Megadeth
Hidden Treasures
[Capitol]


1995 collection of "rarities", while enjoyable, is lacking a bit for fans. More on this later.

"No More Mr. Nice Guy" fares well with a modern metal 1990's sound, and sounds cool with Dave Mustaine's nasally vocals; BUT where is "Different Breed" and "Demon Bell" off the EP? (Thanks to cddb.com I now know of these and other non-lp tracks). This is from the "Shocker" soundtrack.
"Breakpoint" (from the "Super Mario Bros" flick) could have fit on "Rust in Peace", great production, catchy riffing, and I love the pre- chorus.
"Go to Hell" (from "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey") is my least favourite Megadeth song. I guess it has a little bit of a Mercyful Fate feel, as it tries to be scary/doomy. Not bad, but boring after a listen or two. A song I rarely put on.
"Angry Again" (from "Last Action Hero") is better. Sounds too restrained at first, with repeated listenings you start to feel the building tension of someone holding back their anger and gritting their teeth. You know, just about to explode. This would have fit perfectly on "Countdown to Extinction", classic heavy metal. The Diamond Head influence is still inside Megadave.
I love to play "99 Ways to Die" full blast. What a great song! This is off "The Beavis and Butthead Experience" and is catchy, upbeat. Just ignore the pro-gun control foolishness of the video.
Decent cover of Sabbath's "Paranoid", which also appears on "Nativity in Black - A Tribute to Black Sabbath".
One of the most interesting songs here is "Diadems" (from "Tales of the Crypt Presents Demon Knight"). It's hard to digest this at first. Great track, cool twin leads, but the apocalyptic/Nostradamus/prediction -type lyrics seem strange for a Megadeth tune. Plus "Diadems" reminds me a LOT of the title track to the "Youthanasia" album. Yes, sort of slow, sort of doomy, but cleaner.
Last is an unreleased cover of the Sex Pistols' "Problems" and it rocks! (Much better than their version of "Anarchy in the UK"!)

As a Megadeth fan, Hidden Treasures is missing a lot of "hidden treasures"! It's nice the record company put together this package saving us the hassle of buying soundtracks for just one song, however they could have went the extra mile and made a killer release. I can't afford to pay $40 or $90 for a CD with one or two tracks I'm missing... that's fuckin insane, and shows the greed of Capitol records and their Japanese subsidiaries. Where's "Symphony of Destruction (Gristle Mix)" off the Foreclosure of a Dream EP? Where's "Crown of Worms", and "Talking" off the extra CD with Youthanasia? Where's "New World Order" off the A Tout le Monde single? Hell, where's that old live B-side of Black Friday/Devil's Island off the Wake Up dead 12" (I think)?

I get the feeling ALL the "Hidden Treasures" are being stored for a box set that will cost an arm and a leg (and still be missing tracks, just like Bonfire, the AC/DC box!)


© 2000 mlotek