Takin' A Ride

This is supposedly the last Megadeth studio album. And while I doubt it’s true, this is certainly a good one to go out on. Knowing Dave, there will probably be more. It’s in his blood. No one can tell him what to do, not even himself. And he’s always lived his life according to his own rules. Regardless of what anyone else thinks. I’ve always had a soft spot for Dave Mustaine ever since he granted me my first interview. Dave was gracious enough to talk to me for about an hour and answered all my questions. Even though I was a young drunk 19 year old. Dave is a master of thrash metal, being one of the inventors of it (he’ll tell you he did invent it). Ok, onto the actual album. This is an excellent album. Classic Megadeth with some very strong riffs (some metal, some punk), tempo changes, and some dark themes.

“Obey The Call” is one of many standout tracks, starting off a little light, getting heavy, then gets even more heavy before going full on thrash.

Metallica’s “Ride The Lightning” is covered on this. I don’t understand it. I mean it’s one of Metallica’s greatest songs and yeah, I know Dave wrote a lot of it (even teaching James Hetfield how to play it), but it’s really no different than the original, except with Dave singing. I don’t get his hangup with Metallica these days either. Ok, 40 years ago, I got it. He’s angry and it just had happened. But that was 40 years ago, before most of his current fans were even born. The fans are the real winners, as we got two great bands out of the split. And Megadeth have more than proved their worthiness.

Other standouts:
“Tipping Point” starts off the album. This is almost at Mercyful Fate levels of riffage and tempo changes. Excellent song.

“I Don’t Care” is where Megadeth goes into more punk rock territory (at least lyrically), which actually, if you think about it, isn’t that far out of their realm. A lot of guitar solos here, well played. It can be argued that Mustaine and Teemu are playing at their best. They make a really great team together.

“Hey God” goes into more mid-period Megadeth era. Which is decent, but it’s kind of where Megadeth lost me in the early ’90s. It’s not a bad song, and like all the rest, there’s some really good soloing going on here.

“Let There Be Shred”, as if you couldn’t tell by the title, takes Megadeth into classic thrash mode. Fast, wailing solos with some tempo changes (which I love). Classic thrash.

“Puppet Parade” is one of the slower songs. Still heavy. Still some good riffing.

“Made To Kill” is classic Mustaine riffing and classic Megadeth thrash. Right when you think every riff in thrash has been written, he comes up with this!

If this is really their last studio album, they’re going out with a bang! Which is great and respectable, but it does leave you wanting more. It would be sad to quit now while there’s still so much gas in the tank. There are at least 4 songs that are worthy of being on any “best of” Megadeth compilation.

🤘🤘🤘🤘1/4

Tipping Point

Let There Be Shred