From the same mold as 2005s Houses of the Mole comes Ministrys 2006 release, Rio Grande Blood. Al Jourgensens attack against George W. Bush and the current administration begins on the albums cover, which features Bush crucified, wearing a crown of thorns and standing in an oil barrel with stealth bombers and oil pumps in the background. The disc, which features tracks such as Fear (Is Big Business), The Great Satan, Lieslieslies and Ass Clown, is an hour-long non-stop industrial assault on the United States Government. Oh, and yeah it rocks. Hard.

Rio Grande Blood kicks off with the discs title track, opening with a slyly-edited presidential speech which has Bush declaring Im a brutal dictator, and Im evil, Ive adopted sophisticated terrorist tactics and even Im an asshole. The albums theme is united. Lieslieslies begins with a sample stating we have called you together to inform you that we are going to overthrow the United States government. Do you still think that jet fuel brought down the World Trade Center? In the rock-and-roll anthem The Great Satan, Jourgensen shouts bringing down the USA is what its all about. And on the discs last official track, Khyber Pass, the band wonders if Bin Laden isnt hiding out at Bushs Ranch.

But Jourgensens hate of the White House isnt the only thing back. Ministrys intensity is back as well. While Houses of the Mole was good, Rio Grande Blood is great. Those who claimed the bands best days were behind them with the departure of Paul Barker may have to rethink their stance as Grande is, in fact, quite grand. Jourgensens drum lines are as brutal as theyve been in a decade, harkening back not only to the Psalm 69 days, reminding me of Nailbomb at points. Tommy Victor (Guitar, Danzig/Prong) and Paul Raven (Bass, Killing Joke/Prong) bring the human element into Jourgensens synthetic backbone. Victors fretwork is particularly vicious, mixing Prongish hooks with Slayeresque-inspired riffs. Joey Jordison (Drums, Slipknot) will be joining the band live for their 2006 MasterBaTour. Theyll definitely need his kick drum skills to pull off any of these songs live.

Most of the songs are great but not all of them. Khyber Pass drags on with introductory Eastern Indian vocals that take too long to ramp up, and the somewhat silly Marine tribute Gangreen gets old after repeated listenings with its military ahoorah grunts and taunts from a marine seargant whos gonna stick his dick in your nose, among other things its a shame, as musically the track grooves.

Ministrys wall of sound never sounded thicker, and the limits of your speakers will be pushed by the albums hot mix. Rio Grande Blood throws out tons of low end matched by crashing cymbals and industrial noise guaranteed to give your system a workout. Jourgensens vocals are as distorted as ever, filling out the mix with static screams.

Musically, Rio Grande Blood is Ministrys finest work in a decade, maybe longer. Jourgensen has continually tweaked his bands sound, and for fans of Industrial Metal Rio Grande Blood is damn near sonically perfect. Lyrically, Ministrys campaign against the establishment continues. Assuming the band manages to win more fans than they alienate with their strong opinions, Rio Grande Blood may stand as one of the bands greatest works to date.

01. Rio Grande Blood
02. Senor Peligro
03. Gangreen
04. Fear (Is Big Business)
05. Lies Lies Lies
06. The Great Satan
07. Yellow Cake
08. Palestina
09. Ass Clown
10. Khyber Pass

Over the past year or so, Ministry’s main man Al Jourgensen has lost two of his long time partners — Paul Barker, and heroin. Fortunately for us, Ministry still sounds like Ministry; in fact, it’s been a long time since the band has sounded this focused. Sorry Paul.

2004’s Houses Of The Mole’ finds Ministry in fine form. With Barker out of the picture, Ministry’s songs have swung back towards being more guitar-based, a sound fans have been clamoring for since 1992’s Psalm 69. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard Ministry songs this lean and mean.

Unlike recent Ministry albums, everything here is pretty up-tempo and consists of guitar riffs over real (or at least realistic sounding, for the most part) drum tracks. Those who tire of Jourgensen’s experimental tangents will be glad to learn that Houses is a fairly straight forward album. That’s not to say that the music’s simple, but at least everything here can be classified as songs (save for one of the “hidden” tracks).

George W. Bush appears to have more fans in Iraq than he has in the music industry. Track one (“No W”) sets the tone for Ministry’s attack against Bush’s administration. In true fashion, the songs (which all start with the letter W) are filled with samples from Bush’s speeches. “No W” seems to me at least to be a successor to “N.W.O.” from Psalm 69 (which, ironically, was about Bush’s daddy).

