The Angry Scotsman Megadeth found their way, then got lost again.

Yikes, what happened? After the comeback hit that was "Endgame" and hearing that Dave Ellefson was returning how could a Megadeth fan not be excited?

The title "Th1rt3en" had me feeling a little sick but can't judge by an album by it's title, (Death Magnetic was pretty kick ass after all). Well this album was a let down. At first I thought it was horrid, but listening all this time later, it's really not bad. It's just not that great.

"Sudden Death" kicks off the album in a great way, honestly it's one of the better songs in the whole post "Rust in Peace" era. It was made for the game Guitar Hero, which makes sense since it's filled with solos, sweet riffs and melodies all in the frantic, progressive style Megadeth was known for.

This is the peak of the album sadly. As I said, it's not a bad album. There are some pretty good songs like "Public Enemy No.1", "Never Dead", and "Fast Lane" some not so good songs like "Wrecker" and the pretty dreadful "Guns, Drugs & Money" the rest are either kind of bland, or have some sweet parts mixed with some mediocre parts.

I finally have hit on what is the issue with this album, and it's not the album per se but your personal feelings. "Th1rt3en" is a more straightforward, hard rock/classic type metal album with thrash thrown in. Kind of like their middle material but overall a bit more thrashy. There are still occasional moments of intrigue like light guitar and really good song writing, but far less than their "classic days".

So it depends what you are into. If you prefer the more technical, progressive and intense side of Megadeth with Mustaine's intricate, and often fascinating, song writing then this will be nothing more than an OK album. If you prefer/are fine with the more straightforward, less frills but more rockin' Megadeth then you will surely enjoy this.

I prefer the former, but I can't hold it against the album itself. Few of the songs are truly bad, but most are just unremarkable. That's the best word for this album, unremarkable. Which doesn't mean bad, and there are more than enough moments to satsify a thrash fan, and even a more progressive oriented fan. So take it for what it is and decide for yourself, the quality of the actual album is good, but not essential.

Oh, and if you are one of the stuck in the 80s, worship at the house of thrash, fans...well there was little hope for you here anyway.

Good, not great. THR33 Stars

Daysbetween Rust in Peace is Megadeth's fourth studio album and the first to feature two new band members who would remain for another ten years. Nick Menza on drums brought speed and youthful hunger to succeed to the band while Marty Friedman was an accomplished shredder and the best lead guitarist in the bands long history. The perfect line-up in my opinion who created the perfect Megadeth album in RIP.

The album is book-ended by two classics in 'Holy Wars... The Punishment Due' and 'Rust in Peace... Polaris' and both are epic in feel,have great riffs but are technically superb. My favorite song is 'Five Magics' which is speedy, highly complex musically with almost a Progressive approach. Drumming is superb throughout the album and each song seems to almost contain a semi drum solo. Even Mustaine's vocals are pretty decent on this album, which might be down to Mike Clink's production, although he retains his punky snarl. Every track is killer so no filler.

Must also mention the artwork which is in prime blue and shows Vic holding a green (radioactive?) crystal over a Polaris missile containing an alien while the world leaders are relegated to the background. This is Megadeth's masterpiece and truly worthy of the full 5 stars.

bonnek Third album in a row for Megadeth's longest lasting line-up. There are no significant stylistic changes compared to the previous album but they made it all sound a bit smoother and bigger. That combined with some slower-pace material makes this a regular Metal album rather than Thrash Metal.

Back in the day when this was released I was very much into deth-mode and quite loved it, but over the course of the years it gradually turned into a bit of a disappointment. The songs (production) simply miss the freshness, bite and stroke of genius that blessed this band on"RIP" and "CTE".

I'll take two songs to point out the symptoms of deth-decline. Take "Train of Consequences" first, it's a song that suffers from generic melodies and riffs, not to mention the way too poppy chorus. I could list the same complaints about 'Addicted to Chaos', but will add the lethargic mid-paced beat that makes this song entirely forgettable. It's all nothing too bad, but just kind of 'meh', certainly when looking at this from a 2012 perspective, after enduring countless Megadeth albums since with this sort of songwriting and execution.

