Megadeth Music:

		List Price: $24.98		Label: Capitol Salesrank: 29021 Released: June 28, 2005
		Our Price: $73.98
		Used Price: $8.95
		Media: Audio CD

Greatest Hits: Back to the Start Reviews:
Megadeth-Greatest Hits
2007-06-08 - I found this cd packed with classic megadeth hits.I was stoked to get this cd so quickly.I highly recommend this cd for any hard core megadeth fan.4 stars.

Its good.
2007-02-09 - I picked this up a month ago. Its been in heavy rotation in my CD player since. Its a good CD. there are many other selections I would have liked to see on here...but thats just me. Overall its a solid CD for anybody who wants to see what Megadeth has to offer.
Definately worth a purchase!

Go back to the starting line...
2006-10-30 - First of all, I do love Megadeth. I saw them in '05 on Gigantour, and they were fantastic. Having said that, I don't know how much more could have been wrong with this compilation. The fans got to choose the songs, and you can tell; it's pretty much the exact same crop of songs you'd expect to see..."Symphony of Destruction", "Holy Wars...", "Hangar 18", "A Tout Le Monde", "Trust", "In my Darkest Hour", etc. I like all of those songs, but give me a break. Nothing is here from "The System Has Failed", even though it had just come out not even a year before this, and I know I remember seeing "Kick the Chair" on an early tracklisting. I would have hoped for "Die Dead Enough", personally. Nothing is here from The World Needs A Hero either, as "Dread..." and "Kill the King" were both on Capitol Punishment. I would have liked to see "Disconnect" or "Promises" on here instead. Or take off either "Dread.." or "Kill the King", and replace it with something specific to 'The World Needs A Hero'. And wasn't this supposed to be in reverse-chronological order, hence the sub-title, 'Back to the Start'? Instead, "Mechanix" is up towards the middle, "Holy Wars..." is first, and "Prince of Darkness is last. I wish Dave Mustaine would focus on making a good and worthy product, instead of just giving into whatever management wants him to do. If you ever read any of his interviews, nothing is his fault; there is always someone else to blame. I'm sure, in time, we'll be reading about who is to blame for this hodge-podge collection; probably the fans who chose the songs. While the idea is nice, fans cannot pick your tracklist for you. You can't incorporate everyone's in-put, as I see the majority of the songs I voted for, are not included. Greatest Hits, or Best Of's, should be left until the artist/band has retired, so the whole catalogue can be used, instead of having these collections rendered obsolete with each new album. I will say it is nice to have "Angry Again" here, as 'Hidden Treasures' is out of print.

Good compilation with one of the best metal songs ever
2006-10-02 -
I only bought this cd because I was aware of the rivalry between this
band's fans and fans of Metallica. So, basically I just bought this
album on spec-bit of a punt buying it.

It hasn't been wasted money, as there are about a handful of songs I
quite like on this album. I'd give this album about 3 1/2 stars out of
five.

Having checked out Metallica due to the passion of their fans, I'm
actually surprised that both these bands aren't scary. I mean, you'd
think that heavy metal groups would have scary lyrics concerning doing
evil or what have you. It's not the case.

Anyway, as for this compilation, which includes a DVD of a live
performance, amongst other things, I'd say this:

* I can't say whether this is the best possible compilation for this
band, as I have never listened to anything of theirs apart from this.
However, having seen listed "Anarchy in the UK", I think [or maybe it is
God Save the Queen], by the Sex Pistols, I must say I wish that that
song was included, just to see how a heavy metal band dealt with
covering this all time classic song by an iconic punk band.
[Recently heard their version-good, but not good as good as the original.
Still should have been included in this Megadeth compilation though.]

* I initially found Dave Mustaine's singing to be like a muppet singing,
in that he seems to have a character voice when singing instead of his
own.

Here are the songs that I rate really highly on this album:

Track 5-Angry Again: Nice rhythym and groove to this song. Has a good
riff, poetic lyrical structure and a nice melody.

#6-A tout le Monde: A song about suicide. Nice, slow intro with a steel
string guitar, I think. Good melody. The song seems to be premised on a
dead guy singing...a la the concept in a film such as American Beauty.
This is a really good song, but it is lyrically weaker, especially when
compared to Metallica's song "Fade to black" which deals with the same
subject matter. Metallica's song is more mature. In fact, since Megadeth
song has parts of this song in French, I thought that having it entirely
in French could mask the lyrically weakness of this song.

8-Kill the King: Good skipping guitar riff and drums. Good, simple
chorus. The melody is good too, prior to the chorus.

9-Symphony of destruction: has an orchestral introduction. Good riff and
beat. Not a bad chorus and melody, even though it is slightly odd.

13-Hangar 18: another goodish song, again, with an odd melody. Strange
subject matter though-it's real X-Files territory re the existence of
space aliens being kept from us.

17-Prince of Darkness: the out and out classic on this album. Very
atmospheric and all the elements of metal really gell well in this song.
Great riffs and drumming sounds. Of the small amount of metal music that
I have heard, this track is the most Beatle-esque. I.e. the sounds in it
are created in the studio for effect...wind, and rain, I think. Creaking
coffins too, maybe. Terrific atmosphere and by God, the bit after the
intro where the lead singer Dave Mustaine/Satan gasps for
breath is just brilliant...I mean the whole build up to that bit...the quietness,
followed by the more urgent music [actually, on reflection, the gasping for
breath is actually meant to be that of a dying man, BUT, rest assured, the
song DOES have Mustaine doing Demonic grunts in the song]. Be warned
though, that the live version on this compilation sucks...the intro on the cd
is brilliant, and you lose pretty much all of that live. Really poor.