On Houses Of The Mole’, Ministry appears more metal than ever before. The verse riff on “No W” alone rivals anything Metallica’s done in at least a decade, maybe two. “Waiting” is reminiscent of Psalm 69’s “Jesus Built my Hotrod”, but more streamlined. WTV is overloaded with television samples (Nailbomb did it better on “24 Hours of Bullshit”). “Warp City” reaches break neck speeds and harkens back to the band’s older days.

Paul Barker or not, Ministry’s back. Stripped down and with a new enemy in his sites, Ministry’s Al Jourgensen is more focused than ever.

01. No W
02. Waiting
03. Worthless
04. Wrong
05. Warp City
06. WTV
07. World
08. WKYJ
09. Worm
10. Psalm 23
11. Walrus

While converting my enormous CD collection into MP3s, I ran across Mindstymes four-song demo release. I hadnt intended to review the disc, but a Google search of the bands name didnt turn up a single hit which is odd, considering the bands guitarist used to work in our IT department. Not wanting the band to completely disappear from the face of the earth, I now present you with (apparently the first) review of Mindstyme’s In the Scheme of Things.

With only four tracks, theres not much ground to cover here. All four songs fall under the 90s-style rock umbrella. Guitars have the low end almost entirely removed from the mix, allowing the funky bass to shine through. The drums are clear and strong. The vocals are somewhat lower in the mix than one would expect, and are light on both layering and effects. At their best, the band is reminiscent of Collective Soul, although more often than not, the band is reminiscent of every club band whose names and faces I cannot remember.

The demos highlight is Get Some, with its singable chorus and catchy riff something most of the other songs are missing. The discs last track, Silent Desperation, comes in second place with its interesting (but not particularly palatable) riff. All the songs contain reverb-heavy guitar solos, if thats your thing.

I had the opportunity to see Mindstyme live once, and they werent all that bad. The bands demo CD captures the band’s songs, but not their spirit. If nothing else, let this review stand as a tribute to that the spirit of every club band who at least took a chance.

01. The Other Foot
02. Get Some
03. Fool’s Game
04. Silent Desperation

Let me start here — MindGrinder’s debut album MindTech is freakin’ heavy. Mixing bits of death metal with black metal and techno-metal, MindGrinder have produced one wicked release.

Due to the mechanical drumming style and layers of keyboards, I imagine most reviewers will just write “it sounds like Fear Factory” and move on. But where Fear Factory is (or was) simply heavy metal built on top of robotic kick drum lines, MindGrinder is much closer to true death metal in that respect. Some tracks are more melodic than others, but every one provides plenty of sensory-overloads. I would recommend this to a fan of death metal much quicker than I would a kid in a Fear Factory shirt.

On “Human Error”, the band slows everything down a notch, turning down the tempo momentarily to let the heaviness sink in. “Deception” is more of an anthem-type song, with big, yellable one-word choruses. On “Surviving Gadzooks”, just when things begin to slow down a ferocious blast beat appears and tears the song wide open. All ten tracks contain discernable riffs and musical movements which show development. Kick drums stop, start, speed up, slow down, and do all kinds of crazy things. The guitars are split between one string riffing and power chord attacks. Plenty of bass holds up the bottom end and keeps it from sounding like black metal. MindGrinder isn’t the same old thing you’ve heard a million times before.

And that’s one of the best things about MindTech, actually. It doesn’t sound like anyone else. In an ever growing musical scene, it’s nice to hear something original once in a while. I truly liked this album. Fans of groovy death metal and relentless kick drum attacks will not be disappointed.

“Cannot kill the family, Battery is found in me.” – Metallica, “Battery”.

Every musician, from small time to big time, has their own heros. Every guy in every garage band has had someone inspire them enough to make them pick up an instrument and learn how to play. For me, and probably hundreds of thousands of musicians around the world, that inspiration was Metallica. Sure, now they’re short-haired, radio friendly, Napster sueing weenies, but back in the day, they rocked. Back in the day, they ruled. There was a time when James and the crew owned the scene. This CD is a celebration and tribute to times of past. A time when four hungry, angry, passionate youths had taken over the metal world, and wouldn’t release the reigns for many years to come.

