Published on May 10, 2001
You’ve got to hand it to Dave Mustaine and the other members of
Megadeth. While metal has not regained the stranglehold it had on
the charts back in the mid- to late-’80s, Mustaine and crew have
continued to slug away with the music they love. Yet despite making
some major steps forward, such as getting significant airplay for
songs like “Trust,” “Almost Honest” and “Breadline,” Megadeth has
been rewarded with dwindling album sales with each release.
Obviously, someone’s clock needed to be cleaned – and Mustaine
has responded in recent years by wiping the slate almost completely
clean. Drummer Jimmy DeGrasso came on board for
Risk, while guitarist Al Pitrelli is the latest addition to
the group. Megadeth has left Capitol Records, the only home they
had known for well over a decade, and changed many aspects of their
business dealings as well.
But the only thing they
haven’t changed is their approach towards the music, as
proven by their latest release
The World Needs A Hero. It might not be the return to speed
metal and crunching power chords that some have been praying for
since
Countdown To Extinction, but it’s a more solid effort than
the experimental
Risk – and it’s also the most emotionally raw release
they’ve ever done.
In all fairness to Pitrelli, while his talents on the guitar are
clearly heard throughout
The World Needs A Hero, he hasn’t yet come into his own in
Megadeth – but after replacing Marty Friedmann, one can understand
that it will take Pitrelli some time to make this role in the band
his own. Mustaine’s vocal sneer is still as omnipresent as it has
always been, but he does branch out and takes more of a chance with
spoken vocal lines peppered throughout the disc.
The trio of songs which opens
The World Needs A Hero marks a new direction for Megadeth,
even if “Disconnect” does have hints of “Trust” scattered through
its structure. The title track, quite possibly, is the most solid
of the bunch, merging the harder-edged and more melodic worlds that
Megadeth has straddled over the last few years. “Moto Psycho” is a
much harder rocking song than “Crush ‘Em” (from
Risk) could ever have hoped to be, and it hints at some true
power to follow.
What follows, instead, is emotion that is so pure that it
sometimes seems impossible to think that Mustaine created this out
of thin air. Drawing on the pain, self-doubt, anger and acceptance
that comes from ending a long-term relationship, “1000 Times
Goodbye” kicks things off – with a kick to the gut. Tracks such as
“Burning Bridges,” “Promises” (the latter co-written with Pitrelli)
and “When” all trace the uncharted emotional path that far too many
people can relate to – and, just like in real life, it doesn’t tie
up neatly with a happy ending.
Depite the pure emotion running through the veins of some of
these songs, occasionally the music is weakened because of the
power of the message. “1000 Times Goodbye” reads more like an angry
“fuck you” letter, losing focus on the actual songwriting. In turn,
the whole song suffers. Likewise, while I respect the spiritual
side of Mustaine and the desire to try to put some kind of positive
spin on events in this suite of songs, “Losing My Senses” doesn’t
quite deliver the goods as one would hope they would.
But not all the fault lies in this area of
The World Needs A Hero; indeed, many of these songs are
among Megadeth’s best in years. “Silent Scorn” works… until the
introduction of trumpet, which all but kills the mood. “Return To
Hangar” is a passing nod to “Hangar 18” from
Rust In Peace, but it doesn’t even come close to matching
the power and ferociousness of the original.
Depsite the few flaws,
The World Needs A Hero is a more solid album from Megadeth
than
Risk was – though to hold it up to a wonder like
Cryptic Writings sometimes doesn’t seem fair. If there was
any feeling that Megadeth was going the way of other metal acts
like “the band formerly known as Metallica,” abandoning their roots
for what was popular, then
The World Needs A Hero should slam that door shut on those
fears.