On the other hand, there's still fun bits like "Reckoning Day", "The Killing Road", "Youthanesia" and "Victory", which are all at least as good as the stuff on "Hidden treasures".

For newcomers to Megadeth I wouldn't recommend this album unless you already devoured all preceding albums (and maybe 'Endgame') and are still hungry for more. For fans, it's a nice occasional listen but there's too much mediocre songs and lazy playing.

dtguitarfan Oh, do I have fond memories of this one. This was, for me, the quintessential "album I did not want my mother to know I had." I have fond memories of blasting this one on the stereo system while my parents were gone, and practicing my air guitar and growly vocals. There really is not a weak track on this album, but every one seems to characterize what this band, and even really what Metal in this time period, was all about. Another thing I love about this album, and this could merely be a result of the sheer number of times I've listened to it, is the fact that it flows well: each track follows the previous very well, almost like they were part of a single composition. Obviously the track order was planned very well. The dueling guitar solos appear all throughout this album, the tunes are fantastic, and Dave Mustaine's growls, as always, are so unique and characteristic of the darkness of this Metal masterpiece. As I often do, I would like to highlight some of my favorite tracks on this album:

Symhony of Desctruction - of course, the importance of this song is undeniable, being one of the most well known Metal tunes of all time. The ONLY weakness of this track is the countless number of times I've heard it by now. [;)]]

This Was My Life - this song makes you angry with the band. It is filled with this simmering rage, the kind of rage that only comes out in under the breath mutters the party you are mad at can't hear, and in screams behind their back. You will be pounding your fist in the air with the chant at the end: "THIS....WAS....MY....LIFE!!!!"

Captive Honour - this has long been one of my all time favorite songs by Megadeth. It's almost like a Prog epic, in terms of song structure, the music telling a story along with the lyrics of a man committing a crime, being sentenced to jail, and the hell he endures there. The guitar solos near the end are among my all-time favorite metal guitar solos.

I've always considered myself more of a Metallica fan than a Megadeth fan (ducks)...but I will say that I have probably listened to this particular Megadeth album more than any Metallica album. This is absolutely a necessary piece of any Metal connoisseur's collection.

UMUR "TH1RT3EN" is the 13th full-length studio album by US thrash metal/heavy metal act Megadeth. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in November 2011. The album is notable for featuring the returning bassist Dave Ellefson, who had not recorded with the band since "The World Needs a Hero (2001)".

The music on the album is thrashy heavy metal, which of course is no surprise if you are familiar with the band´s back catalogue. Some of the band´s albums have swung more towards heavy metal than thrash metal and visa versa. "Endgame (2009)" was one of the more thrash metal dominated releases by Megadeth, but with "TH1RT3EN" I think the band have swung a bit more towards heavy metal than was the case on the predecessor. This isn´t as such a bad choice as the band are fully able to deliver powerful, well written and well performed heavy metal as well as thrash metal.

One of the greatest assets on the album is definitely guitarist Chris Broderick who delivers one shredding, melodic lead after another. He is able to lift even some of the more standard tracks to a higher level with his diverse and skillfull playing. The rest of the band are also, as usual, very well playing including frontman Dave Mustaine who delivers yet another sneering and distinct sounding vocal performance. He shows his softer more melodic side on occasion though. His performance in "Millennium of the Blind" is an example of that.

Besides the slightly dry drum sound, which I´m not too fond of, the sound production is really powerful sounding.

"TH1RT3EN" is through and through a quality product and while I don´t find it quite as accomplished as "Endgame (2009)", it´s one of the better post 2000 albums by the band and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog Megadeth’s That One Night: Live In Buenos Aires is arguably the band’s finest live effort and certainly one of their best DVDs. The band are absolutely on fire in terms of performance and energy, the crowd are going wild for the band and the setlist is superb, what more could anyone ask for in a concert ?

In terms of the actual DVD; the Audio/Visual quality is top notch and the whole performance is captured well, with a good job made of the mixing, camerawork and editing. Everything is utterly professional and well handled, nothing is cheesy or over the top which just allows the music to do the talking.

