Megadeth
Youthanasia

It seems that the best thrash bands on the international scene are, sooner or later, destined for failure: Metallica, after the first four or five magnificent albums, left us with some real messes, Anthrax also declined, and this sad list could not certainly miss Megadeth. In fact, after Rust In Peace (1990), the band seemed poised to reach even higher levels than those achieved by rival Metallica (indeed, Dave Mustaine, the leader of Megadeth, was kicked out of Metallica early in his career because he excessively abused drugs), however, from the masterpiece of '90, the band changed genre so much that they reached an unlistenable Rock/Pop, completely different from the lightning-fast thrash with which they became famous among the most die-hard metalheads.

"Youthanasia" is one of those albums that definitively marked the fall of Mustaine & co.

Released in 2004, with a very evocative cover, the album opens with "Reckoning Day," which certainly does not promise anything good beyond Nick Menza's excellently amplified drums that give the album great energy, if our hopes of listening to a good work increase slightly with "Train Of Consequences" which is decidedly more aggressive also due to a great bass, however, the rest of the album is more than disappointing, not to use offensive terms, with some rare exceptions (in particular the instrumental "Absolution" positively struck me); I would negatively highlight the track "A Tout Le Monde," a song for young girls, with Mustaine's voice trying to adjust itself to sustain overly sweet tones; among other things, the track was revisited in the latest album and Dave is accompanied by the voice (however not ugly) of the singer from Lacuna Coil, and I leave it to your imagination what came out of it (Pino Scotto, for those who know him, called it "what rubbish"). It is evident that the album Youthanasia was not made for the fans but simply to grab some money, perhaps usable for hallucinogenic mushrooms, money coming from the pockets of some young girl who listens to rock/pop or from some metalhead positively struck by the previous Rust In Peace and Killing Is My Business, who after Youthanasia, will never buy their albums again, having become really unlistenable.

From a technical point of view, although Megadeth are good musicians, "Youthanasia" is truly scandalous. Nick Menza on drums, again excellently amplified, never strays from the most banal of accompaniments, the guitars do little more than strum some chords, and the bass performance is perhaps the only adequate one. Fortunately, there's Mustaine's voice, in some cases unsuited to singing a certain kind of music but in others truly rocking, to save an album that otherwise would have been completely wrong.

Maximum respect nonetheless to Dave Mustaine, the soul of Megadeth, in life it can happen to make mistakes (though you are starting to make a few too many... my dear Megadeth...), not even the latest Metallica have ever fallen so low.