These are the best songs on the compilation, I think. There are other
tracks which good elements to them, or amusing or interesting premises
behind them. E.g. Dread has a scenario similar to Pascal's Wager-i.e.
weighing a life of crime against possible eternal consequences.

Wake up Dead has an amusing line about a guy coming home late, and if he
wakes up his girlfriend, he'll be dead.

I also noticed that Train of Consequences features a guitar sound not
unlike the one The Bee Gees used on Jive Talkin' [I think]. Also, the
song Trust has a bass line, I think, reminiscent of U2's New Year's Day.
That song is about finding it hard to trust women.

I'll give my 5 cents on the whole Metallica v Megadeth 'debate' here
too: I think Metallica has a handful of great songs, but not really too
much good stuf apart from those handful of songs [n.b. having listened
to Reload recently, this album makes up for Metallica's previous lack
of good songs that didn't quite reach their heights of their best songs.
See my review of this album here].

Megadeth, on the other hand, have a handful of good/really good songs.
It's unusual, in the case of Metallica, I think, to have a few great
songs and nothing much of note after that.

Megadeth has a song equal to anything Metallica have recorded in Prince
of Darkness.

If one band had recorded the Metallica songs I consider great, and the
Megadeth songs I consider good, I think that would have made them one of
the top 10 bands of all time.

There are other songs on this Megadeth album which have some ok riffs or
melodies, but I think the ones I have highlighted are easily the best
songs on this album.

P.S. I've also reviewed cds by Metallica at this site:

Reload
Load
Master of puppets
and Ride the lightning

as well as Iron Maiden's "Ed Hunter" cd and a Black Sabbath compilation.

Check out the great metal album "Completion makes the tragedy" by Coldseed. I like around as much as I like this Megadeth compilation.

P.P.S. Here are some songs I consider to be classics of the metal genre:

Metallica: Fade to black

Megadeth: Prince of darkness

Iron Maiden: Run to the hills [though it doesn't have the quality of the other two
in terms of me being willing to listen to it over and over and over again in a short
period of time]

AC/DC: Hell's bells

Dave Mustaine- The Voice of the Apocalypse
2006-07-14 - First, i'd like to say I wasnt a huge metal fan before Megadeth. I was introduced to Megadeth through a very special person I once knew and it changed my life. Mustaine says everything that im thinking and does it with a passion and agression unlike anyone in metal. Every song is brilliant and prophetic. This is a must have for any Megadeth Fan. The reason I say this is because the songs sound better than ever and this band has really aged well.

This compilation is very well put-together. It comes in a hardback book with a glossy cover. The inside also contains a booklet with some cool artwork. Scenes of war, helicopters, pictures of the band, soldiers and some interesting quotes. This is missing some great classics but this compilation are the fans favorites, taken from a poll on Megadeth.com. I noticed they put Prince Of Darkness on this CD. I didnt think Prince Of Darkness was one of their greatest hits. I first heard Prince of Darkness on The Risk Album. That was one of my least favorite songs on the whole album. Here it is the last track on the CD and i was very suprised. I really didnt like the song before, now I love it. It seems to have a slightly harder edge to it this time. Mustaine must have re-vamped the song and now its great and a good closing song to the album.

CD/DVD Tracks
Songs on the CD 'Disc 1'-
1.Holy Wars..The Punishment Due from 'Rust In Peace' 5 out of 5 Stars
2.In My Darkest Hour from 'So far, So Good, So What!' 5 out of 5 Stars
3.Peace Sells from 'Peace Sells but whos Buying' 5 out of 5 Stars
4.Sweating Bullets from 'Countdown to Extinction' 5 out of 5 Stars
5.Angry Again from 'Hidden Treasures' 5 out of 5 Stars
6.A Tout Le Monde from 'Youthanasia' 5 out of 5 Stars
7.Trust from 'Cryptic Writings' 5 out of 5 Stars
8.Kill The King from 'Capitol Punishment' 4 out of 5 Stars
9.Symphony Of Destruction from 'Countdown To Extinction' 5 out of 5 Stars
10.Mechanix (2002 Remix) 5 out of 5 Stars
11.Train of Consequences from 'Youthanasia' 5 out of 5 Stars
12.Wake Up Dead from 'Peace Sells.. Buy whos buying?' 5 out of 5 Stars
13.Hangar 18 from 'Rust In Peace' 5 out of 5 Stars
14.Dread and The Fugitive Mind from ' The World Needs A Hero & Capitol Punishment' 4 out of 5 Stars
15.Skin O' My Teeth from 'Countdown To Extinction' 5 out of 5 Stars
16.She-Wolf From 'Cryptic Writings' 4.5 out of 5 Stars
17.Prince Of Darkness from the 1999 Album 'Risk' - a suprise on the album and 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Bonus DVD- The DVD has over an hour's worth of material, These are the songs the fans requested.
Kill The King Music Video '2005' Capitol Records
Live at the Filmore Auditorium
Denver, Colorado 12/27/99:
Prince Of Darkness
Holy Wars..The Punishment Due
In My Darkest Hour
Hangar 18
Sweating Bullets
Symphony Of Destruction
Peace Sells
The Arsenal Of Megadeth Trailer

Also inside the booklet- A Black sticker with a picture of Vic Rattlehead that says 'Megadeth' at the top.

Overall, its a great CD and DVD, to me the extra material is worth the money. One day i'd even like to see a Megadeth box set that spans their whole career, but this is great for now. Megadeth is definitely the best heavy metal band of all time and any fan should own this album because they sound better than ever. Highly Recommended.