Artist: Megadeth
Label: Sanctuary Records
Release Date: 5/15/01
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Title: The World Needs a Hero Artist: Megadeth Label: Sanctuary Records Release Date: 5/15/01 |
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Abyss's Review:
All right, if you’re like me you watched VH1’s behind the music on Megadeth, and when the program ended you had an optimistic feeling. It seemed that Dave Mustaine on that program, and in many interviews, seemed to have realized that the experiment that was Risk was a huge failure. Many references were made about going back to the old Megadeth sound and attitude, and I found myself looking forward to The World Needs a Hero. Beyond that, I found myself wanting to like this album to the point where I was truly deluding myself. I so wanted to give this album a good review, if only to symbolize the triumph of metal over mediocrity that I found myself selling out just like this band did on their last album. My original view of this album centered completely on the positives. After all, this album is an improvement over Risk, all I needed to do was center on how it improved and I could delude myself that Megadeth are back… then it hit me. Youthanasia.
"This album is not good. Describing the best songs on this album as mediocre is completely warranted, and possibly charitable." I remembered that when I first heard Youthanasia, I thought that, while it had a number of cool songs, it was a disappointment. At that time, I wasn’t under the impression that Megadeth were above reproach. So Far, So Good… So What? awoke me to the fact that Megadeth could come up with some crappy songs (“Liar”, “Anarchy in the UK”, “502”), but they always made up for it with really cool songs (“Set the World Afire”, “Mary Jane”, “Hook in Mouth”, “In My Darkest Hour”). Youthanasia was a disappointment because, for the first time, it seemed the mediocrity might be taking over. What follows is the scary part: what hit me so hard was the fact that if they had come out with another Youthanasia, I would have been ecstatic. This album makes that one look like a masterpiece. So my favorable impression of this album had little to do with its merits, and more to do with how diminished my expectations have become.
This album is not good. Describing the best songs on this album as mediocre is completely warranted, and possibly charitable. The best song on the album is “Return to Hangar” a sequel to the “Hangar 18” off of Rust in Peace. Of course, it’s just a shadow of the original track, and the original track was actually one of my least favorite off of that masterpiece. “Dread and the Fugitive Mind” is okay, I guess. Oh, but I liked it a lot better the first time I heard it… when it was called “Sweating Bullets”. When an artist seems to borrow from himself, he is most likely out of ideas. The riffs are sub-par and the songs come across as flat and two-dimensional, this from a band that had some of the most intricate, complete songs I had ever heard.
"Dave does do one hell of an Ethel Merman impression on the last line of the chorus of 'Burning Bridges'." I’m not saying this album is completely inept, however. Dave does do one hell of an Ethel Merman impression on the last line of the chorus of “Burning Bridges”.
While listening to the song “1000 Times Goodbye” (a song about a relationship ending that has a female voice giving reasons for leaving interspersed throughout the song) I found myself emotionally moved. It’s the only song on the album that hit me in heartstrings, and I must admit I feel like crying every time I hear it. Of course, the saddest thing is that I agree with that woman… almost everything she says. I feel like she’s talking to Dave for me when she says things like: “You know what? It’s over. I just don’t feel the same for you as I used to… It’s not as good as it used to be… You’ll always have a special place in my heart… I love you like you’re my brother.” Okay maybe that last one isn’t accurate, but you get my drift. The ironic thing is that it is also one of the better songs on the album.
"The world may need a hero, but Megadeth needs to come out with a good album… and quick." If I gave this album any more positive of a review it would feel like charity. If you’re a Megadeth fan and can get excited for about four songs that are okay, but you would have laughed at ten years ago, then your expectations are low enough to enjoy this album, everyone else should probably just cut their losses. The world may need a hero, but Megadeth needs to come out with a good album… and quick.
Death's Review:
Talk about pressure. Everyone almost universally agrees now that Risk sucked. Dave's throwing out every excuse for that one too, from record company pressure to become an "alternative" band to blaming Marty Friedman (although I'm inclined to believe that Friedman wasn't exactly waving the metal flag these past few years either). Now he's got to step up and take his fucking stronghold back. The World Needs A Hero was supposed to be the record that was gonna do that for Megadeth.
Bands like Megadeth usually get one free pass from me. I'll give them one mistake or misstep before I turn them out. I'd like to believe that you don't just go from great to shit in one move, and that if you work hard and continuously excel in life you can earn a level of safety. A buffer. Maybe one day you'll find yourself asleep at the wheel for a moment. Yet instead of having all your life's accomplishments go up in smoke with that single, momentary lapse, you get the chance to bounce back.
"I was thinking that the sick, crazy riffing and wild, extended guitar solos were going to be all over the rest of the record. Unfortunately, I was kidding myself." Megadeth knew they had the pass. What the fuck else does earning "credibility" do for you if it doesn't allow you to stretch the boundaries once in a while and - in a weak moment - trade a bit on past accomplishments. Megadeth knew they had this, and so they took a "risk." It turned out to be a serious enough miscalculation that Megadeth found itself metaphorically scrambling to retain its core audience and look a touch desperate doing it.
