Month of Megadeth: Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

Conclusion

This album rattles the bones in the catacombs of France from start to finish. Megadeth's second album and one of the pillars of thrash metal. The remixed and remastered edition also includes some of the original Randy Burns mixes for 4 tracks. Bitchin'!

Review

This album spews forth a quirky, histrionic bass line followed by a snarling guitar riff and some trademark 'James Hetfield's mother sells socks that smell' leads. This basically sets the premise for the rest of the album. Some glory from the days when each band tried to be faster, louder and meaner than the next while ironically still being friendly enough for MTV.


James Hetfield of Metallica. Megadeth is still a metal band while Metallica prefers making Dr Phil mockumentaries.

Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? was recorded before frontman David Mustaine became a Christian. The lyrics on this album are blissfully hedonistic, ranging form sex, drugs and Satan to mild political satire and social commentary. Now let that be a lesson to you. For supreme heavy metal, you need

• sex


• drugs


• Satan

On the cover, you will find Megadeth mascot Vic Rattlehead, who sits to the right hand of Iron Maiden's Eddie. Many of my pre-teen doodles featured Vic disembowelling various bastions of the establishment. The building in the background is the United Nations headquarters, portrayed after a nuclear holocaust.

The concept of the album is based on an article that alleged peace is easily achieved, but nobody really wants it. The article was written from the viewpoint that if peace were a product on sale, nobody would buy it. Sounds about right.

Useless information

• Guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Sameulson were dismissed from Megadeth after The Red Haired One Dave Mustaine noticed lots of Megadeth gear going missing for crack money.


• Chris and Gar eventually found peace together in jazz/fusion outfit called the New Yorkers.


• Dave Mustaine was dismissed from Metallica after pouring beer into one of their bass guitars.

This is part of the month of Megadeth series on the Necro Files. All the posts of the series are listed below:

• Peace sells, but who's buying?


• So far, so good, so what?


• Rust in peace


• Countdown to extinction

Track listing

1. Wake Up Dead


2. The Conjuring


3. Peace Sells


4. Devil's Island


5. Good Mourning/Black Friday


6. Bad Omen


7. I Ain't Superstitious (Willie Dixon)


8. My Last Words


9. Wake Up Dead (Randy Burns Mix)


10. The Conjuring (Randy Burns Mix)


11. Peace Sells (Randy Burns Mix)


12. Good Mourning/Black Friday (Randy Burns Mix)

Personell

• David Ellefson: background vocals; bass guitar.


• Dave Mustaine: lead vocals; guitar.


• Chris Poland: guitar.


• Ed Repka: cover artwork.


• Gar Samuelson: drums.

Rating

Vital Remains : Icons of Evil (2007) review

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Personell
Glen Benton, Tony Lazaro, Dave Suzuki.

Track listing

1. Where is Your God Now


2. Icons of Evil


3. Scorned


4. Born to Rape the World


5. Reborn... the Upheaval of Nihility


6. Hammer Down the Nails


7. Shrapnel Embedded Flesh


8. Til Death


9. In Infamy


10. Disciples of Hell" (Yngwie Malmsteen Cover)

Review
Certain infidels who were unimpressed by latter Deicide efforts maintain Glen Benton should stick with Dave Suzuki in Vital Remains instead of continuing with his own band. That, or he should have fulfilled his self-destructive prophesy and committed Glenoncide at age 33. While Glen seems like a jovial fellow, crucifix burnt on his forehead and drunken delinquencies besides (or maybe because), the guy is not the sharpest splinter on a vampire stake. However, with the last Deicide effort, the shunned Son of Satan himself rose considerably in my estimation. This Vital Remains album further redeems Benton.

The previous Vital Remains album, Dechristianize, started with a Carmina Burana sample. As much as I admire Orff's work, the smell of Old Spice is not one I'd like to associate with a heavy metal record. Nay, I prefer the stench of redemption, or better yet the stench of fire and brimstone. It seems that Suzuki shares my passion for perdition. Icons of Evil kicks off with a sample from The Passion of the Christ. The movie was not as Good as the Book, but the sample is a marked improvement over the Orff cliche.

