MEGADETH – Greatest Hits: Back to the Start

Remember back in the 80’s when Hair Metal was introduced? Either you fell for it hook, line, and sinker, bought the hairspray, squeezed into the parachute pants, and wore your British Flag shorts to the beach, or you turned up your nose to the trends, let your zits grow until they self-erupted puss all over your bathroom mirror, kept your hair long and flat, and called everyone else on the other side a bunch of pussies. Chances are if you fell into the latter category, you were into the band Megadeth … and God love you for it!

Megadeth has released a new Greatest Hits CD called Back To The Start, which includes 17 tracks ranging from 1986’s album Killing Is My Business … And Business Is Good! to the prior Greatest Hits CD from 2000, Capitol Punishment, and all in-between releases by Capitol Records. Interestingly, the songs were selected largely as a result of a visitor’s poll taken on the Megadeth Web site … evidently the question was asked at some point what fans of the band would put on their Megadeth fantasy albums … the results were tabulated, and voila!: the end product is Back To The Start.

Is this THE definitive collection of Megadeth? No … but it’s a helluva starter album for persons looking to learn more about the band, and it’s a can’t-go-wrong Greatest Hits compilation for persons who may have had interest in the band, but for whatever reason never purchased the band’s albums in the past. Metal, and especially Thrash Metal of the 80’s, neither got credit for being well thought out nor was it viewed as harboring artistic qualities. In listening to this compilation, however, the one thing that becomes immediately evident is that Dave Mustaine is a pretty smart guy. Sure, he was hell bent on forging his lyrics around political corruption, abusive wealth power, and destructive human logic, but he did so with ingenuity, controlled aggression, and catchy (yet very heavy) music and lyrical patterns.

No one will ever mistake Mustaine’s vocal talents for Nat King Cole or Michael Bolton, but Mustaine shows during these, some of his best moments, that he knows what his pipes are capable of generating and has always known how to mesh his singing style with Megadeth’s music seamlessly. Though often perturbed and a bit sinister at times, Mustaine has always come through with a unique melodic flare, especially when you compare Megadeth’s style to the hard core Metal in the record stores today. The New Wave Of American Heavy Metal (NWOAHM), after all, is an offshoot of Thrash Metal, taking the anger and aggression of early Thrash bands like Exodus, Overkill, and Megadeth a step further. The biggest difference between then and now, however, lies in the vocals … the NWOAHM largely sets both the lyrics and the vocals on a level (or leveled) playing field by demanding an often indiscernible homogeneous barking/screaming style. Funny how back in the 80’s and 90’s Megadeth was often misunderstood by the Metal Mainstream contingent as too hard, overly brutal, and borderline incoherent. Now, by today’s standards in 2005, “the hits” actually seem a bit tame!

Anyway, Megadeth has withstood the test of time … and rightly so. The songs on Back To The Start serve as a good history lesson as to why that happened. Fans new to Metal, especially those who have first been introduced to the genre via NWOAHM bands of the current era, should make obtaining this CD a priority in order to gain exposure to the roots of what you enjoy so much today.

There you go … you see, it IS possible to write a review about Megadeth without once mentioning Metallica!

Track List

Holy Wars … The Punishment Due
In My Darkest Hour
Peace Sells
Sweating Bullets
Angry Again
A Tout Le Monde
Trust
Kill The King
Symphony Of Destruction
Mechanix
Train Of Consequences
Wake Up Dead
Hangar 18
Dread And The Fugitive Mind
Skin O’ My Teeth
She-Wolf
Prince Of Darkness