That's when you started hearing talk of Megadeth returning to Rust in Peace. That's when Dave started to renounce Risk, to start psyching us up for a return by playing shit like "Return to Hangar" on the ill-fated Motley Crue tour. When I saw a bloody Vic Rattlehead on the album cover as opposed to another confusingly photographed mousetrap, I began to garner some serious hope for this one. Sure, Megadeth fucked up. But Dave said he was sorry, and he and Jr. were gonna make it up to us with a killer thrash record that was gonna blow our fucking faces off. What the fuck, I thought to myself. Sounds like a wild ride. I'm in.
Then the first press sampler came around. I heard "Disconnect", "The World Needs a Hero", and "Moto Psycho." I liked them all, and had hopes. But I was definitely operating under the assumption that these three tracks were the most "commercial," the ones they picked for radio airplay. I was thinking that the sick, crazy riffing and wild, extended guitar solos were going to be all over the rest of the record. Unfortunately, I was kidding myself.
"The World Needs a Hero is a lukewarm effort. It is a halfhearted attempt at a metal record, not the confident attack the band needed to maintain its relevance." The World Needs a Hero is a lukewarm effort. It is a halfhearted attempt at a metal record, not the confident attack the band needed to maintain its relevance. Never before have I heard a record full of so many sections that sound good in concept when spelled out on paper, yet which so markedly show a complete absence of aggression in execution. Still, I like it. That's because Mustaine's voice is unique and interesting, and his penchant for crafting strangely infectious melodies within the conventional structures of thrash metal is so strong.
First comes "Disconnect." The song has a Youthanasia type emotional feel, an odd melody and a appropriately wistful yet bitter vocal delivery. It is, however, kind of a strange choice for an opener - it doesn't really have the right feel. The song doesn't show the wild yet precise chaotic urgency of Rust. These riffs are pedestrian in comparison: very straightforward. At the midway point of the song, however, a quite interesting chromatic bassline takes over, and when the guitar joins in after a couple of measures, we are treated to a simple yet wonderful guitar solo which is quite memorable. Not exactly the speed and aggression I was led to expect, but so far so good. I'll take it.
The title track comes next, and it's this album's "Crush." No, not a dance song, but it is a catchy little "gimmicky" tune. Hard to explain what I mean. I guess it has something to do with the fact that a large portion of the song is Dave spitting sarcastically snarled nursery-rhymes over a Ellefson chromatic bassline and a rolling tom-tom drumbeat. How many times have we heard that from Megadeth before? And there's like three or four such instances on this album alone! "Uninspired" is the word that comes to mind to describe such overuse.
Still, "The World Needs a Hero" is a catchy tune, and has a cool solo section as well. "Moto Psycho," which comes next, has some cool guitar solos too, but it is pretty much a bad song. "Moto-Psycho, Everybody is a Moto-Psycho!" C'mon dude, that's just lame. I'd like to believe Megadeth can do better than that. I'm starting to believe they can't. Still, the song is kinda cool in a "Train of Consequences" kind of way. I guess it's catchy.
"Ballads with strings? This was supposed to be a return to killer thrash!!!!" "1000 Times Goodbye" is an interesting little number. The chick who plays the secretary on "Hero" sounds like she is the one who comes back here to break up with Dave over the phone between verses. It is a wicked little game this vixen plays, and I just want to fucking smack her. The song is kind of interesting overall-well crafted. Doesn't sound like a rehash, like the title track, it just is kinda weird. Definitely not neck-snapping technical thrash. Cool ending though, with a Kirk Hammet doing the end of "Fade to Black" type lead at the end.
"Burning Bridges" is almost Euro-melodic in its chorus, and modernly crunching in its verses. This one has a bridge riff which sounds like it came from the original "Hangar 18." Pretty cool song. Pretty cool lyrics, too. If the whole record sounded like this one, we'd be psyched. But it's almost like Dave had some killer metal feelings going but chickened out from making a totally 100% balls-out record: he wanted to still get played on the radio and wasn't ready to let go of the whole corporate thing. Still, "Burning Bridges" ends with some guitar soloing and double-bass drum riffing that is one of the record's more worthwhile sections.
"Promises" is 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Total ballad. With accompanying strings. I've always liked Dave's "haunted" voice - he has always had that controlled, lack-of-control clean voice that sounds so emotional. I dig it. But then I step back and say that this is horseshit. Ballads with strings? This was supposed to be a return to killer thrash!!!! There better be a wild, five-minute adventure of an ending coming, I think. There isn't.
"Recipe for Hate... Warhorse" is, along with "Burning Bridges," the saviour of the record. This one kicks major fucking ass. This and "Burning Bridges" are at least four-and-a-half-skull worthy. Sure, like I said before, you can literally hear that they've lost a step, but so has Jerry Rice but that wouldn't make playing catch with him any less cool. Sure, Dave is snarling over an Ellefson bassline again, but at least there are eerie, weird guitar melodies in the background. Dave does a good job of building dramatic intensity. "Taste it!" My favorite line: "The choice is clear: I can fall on my sword or light a fire to see who runs or stays and plays the confidence game." The "Warhorse" riffs and solos are very, very cool, but they ultimately don't have the balls-out and the "Take No Prisoners" feel (pun intended) I thought these guys could still give me.
