Megadeth - The System Has Failed (2004)
Genre - Heavy Metal / Thrash Metal
On April 3, 2002 Dave Mustaine announced that he had disbanded the band Megadeth due to an arm injury. Over a course of time Dave would spend time in physical and electric shock therapy. After recovery Dave would spend time working on material for his first solo album, this new material was recorded with musicians Vinnie Colaiuta and Jimmy Sloas. This project was put on hold due to Mustaine remastering and remixing the first eight Megadeth studio albums. Due to issues with the band's European label EMI, Dave Mustaine would be forced to release one more album under the name Megadeth. Dave Mustaine contacted the beloved Rust in Peace line up, however to his surprise Marty Friedman and David Ellefson declined. Dave Mustaine hired the Chris Poland who had worked on the band's first two albums to contribute the guitar solos for this album. Now that Poland joins Colaiuta and Sloas along with Mustaine the line up for this album was complete.
Blackmail the Universe - The song opens up with what appears to be the sound of a missile launched followed by a news report in the background. Musically this song is pretty amazing and have something nice that two of Megadeth's previous album releases did not have, thrash. The song only slows down a little bit then it goes back to the speed the first few seconds later. Pretty soon in this song there is some great soloing by Mustaine and Poland, the song ends after a Mustaine solo. Blackmail the Universe kick starts the album in a wonderful way. 9.5/10
Die Dead Enough - Another quality song continues the album which begins with Chris Poland playing a ballad like guitar riff, soon enough though drums start thundering in along with Mustaine's vocals and the guitar riff switches into something heavy, the tempo also speeds up. Before Mustaine and Poland's solos the song gets into a darker sound. After the solos the song continues and ends with Mustaine singing the chorus. 9/10
Kick the Chair - I like to call this the title track (even though there is none) because it features the lyric The System Has Failed. This is my favorite song and in my opinion Megadeth's thrashiest effort on the album. The track begins with a heavy guitar and double-bass drum introduction, which continues about throughout the whole song. This fits with the lyrical theme of the song. Around the 2:20 mark Mustaine breaks down into a cool guitar solo, the song itself ends with Poland playing a solo of his own for the last minute. 10/10
The Scorpion - The song starts off with some sound of children which is followed by a guitar and keyboard riff. The song is slower from the previous songs but it picks up. Overall this song is nothing special and gets old pretty fast. 7/10
Tears in a Vial - Unique for a thrash band at all to make this kind of song, a song about love. The song is actually about a love gone wrong, like the previous song there is nothing too special here. The highlights here are the two great solos by the Mustaine and Poland combination. 8.5/10
I Know Jack - This is not really a song but an introduction to the next track. The lyrics talk about Jack Kennedy.
Back in the Day - If you've heard this song it might have been on a little show called Duck Dodgers. This song has a simple but addicting and enjoyable riff. The lyrics deal with the rise of metal in the 1980s. It is hard to describe how this song actually is, I recommend you listen yourself. 7/10
Something That I'm Not - The lyrics seem to be a verbal attack on Metallica, grudge here I shall assume. Mustaine goes on with the lyrics being pissed at either James Hetfield or Lars Ulrich until the guitar solos come on. Another solo follows the final verse and the song ends from there. Okay song I will say. 7.5/10
Truth be Told - Truth be Told starts off heavy and makes you believe this will be a thrash song, however to much surprise it slows down quickly during the verses. The song picks up momentum just before the chorus. The same slow verse, heavy chorus formula continues until the guitar solo. After this going into the end the song sounds thrashy, overall nothing that you will really remember at the end of the day. 6.5/10
Of Mice and Men - While the song is named after the book of the same title, the lyrics tell a different story. The lyrics here make this one of my favorite songs on the album, Dave Mustaine tells his story from age 17 to 25, around the time he got kicked out of Metallica. The vocals sound weird at first but you just have to give it a go. The drums, guitars, and bass get things rolling well. The song ends with Mustaine and Poland doing solos between the choruses. 9.5/10
Shadow of Deth - Oh wow this song makes you believe it will be something kick ass, however this in my opinion is the worst song on the album. I feel this is total filler and one of the band's worst songs in general. The song ends with Mustaine doing a solo that enters the next song off. 4.5/10
My Kingdom - Not the greatest song in the world but it is a step up from the abomination that came before. The guitar riff in the previous song is continued here, there are two verses followed by a guitar solo which seems to be the only highlight of this song. 6/10
Overall - Not their greatest album ever but it is some fine work for the band's return after disbanding. The System Has Failed has some great songs on here worth checking out at the same time though there is some alright to boring tracks here. All in all this is a good album.
