MEGADETH ‘Th1rt3en’
(Roadrunner, 2011) Review by Ryan Mavity
Finally, Dave Mustaine truly has gotten the better of his ex-bandmates in Metallica.
While Metallica was off with Lou Reed making the insanely unlistenable Lulu, MegaDave was cranking out another fine piece of classical thrash metal.
Th1rt3en, not coincidentally the band’s 13th album, is not as good as its predecessor, Endgame. The latter is up there with Peace Sells … But Who’s Buying, Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction as the best Megadeth has to offer. But Thirteen (I won’t do the stylized text anymore) is a comfortable fit in the band’s second tier of fine albums with Youthanasia, Cryptic Writings and United Abominations.
That’s not a slam, mind you, a lot of bands would kill to have a second tier like that. There’s nothing on Thirteen as good as “Holy Wars,” “Foreclosure of A Dream,” “Good Mourning/Black Friday” or “Dialectic Chaos/This Day We Fight!” But there’s plenty here that will satisfy the Megadeth faithful.
The opening “Sudden Death,” a track that has been around for a while, sets the tone, with Mustaine and Chris Broderick shredding like demons right from the get-go. This is a guitar player’s album, loaded with blistering solos that will have the YouTube guitar mavens busy for a long time.
More up front in the mix are MegaDave’s sneering vocals. “Public Enemy No. 1” is a good one, with its ode to old-school gangsters like Al Capone, as Mustaine’s nasally vocals perfectly capture the fuck-you-you’ll-never-catch-me spirit of the song.
“Whose Life (Is It Anyways?) starts the paranoid/political part of the album, something that’s been a frequent subject for Mustaine over the years. These might be the weakest songs on the album as Dave whines about liberty (“We the People”), Mexican drug cartels (“Guns, Drugs & Money”) and government conspiracies (“New World Order”). For the now-rightward-leaning Mustaine, it all sounds like a crazy tea party manifesto set to music.
Thirteen’s best songs are the apolitical songs, such as the awesome zombie-themed “Never Dead” and the fast car ode “Fast Lane.” “Never Dead” might be my favorite song on the album with its slow, cinematic buildup before exploding into thrash metal awesomeness.
“Black Swan” and “Wrecker” are the first pair of Megadeth songs I can remember since the Cryptic Writings era to discuss relationships. “Wrecker” is almost comical in its description of a crazed harpy that wrecks your life.
The other contender for best song on the album is the title track, a sort of summation of Megadeth’s career that ends with a defiant Mustaine imploring, “Because I stood here 13 times and I’m still alive/And I’m still alive.” He seems almost as surprised at his longevity as we are, considering MegaDave’s lengthy history with substance abuse and a nearly debilitating hand injury. The song is almost like a cousin to “In My Darkest Hour” in its style.
Thirteen also marks the return of David Ellefson to the fold, his first Megadeth record since 2001’s The World Needs a Hero. It’s good to have the two Daves back making music again. Megadeth didn’t seem quite the same without Ellefson around.
Thirteen is a solid addition to the Megadeth catalog. Bad luck and weird occurrences may have been part of the recording process for Thirteen, but musically, the bad juju seems to have gone to the Metallica camp.
