Guybrush

Introduction :

Members on this album :

Dave Mustaine - guitar, lead vocals
Marty Friedman - guitar, backing vocals
David Ellefson - bass, backing vocals
Nick Menza - drums, backing vocals

Most know about Dave Mustaine and have some opinions about his music, but few aside fans know where the guy's really coming from. When he was little, his family was on the constant move, trying to get away from his sometimes violent, alcoholic father. When Dave was 15, he moved away from his mother and violent step-father and financed a flat on money he got for selling drugs. His supplier was a woman working in a record store who would drop by his apartment and give him drugs and albums and also had sex with him. Thus, Dave Mustaine was introduced to the music of bands like Motorhead and Iron Maiden as well as a rather destructive lifestyle with alcohol and hard drugs. In 1981 after seeing their ad in a magazine, Dave went to audition as lead-guitarist for Metallica. He didn't even get to audition as he was hired already after his warm-up on the guitar. Dave saw himself as the frontman of Metallica and eventually, his excessive substance abuse made him hard to get along with as well as a danger for the band. One day in 1983, they woke him up in their tour trailer, said his days with Metallica were over and dumped him at a buss station. Dave was pretty upset about that, especially after Metallica released their debut which had some of his stuff on it. Part as an agenda for revenge on Metallica, he formed the band Megadeth who's lineup for the 1985 debut My business is killing... And business is good had David Ellefson on bass, Chris Poland on second guitar and now deceased Gar Samuelson on the drums.

Megadeth has since been a drugged up heavy metal ride with several line-up changes. They often play fast and have enjoyed a reputation for being technically skilled. Dave's songs are often pessimistic and mistrustful of those in power and themes might deal with large-scale problems like tyranny and war or personal problems like suidical thoughts. During much of his career, Dave has been in a self destructive spiral and has been to rehab 15 times for various addictions including heroin. After a concert in Oregon which ended in a riot, Dave swallowed a handful of valium and was rushed to the hospital where he died, but was successfully resuscitated.

In the late 90s, he managed to sober up one final time and has stayed clean since. In the years after, he has announced his christian faith and now lives on a farm with his wife and two daughters Justis and Electra Mustaine .. Or did, I think he might be going through a divorce. Anways, although he's no longer a rock 'n roll dope-fiend, he still makes excellent music. Countdown to Extinction was Megadeth's fifth album and is the best-selling from their catalogue. It contains the band's most successful singles and was the first time they got massive media exposure like music videos played on MTV.


Song for Song Review :

The album opens strong with the classic Skin o' My Teeth, one of the faster songs on the album. I find it quite catchy and easy to like. In Dave's own words; This song is about how many times I've tried to kill myself but just couldn't get the ****in' job done. The theme is rather gloomy, but it made for an excellent song. Second track, Symphony of Destruction should need no introduction since most metal fans already know it and those who don't like metal may have been exposed to it through the video games like Guitar Hero. Fans may have grown tired of this song because of it's hype, but it doesn't change the fact that it's brilliant. The catchy guitar riff and machine-steady beat works extremely well with Dave's snarling vocals. The lyrics, dealing with the theme of dictatorship, are immediate ear catchers. Pure awesome. Watch the video if you want.




Architecture of Aggression is another good song which is roughly about war. It's another example of catchy riffs and good songwriting.

Great nations built from the bones of the dead,
With mud and straw, blood and sweat,
You know your worth when your enemies
Praise your architecture of aggression

Foreclosure of a Dream opens with a lovely, moody, melodic piece on the guitar which gives excellent impact to Dave's singing. David Ellefson wrote a lot of the lyrics and the song is supposedly about farming corporations driving family farms out of business as well as the rise and fall of political ideologies. They are delivered in the typical bleak Mustaine manner and the song bears the hallmarks of an instant metal hit. They also made a video. The music video version is not exactly the same as on this album, but check it out!




Sweating Bullets is another single from the album, but I consider it inferior to foreclosure and symphony. It deals thematically with schizophrenia and in the song and music video, different Dave Mustaines are having an argument among himself. It's not a bad song, but I prefer the tracks up to this point, possibly because I think this song feels unintentionally parodic.

