21st Century Megadeth

We've got some new Megadeth coming out shortly so let's decide which Megadeth album is the best of the new millennium.  Believe it or not, Megadeth has put out 6 albums since 2000 and a couple of them even have the same lineup!  So which is the best one and why?  Explain yourselves!

I chose Engdame. I suppose it's the obvious choice, but it was unexpectedly heavy and consistently good throughout. Dave really seemed energized on this one and Endgame displays lots of the old piss & vinegar.

I like The System Has Failed and United Abominations as well, but Endgame edges both of those out. The World Needs A Hero is the forgotten Megadeth album and I remember it being mediocre but miles better than Risk. Th1rt3en was somewhat subpar with several rehashed tracks that had been previously released. It stank of a contractual obligation to get rid of Roadrunner Records. Super Collider proved that Dave really likes to write more melodic, poppier material but the results are often not so good. I do like much of the album, but I never play it anymore.

I actually like them all. Went with the System Has Failed, but could have easily gone United Abominations. I know a lot of people hate Th1rt3en because there was some re-tooled songs, but who cares? Those songs are great. "Sudden Death" is a killer and it's about time New World Order was released on a proper Megadeth album.

Not one of the more popular choices, but I went with The World Needs a Hero. It renewed my faith in the band after that steaming turd Risk.

I also have fond memories attached to that album. I got to go to an advanced listening party for it (with accompanying laser-light show), after which, the band came out and did a short acoustic set and had a Q&A with us.

Honestly, I like all of the albums in the poll. Some more than others, but there isn't a clunker in the bunch as far as I'm concerned. Including Super Collider.

[quote="MetalGuy71
Honestly, I like all of the albums in the poll. Some more than others, but there isn't a clunker in the bunch as far as I'm concerned. Including Super Collider.[/quote]


What he said. But if I have to choose, I'll go with The System Has Failed.

1. TSHF
2. EG
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3. 13
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4. UA
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5. TWNAH
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6. SC

Endgame

Endgame for me, it's a modern masterpiece. These bands really had their shit together in 2008-2009 (go figure). Meanwhile, Slayer is releasing albums that sound like they're from circa 2001.

Mustaine needs to be shot for releasing Super Collider.

Th1rt3en sounds like a compilation album, but I really liked it, most didn't.

United Abominations would have been perfect if it wasn't for "You're Dead" and "Burnt Ice".

The System Has Failed is by far the most energetic of the band's modern output, and Chris Poland is great here. Despite this, there's still a bit of filler: "Something I'm Not" and "My Kingdom." Also, "Die Dead Enough" and "Of Mice and Man" boast some of the most atrocious choruses ever devised.

The World Needs a Hero is a strange album. There's a bunch of those cringy Dave Mustaine relationship songs that I almost always skip, then there's songs that sound identical to other songs: "Moto Psycho" sounds just like "Tainted Love" for some reason; and "When" sounds like something an angsty 13 year old would write, set to the "Am I Evil?" riff (to be fair, that was a tribute to the band).

I'm just not terribly oriented with these albums to vote. I've heard all of Thirteen--okay songs but shit mix--and Super Collider--a couple kickass songs, nice Sabbath cover haha, more shit production--and snippets of the others. At some point I will explore these. Everyone keeps lauding System--I can't really remember if I've heard anything off of that. I kind of get these all confused.

I voted for Endgame.

Endgame with UA as a close 2nd

I'm torn between system and UA, but I went with UA. Mainly because of the riff in UA the song.

Even though "13" is an album with some reworked songs, I think I enjoyed this album the most, because it was Dave not trying to come up with Rust In Peace II. I think it had that "Youthanasia"/"Cryptic Writings" type of feel going on, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

My second favorite would probably be "The System Has Failed". It has the best songs between this and "13", but I feel there are more tracks on "13 that I enjoy.

"Endgame" would finish third on this list and just barely ahead of...

..."United Abominations". There are great moments on both albums, but both at times tend to be a blatant attempt at trying to hold the thrash crown. Due to that, I just think there are those tracks which seem to come off as filler.

"The Worlds Needs A Hero" has its moments, but there are some steaming turds on this album and it just felt like Megadeth was about to implode. It probably didn't help that Marty was no longer in the band and Nick was gone for a second straight album. I never cared much for this lineup, which included DeGrasso and Pitrelli.

I think "Super Collider" is beyond f*cking boring. I think I've literally listened to that album twice all the way though. It's almost as if I knew there was no way this album would get better with repeated listens.

corplhicks wrote:

nice Sabbath cover

I actually like all of the choices listed, but really love "System" Th13rteen" and United" the most. I voted for System as it has the awesome "Kick the Chair" and "Back in the Day" is a great track too. I also really like "Shadow of Deth" and into "My Kingdom Come." United Abominations is got some killer tracks also, like, "Sleepwalker" and "Gears of War." I have kind of a soft spot for World ( and it's relationship songs) cuz at the time I had a bad break up too. And. in my humble opine, "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" is one of the best Deth songs of all time.