I’ve heard several other Metallica tributes. For the most part, they’re compilations from no-name thrash/death/punk/industrial artists, trying to make a buck off of some Metallica fans. No so here. Classic bands and musicians, who either influenced or were influenced by the big M, are here covering 10 of Metallica’s hits. For those statistic freaks, 4 came from The Black Album, 3 from Master of Puppets, 2 from Kill ‘Em All, and 1 from Ride the Lightning. Zero from Load and Reload (take the hint, fellows).

Suicidal Tendencies. Anthrax. Kiss. Thin Lizzy. Slayer. Metal Church. Ugly Kid Joe. Life of Agony. King’s X. Living Colour. All of these bands and many more are represented on the album. One annoying thing is the liner notes don’t tell what bands the artists are associated with.

The music on the album is basically dead on. A few of the musical performers really shine through the songs. For example, Mike Clark and R. Trujillo (Suicidal Tendencies) really come out on the intro with a Suicidal type sound. The majority of the album stays true to the Metallica versions, however. In fact, most of the songs could easily pass for Metallica outtakes or alternate versions. One exception is on “The Thing that Should Not Be” – they changed the main riff! It’s just off one beat too, which makes it really annoying to listen to.

While the musicians on the album spent most of their energy trying to sound like Metallica, the vocalists seem to have spent extra time to make sure they didn’t imitate Hetfield, and kept their own traditional sound. In that respect, the album almost seems like Metallica karaoke — without the free beer. “Whiplash” could have been written for (or about) Billy Milano (MOD/SOD). Milano pairs up nicely with the frenzied Scott Ian (Anthrax/SOD) on guitar to make for one hell of a tight track. Chuck Billy (Testament) belts out a terrific version of “Seek and Destroy”, which comes off slightly heavier than the original. Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory), one of my favorite vocalists, butchers “Enter Sandman”, and you have to think his voice would better fit something off of Kill ‘Em All. Doug Pinnick (King’s X) does an interesting version of “The Unforgiven” (for the record, Doug isn’t anywhere near James’ range – and probably vice versa). Joey Belladonna (ex-Anthrax) does a surprisingly good job covering “Sad But True”, as does Whitflied Crane (ex-Ugly Kid Joe and ex-Life of Agony) performing “Sanitarium”. Of course, Crane is overshadowed by John Marshall (Metal Church) and Scott Ian’s dueling guitars on the track.

There have been several “industrial” Metallica tribues. There was a cello tribute album. There have been punk-influenced Metallica tributes. There is more than one death metal Metallica tribute. Now, finally, there is one from true Metallica fans, people who have shared the stage with them and are truely trying to pay tribute to a classic band they love and respect(ed).

That being said, I’m not in love with the album. The versions are close enough to remind me of the originals, and after I was done listening to this CD, that’s exactly what I did — I pulled out the original albums. Metallic Assault isn’t in my CD Changer out in the car, but Kill ‘Em All and Master of Puppets went back in this week. The disc is definately worth a listen (at domestic prices, not crazy import prices!), but I think it’s fair to say that while all the songs pay tribute to these 10 classic tunes, none of them surpass the originals.

Tracks:

