (2:28)

The Perpetual Motion Conference voted this the second worst & most disappointing CD of 1999...but, like with Queensryche's "Q2K", they were wrong! Maybe they just don't like the pop-metal direction the band is taking these days...no matter, I like it, that's all that matters, fuck off. :) In fact, "Breadline" is one of Megadeth's most beautiful songs EVER (notice I said "beautiful", not "best") -- and I especially liked how, when it got regular airplay, the D.J. would always say, "Yes! That was Megadeth! I'm not joking!"

Incidentally, Megadeth does a DAMN fine job of "Never Say Die" on the tribute album Nativity in Black 2...

"The World Needs a Hero"

1. "Disconnect" (5:20)
2. "The World Needs a Hero" (3:52)
3. "Moto Psycho" (3:06)
4. "1000 Times Goodbye" (6:25)
5. "Burning Bridges" (5:20)
6. "Promises" (4:28)
7. "Recipe for Hate...Warhorse" (5:18)
8. "Losing My Senses" (4:40)
9. "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" (4:25)
10. "Silent Scream"--instrumental (1:42)
11. "Return to Hangar" (3:59)
12. "When" (9:14)

The term "return to form" was thrown around rather haphazardly regarding this album, long before Dave Mustaine decided to sustain a career-ending hand injury. (I thought only football players did that?) So...did they suceed? Well, the first two songs start of very strong, as good as anything they've done since Countdown to Extinction. Then the quality dips sharply for the next 4 or 5 dorky, pretentious songs, reaching its absolute nadir with "1000 Times Goodbye", which features some woman's voice saying such cunt-like things as "It's not as good as it used to be," and "I'll always love you, just not like that." (Sorry, but I've heard enough of those lines from ex-girlfriends throughout my life, I DO NOT need to hear them in a fucking metal song!!) Furthermore, "Promises" seems to be an attempt by Dave to channel the ghost of George Harrison...a vain one, I should add.

Things pick up with "Recipe for Hate/Warhorse", though, and get significantly better and better, almost reaching Rust in Peace levels with "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" and "Return to Hangar"! (Notice I said "almost".) Then I listened to the final song, "When". It opens with a long, dark, chilling, evil-sounding intro that recalls "Devil's Island" or "Black Friday"...but better!! And with incongruously-placed trumpets! Amazing! Where will it go from there, I wondered? Well, when the main body of the song started, I literally fell on the floor laughing. It's a TOTAL ripoff of "Am I Evil"!!! And the reason I found it so funny, was because I had this vision of Lars Ulrich in his lawyer's office, waving his fat little arms back and forth, while his lawyer was telling him, "No Lars, you CAN'T sue them, you didn't write that song!!!!!"

"Rude Awakening" (live album)

I'm sure you all know by now that Megadeth has broken up, due to a serious arm injury that Dave Mustaine sustained, which possibly may prevent him from playing guitar again. (That's all the details I have...if anyone has an update, send it my way, ok?) So the band kindly left us with this double-live set, featuring tracks from every Megadeth album, except Risk for some reason. (Hey! I actually LIKED that album, especially "Breadline"...what's up with that shit?) All I can say is, great music, splendidly performed, except that the song lengths appear to be quite a bit shorter than the studio tracks...haven't figured out why that is, yet.

And now for a Public Service Announcement: Shortly after Megadeth's announced breakup, the greedy record company threw together a compilation CD called Still Alive & Kicking. DO NOT BUY IT. Not only is the title a total lie (for the time being), it's nothing but a collection of six songs from The World Needs a Hero, plus a bunch of live tracks taken directly from Rude Awakening. Talk about a blatant cash-in...they didn't even bother to include any rare b-sides or anything. (Sure, there's a couple unreleased live tracks, but if you really want 'em, just download them from your favorite mp3-sharing program.) And the RIAA blames US for killing the music industry...hell, they're doing a hell of a job slitting their own throats, without our help!!!

on cassette:
• "Anarchy in the UK" -- cassette single b/w "Black Friday" (live) & "Devil's Island" (live)

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