Megadeth - Warchest
|
List Price: Our Price: $42.70 You Save: $21.28 (33%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Warchest
Free Music Review: Dave Delivers to the Fans
Hit: 5 Stars
"Warchest" is a great example of knowing your audience. Most, if not all Megadeth fans already have all the albums, so it's not a compilation of every studio track from A-Z. It includes highlights from each record, but is also stuffed with previously unreleased live songs, studio demos, outtakes, and even an entire 1992 DVD show from London.
In-between A-Z, you get a complete, well-rounded Megadeth timeline through the years, in and out of the studio, concert stage, and even interview clips. If you own other boxed sets, you know that not many bands can pull this off without scraping the barrel. Megadeth does it effortlessly.
One of my favorites here is the demo version of "Five Magics." The song is stripped down from an overdub standpoint, and doesn't have the incredible solo at the end as it appears on "Rust In Peace."
Instead, you get the powerful backing riff laid bare front and center, over and over, sounding like a musical speeding train. The rhythm guitar underneath the solo is strong enough to to stand on its own as a lead, and it's a template that repeats itself throughout their catalog. These are solid, densely-crafted songs from start to finish, and almost nothing is disposable.
Another highlight is the furious, gritted-teeth guitar tone on the demos for "Holy Wars", "Architecture of Aggression" and "Breakpoint." Incredibly raw, and different sounding than the album versions.
There's a picture in the booklet (which is also impressive) of the "United Abominations" lineup, with both Drover brothers. I'm sure at the time "Warchest" was being put together, Dave had planned for that lineup to be around for while. But now that Glen has left the band, I wonder if it was really necessary to include that picture, especially since there are no songs from that foursome on any of the discs.
Given Megadeth's history of revolving-door personnel, it's kind of amazing that the Mustaine/Friedman/Ellefson/Menza lineup stayed together for almost ten years. That's the ensemble that makes up most of this collection.
Free Music Review: Essential for any Megadeth fan!
Hit: 5 Stars
It's MEGADETH!!! What more can you say? In my mind, Megadeth has always been the true kings of metal. Sorry Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer. Those other bands from the "Big 4" in thrash had nothing on Megadeth and Dave Mustaine. Megadeth was always the most consistent, talented(not even close), and had the most variety between the "Big 4". So what does Megadeth, the best band of the "Big 4", deliver here? A jaw-dropping 5-disc set that includes live performances of most of Megadeth's classic anthems that we've all come to know and love. Disc 1, 2, and 3 are mostly studio cuts of some Megadeth tracks. Each of these discs, though, has something extra. Disc 1 has some cool demos of "Holy Wars/The Punishment Due"(lyrics are very different from final studio cut), "Five Magics", and "Tornado of Souls which are sure to please any Deth head. Disc two has live performances of "Skin O' My Teeth", "High Speed Dirt", "Ashes In Your Mouth", and the fan favorite "Sweating Bullets". This disc also has a nice demo of "Architecture of Aggression" and a session take for "Breakpoint". Disc 3 has a live performance of "A Secret Place" at Woodstock 99. The most impressive disc of this set, though, has to be disc 4. This is an entire live performance in England during Megadeth's RIP tour. Besides having SUPERB sound quality(this must've been remastered), a lot of Megadeth's stone-cold classics like "Wake Up Dead", "Hangar 18", "In My Darkest Hour", "Peace Sells"(of course), "Black Friday", and "Holy Wars/The Punishment Due" are on display here. This live performance also includes some overlooked Deth classics like "Hook In Mouth", "Devils Island", "Lucretia", and "Take No Prisoners". Most of all, though, this live disc includes some songs that Mustaine, unfortunately, doesn't play live anymore. Songs like "Rattlehead", "The Skull Beneath The Skin", "The Conjuring", and "Black Friday" are sure to make most Deth heads bang their head till they bleed. The only Megadeth song that shouldn't have been on here is(obviously) their Sex-Pistols cover of "Anarchy In The U.K.". I mean, it's a fun song to listen to but Megadeth have songs that are WAY better than it. I mean WAY better. Megadeth also play "It's Electric" by Diamondhead. It's a cool song. One last note about this disc is that it's FAST! I mean VERY FAST(the songs seem 2x as fast as the studio versions)! It's nice to see Megadeth ripping all of these songs to SHREDS. Lets move on to the last disc in this set. Disc 5 is a live DVD recorded in England during Megadeth's "Countdown To Extinction" tour. It's only ten songs(I wish that there would've been more), but the sound quality is excellent and the performances of the songs are outstanding. Marty performes all of his solos effortlessly and Mustaine, as usual, gives a great performance of his. The songs on this live setlist can be found on disc 4 except "Tornado of Souls".
Well, Megadeth delivered the goods yet again. After getting this box set, pop one of the disks into your DVD player with surround sound(highly recommended), CRANK IT, and, most of all, enjoy the skull-crushing metal sound and virtuosity that only Megadeth can deliver. And one last thing to all of you Megadeth fans out there, RATTLE YOUR GODDAMN HEAD!!!
Free Music Review: they finally got it rite
Hit: 4 Stars
although this set may not have everything on it the dvd is worth the price of the whole thing to me. ive never saw them on dvd or live play better that they did there. though i was hesitant on buying this because of my dissapointment of the cannibal corpse, slayer and kiss boxsets where i pay over 50 bucks for a set of stuff i already have 75 percent of the material. this set from the awsome packaging and selection of songs just blew my mind. i just wish they would hve put everything that was xtra on the remaster on this and is why it dont get 5 stars. but they have to make their money somehow. this is just a great set for a longtime or new megadeth fan to get their hands on.Free Music Review: tweak your eq if you have one
Hit: 5 Stars
I already had Countdown and United, but I bought this so I wouldn't have to buy a complete set of CDs, some (most?) of which have been remastered by now. This box set is remastered, but remastered is probably all I can get now, as is the case with most Metallica CDs. I agree with another review that many of the songs lack low end. I changed the settings on my equalizer to boost the bass, and the songs sound a lot heavier. I still have some changes to make in order for the songs to sound even better, but boosting the bass and treble were a good start. If you don't boost the bass, this collection will sound blander than it should. I don't have a subwoofer yet, but boosting the bass is definitely recommended regardless. With these things in mind, this box set is a must-have for any Megadeth fan.Free Music Review: a whole lot of the same
Hit: 3 Stars
Not a lot of new material here. Most of the tracks are available on CDs Megadeth fans will already own. For the few tracks not available before, it seems like a huge outlay of money in trade.
The video may be worthwhile, however. Of course, I'm not sure I can take that long with Dave Mustaine's whiny voice. He's better in the studio.