01. Battery
Eric A.K. – Vocals
Mike Clark – Guitar
Robert Trujillo – Bass
Dave Lombardo – Drums

02. Sad But True
Joey Belladonna – Vocals
Bruce Kulick – Guitar
Marco Mendoza – Bass
Eric Singer – Drums

03. Sanitarium
Whitfield Crane – Vocals
John Marshall – Guitar
Scott Ian – Guitar
Tony Levin – Bass
Mickey Dee – Drums

04. The Unforgiven
Doug Pinnick – Vocals
Vernon Reid – Guitar
Tony Franklin – Bass
Frankie Banali – Drums

05. The Thing That Should Not Be
John Garcia – Vocals
Kurdt Vanderhoof – Guitar
Jeff Pilson – Bass
Jason Bonham – Drums

06. Enter Sandman
Burton C. Bell – Vocals
John Christ – Guitar
Robert Trujillo – Bass
Tommy Aldridge – Drums

07. Whiplash
Billy Milano – Vocals
Scott Ian – Guitar
Phil Soussan – Bass
Vinny Appice – Drums

08. Nothing Else Matters
Jon Oliva – Vocals
Bob Balch – Guitar
Lemmy Kilmister – Bass
Gregg Bissonette – Drums

09. Seek And Destroy
Chuck Billy – Vocals
Jake E Lee – Guitar
Jimmy Bain – Bass
Aynsley Dunbar – Drums

10. For Whom The Bell Tolls
Eric Bloom – Vocals
Al Pitrelli – Guitar
Tony Franklin – Bass
Aynsley Dunbar – Drums

Maybe Dave Mustaine is finally getting the last laugh. Almost 20 years ago, Lars, James, and Cliff surrounded Dave while he was sleeping, woke him up, kicked him out of Metallica and gave him bus fare home. All this time, Dave seems to have been trying to keep up with his former bandmates. When Metallica played fast, Megadeth played faster. When Metallica played tight, Megadeth played tighter. Just as Megadeth’s videos began getting some major airplay on MTV, Metallica’s “One” was released and took over the airwaves for months.

But slowly, the tides have turned. Metallica have slowed down, while Megadeth have maintained their pace. Metallica’s music has taken a nose dive towards the world of radio pop, while Megadeth have stood their ground, keeping their feet planted firmly in the world of thrash. And while what’s left of Metallica sits holed up in a studio with no bass player, arguing about notes and planning their next attack against Napster, Megadeth has dug into it’s roots and delivered their best work in years.

With the line “Let me introduce myself, I’m a social disease,” Mustaine kicks off the new album and lets us know that the Megadeth we used to know and love is still alive.

The production work on The World Needs a Hero is classic. The mix feels very stripped down, very straight and to the point. Not a lot of extra noise, just straight forward thrash. Megadeth have learned to pace themselves over the years. The songs aren’t the fastest you’ve ever heard them play, but they’re definitely not laid back. Double kicks and driving bass lines keep the backbone alive, while classic Megadeth riff’s emerge from every corner of the disc.

No where is this more evident than during “Return to Hangar,” a sequal of sorts to “Hangar 18” off of Rust in Peace. “Return to Hangar” shows the maturity of Megadeth, and demonstrates better than anywhere on the disc that faster isn’t necessarily better. The solos are just as intricate as ever, but the whole style seems laid back. The drums kick into a frantic “galloping” kick-style from time to time, but for the most part, the boys just seem comfortable where they’re at, doing what they’re doing.

Dave and co. have abandoned the complicated song frameworks from their past. “The World Needs a Hero” sounds leaner and more direct than previous albums. That doesn’t mean that the songs are “simple” per se, just that they don’t each have 5,000 tempo changes and 100 mph solos all over place. Personally, I think the simplicity works here, and the album comes off as sounding cohesive and linear instead of a jumbled mess like some of their previous works. Maturity is the word I’m looking for, but had hoped to never use in a Megadeth review.

Out of 11 tracks, two of them are wimpy ballads, and one (Capitol Punishment) is a medley of old hits remixed with some sound effects and filters, so what you’re left with is eight balls to the wall guitar driven tracks. While not all of them are full speed ahead, they are all undeniably Megadeth.

Many of the tracks have a DJ scratching over them, and much of the album contains rapping. Just kidding, this is Megadeth – any Headbanger’s Ball disciple worth their weight in Ricki Rachman’s hairspray should know what Megadeth sounds like by now. Old Megadeth fans will not be disappointed, and even nu metal fanatics might enjoy taking a glimpse at how we used to rock back in the day.

Tracks:
01. Disconnect
02. The World Needs A Hero
03. Moto Psycho
04. 1,000 Times Goodbye
05. Burning Bridges
06. Promises
07. Recipe For Hate…Warhorse
08. Losing My Senses
09. Dread And The Fugitive Mind
10. Silent Scorn
11. Return To Hangar
12. When

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

Eric Schultzenberger was the coolest stoner I knew in school. From his Slash-like curly mop top to his fringed Mocassin boots, Eric Shultzenberger was everything my parents would never let me be. In retrospect, that’s probably a good thing, because I think both the Schultzenberger brothers did some time in the early 90’s, but that’s another story.

On the first day of seventh grade, Eric Schultzenberger came to school wearing a Metallica “Metal Up Your Ass” shirt — which not only got many of us listening to Metallica, but also got him quickly sent home. Being the little followers we were, we ditched our REO Speedwagon and Blue Oyster Cult duds and headed down to Happy Daze Records to pick up our new Metallica and Motley Crue concert shirts.

