Megadeth - Risk
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Free Music Notes for Risk
Free Music Review: Not great but better than I had expected
Hit: 3 Stars
This album is pop. Pop metal, yes, but pop. It wasn't too shocking given the fact that they were becoming more and more commercial with each album, but seeing this label kept me from buying this album for a couple of years. However, I'm kind of glad that I eventually picked it up. It's my second least favorite Megadeth album behind "The World Needs a Hero", but it's not too bad. The songs are radio-friendly but catchy enough and the album has a decent amount of variety. Although most of the songs are pop metal, they mix up faster pop metal with slower well-structured songs, one non-metal song (some would say more than one), and even some simple Bon Jovi-ish tracks (minus the classic rock influence). Some work. Some don't. If you've heard the singles "Crush 'Em" and "Breadline" then know that these are somewhere around the middle in terms of song quality.
My breakdown:
1. Insomnia 6/10
2. Prince of Darkness 8/10
3. Enter the Arena 0/10 [just an intro to "Crush 'Em"]
4. Crush 'Em 5/10
5. Breadline 5/10
6. The Doctor is Calling 6/10
7. I'll Be There 4/10
8. Wanderlust 3/10
9. Ecstacy 4/10
10. Seven 1/10
11. Time: the Beginning 7/10 [Great lyrics]
12. Time: the End 6/10
2 1/2 stars. The coin came up heads, so I'll round up.
For perspective and to know whether you should bother listening to me, here's my ranking of Megadeth's albums from best to worst:
Rust in Peace (5 stars)
Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? (5 stars)
United Abominations (4 1/2 stars - also reviewed)
Killing is My Business...And Business is Good (4 1/2 stars)
The System Has Failed (4 stars)
Countdown to Extinction (4 stars - remixed version also reviewed)
So Far, So Good...So What! (4 stars)
Youthanasia (3 1/2 stars)
Cryptic Writings (3 stars)
Risk (2 1/2 stars)
The World Needs a Hero (1 1/2 stars)
Free Music Review: Different and Very Good
Hit: 4 Stars
I read through the reviews of this album before hearing it in its entirety so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was hoping it wouldn't be this band's "Load." I heard "Crush 'Em" when it first came out and thought it sounded trite and played out so I wasn't expecting much. After listening to it, I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. This album is very good. It is original, still very crunchy, and Mustaine's vocals sound great. It has songs that are melodic yet heavy such as "Wanderlust" and "Ecstasy." It also has songs that are a clear departure for Megadeth but are very good like "I'll be There." Mustaine's guitar work stands out and you can tell he pushed himself to new heights on several songs, most notably "Seven." I didn't like "Time: The Beginning" as it sounds somewhat stale. However, "Time: The End" more than makes up for it. That song is awesome and the background vocals are off the charts. Mustaine's playing during that song is great too. The bonus track "Insomnia" is classic Megadeth and would have fit perfectly with several previously released Megadeth albums.
I am a big fan of classic Megadeth but welcome this change in style as it is a subtle yet very innovative departure from the classic Megadeth sound. The songs are catchy, well written and creative. I recommend this for fans of Megadeth and for fans of the genre.
Free Music Review: One word that describes this album : Terrible!.
Hit: 2 Stars
Risk was a very weak album from Megadeth, if you were to make a comparison with the other albums then you'll realise how awful this sounds it shouldn't be called Risk its more like Miserable Failure. They did not represent cutting edge heavy metal as before and this album sounds more like a trendy MTV and radio rock album with a very cheesy love ballad called I'll be there that doesn't even sound like a Megadeth song then theres the song called Breadline which is very bad and doesn't showcase any guitar shredding from Mustain or Marty Friedman and it just sounds dull, this is easily a skipable track along with most of the tracks on this terrible album. During this period of time it seemed like Dave Mustain was going through a phase and started making mediocre stuff that just wasn't good enough, this along with Cryptic Writing are one of Megadeth's worst albums in my opinion. If you haven't heard anything from Megadeth yet then I suggest you get something from their first five albums or get the greatest hits album, theres only one good song on Risk which is Prince of darkness and it wasn't even that good just average trust me I know this cause I'm a huge Megadeth fan.Free Music Review: Not what I expected...
Hit: 4 Stars
I grew up in the late 80's and early 90's, and by the time I finished high school in 1996 I was an avid Megadeth fan, having been turned onto their music by some friends I jammed with. I knew and loved Peace Sells, I knew Countdown, I bought Youthanasia as soon as it came out, etc. Then I started to grow tired of heavy metal and started broadening my tastes. I still listened to Megadeth from time to time, but I wasn't obsessive by any means. I haven't really kept up with them since then to be honest. I was at a library sale and saw this album for 50 cents so I decided it would be worth the "Risk" (yes, I know that was horrible)
You can imagine my surprise when I listened the first time and heard violin, drum machines, and a synth bass on the opening track. This was clearly not the Megadeth I had come to know and love. But that's just the thing - it was so different, yet, I loved it. Every time it seemed as though they would return to their trademark thrash sound, they would pull out something unexpected. A drum machine here, a violin there, an unexpected tempo change, a pretty classical guitar part, there was always something to catch me off guard. The songwriting is strong for the most part, and the hooks are just huge. I can understand why longtime fans didn't like this album, but speaking as a longtime fan, I think it is absolutely brilliant. Sure, it's more radio friendly than you would expect, but does that always have to be a bad thing? Keep an open mind and you just might find yourself falling in love with this album. I don't have the album before it or the ones after it, so I'm not sure how this fits in the logical progression of their sound, but it doesn't matter. This is a great disc, and I encourage anyone who thinks differently to give it a few more spins and see if it grows on you.
Oh, and to the reviewer who compared this to Reload... I can definitely see where you're coming from, as both albums were the logical end of the path towards commercial radio. But I definitely have to disagree with your conclusion. I thought Reload was absolutely horrible, with the exception of a few tracks it was completely unlistenable. However, I think Risk is great, I would rank it just below their best albums. So to anyone who took that comparison to heart and didn't bother with this album, give it a shot, you just might like what you hear.
Free Music Review: Not That Bad, People
Hit: 4 Stars
I get so tired of seeing this album torn to shreds when it gets mentioned in reviews for other Megadeth works so I'm going to give it the support it deserves here. No, this album is NOT 'Rust in Peace' or 'Youthanasia.' But Dave wisely chose to title it 'Risk' for being the sort of album it was. Having listened to both 'Risk' and its predecessor 'Cryptic Writings' many times over the past several years, I find 'Risk' to be better than 'Cryptic Writings' by a long shot. For one thing, it goes back to many of the larger political/life issues Megadeth is famous for rather than the more personal issues approached in C.W. BREADLINE is an amazing song, albeit not really metal, and it definitely fills an important niche in Dave's career of bringing to light problems society likes to ignore. And I'LL BE THERE is perhaps my favorite "love" song in all of metal. It's intense and definitely not too slow. And when the speed kicks in at the changeover from TIME: THE BEGINNING to TIME: THE END, whew! This is an album that has to grow on the listener. It's not as immediately recognizable as Megadeth from the instrumentation - although I really like some of the vocal tricks Dave tried with his voice on this. But it's not a bad album, either, and given time, the majority of the tracks really grow on the listener.
Note: If you are REALLY into Thrash/Speed and don't care about anything else, you still won't like this album. But if you like decent metal with intelligible and intelligent lyrics, give 'Risk' a shot.