Published on Jul 29, 1997
For Dave Mustaine, the past fourteen years have all been leading
up to this moment.
Since his oft-talked about removal from Metallica in 1983,
Mustaine has been leading Megadeth, the “other” name-band of the
early thrash scene, through good times and bad. Fighting a public
battle with drugs (and winning – he’s been mostly winning the
battle since 1990) and seeing heavy metal fall out of public favor,
he’s continued to push Megadeth into new, challenging territories
of its genre – often prompting the call of “sell-out” that was more
suited for his former band.
Now, after a three-year hiatus from the studio, Mustaine and
crew return with their eighth album,
Cryptic Writings – and have put out what may just be the
best music of their career.
Working again with guitarist Marty Friedman, bassist (and only
other original member besides Mustaine) Dave Ellefson and drummer
Nick Menza, Mustaine leads his crew through twelve cuts that not
only challenge the listener to re-think what this band was all
about, but also pushes the envelope and tries to make hard
rock/heavy metal a viable force again. Their previous two
full-length releases
Countdown To Extinction and the underrated
Youthanasia were just stepping stones on the journey. (Their
last release, 1995’s
Hidden Treasures, was a compilation of non-album
tracks.)
The first single “Trust” speaks volumes on how far Megadeth has
come since their balls-out debut
Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! in 1985. The
power is still there, but the guitar work has never sounded more
clear and musical ever. Mustaine’s songwriting has only grown
stronger – at age 35, he’s not afraid now to sing about
relationships and the pain they can cause. One look at the opening
verse says it all: “Lost in a dream / Nothing is what it seems /
Searching my head / For the words that you said / Tears filled my
eyes / As we said our last goodbyes / This sad scene replays / Of
you walking away.” Mustaine captures the pain that most of us have
felt at one point or another in our lives and makes us feel as if
it’s happening to Mustaine at that moment.
The following song, “Almost Honest,” continues in the dejected
lover vein, though both sides seem to be at fault in the lyrics.
The guitar work by Mustaine and Friedman is absolutely incredible –
I’m sure some of the credit must go to producer Dann Huff, formerly
of Giant. Gone are the days where Mustaine and crew had the goal of
seeing how many notes they could play in one second. Here, both men
show just how good they are on the six-string – even I was
amazed.
Mustaine has always been very open about his battle with drugs
and alcohol – “Use The Man” turns from the story of a man (another
musician? a friend?) succumb to the demons by taking his own life
to his own survival of the same hell (“I’ve seen myself use the
needle, seen the needle in my hand”).
But just before the long-time fan gets worried about Megadeth
forgetting their past, Megadeth shows they still know how to make
the aging headbanger give themselves a concussion. “FFF” is a
double-bass frenzy (though not as thrash as some of their earlier
works) that maintains a level of musicianship throughout the cut,
while “She-Wolf” seems to be a return to the Megadeth of old
(Tipper Gore, relax – it’s not a song that’s overly
descriptive).
And while the telltale signs of long-term life in a band are
occasionally heard (Mustaine sounds extremely hoarse on “I’ll Get
Even”) and other songs drag a little bit (“Have Cool, Will
Travel”), these moments hardly weaken
Cryptic Writings. There’s even a slight tip of the hat to
the Beatles – I swear one guitar track on “A Secret Place” sounds
like a sitar.
In fact, the only “disappointment” here is the disappearance of
the band’s long-time mascot Vic Rattlehead – the cover art is quite
scarce. (Once inside the book for the CD, however, the artistry of
Hugh Syme once again shows its magic.)
Maybe the long-time fans will see the slower side of Megadeth to
be a sell-out. Two words:
shut up
. While there were times in Megadeth’s history that the band
absolutely shredded while playing fast, it hardly showed off how
good of musicians these four men were and are. (I personally would
take Ellefson’s bass work over Jason Newsted’s any day.) And,
really, you could see it coming –
Youthanasia was a clear sign of things to come (I don’t
understand how people could call that album a disappointment).
Metal may not be the commercial force it once was, but if
Megadeth has anything to say about it, it will never die – only
adapt with the times.
Cryptic Writings is proof of this, and is easily one of the
best albums I’ve listened to all year.