Megadeth – Still, Alive… and Well?

Remember back when bands used to stop releasing albums after they broke up? These days, you can almost count on bands to squeeze out an “unreleased tracks” or a “best of” compilation after breaking up. Some bands like Alice in Chains and the Jimi Hendrix Experience have turned it into an art form, releasing more discs after dying than before! I just read that a new collection of Kurt Cobain unreleased material is on the way just in time for Christmas. And don’t even get me started on Tupac. What’s he released, ten albums since dying? They’re either using a sound-alike, or the man simply ain’t dead.

In the tradition of such releases comes Megadeth’s latest album. For those keeping count, four of Megadeth’s last five releases include Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years (a greatest hits package), Killing is my Business (a remastered re-release), Rude Awakening (a two disc live album), and now Still, Alive … and Well?, a combination of live tracks and pre-released studio tracks.

As stated, the album is being billed as a “combination of live tracks and pre-released studio tracks.”

The “live tracks” referred two are six songs recorded at the Web Theater in Phoenix, Arizona November 17, 2001, which was Dave Mustaine’s last show with Megadeth. The shows were being recorded for the band’s Rude Awakening album. The biggest disappointment here is that four of the six tracks ARE on Rude Awakening — only “Time/Use the Man” and “Conjuring” aren’t duplicates. Now I might go as far as to call myself a Megadeth fan, and I can’t remember ever lamenting the fact that I didn’t have a live version of “Time/Use the Man” lying around the house. So, recap: six live tracks, four of which appear on Rude Awakening.

The “pre-released studio tracks” are six tracks from 2001’s The World Needs A Hero. That’s it. No remixes, no remastering, not even a thin coat of glitter to make these things appear shiny and new.

Wow. It feels like this review is over before it ever really began. For your $14, you can expect to get two new live versions of two old (and not particularly good) Megadeth songs. I can’t recommend this CD to anyone. I think Behind the Music should have stuck around and filmed this part of Dave Mustaine’s life, where he relapses back into drugs so bad that he thinks anyone would buy this. It’s so obvious that Megadeth is trying to milk the cash cow with this disc that you can practically smell the cow shit from here.

Or maybe that’s just the CD.

Tracks:
(Live Tracks)
01. Time/Use the Man
02. Conjuring
03. In My Darkest Hour
04. Sweating Bullets
05. Symphony of Destruction
06. Holy Wars
(From “The World Needs a Hero”)
07. Moto Psycho
08. Dread and the Fugitive Mind
09. Promises
10. The World Needs a Hero
11. Burning Bridges
12. Return to Hangar

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