Suzuki is a matchless guitarist and a matchless drummer. If you liked Dechristianize, you would like Icons of Evil. Seemingly effortless sweep arpeggios, tumultuous drums and sinister writing orchestrated together with Glen Benton's vocals resembling a lawnmower running over rabid ferrets. I've had this album for about 2 months, and I'm still not tired of it. My neighbours are a different story though...

My copy has a slipcase with an anguished face and the title in handsome red crimson writing. Once inside the slipcase, a rather disturbing image of the king of kings being nailed to the cross meets me. Seriously man, petty blasphemies are one thing, but why Elvis? You just don't go there. The horror doesn't end there.

Inside the booklet, we find the band posing in front of unsavoury banners. In the middle, there is a centrefold. Before you get all excited at the prospect of seeing Glen in lederhosen, let me explain. It is a painting of the three guys in the band and Eddie from Iron Maiden on horseback. The four horsemen are gripping chains. These chains are tied to a body at their centre, the body being that of Elvis. Their horses are ripping the body of Elvis apart. Now that is too much metal for one hand.

Here is a little taste of the track Born to Rape the World live, with Brian Hobbie on vocals. He looks rather jehovial himself:


Conclusion
Suzuki furthers the ambitions of his brilliant project with this worthy release. Technical death metal in the tradition of Tampa still owns all. Ultimately, technical finesse and brute force tactics combine in a smorgasbord of fire, brimstone and the passion of the Elvis. The Malmsteen cover is a brutal kick in the nads, but in a nice way. Ruthless like a rabid ferret!

Rating

Fidelity on High: Say goodbye to dynamic range on CD

"The recording industry has decided that since you like a bit of salt, they're going to screw off the cap and tip the entire fucking cruet on your meal." - The Ladyfingers Blog



Format wars
Hi fidelity sound. There are few things more glorious than relishing the full sized cover of vinyl, seeing the heart of the record player fed by the veins of the groove and being soaked in the full dynamic range of a high quality recording.

My father is a fan of classical music. He used to buy Herbert von Karajan conducted Beethoven excursions on vinyl, then transfer it to cassette deck for his car and personal use. We did not have a grand hi-fi setup, but it was sufficient to enjoy good music. My father was not alone, it was the norm to record your vinyl onto cassette deck. Even so, it would be ludicrous to suggest vinyl should be produced to cater for cassette quality sound. Most blindfold tests find that the sound of vinyl is superior to that of a CD, with cassettes wiped under the carpet as an embarrassing gadget of the 80s.

The justification of the industry to produce CD recordings of lacklustre quality is the way music is consumed. Most people are likely to never own a copy of their favourite song, since they can listen to it on-line or get it free on their iPods if they visit certain kiosks. If they do own a copy, it is likely to end up in mp3 format. I see certain parallels with the cassette tape of the 80s.

CD quality sound
CD quality sound is technically defined as digitised sound at 44,1 kHz and 16 bits. This is the ISO definition, the so-called Red Book ideal of what CD quality sound should be. These numbers are not arbitrary (see the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem), as a sampling rate of double the maximum frequency to be recorded is needed. This dictates that you need at least 44 kHz to represent an audio spectrum between 20 Hz and 22 kHz, which is approximately the range of human hearing.

The 44,1 kHz number refers to the frequency of samples taken. 16 bit refers to the size of the samples taken. For a stereo recording, 16 bits are used for each channel.

MP3 quality sound
MP3 is a compressed audio format. It works by stripping unnecessary (supposedly inaudible) aspects from sound. Since the sound is stripped, it does have lower sound quality than CD. Apple's AAC and Microsoft's WMA are currently competing with MP3 as downloaded formats, although most companies offer high quality MP3 as consumers tend to demand MP3.

Since most consumers tend to rip their CDs to MP3, or merely consume music on radio or in MP3 format to begin with, the industry insists to level the dynamic range of CD recordings. In other words, all the brights are as bright as the dull parts. Dynamic range needs the disparity between quiet and loud - something Black Sabbath calls 'heaven and hell.' CD recordings now have MP3 quality. Instead of ripping CD quality MP3s, you can only rip MP3 quality MP3. Instead of listening to CD quality CDs, you can only listen to MP3 quality CD.

