Megadeth Final Studio Album

When a veteran band that's been around for more than 40 years and more than a dozen albums puts out a new release there are bound to be questions. What era of the band does it fit into? Does it sound like this album, or that album? Is it any good? The last of those questions is the paramount one and in the case of the just-released new self-titled album from Megadeth the answer is yes. A resounding yes. There's another question hanging over the heads of Megadeth fans with the release of Megadeth; is this really their final studio album? It probably is; singer, guitarist and front man Dave Mustaine has said that it is and the album is being promoted as such. Fans can otherwise debate the merits of the album but it sounds like, well, Megadeth. At their prime. All of the hallmarks that fans have come to expect from the band, here comprised of Mustaine, Teemu Mantysaari on guitars, James LoMenzo on bass and Dick Verbeuren on drums, are present from the get go with the album's opening track "Tipping Point." About how you can only push a person so far, the lyrics find Mustaine growling lines like "push me, I push back" and "today I may bleed but tonight you will die" over a pounding rhythm that lives under guitars that soar melodically one moment and then shred like crazy the next. It is the classic sound of metal that was in part originated by this legendary band. Fans have been getting a taste of Megadeth for some time as "Tipping Point," "I Don't Care" with angry lyrics like "I don't care if you live or die," "Puppet Parade" where lyrics bluntly describe the insanity of trying to run the rat race, and the monstrously rocking and self-explanatory "Let There Be Shred!" were all turned loose as singles in advance of the album release. While Mustaine is no longer the disenfranchised youth he was when Megadeth began he still has a chip on his shoulder as he reaches middle age and his ability to put frustration into words has only gotten better over the decades, as has his guitar playing. There are a couple of songs here that have clearly been crafted for mainstream rock radio, like the less-pummeling "Another Bad Day" which many will relate to and adopt for a time as a new favorite anthem. Coming back to the question of whether or not this will be the final Megadeth studio album; there is no uncertainty with the album's final track, the appropriately-titled "The Last Note." The song begins with Mustaine speak-growling some very meaningful words: "One more spotlight starts to fade to black/One more winding road that I won't come back/The roar I lived for it starts to die/And now it's time for me to say the long goodbye." After those words the band shreds for a while and then the song ends as Mustaine utters the words that hit home and hit hard, "I came, I ruled, now I disappear." The band has given and given and given and if Mustaine sticks to his guns, fans shouldn't be too distraught; rather they should celebrate what Mustaine and company have left for them, including this excellent batch of meaningful metal. And speaking of meaningful, Mustaine has appended a metal chestnut at album's end, a version of the early Metallica cut "Ride the Lightning," which Dave co-wrote but did not perform on. It is far more powerful than the Metallica studio version and more in the vein of how Metallica performs the song live these days. Megadeth have also announced their final tour, the North American leg of which kicks off in mid-February.

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