Another summer, another discography thrash band run. This time, working my way backwards through Megadeth's albums. Here's my brief analysis on the last 22 years...
Dystopia
Pretty solid. I understand why a lot of folks love this record. It's definitely the heaviest, fastest, and most brutally competent Megadeth has sounded in years (most especially thanks to Kiko and Adler). Mustaine's vocals sound mostly terrible, but the production is stellar and many of the songs are killer. This record makes it vitally apparent that my ratings this time around will be much more lyric-based than before, as Mustaine's anti-government life goals have simply gotten to a point where he sounds like a fool.
Rating - 6.8/10
Worst Songs - Post American World (yeesh on that chorus, Dave, you can do so much better), the incredibly stupid and bad cover of Foreign Policy
Best Songs - Dystopia, Fatal Illusion, Poisonous Shadows, Conquer or Die, Lying in State
Super Collider
I feel like I remember this one not being as bad as everyone says it is, but...it truly is that bad. Most of the songs aren't actually terrible, they just sound hollow and lifeless. You know you've got problems when your best track is a cover. This album could disappear and it wouldn't matter.
Rating - 4.3/10
Worst Song - Burn!
Best Song - Cold Sweat
TH1RT3EN
Another truly terrible album, this one is just misfire after misfire. There's some angst and typical Davey anger going on, but the songs are just truly awful. Three tracks are worth listening to, some others are fine as Elevator Deth, overall this whole album is also a huge skip. The re-recording of New World Order is worthless (and wasn't a stellar track to begin with).
Rating - 4.4/10
Worst Songs - Most of them.
Best Songs - Sudden Death, Public Enemy No. 1, Black Swan
Endgame
The fire is definitely alive on this record. Nothing here makes my favorites list, but the overall quality is pretty high. At worst, it's forgettable or repetitive, but there's nothing I'd outright skip or lambast here. In general, the songs lack some of the catchiness that I love in Megadeth's best songs, but the thrashiness and power is undeniable. Similar to Dystopia, this one is solid through and through.
Rating - 6.8/10
Worst Songs - the stretch from 44 Minutes (even though the chorus is an earworm) through the title track
Best Song - This Day We Fight
United Abominations
Starts off very strong and takes a pretty steep dive in the second half. The band sounds pretty fired up, the playing is good across the board, Mustaine sounds good, but the inspiration seems to run out halfway through (as evidenced by the silly inclusion of a perfectly safe retread of A Tout Le Monde). It's a decent Megadeth record due to the stronger tracks, but not very consistent.
Rating - 6.3/10
Worst Songs - Amerikhastan, You're Dead
Best Songs - Washington is Next, Never Walk Alone...A Call To Arms
The System Has Failed
I have long held the opinion that this record rules and is the best thing Megadeth has done since the early 90s. Luckily for me, I still feel that way. It's not amazing, but there's no truly bad song here. Mustaine's vocals are on fire (as much as they can be), the solo work by Chris Poland is excellent, and the songwriting is catchy as hell. Dave really channels all the pop sensibilities he learned in the late 90s into the classic thrash that Megadeth fans desire. True, it takes a real hard dip at the end, but the first 85% is great. A truly good record and easily my favorite of the last two (or three) decades.
Rating - 7.3/10
Worst Song - Shadow of Deth/My Kingdom
Best Songs - Kick the Chair, The Scorpion, Tears in a Vial
The World Needs a Hero
The only thing I give this album points for is trying new things. There's elongated songs, horn sections, acoustic ballads, lots of double bass...but the songwriting is just poor. When it hits, it hits hard, but mostly it's a bloated mess of songwriting misses. The rampant dialogue segments give me a migraine. I give props to Al Pitrelli for adding some classical and blues flair during his leads, but they can't save this mostly uninspired, aimless record.
Rating - 4.8/10
Worst Songs - title track, Moto Psycho, 1000 Times Goodbye, Losing My Senses
Best Songs - Dread and The Fugitive Mind, Disconnect