System. It has a nostalgic place in my heart as the first Megadeth album I ever bought, but beyond that I think it has the best songs of all the album's .Endgame is friggin awesome because it just rips from front to back, but sometimes it felt like just heavy jams were included for the sake of heavy jams. With system I really enjoy how even as Dave and Poland tear it up all over the album it was all in service to the song. It has really stood up well in my estimation.

1. The system has failed
2. Endgame (right in systems heals)
3. United Abominations. I dont know what buddy above was thinking about but burnt ice is insane, one of my favorite modern Deth cuts.
4/5 tie. Th1rtEen/Supercollider (both flawed each has some killer cuts, and some awful ones. But I enjoy each quite a bit, my fav between them probably depends on the day you ask me)
6.the world needs a hero. Not much has ever stuck with me from that album .

DevZor wrote:

I dont know what buddy above was thinking about but burnt ice is insane

It's insane how fast "Burnt Ice" puts me to sleep. If I wanted to be lulled into a coma, I would just listen to an Iced Earth album.

This was an easy choice for me. United Abominations has been my favorite of the newer albums. I would probably pick Endgame or TSHF as second.

I like them all in varying degrees of "great" to "killer"

It is hard to chose between "System" & "UA"....but I'll go with "United Abominations". It has enough of the old Dave snarl and the hooks in the reworked "A Tout Le Monde" are sweet.

I haven't heard Super Collider yet, so maybe I'm in for some "fun" there, but how is it not better than TWNAH? That album just had tons of those "middle aged dude tries to write like he's still 20" songs and "Return to Hangar" was lame as hell.

Also, this may border on trolling, but is there a single project Al Pitrelli is involved with in which he really shines as a player? The Savatage stuff he was on had pretty lame leads (though he was in a spot where he was following a wunderkind) and TWNAH had pretty lame guitar parts as well.

Endgame for me, with System Has Failed in at a close second.

United Abominations. Followed by Th1rt3en, and then Endgame.


I really havent yet understood the huge fan following for The System Has Failed. Super Collider and The World Needs a Hero would be last chioces.

DakotaRogers wrote:

If I wanted to be lulled into a coma, I would just listen to an Iced Earth album.

Ha.

Iced Earth bores me now, but in the mid to late 90s, they reigned supreme as far as I was concerned. They were also the first actual metal band I ever saw, I think. ZZ Top was my first concert in 1991 and I started going to hardcore shows in 1993, but I still had never seen an actual straight up metal band and Iced Earth kicked so much ass when I saw them (Something Wicked tour).

I don't know when you got into metal, but I assume it was not in the 90s, since you are younger and I could see how they would be boring now. As I said, they bore me now too. But in the 90s, for me anyway, they felt like as close to thrash as I was going to get. I liked At The Gates and some of the other bands viewed as the 90s saving grace at the time, but IE just felt somewhat closer to the Metallica I missed from when I started getting into metal.

Also, my vote for this thread is 13. Dumb album title, but I still quite enjoyed it. Endgame was awesome too. I don't think I ever heard World or United.

Right now it's a tie between The System Has Failed and Endgame.


Here are my thoughts about the albums, song by song. Let's see which album is the winner after I've done a full listen of each of the albums.

THE WORLD NEEDS A HERO
I like it. For some reason I don't ever think of it as one of the 21st century Megadeth albums. For me it's an end of one era which started with Countdown to Extinction.
I guess it's because that was originally Megadeth's final album and Dave was supposed to make only solo albums after that. The album has some good songs, some fillers and at least one song I consider as a Megadeth classic.
One of the things that lessens the album's quality is its "empty" sounding production quality. It feels like it lacks the final touch.

Disconnect - Good song. Fantastic simple tapping solo starting at 3:16. That must've been done by tons of other bands before and I'm sure even I had played something like that when I had just learned to do the tapping stuff. I love that kind of stuff, nevertheless.
The World Needs a Hero - Ok stuff. I remember it being one of my least favorites in the album but I kinda dig it today. Super great riff starts at 2:05 and gets only better at 2:41!
Moto Psycho - Didn't like this song back then. Don't really like it today either.
1000 Times Goodbye - I cringe at the "you know what, you suck!" part, but it's a good song.
Burning Bridges - I like it and it gets REALLY good at 3:29.
Promises - I love this song. One of the best heavy ballads out there.
Recipe for Hate... Warhorse - Quite dark stuff. I love the thrashy heaviness starting at 3:47.
Losing My Senses - One of the worst Megadeth songs ever made.
Dread and the Fugitive Mind - A classic! This is the one song that alone makes the whole album worthwhile.
Silent Scorn - I love the mood of this little "filler" track.
Return to Hangar - At the beginning it's just ok. Nothing great but ok. Then comes the "Iron Maiden" part which is fun to listen. I like the thrashy ending too. Nowhere near the classic quality of Hangar 18, but it's pretty good.
When - I like the menacing feeling of the intro. Don't care much about the rest of the song.

