Rude Awakening

By the time this album arrived, I had already seen Megadeth a couple times in the live setting, so there wasn't any real sense of anticipation to hear how it would come off on the stage. When I watched Sabbat's The End of the Beginning VHS tape, for instance, that was a band I had longed for and thus became more satisfied for all its flaws to at least get the chance to see them. Here on Rude Awakening, two whole discs of live material (and to their credit, they gave it almost two decades before dumping this sort of release onto their fandom), it feels competent but slightly dialed in, probably with some studio overdubs, and not all that high energy despite a considerable two hours and 24 tracks that cover the good chunk of their career. Still, The World Needs a Hero lineup manages not to cock up the classics, and that means something.

Right away I can tell you that I'm not interested in the inclusion of material from the three studio LPs before this, but it was inevitable since that is what they were touring on. I loved hearing "Angry Again" here, but I would have much rather had "Go to Hell" or "99 Ways to Die" on the track list above "Trust" and "Almost Honest". Still, they unleash a nice trio of "Symphony of Destruction", "Peace Sells" and "Holy Wars" at the end of the double-album which is probably what any crowd would want, and you get some of my favorites like "Tornado of Souls", "Hook in Mouth", "Devils' Island" and "Wake Up Dead" among the choices, so the bulk of this is rock fucking solid. Dave sounds pretty great, you get some of the flaws or imperfections in his pitch, but they only add to the personality. Considering that you have Dave and Al Pitrelli, I think the guitars sounds a little on the wimpy side, like when a lead breaks out there doesn't feel like the rhythm guitar offers much support. The drums are steady and I can make out the bass well enough, but even though I like the general 'airiness' of the recording, I think a little more punch and power to the instruments would have improved my rating.

Overall, though, if you had been waiting almost two decades to wander down to your record store and buy a proper Megadeth live offering, I don't think this one would disappoint you much, they sound tight enough and offer you a robust selection of tracks from their whole history, leaving only a few noted obscurities behind and 3-4 awesome Rust in Peace tunes that would have been better than anything off the more contemporary studio material for the time. This one doesn't approach the timeless annals of a Live After Death, No Sleep 'til Hammersmith or Unleashed in the East, but it's professional enough not to totally waste your money. As for the cover art, a fun image, but I feel like it would have been better on an actual studio outing...say you switch the random person for Vic Rattlehead, include the logo along the opposing building, here it feels thrown away, and I don't get the point. There's nothing rude or offensive or even explosive about how this sounds, instead it's practiced and rigid.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I have been a Megadeth fan since the very early 90s and over the years I have continued to follow them and to buy all their albums as new releases at least some of the time. Had a live album been released with the line-up of Mustaine, Ellefson, Marty Friedman and Nick Menza I would have rushed out to buy it too, even with the $20+ price tag. However, after canning Nick, and then Marty leaving, it's almost not the same band. I mean, Dave and Dave are Megadeth after all, but the line-up I described above, most fans would describe as the quintessential line-up and era of the band. Rude Awakening features the line-up of Mustaine, Ellefson, ex-Suicidal Tendencies drummer Jimmy DeGrasso and guitar virtuoso Al Pitrelli. So, because of this and the fact that most stores were selling this disc for well above $20, I couldn't bring myself to buy it as a new release. Even used copies were selling close to $20 on eBay and SecondSpin. Well, I finally picked up a copy of this with a price tag of about $18 way back over 15 years ago. Still a bit pricey, but more reasonable then well over $20.

I haven't seen Megadeth live over the years but I know that they usually would put on a stellar performance regardless of the line-up. However, no one can deny that there was also a certain chemistry between the band that seems to be missing from this live set. Having said that, however, Rude Awakening is a far better career retrospect than the shoddy Capitol Punishment compilation and certainly a fine way for one of thrash metal's finest band's to go out at that time in early 2002.

Dave pulls out songs from every Megadeth album all the way back to the debut record. The band sounds tight throughout this disc. Several songs feature extended solos, including She-Wolf which includes a dual guitar jam by Dave and Al and a drum solo that bridges the top ten best Megadeth song Reckoning Day. I was totally stoked to hear Mechanix. Dave makes mention of there being two versions of this song, "their version" and "our version." Of course when Dave says "their version" he is referring to Metallica's Four Horsemen that he wrote for the band before they gave him the boot in the early 80's and of course "our version" is the better version. I agree with that. Its better then The Four Horsemen. Overall, a good live album and one that will see many spins in my CD player. Megadeth will always be remembered as the kings of speed metal that they helped pioneer, and Rude Awakening is a testimony to that fact.

There has been a lot of discussion on how "live" Megadeth's first official live release 'Rude Awakening' really is. Of course, there must have been some polishing in the studio here and there, but if you listen really well, you can hear some off-key backing vocals and the lead vocals of Dave Mustaine himself are awfully off-key here and there also. Mustaine has never been a really good singer anyway, so I wasn't really expecting that either. If you listen really closely (headphones are always a good tool to do so), you can here some of those little nuance mistakes. Those kind of mistakes, that almost no listenere hears, but that can really annoy you if you're a musician listening to your own stuff.

Is that meant as a kind of criticism? No, not in any way. Those little mistakes are in my humble opinion always the things that give live albums a certain charm. A lot of people think the same about live albums with an average sound quality also, but I don't count myself to those people. Luckily, the sound quality on 'Rude Awakening' is about as good as it gets; every instrument is heard pretty clearly and mixed in the right way (Al Pitrelli's guitar could be just a little bit louder at some points in the beginning though) and the thing in its entirity is mixed loud enough to do some decent headbanging on!