Like little soldiers, we marched back to school with our new “uniforms” on, ready to impress Eric the next time we saw him (which may have been a few days later; his attendance was less than stellar). When we finally ran into him, he had ditched the Metallica Tee for a Megadeth shirt. So, allowance in hand, we high-tailed it back out to Happy Daze Records for another round of apparel shopping …

The first Megadeth album I actually heard was their second effort, Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?, and believe me, I thought it was some pretty heavy shit. I played it for several friends before someone finally told me they had a previous release out. A quick trip to Sound Warehouse and ten bucks later, I was the proud owner of Megadeth’s debut album, Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good!. Although I rarely listen to it anymore that album was one of my favorites of the time, and along with Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer, Megadeth began dominating the world with a brutal metal attack that hasn’t let up yet.

Almost twenty years later, I have found myself falling in love all over again with Megadeth’s Killing Is My Business album, thanks to Loud Records’ release of an all new remastered and remixed copy of the album.

“Remastered and remixed,” you say? Indeed, and we’re not just talking “louder” here, this CD sounds great! Of course, I’m comparing this to a fifteen year old cassette tape, but regardless, this new mastering brings these songs to life. No longer stuck in a muddy mix, Mustaine’s solos spring to life, practically leaping out of the speakers and into your lap.

So what are you getting for your money this time? Remastered tracks, four unreleased bonus tracks, and a great booklet.

The remastered tracks are worth the price of admission alone. While listening to this CD I kept wondering what some other albums from this era would sound like remastered (ie: Kill ‘Em All). If you’re a fan of this disc at all, or if you want to see who every speed guitarist has been copying for the past 17 years, you should give this remaster a spin.

The four bonus tracks are OK. The extra tracks included are demo versions of “Last Rites/Loved To Deth”, “Mechanix”, “Killing Is My Business”, and “The Skull Beneath The Skin”. They will probably be enjoyed more by long time fans than casual listeners, because as demo tracks they don’t contain the quality of the rest of the CD. Listening to Megadeth’s demo of “Mechanix” leaves no question as to whether Metallica or Megadeth have the best chops. (Dave Mustaine wrote “Mechanix”, which later became “Four Horsemen” on Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All album. Dave Mustaine rewrote the lyrics and recorded the song as “Mechanix”. Mustaine and co. also crank out the tune basically in double-time. Youch!) Dave has been quoted as saying, “I set out to make my new band faster and heavier than their’s,” about forming Megadeth after leaving Metallica, and one listen to this demo will prove to listeners that he succeeded. The one thing the songs do is lengthen your listening time, because the original album only ran 31 minutes long.

The third thing you get with this package is a great little booklet. Among other things, the booklet talks about why the original 1985 Combat release had different artwork and incomplete mixes. Both Daves (Mustaine and Ellefson) have comments about each song on the disc as well, so there’s plenty to read while listening to this classic disc, and there’s even a nice forward written by Scott Ian. Mustaine’s original artwork is included on this release.

Depending on when you bought your original cassette or CD of Killing Is My Business you may or may not have “These Boots Are Made For Walkin'” on it. While it was included on the original Combat release and on early pressings of the CD, it was eventually removed due to copyright reasons. A “bleeped” remastered copy appears on the CD. The liner notes tell why and basically explain that it was either a censored copy or no copy, and due to overwhelming response from fans they wanted to include it.

Should you rush out and buy this album? If you’re a Megadeth fan, YES. These songs have never sounded better. If you don’t own a copy of this album at all, YES. This is a CD that should be in your CD player, or at least on your shelf. If you already own a copy and don’t like it, well, you probably shouldn’t buy it then.

Tracks:
01. Last Rites/Loved to Death
02. Killing is My Business…And Business Is Good!
03. The Skull Beneath the Skin
04. Rattlehead
05. Chosen Ones
06. Looking Down the Cross
07. Mechanix
08. Last Rites/Loved to Deth (1984 Demo)
09. The Skull Beneath the Skin (1984 Demo)
10. Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good (1984 Demo)
11. Mechanix (1984 Demo)

2004 has been a good year for Megadeth fans.

Almost two years to the month after announcing the end of Megadeth, Dave Mustaine announced that Megadeth would rise again. Along with a new album (The System Has Failed), the complete Megadeth back library is also being remixed, remastered and re-released. Hell Wasn’t Built In A Day contains a taste of that library, and damn does it taste good.