Genre - Heavy Metal / Thrash Metal
On April 3, 2002 Dave Mustaine announced that he had disbanded the band Megadeth due to an arm injury. Over a course of time Dave would spend time in physical and electric shock therapy. After recovery Dave would spend time working on material for his first solo album, this new material was recorded with musicians Vinnie Colaiuta and Jimmy Sloas. This project was put on hold due to Mustaine remastering and remixing the first eight Megadeth studio albums. Due to issues with the band's European label EMI, Dave Mustaine would be forced to release one more album under the name Megadeth. Dave Mustaine contacted the beloved Rust in Peace line up, however to his surprise Marty Friedman and David Ellefson declined. Dave Mustaine hired the Chris Poland who had worked on the band's first two albums to contribute the guitar solos for this album. Now that Poland joins Colaiuta and Sloas along with Mustaine the line up for this album was complete.
Blackmail the Universe - The song opens up with what appears to be the sound of a missile launched followed by a news report in the background. Musically this song is pretty amazing and have something nice that two of Megadeth's previous album releases did not have, thrash. The song only slows down a little bit then it goes back to the speed the first few seconds later. Pretty soon in this song there is some great soloing by Mustaine and Poland, the song ends after a Mustaine solo. Blackmail the Universe kick starts the album in a wonderful way. 9.5/10
Die Dead Enough - Another quality song continues the album which begins with Chris Poland playing a ballad like guitar riff, soon enough though drums start thundering in along with Mustaine's vocals and the guitar riff switches into something heavy, the tempo also speeds up. Before Mustaine and Poland's solos the song gets into a darker sound. After the solos the song continues and ends with Mustaine singing the chorus. 9/10
Kick the Chair - I like to call this the title track (even though there is none) because it features the lyric The System Has Failed. This is my favorite song and in my opinion Megadeth's thrashiest effort on the album. The track begins with a heavy guitar and double-bass drum introduction, which continues about throughout the whole song. This fits with the lyrical theme of the song. Around the 2:20 mark Mustaine breaks down into a cool guitar solo, the song itself ends with Poland playing a solo of his own for the last minute. 10/10
The Scorpion - The song starts off with some sound of children which is followed by a guitar and keyboard riff. The song is slower from the previous songs but it picks up. Overall this song is nothing special and gets old pretty fast. 7/10
Tears in a Vial - Unique for a thrash band at all to make this kind of song, a song about love. The song is actually about a love gone wrong, like the previous song there is nothing too special here. The highlights here are the two great solos by the Mustaine and Poland combination. 8.5/10
I Know Jack - This is not really a song but an introduction to the next track. The lyrics talk about Jack Kennedy.
Back in the Day - If you've heard this song it might have been on a little show called Duck Dodgers. This song has a simple but addicting and enjoyable riff. The lyrics deal with the rise of metal in the 1980s. It is hard to describe how this song actually is, I recommend you listen yourself. 7/10
Something That I'm Not - The lyrics seem to be a verbal attack on Metallica, grudge here I shall assume. Mustaine goes on with the lyrics being pissed at either James Hetfield or Lars Ulrich until the guitar solos come on. Another solo follows the final verse and the song ends from there. Okay song I will say. 7.5/10
Truth be Told - Truth be Told starts off heavy and makes you believe this will be a thrash song, however to much surprise it slows down quickly during the verses. The song picks up momentum just before the chorus. The same slow verse, heavy chorus formula continues until the guitar solo. After this going into the end the song sounds thrashy, overall nothing that you will really remember at the end of the day. 6.5/10
Of Mice and Men - While the song is named after the book of the same title, the lyrics tell a different story. The lyrics here make this one of my favorite songs on the album, Dave Mustaine tells his story from age 17 to 25, around the time he got kicked out of Metallica. The vocals sound weird at first but you just have to give it a go. The drums, guitars, and bass get things rolling well. The song ends with Mustaine and Poland doing solos between the choruses. 9.5/10
Shadow of Deth - Oh wow this song makes you believe it will be something kick ass, however this in my opinion is the worst song on the album. I feel this is total filler and one of the band's worst songs in general. The song ends with Mustaine doing a solo that enters the next song off. 4.5/10
My Kingdom - Not the greatest song in the world but it is a step up from the abomination that came before. The guitar riff in the previous song is continued here, there are two verses followed by a guitar solo which seems to be the only highlight of this song. 6/10
Overall - Not their greatest album ever but it is some fine work for the band's return after disbanding. The System Has Failed has some great songs on here worth checking out at the same time though there is some alright to boring tracks here. All in all this is a good album.