Your dynamic range or mine?
I am a convert to the CD format. While I do appreciate the rich tones of vinyl, it is a matter of convenience for me to own a CD. Optical formats tend to last longer, and I can choose my own sampling rates when I rip my CDs onto my hard drive. Since I treat my CDs as master copies, I do not feel the need to buy MP3 quality CD.

Why do people still buy CDs when the odds are stacked against them? The RIAA is suing women and children - in some cases even people who rip their own CDs onto their computers. The major players are slowly realising that DRM enabled formats are deterring the already dwindling consumer market, but not fast enough. All these factors merely make it more convenient, more logical and more reliable to download unsolicited content. It removes the risk for the consumer of sitting with MP3s that can't be transferred between devices and now, thanks to the industry catering for the demands of MP3 listeners, doesn't even capitalise on the benefits of CD quality sound.

Resources

• CD quality sound definition from tiscali dictionary


• MP3 definition form tiscali dictionary


• Rolling Stones article on the death of high fidelity


• Wikipedia article on compact disks

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell (1980) review

If you follow the "no Ozzy, no Sabbath" philosophy, you will miss out on this essential heavy metal landmark. With Ozzy booted or quit, depending on whose version you believe, the Brumbies team up with Ronnie James Dio. One of the world's greatest singers teams up with one of the world's greatest bands. With his miniature Gandalf stance, Dio helped to forge Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules and Dehumanizer at different periods in their career.

Ozzy sustained himself on a diet of spandex and pigeons. Dio sustained Black Sabbath with a diet of Elvish magic. His Dioisms are encoded in Quenya and then translated into English for our pleasure. One of Dio's magical abilities is transcending the boundaries that space and time infringe on us mere mortals, as with the phrase "throw away the key, and lock the door". By employing the logic of the imagination first described by Elliot, Dio manages to defy even logic. Indeed, Dio laughs in the face of logic, as with "love isn't money, it isn't something you buy". To you and I, money is not something you buy either, but Dio can buy money.

Couple this ingenuity with the Camel sponsored cherubs on the cover and the supreme groove machine that is Black Sabbath, and you possess one ring-shaped disk to rule them all!

Interesting facts
Dio gave heavy metal its trademark mano cornuta or devil's horns sign during his first tour with Black Sabbath. Drummer Bill Ward can allegedly not remember recording this album due to drug problems. Ozzy thought he recorded this album due to drug problems, but later realised it was Dio instead. Ozzy then referred to the new Black Sabbath as "Blackmore Sabbath", referring to Dio's former band Rainbow. Rainbow featured Richie Blackmore on guitar, and from there the snide name.

Rating

Strapping Young Lad - Alien

Lead singer and guitarist Devin Townsend is hyperactive on a quiet day. In addition to several side projects, he fronts an amalgamation of pure genius that is Strapping Young Lad. This album kicks off with all cylinders firing at maximum overdrive, and doesn't show mercy for even a second. Well, maybe for the pastures green interlude in Two Weeks.

Shop for Strapping Young Lad albums at Amazon.com!

Townsend suffers from bi-polar disorder. Disillusioned by the chemical lobotomy he has to live with due to the medication for that illness, he decided to quit his medication in an experiment to see what it does to his creative output. Alien was conceived and recorded during this period of chemically (well, at least medical chemicals) stoic habits.

Lauded for his production abilities, Townsend offers an amazing choir consisting of overdubbed vocals with the aid of Sharon Clark. As if this is not enough, the rest of the lad consists of some road-worn heavyweights such as drummer Gene Hoglan and bassist Byron Shroud.

Gone are the days of singing glam-metal sing-along anthems for Steve Vai. Townsend has a voice that resembles a school of piranha going to work on Bambi, and it serves Strapping Young Lad very well. Recommended for fans of Fear Factory and groundbreaking metal.

Rating