"Losing My Mind" is boring. The melody is forced, it feels, if nothing else, too common. This is shit, and it bores me. This is adult contemporary rock. A cute little Phil Collins number. No folks, I am kidding with that analogy, but it is just plodding and upbeat - the worst possible combination known to music. It's like Dave singing a U2 or Jane's Addiction song. Next. Good lyric though: "Life can only be understood in reverse but must be lived forwards..."
"This is a mediocre record overall, with some bright moments. Definitely better than Risk. Definitely not as good as you want it to be." "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" appeared on the recent Capitol Punishment compilation. It reminds me at the beginning of "Rust in Peace: Polaris," with its choppy riff. But then it just sounds like something mediocre off of Cryptic Writings or Youthanasia. This is half "Sweating Bullets" and half "She Wolf." Mildly cool, [Metallica's] "One"-style double cannon shot riff in the middle, but overall, not exactly earth-shattering.
"Silent Scorn" is a quiet little instrumental dirge. Acoustic, with electric guitar, a snare drum march in the distance and... trumpets. Kinda cool, actually. But nothing at all special or mind-blowing for sure. This takes us immediately into "Return to Hangar" which harkens back to "Hangar 18," but sounds only half as good doing so. Of course, we all love the nostalgia factor of the line "millitary intelligence, still two words that can't make sense," but this song falls short of the original in intensity and guitar virtuosity, even though I always thought of "Hangar 18," at least the first half, as one of the more pedestrian tracks on Rust in Peace, and not at all the reason that album is so highly regarded.
"When" closes things out, and does an OK job doing so. A haunting, clean intro starts the song off with Dave whispering about the pain stabbing him "over and over and over" while he chews out another wicked ex-lover. The song overall sounds a lot like "The Call of Ktulu" meets "Am I Evil?"- remember those rumours from a year or so back? This must be the track - if any - that people were talking about.
"Bottom line: it's worth your time if you want it to be." Look, let's face it. I like Megadeth, and as long as they are half-way trying, I probably always will. I don't wear Megadeth sweatpants to bed like Liz from Metal Maniacs does, but I am pretty much a life-long fan, and if Dave keeps tossing out the occasional bitter, spitefully delivered lines like he does on the second half of "When," I'll keep ponying up for the next record. That's me as a fan, however. Me sitting as a member of the Metal Judgment team? There, I feel I have a duty to tell you the real deal. This is a mediocre record overall, with some bright moments. Definitely better than Risk. Definitely not as good as you want it to be. Lots of you bought it last week - enough of you for Megadeth to debut at number 16 on the Billboard charts. Will you still bust it out a year from now? We'll see. But it is true that I've had some fun listening to it here. Bottom line: it's worth your time if you want it to be.
Hel's Review:
Favorite tracks: Burning Bridges, Recipe for Hate…Warhorse
I tried so hard not to have expectations for this album. I shielded myself against the advance tracks as much as I could, waiting to sit down and absorb it as whole, as blank a slate as I could get after the Risk incident. And in the end, I decided there are two major aspects to this release. There are true moments of metal magic on this record, and they are a glory to experience when they appear. It is clear that it is an honest effort, and a lot of care is evident in details of the production, and subtleness amongst the obvious, sometimes clumsy, attempts at trying to figure out what was cool and what was merely gimmick, which frequently missed the mark.
"Give it a whirl, support the Mega-cause. " I was never a big fan of the recorded voice-overs and Dave talking to himself moments, they always felt gimmicky and forced, with no real passion driving them. I didn't buy it in the past and I still don't. This touches upon the second major aspect of the album, Dave's cheesy streak. I don't know what else to call it. First of all - love songs? Dave, please don't - stick to the searing cynical commentary on our decaying social order and corrupt political system, that generally works well for you. Anger makes the best metal.
So what was my ultimate reward for shielding myself to receive the pristine decision-making environment? I can confidently say, some of it rules, some of it sucks. The good news: the ratio of good material to suck-y crap is much more proportionate than that last album. No, it's not a return to the days of old, but it's a better album than Megadeth has put out in a while, and I fully support the primary intent behind the heavier direction it moved in.
"Hey, Dave, take your own advice - burn a few bridges! " If I were to have any say regarding future endeavors? I'd say, hey, Dave, take your own advice - burn a few bridges! All you need to do is truly not give a shit about criticism and make the heavies album you know how to. That would be a great Megadeth record. And there wouldn't be any sappy songs at all. Promise me there won't be an "I Promise" on the next one, Dave! Until then, let's all take the plunge together - and hope for that on the next record. Until then, a bit of creative programming can snag you a pretty excellent montage when the crappier songs are taken out of the equation. Give it a whirl, support the Mega-cause.
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