Megadeth - TH1RT3EN

The second best version of the band drops TH1RT3EN and all I can say is what a solid album. The production is stellar keeping all the power and aggression contained within a nice tight package and the attack of Chris Broderick is nothing short of amazing. He has such precise picking that you can tell when Dave's playing a solo and Chris is playing a solo because Dave doesn't come close. Dave's great don't get me wrong but there is a seriously talented guitar player standing beside him now and it shows just like when Marty joined the party on Rust In Pieces. The opening cut is a pretty standard Megadeth song and isn't as invigorating as the last two albums opening cuts.

I like the metal assault of "Whose Life (Is It Anyway)" which is a good bet for single from the album and is one of the bands most accessible to date. That is sure to piss off their fans who only live in the past with the first four albums never expecting the band to grow or change. I really think this album is on par with their complete return to excellence Endgame. The heavy groove of "We The People" has Dave sounding as snarky as ever and the band backing him up puts it all down just right. Even as good as Rust, Endgame or Countdown were they were not perfect as they have been romanticized to be. The same can be said about TH1RT3EN easily too because its not. This is a band that's been around for what 26 years and never completely sucked ever. Sure they had some mis-steps in the 90's but never did those albums lose complete sight of the metal history. This album is like that it is for sure more accessible and that is because of the seriously good and tight production.

This album sounds expensive and once again lays down the heavy metal gauntlet to all the current ear metal bands to catch up. Dave Ellefson's return to the fold also makes this album sound more cohesive. He is the other 50% of Megadeth and with him missing over the last while still made a difference to the sound of Megadeth. The band have a couple of classic tunes here "Never Dead" which harkens back to the sound of Countdown where the band was at its creative best. Listen to Chris's solo too it's awesome and Dave's vocals never sounded better. It is followed by "New World Order" another stellar tune that includes all the Megadeth tricks and stylistic rhythms we've come to love as fans of one of the greatest metal bands of all-time.

Mega-Dave and his gang of thrashers continue to write some pretty slick material that should please most of the bands legions of headbangers. The one thing I hope is that the band do more of this album live I'd like to hear "Fast Lane", "Black Swan" and "Never Dead" live. Considering the album has thirteen tracks which is a long player I don't get bored at all listening to the new music. The back half of the album might even be better than the front overall too. I mean just listen to "Wrecker" and its excellent riffing and drum fills. Yeah he's actually pretty good on this album too but he's still no Nick Menza. Now I must go and start the album over again because two listens is nowhere near enough of a new Megadeth album. Last.FM stats will be full of TH1RT3EN scrobbles for the next while and that's for sure. "Deadly Nightshade" will probably be the most listened to by the end of the week.