On to the song selection then. Figured that the recordings for 'Rude Awakening' were made during the tour in support of the 2001 release 'World Needs A Hero', it didn't really surprise me that, though the mediocre level of that album, 4 songs off of that album were included. However, 'Return To Hangar' and '1000 Times Goodbye' (luckily without those dumb quotes that actress makes on the album!) are the highlights of that album, so you won't hear me complain. Apart from those tracks, the song selection is great! The fact that the album contains three songs from 'Youthanasia' kind of surprised me, but apart from 'Skin O' My Teeth', basically every classic song is included on this album. From 'Mechanix' to 'Trust' and from 'Peace Sells' to 'Hangar 18', they're all there! And luckily, the dreadful 'Risk' is skipped completely! Two pleasant surprises for me personally were 'Devil's Island' and the breathtaking 'Ashes In Your Mouth'.

The way the songs are performed also deserves some compliments. As I've stated, I'm not too fond about Dave Mustaine's vocals at all and of course the lineup with Marty Friedman and Nick Menza is the lineup I would have prefered a live album with, but Al Pitrelli is a fabulous guitarist (of course! Why else would he be in Savatage?) and Jimmy DeGrasso is probably better than his predecessor from the previous lineup. The band performs the classic tracks just the way they're supposed to sound (although the backing vocals are a little weak here and there) and there are even some nice extra adds to the songs. There are some parts that speed up during the guitar solo of 'Hangar 18' (you'll have to listen to understand what I mean) and one of my personal favorites, 'She-Wolf', has a very cool extended solo section. Including a very cool drum solo by Jimmy DeGrasso.

Mustaine doesn't talk to his audience to often, but in my humble opinion, Mustaine is one of those people you have making music than talking, because making music is something he is definitely great at. Though 'Rude Awakening' probably wasn't the CD or DVD many fans were waiting for, it's a live album that is definitely worth checking out! Maybe one day, there will be an official live album with Marty Friedman and Nick Menza on it. Or maybe with the new lineup, with the Dover brothers and Jimmy MacDonough, that lineup definitely rocks live! Until then, we'll have to do it with this perfectly fine live recording.

Note - This is an edit of my previous review. I didn't think that it truly did it justice.

This is probably my favourite live album ever released. Period. There are 24 songs of Megadeth goodness contained here spanning their entire career (minus Risk, thankfully). Dave has managed to pick the best songs off each of the Deth albums are put them all together on a flawless live performance in which each of the band members are given an oppertunity to shine at various points in the show. As the other review said, Dave doesn't speak with the crown much, but his little speech before "Mechanix" is amusing and showcases his giant ego. This is where each of the songs came from -

Killing is My Business...And Business is Good! - Mechanix is performed perfectly musically. The vocals sound a tad like a whine, but otherwise perfect. Probably the most headbangable song on the whole album and one of my favourite thrash songs ever, period.

Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? - Wake Up Dead, Devil's Island and Peace Sells were taken from this. All 3 are performed perfectly. The chorus in Peace Sells, where the crowd sings is especially cool, a large improvement over the album version where Mustaine sounds whiny. Wake Up Dead is another Deth classic and probably the most energetic song on here. Devil's Island is my favourite from "Peace Sells" and maintains it's title on here.

So Far...So Good...So What! - In My Darkest Hour is one of my favourite Megadeth songs of all time and this live performance definetly does it justice. The part at the end (which is at the beginning on the album version) is simply orgasmic. Hook In Mouth is one of the thrashier songs and another true headbanger.

Rust In Peace - Yes...the best Megadeth album. Hangar 18, Tornado of Souls and Holy Wars were taken from this. Holy Wars and Tornado of Souls are my two favourite Deth songs and are done perfectly. The ending to Holy Wars was a treat as well. Hangar 18 has excellent soloing by Pitrelli and Mustaine and turns into a duel for the last 2 minutes (which on the DVD, I feel Mustaine wins!)

Countdown to Extinction - Sweating Bullets is great with just the guitar and Dave singing during the verses. Many of these songs are a bit different from their respective album versions, but it is always much better. Symphony of Destruction is a Deth staple and is performed with the excellence that we all come to expect, the post-solo part is really neat as well. Ashes in Your Mouth is good, but not one of my favourite songs as the riffs are not up to par with the rest of the album.

Youthanasia - Train of Consequences, A Tout Le Monde and Reckoning Day are all done flawlessly. Honourable Mention to Train of Consequences for the cool intro, as well as Mustaine for sounding like Louie Armstrong during A Tout Le Monde.

Cryptic Writings - A very misunderstood album. Trust is a great song with an excellent buildup which reminds one of "Enter Sandman" .She Wolf is done in a strange way, but still very appealing in which the band members really get to show off during the long instrumental break. Almost Honest has a really cool riff and a catchy chorus, but the USA!! USA!!! is fucking lame at the beginning.

Kill the King and Angry Again were both on "Greatest Hits" albums and were previously unreleased. Kill the King has a machine gun drum beat and the chorus is fucking addictive as hell. Angry Again has a neat chorus with a killer main riff.

The World Needs a Hero - Return to Hangar, Dread and the Fugitive Mind, 1000 Times Goodbye are all great songs that made up for the shittiness of Risk. The latter is much better without the annoying as hell phone calls. It would have been nice to see "Disconnect" on here as well. Return to Hangar is just as great as the original, in my opinion and is performed back to back with it, which makes it all the more cool.

Every metal fan should own this. It takes the best aspects of an already essental band and puts them all onto one album. Truly incredible.