UMUR
"Rust In Peace Live" is a live album release by US thrash metal act Megadeth. The album was released in September 2010 by Shout! Factory. "Rust In Peace Live" was released in both Blu-ray, DVD, and CD formats. I´m holding the latter in my hand. The album was released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band´s much hailed 4th full-length studio album "Rust in Peace (1990)". The show was recorded/filmed at the Hollywood Palladium on March 31, 2010 on the last night of the "Rust in Peace 20th Anniversary Tour". The month long tour which began on the 1st of March 2010 saw Megadeth being supported by Testament and Exodus.
The setlist consists of the entire "Rust in Peace" album plus 6 additional tracks from other albums including Megadeth classics like "In My Darkest Hour", "Symphony of Destruction" and "Peace Sells". So it´s hard to complain about the track selection here. The playing is of course tight and delivered with professional conviction and even Dave Mustaine sounds pretty great here. He has the reputation of sounding strained and particularly nasal on stage but here he sounds pretty great.
The sound production unfortunately takes away from my listening experience. It´s not bad by any means but it´s not particularly powerful either. It´s a bit sterile and lacks warmth. A redeeming feature is how well the audience is heard though. I really enjoy when you can hear them singing along not only to the vocal parts but also to some of the riffs. Now that´s what I call hardcore fans.
It´s curious how a live album where everything is played nearly to perfection can sound a bit stale, but that´s what happens here IMO. When you add to that the sterile production job "Rust In Peace Live" ends up being one of those live albums where I would much rather spend my time listening to the original studio versions of the tracks. Like I said above the album isn´t bad by any means, but it doesn´t excite me like I had hoped it would either, so I guess a 3 - 3.5 star rating is fair.