Overall I think this album is somewhat underrated. It's not a classic by any means but it goes right in the higher end of the middle-tier Megadeth, and at times it feels it could be at the lower end of the classic albums, but it's not.


THE SYSTEM HAS FAILED
This album has a certain type of DRIVE to it that other modern Megadeth albums mostly lack.
Maybe it's the a bit more "loose" and interesting drumming. I also like the backing vocals in some tracks very much. I haven't heard that voice in other Megadeth albums so I guess it makes this a bit more special for that only.

Blackmail the Universe - Great stuff. I think this is the best of this type of Megadeth songs. It seems there is always one of these types of tracks in every modern Megadeth albums.
Die Dead Enough - Good stuff. I like the poppy chorus. The guy who's singing the backing vocals is great. I like that voice and would like to see Dave getting him back in future albums.
Kick the Chair - Great great great! Megadeth was back in guitar-riff based metal with this one! And DAMN those solos! Definitely some of my favorite Megadeth solos ever, or in any metal song for that matter!
The Scorpion - Good stuff. Another example of Megadeth nailing the poppy chorus part pretty much perfectly.
Tears in a Vial - One of my all time favorite Megadeth tracks. Great melancholic riffs and melodies. The slow and sad part starting at 3:11 is amazing.
I Know Jack - I would love to hear this riff used in a full song. Amazing stuff, but why only 40 seconds? I don't understand.
Back in the Day - Good stuff. No more, no less.
Something That I'm Not - Boring.
Truth Be Told - I like the somber parts. The second half of the song has some really great heavy stuff. And man, what a DRIVE at the end!
Of Mice and Men - Ok stuff. The chorus is somewhat annoying though.
Shadow of Deth - Love it!
My Kingdom - This is almost too boring in the same way Black Curtains off Youthanasia is, but the second half has some interesting stuff going on. Too bad it goes back to the semi-boring stuff near the end. Not a good way to end an album.


UNITED ABOMINATIONS
This album has great three songs opening it, but then it loses its steam. There are several songs that are mostly boring but have some small parts that sound EXCELLENT and that always makes me think why on earth Dave didn't base full songs in those great parts. It's like I Know Jack off the last album all over again; super good stuff with huge potential for a longer song.

Sleepwalker - Great song. Starting with Blackmail the Universe on the previous album, all modern Megadeth albums have had this certain type of a song in them. These might've become too predictable in future albums but this one is still very good.
Washington is Next! - Might be one of my Megadeth favorites. I recall this was the first song to be heard before the album release, and it got me to anticipate the album hugely. It's got a great drive to it.
Never Walk Alone... A Call to Arms - Pretty good stuff. It's got the melodic quality of the previous album.
United Abominations - I remember this song being the one that broke the good vibe of the first three songs. Now as I listen to it again, it's not exactly a bad song. It's just a bit too forgettable.
Gears of War - Another pretty forgettable song, although it has a good melodic part in the last third of the song.
Blessed Are the Dead - Yet another song that is mostly somewhat forgettable, but which again has one very good part near the end of the song (starting at 3:10 - the riff behind the solo is very good).
Play for Blood - Pretty much fully forgettable.
A Tout le Monde (Set Me Free) - I never really cared too much about the original. Not a bad song, but Megadeth has much better "ballads" in their catalogue. This version didn't make it any better. Even the nice melodic part starting at 3:20 was better in the original.
Amerikhastan - Utterly forgettable.
You're Dead - Interesting atmosphere, yet it's again mostly not anything special. Good stuff starts at 2:07, but it's pretty soon over.
Burnt Ice - Again nothing too special, mostly pretty forgettable, but the part starting at 1:57 is REALLY good until, and the song overall gets better.


ENDGAME
Tons of stuff that instantly hooks me in. Really, in only the last two songs the steam starts to fade away. Other than that, I love it.