Surprisingly; apart from frontman Dave Mustaine, even though the band’s line up at the time didn’t feature any musician responsible for the albums from Rust In Peace – Cryptic Writings, or indeed David Ellefson who was on every single Megadeth album until The System has Failed, the band put down a storming performance and seem to be at the top of their game, reveling in their success and fired on by the manic crowd.

(Then) New members Glen Drover on guitar, James MacDonough on Bass and on Shawn Drover on Drums are all great additions to the band, and it isn’t difficult to see why Glen lasted another studio album and Shawn remains with the band to this day.

The concert includes all the classic Megadeth material you would expect like ‘Peace Sells…,’ ‘Holy Wars… The Punishment Due,’ ‘Symphony Of Destruction,’ and ‘In My Darkest Hour,’ as well as some less played numbers such as ‘I’ll Be There,’ and the superb ‘Set The World Afire.’

Additionally, their then new The System Has Failed record is well represented and the songs fit well into the set along side all the fan favourites.

That One Night’ was filmed in 2005 and released in 2007 and is still a brilliant live document and perhaps unsurpassed by later releases. I remember being hugely impressed with it when it was new, and watching it back now my opinion has not changed at all, which is surely a good sign. All Megadeth fans should all consider picking up a copy, this is an utterly fantastic concert and would serve as a fine introduction to the band. I highly recommend it.

Kingcrimsonprog Megadeth have a lot of DVDs on the market now; from video collections and documentaries, to bonus DVDs, to official concerts like this and ‘That One Night,’ and ‘Rust In Peace Live,’ to their segments on multi-band DVDs like Gigantour and The Big Four, as well as what I suspect are unofficial DVD’s like ‘Head Crusher,’ ‘Alive In USA 2008,’ ‘Megadeth Live,’ and ‘Metal Symphonies.’

When choosing a Megadeth DVD then, you really are spoiled for choice. In my opinion this and That One Night are the two best options, which provide longest concerts with the most definitive set lists, also with the best sound and visual qualities.

Rude Awakening finds Megadeth at the end of the first period in their career, just before the break-up and before the reunion which saw the band traveling back into the territory of Thrash Metal once again, after a series of albums in the nineties that explored different territory.

This DVD was filmed in late 2001 and released in 2002 while the band were promoting their The World Needs A Hero album and features the superb and underrated Al Pitrelli on guitar and Jimmy DeGrasso on drums supporting Megadeth stalwarts Dave Ellefson and Dave Mustaine.

The first thing that needs mentioning about the actual DVD is the quality of the camera work, visuals and editing. To this date Rude Awakening is still arguably the finest and most professional video release from Megadeth. Not being filmed outdoors the makers had a great level of precision and control over everything and the stage set up and lighting helped a lot too in making this one of the best looking band DVDs of the era. Almost a decade on and Rude Awakening still looks fantastic.

The track listing is excellent and covers a lot of the fan favourite material from every album the band had released up until that point except Risk. It also contains a healthy amount of material from the then new The World Needs A Hero record which arguably sounds even better live than on record. The band’s 90s era is well served here too, as much as their 80s output and this really is a great all rounder, especially for Megadeth fans who almost like everything the band put out. Tracks like ‘Peace Sells,’ ‘Holy Wars,’ and ‘Mechanix,’ all sit comfortably beside ‘Trust,’ and ‘Reckoning Day,’ in a diverse but very entertaining set.

Some people have problems with the sound, as Dave’s vocals can be too quiet especially when he gets too far from the mic and on the surround sound mix the guitars aren’t apparently handled very well in the first half of the concert. As someone who has listened to the stereo mix for almost a decade I have never had a problem with the sound, in fact I love it. If you yourself play bass or drums you are likely to love the sound mix.

Apart from the mix, the actual recording quality and timbre of the actual individual components are phenomenal, rarely has a drum kit sounded so amazing live. Something well demonstrated during a phenomenal drum solo during She-Wolf.

All of this of course is only the main concert and you still have a brief and entertaining documentary and bonus concert on top of it. Overall; Rude Awakening is definitely something you should check out if you like Megadeth.