This Was My Life is good, but aside from some memorable guitar, slips into the background on this album. The title track Countdown to Extinction deals with trophy hunting/poaching and resulting extinction of animals. The song actually won them the Humane Society of the United States Genesis Award for it's dealings with animal welfare. The sound is a bit more laidback and has a catchy bass-bit by Menza. Good stuff! High Speed Dirt is back with some dirty, screeching guitar and some higher pitched vocals by Dave. The song sometimes reminds me of Foreclosure of a Dream, although it has not nearly as much charm, so for me this is filler. The lyrics are about skydiving to your death, but I miss the conscience from the other songs. On the plus side, it has a lot of drive and energy, it's just missing some impact. Psychotron is about a man-robot killing machine by the same name. Again, I miss some depth in the lyrics, but by all means, in metal - songs about killer manrobots should be okay. Captive Honour is another album highlight for me and contains some absolutely kickass sounding guitar. It's also slightly more relaxed and while I don't fully understand the political lyrics (though they certainly deal with crime and punishment), there are some very memorable lines from this song.

And if you kill a man, you're a murderer ..
Kill many and you're a conqueror
Kill'em all - Ooh, you're a God

Despite all that it's got going for it, they decided to fill it with some rather silly sampled dialogue which at worst feels a bit parodic. While I do think it's slightly inappropriate, it can't ruin the song. It's too awesome for that. Ashes in Your Mouth opens strong with some fast guitar and drums. Again, the lyrical themes turn rather bleak in a song that I think is about the futility of humanity's future and how we always descend into war. The song also contains some good solo play. Nothing wrong there. By now, the album should be over .. Unless you have bonus tracks cued up, but as usual, I've chosen not to review those.


Review Summary :

Countdown for Extinction marked a change in the sound of Megadeth as some songs were a bit slower and adopted more typical hard rock structures. The result was a fairly accessible album and it's the band's biggest seller. While diehard fans may be a little turned off by this new direction, there's no denying that it was an extremely important album for Megadeth and resulted in many new fans. Perhaps unfortunately, Metallica's Black Album was popular around the same time and may have stolen some of the potential thunder. I know Dave felt agonized by this after the album's release. It bothers me a bit when people only know of Dave as the guy who hates Metallica. Megadeth is awesome and Dave is an extremely talented musician who, despite all his demons, shows a deep sense of morale in his songwriting. Countdown to extinction, aside from having pushed them to the height of their popularity, showcases that talent and combines it with accessibility, making it a great album and a good entry-point for new listeners.

Toretorden's Treasure Trove score : 5/6

Favourite tracks : Skin o' My Teeth, Symphony of Destruction, Architecture of Aggression, Foreclosure of a Dream, Captive Honour

__________________
Something Completely Different

Unknown Soldier

I`m a huge fan of Megadeth as well and would far sooner listen to their stuff than say Metallica for example, this has largely to do with Dave Mustaine and his brand of Thrash along with his unique signing style.

I think you must have watched the same Megadeth documentary as me as knew everything that you had written about Dave Mustaine, stuff that makes him one of the most interesting personalities in the history of rock.

As far as their albums go, Rust in Peace is their definitive work, hey! I would even say its one of the greatest metal releases ever, the album also has a manic energy that is unbelievable at times. As for Countdown to Extinction, its also a great album but the group are pushing in a more commercial direction and as you say, was around the same time as the Black album and that took some of its thunder away, even though I think its a far more enjoyable album. I think the opening riff on "Symphony of Destruction" followed by Dave`s vocals to be unforegettable.

I`ve never decided on their best line up, whether it be Chris Poland or Marty Friedman on Guitar, or Gars Samuelson or Nick Menza on drums.

Megadeth are one of those groups that I can listen to all day and every day.

Guybrush

I have a Megadeth DVD which is basically about the band with a lot of interviews with Mr. Ellefson and others. As you know, David's left the band now which is a pity, seemed he was the one who stuck with Dave the longest (I recently saw him play bass in a band that warmed up for Heaven & Hell by the way). I have a lot of sympathy for Dave. Even if he's undeniably quite douchy now and then and has seen the light etc .. he's still more metal than most out there, certainly more metal than contemporaries Metallica.

Countdown to Extinction was my first Megadeth album just like Black album was my first Metallica album. I know they're not the cool albums to like with the die-hard fans, but it's just the way it turned out for me. Still, Megadeth has tons of great stuff and I find something to appreciate on even their worst records. Favourite tracks at the moment are probably The Scorpion from The System has Failed (2004) and Sleepwalker from United Abominations (2007) which are both very recent albums .. To me, Dave's still got it even if he's a converted christian straight-edge smallholder.

__________________
Something Completely Different