I know Megadeth. I grew up on Megadeth. I’ve bought at least one copy of each of their cassettes, two of the ones I wore out. I own all their CD’s as well, and I can honestly say this — Megadeth has never sounded this good before. Period.

“Peace Sells”, the titular track from the 1986 album sounded so different to me I had to dig out both my old CD to compare the two. Compared to the original CD, the song sounds completely different. The instruments have more depth, more clarity, and more definition. You can tell the two apart simply from the sound of the opening kick drums. Mustaine’s voice is much clearer in the newer mixes. The cymbals sound clear and clean. Any muddiness in the mix has been completely eliminated. The aural facelift (“earlift”?) is more noticable on older tracks like “Anarchy in the U.K.” and even Symphony of Destruction.

Hell Wasn’t Built In A Day also contains a couple of remastered ‘deth bonus tracks, like “Crown of Worms” from Countdown to Extinction and “Absolution” from Youthanasia. I swear the “Crown of Worms” opening riff is from a Metallica song (“The Prince”, maybe?). Neither song sounds particularly impressive following “Hanger 18”.

Both Alice in Chains’ Nothing Safe – Best Of The Box and Iron Maiden’s – Edward the Great served as samplers and greatest hits releases for their multi-disc box sets, and in both cases I felt no remorse in recommending those discs to fans over the actual box sets. I can’t do that here though. Ten tracks doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of Megadeth’s discography. There are literally SO many good Megadeth tracks out there that I can’t in good conscious recommend this over any of the early Megadeth discs. This promo sampler did exactly what it was supposed to do — it got me behind these releases 100%.

If you don’t own albums like So What?, Peace Sells, Countdown to Extinction or Rust in Peace, these are the versions you’ve been waiting for. And even if you do, if you’re a fan you’ll want to replace your old discs with these releases. They’re that good.

When a guitarist writes, performs, and engineers his own solo album, you can be pretty damn sure you’re going to get one hell of an axe-slinging album. Such is the case for Music For Speeding, Marty Friedman’s latest solo album.

The ex-Megadeth six-string slinger wastes little time kicking off the album, opening the disc with “Gimmie a Dose,” which does exactly that. My initial impression was, this is the kind of music you used to hear in the background of all those “extreme sports” shows before nu-metal came along. Blazingly fast guitar licks, million-note-per-second guitar solos, and catchy grooves — maybe the next generation of surf music?

While a couple of the tracks wink at Megadeth style riffage, any hint of main man Dave Mustaine has been replaced by guitar solos, front and center. The guitars are usually doing at least two different things at any given time, occasionally three. The riffs and leads remain interesting enough to carry the album — a tough feat to do on a disc with thirteen tracks and no vocals. And not only are they interesting, but they flow. The tracks seem like songs, not just an endless chain of solos.

With all the focus on guitars, I expected a fairly generic drum line. Fortunately I was very pleasantly surprised. Except for the few moments where the album flips into some alternate drum machine/video game influenced universe (“Cheer Girl Rampage” and “Nastymachine” in particular), the drums are as aggressive as the guitars are. Don’t expect any Bonham-esque solos, but the skinwork as a hole is more than average.

On slow tempo songs like “Lust For Life” and “Lovesorrow,” Friedman shows a different side of his talent. Those who are more impressed by musical compositions than smoking fret pounders will appreciate the effort. For the rest of us though, tracks like “Ripped”, “Catfight”, and “Fuel Injection Stingray” rock, rock fast, and rock hard.

Friedman’s guitar style could be compared to Slash’s or Buckethead’s. Every song on the disc is an example on how to shred and use the instrument to its fullest, whether it’s pouring out sadness like in “Corazon De Santiago”, or aggression like in “Salt in the Wound.” This album is the reason I slam solo discs like Dave Navarro’s and Tommy Lee’s. Playing guitars is what Marty Friedman does best, and on Music For Speeding, he proves it.

Tracks:
01. Gimme A Dose
02. Fuel Injection Stingray
03. Ripped
04. Its The Unreal Thing
05. Cheer Girl Rampage
06. Lust For Life
07. Lovesorrow
08. Nastymachine
09. Catfight
10. Corazon de Santiago
11. 0-7-2
12. Salt In The Wound
13. Novocaine Kiss