The World Needs a Hero [2 LP]

Megadeth: Dave Mustaine (vocals, guitar); Al Pitrelli (guitar, background vocals); David Ellefson (bass); Jimmy DeGrasso (drums). Engineers include: Bill Kennedy, Mark Valentine, Lance Dean. Recorded at Henson, Hollywood, California; Scream, Studio City, California; Salt Mine Studios, Mesa, Arizona. For a legion of hard rock fans put off by the rap-metal of bands like Korn or the saccharine output of innumerable and interchangeable bubble-gum acts dotting the pop landscape, Dave Mustaine is a guitar-wielding hero. Following the daring experimentalism of 1999's RISK (which alienated the band's more narrow-minded fans), THE WORLD NEEDS A HERO finds Megadeth returning to the high-flying, well-oiled riffing characteristics of earlier works like COUNTDOWN TO EXTINCTION and RUST IN PEACE. Despite hired gun Al Pitrelli taking over on guitar from departed speed merchant Marty Friedman, ominous numbers like "Recipe For Hate...Warhorse," "Disconnect," and "Burning Bridges" are still infused with the kind of speedy trip-hammer riffs and melodic arrangements that always made Megadeth more than just another thrash metal band. Despite penning "Return To Hangar," (a hard-hitting sequel to the conspiracy theory anthem "Hangar 18"), Mustaine continues firmly looking forward. Hence the incorporation of non-metal nuances into material like the melancholy instrumental "Silent Scorn" (featuring a duet with Bob Findley's muted trumpet) and the elegant string arrangements intertwined with a soaring guitar solo that makes "Promises" an effective tale of lost love. Add HERO to the Megadeth canon of thinking man's metal.