Dialectic Chaos - Great stuff! One of the best Megadeth album openers. Such a great drive!
This Day We Fight! - Pretty brutal stuff. Megadeth sounds very hungry for a good album and it really seems Dave is getting his touch for great guitar driven metal back.
44 Minutes - Great, great, great! Heavy, but the melodic parts make it sound like it could've been one of the better songs in Youthanasia. Dave's sense of melody shines here.
1,320 - Again, great song. To me, this has some decent Killing Is My Business vibes since... well.. Killing Is My Business. And the last third of the song has such a great drive!
Bite the Hand - It's like a GOOD version of High Speed Dirt (yeah, I know, lots of people love that song, but I've never been able to enjoy it). I just love that main riff in the verses.
Bodies - Initially at first I was afraid this song would've been the one that stops the steam of Endgame. The chorus has a good Youthanasia feel to it, but otherwise it seemed to go a bit to the forgettable side, but along with the chorus this song as a great melodic part in the last third of the song, and it ends with a good speed metal part.
Endgame - My fears for the album losing its steam were wrong. What a great sinister feel the opening of this song has! And later it gets ups the tempo and, again, starts having a great drive.
The Hardest Part of Letting Go... Sealed with a Kiss - The opening and the ending is much better ballad than A Tout Le Monde. I love this song. It again shows how great sense Dave has for melancholic melodies. The heavy part has good riffing.
Head Crusher - This is the "Blackmail the Universe" and "Sleepwalker" of this album. Great stuff.
How the Story Ends - I remember this one being the first song in this album to disappoint me. But now as I listen to it, it's much better. It's worse than what we've heard so far in the album, but not that bad.
The Right to Go Insane - Another song that initially disappointed me. It's not a bad song, but it's the most forgettable in this album.


TH1RT3EN (I hate to spell these kind of titles that have numbers in them)
This is the only modern Megadeth album I've yet to buy. So far I've only listened to it on Youtube. Initially the album was a huge disappointment. I've grown to like it a bit more.

Sudden Death - Quite good. To me, it's the "Blackmail", "Sleepwalker" and "Head Crusher" of the album, and as such is a bit of a disappointment but it's not too bad.
Public Enemy No. 1 - Not bad. The riffing is good but it sounds a bit tired compared to the same type of riffing in the previous albums.
Whose Life (Is It Anyways?) - The drive is pretty good, but there is just something that doesn't go far enough in the direction it's supposed to go. Not bad at all, but could be better.
We the People - This is the song where the steam starts to fade away. Pretty forgettable stuff. I love how the song ends though.
Guns, Drugs & Money - Pretty forgettable stuff again.
Never Dead - Good song. Heavier stuff that mostly does what it's supposed to, but it could be better.
New World Order - Forgettable. I'm glad they didn't put this on Youthanasia.
Fast Lane - Sounds like it could have a good drive, but it just does pretty much nothing to me. Forgettable.
Black Swan - Has some good moments, but falls short a bit.
Wrecker - Pretty forgettable.
Millennium of the Blind - Nice intro. Mostly forgettable stuff, but the mellow parts sound very good.
Deadly Nightshade - Forgettable.
13 - Great song! Probably the best of the album. This song would be the reason I would like to have the album in my collection. Great chorus.


SUPER COLLIDER
Oh dear.. Well, it at least has one amazing song. It's not THAT bad of an album, but it really is mostly forgettable.

Kingmaker - I absolutely love the riff in the chorus. Other than that it's an ok heavy Megadeth song, nothing more nothing less.
Super Collider - It's not a BAD song, but I think I heard enough of this already in Cryptic Writings. I don't need another Almost Honest in my life.
Burn! - I kinda like the verses, but the chorus is all in the boring style of happier rock-n-roll Megadeth.
Built for War - Sounds like it could ALMOST be something good, but it ends up being mostly forgettable.
Off the Edge - Very nice intro! But again it starts to sound like it ALMOST could be something great. It's kinda like a more boring version of some good songs in previous albums.
Dance in the Rain - One of my all time Megadeth favorites! Absolutely stands as a sole reason for this whole album to exist. I love the super melancholic feeling the song has, and how it gradually grows faster. I don't care much about the the ending with the other vocalist. Nearly ruins the song. Not only the singer, but the music itself isn't that good in that part. However, the rest of the song is amazing.
Beginning of Sorrow - Pretty forgettable.
The Blackest Crow - Forgettable.
Forget to Remember - Could be a song of some modern pop rock/metal band. Not too bad. The last half of the song has a very nice melodic part around 2:40-3:10.
Don't Turn Your Back... - I kinda like the blues intro. The heavy part of the song is ok, but again during the chorus it loses whatever momentum it had.
Cold Sweat - Forgettable apart from the nice tapping solo at 2:00. Well... I guess the ending has a good drive.




I think I have to go with Endgame as the winner, although it pains me a bit to not give the title to The System Has Failed.

Went with TSHF but I like 'em all. It actually took the release of Th1rt3en for me to get into Endgame, I felt it was too mechanical in its technical prowess. Dave really kicked up his playing but Broderick/Drover was too mechanical.