Super Collider is the fourteenth studio album by the American thrash/heavy metal band, Megadeth. The album lasts a duration of 45:14. It was released on June 4, 2013, through Tradecraft, a Universal label created for frontman Dave Mustaine.
Lineup:
Dave Mustaine – lead vocals, lead, rhythm, acoustic guitar and slide guitars
Chris Broderick – lead, rhythm, acoustic guitars and backing vocals
David Ellefson – bass guitar and backing vocals
Shawn Drover – drums, percussion
Additional Musicians:
Bob Findley - horn on "A House Divided"
David Draiman – vocals on "Dance in the Rain"
Yao Zhao - cello on "Dance in the Rain"
Tom Cunningham - fiddle on "The Blackest Crow"; violin on "Dance in the Rain"
Brian Costello, Sean Costello and Mary Kate Peterson from the Shannon Rovers Irish Pipe Band - bagpipes on "Built for War"
Electra Mustaine - background vocals on "Forget to Remember" and "Beginning of Sorrow"
Sarah Phelps - background vocals on "Beginning of Sorrow"
Willie Gee - guest speaker on "The Blackest Crow"
Production:
Produced by Johnny K and Dave Mustaine
Mixed by Johnny K and Dave Mustaine
Engineered by Cameron Webb
Mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, New York, NY
Background:
Super Collider is a hard rock album that feels like it's simply made for generic radio play. The album is lacking in creativity because of its overall sound, musicianship, and lyrics. I think the guitar work is still top notch and most of the songs are not bad, but they are fairly boring. Megadeth is unable to pull off the simplified hard rock sound with this record.
Super Collider debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200. As of December 2015, the album has sold 86,000 copies in the United States. Each track will be rated as follows: I Hate It, I Dislike It, It's Okay, I Like It, I Love It. Here are my thoughts on each track:
Track Listing:
1. "Kingmaker" 4:16
This is the only song on the record that I feel is actually a quality song. It has a nice chorus, good guitar riffs, and a great guitar solo. Dave Mustaine also sounds good vocally. This is definitely an impressive song to start the album off.
Grade: I Like It
2. "Super Collider" 4:11
This track is one of those that is clearly designed for radio play. It has a really catchy chorus, some pretty simple guitar riffs that are catchy and a decent guitar solo. It's not really a bad track, but it just feels pretty average for Megadeth.
Grade: It's Okay
3. "Burn!" 4:11
This song begins with promise with some pretty awesome guitar work and really good intro, but as the song continues it loses steam. The chorus is really cheesy and the verses are overly simple. Lyrically, this is a very week track. Broderick's guitar prowess does lift this song up though.
Grade: I Dislike It
4. "Built for War" 3:57
It seems Megadeth has decided to be extremely safe and creatively stale with record at this point. This is just another mediocre hard rock song with some boring verses, decent guitar work, and a somewhat memorable chorus. This happens to be the worst track up to this point on the record.
Grade: I Dislike It
5. "Off the Edge" 4:11
I do like the intro to this track, but the atmosphere ends way to quickly and gives way to Megadeth's simple verses that plague this record. This song is one of the most boring from the entire album, which is saying something. It does have some excellent guitar solos, but sadly they are just icing with no cake.
Grade: I Dislike It
6. "Dance in the Rain" (featuring David Draiman) 4:45
I again enjoy the intro to the song thanks to its atmospheric guitar effects. The guitar sound that is used on this track is pretty phenomenal. I actually find this song to be moderately enjoyable because of its guitar work and its unique sound in comparison to the rest of the record. The guitar solos are very good and are placed correctly in the track. Disturbed frontman David Draiman's inclusion for the last minute of this track really makes no sense to me though, because his inclusion makes the track feel a bit disjointed.
Grade: It's Okay
7. "Beginning of Sorrow" 3:51
The bass lines that open for this song are fantastic and really give me a false hope for this track. Just like so many other tracks on this album, "Beginning of Sorrow" lacks creativity and really feels like another lackadaisical track from the album. The guitar solos are fantastic, but guitar solos do not save a track. I do find this track to be more tolerable than many of the others from the album thanks to some pretty good riffs and solos.
Grade: It's Okay
8. "The Blackest Crow" 4:27
This song has a pretty unique folksy vibe to start the track. The chorus is pretty catchy, but this song is just like so many others thanks to its lackluster verses that are boring and uneventful because of mundane guitar riffs. The guitar solo is top notch, but that will not save this song from its fate.
Grade: I Dislike It
9. "Forget to Remember" 4:28
This is yet another track from Megadeth that is simple, somewhat boring, and lacking in creativity. Still, I admit this one is better than most on the album and has a nice beat to it. The chorus is actually pretty memorable and catchy. The guitar work is great and the song is as cheesy as Megadeth gets.
Grade: It's Okay
10. "Don't Turn Your Back..." 3:47
At this point in the record I am basically ready for this one to be over. This song is a bit of a pick me up though. The guitar riffs are loud, fast, and fairly heavy to get this one started. The chorus is so so cheesy though, thanks to this lyric "the best advice I can give is don't turn your back on a friend." The guitar solos are epic and I like Dave's vocals.
Grade: It's Okay
11. "Cold Sweat" (Thin Lizzy cover) 3:10
Honestly, as far as Megadeth's covers though, this is much better than usual. Still, I would not exactly recommend this song to anyone, but I think Megadeth's version is pretty decent.
Grade: It's Okay
My Verdict:
Production:
Production-wise this album is good. The guitars sound great when they shine during solos and intros to songs. The album sounds crisp and clear, but is sometimes lacking in power and punch. Overall, the production on this record is definitely the best thing about it.
Score: 15 / 20
Album Flow:
After the first track, this album falls into being very boring and mundane with every track you listen to. I do not like how every song is pretty similar and the album just seems to repeat itself after a while.
Score: 8 / 20
Song Writing:
This may just be Megadeth's weakest song writing ever. Almost every song is written with the same structures and pacing. This album really lacks in creativity and originality. "Kingmaker" and "Dance in the Rain" are the only tracks that stand out from the entire record.
Score: 14 / 60
Overall Scoring Scale:
0-20: Garbage
21-40: Poor
41-49: Below Average
50-60: Average
61-74: Above Average
75-89: Good
90-100: Must Own
