What do you get when you mix a rock solid rhythm section, blazing guitars, and a larger than life frontman? Megadeth, of course. Yes, that’s right. Dave Mustaine and company are back with their fourteenth album, “Super Collider.”
The album starts out strong with “Kingmaker,” featuring pounding drums and bass and the lightning speed attack that Megadeth does best and leaves me eager for more. This is followed by a few rather bland tracks with the exception of the opening guitar solo on “Burn.” Then come the spoken lyrics of “Dance In the Rain” which I really dig and always thought suited Dave’s voice very well. The next song, “The Blackest Crow,” totally caught me off guard. It opens with a very country feel and banjos which made me question if this was a Megadeth track or if my iTunes switched to some alternate shuffle mode that I did not know existed. But then, the guitars kick in and I actually really liked the track. Again, not something you would expect from Dave and certainly not a direction I hope they continue with, but for one track it was pretty cool. The record closes on a positive note with “Don’t Turn Your Back” which starts out with a bluesy laidback guitar intro before cranking it up into a full blitzkrieg attack. Closing it out is the super funky groove and outstanding guitar jams of the Thin Lizzy song, “Cold Sweat.”
Musically, Megadeth sounds terrific. With Mustaine and Chris Broderick, you just know the guitar work will be ridiculously good. I’m also glad to see the return of David Ellefson on bass in recent years, who helps round things out along with the solid drums of Shawn Drover. Lyrically, things are a bit out there with Dave’s interesting political ideas and world views. Then again, who the heck listens to Megadeth for deep lyrical content anyway?
“Super Collider” is a real mixed bag. It has some fantastic moments with killer riffs and inspired solos that harken back to the early, thrashier days of Megadeth and a few interesting surprises. Yet, my favorite track on the record was a Thin Lizzy cover and I’m pretty sure that’s not a good thing. Get back to the thrash boys, it’s what you do best and what we all love about Megadeth!
