10. Promises
If you are a Megadeth purist, “Promises” probably isn’t even on your radar. It’s a nice little ballad about two star-crossed lovers — cheesy as all get out, but (and?) I sing it in the shower all the time. Definitely the highlight of a mostly mediocre album.
9. Good Mourning/Black Friday
I kind of want to get “paint the devil on the wall” tattooed somewhere on my body, is that wrong? It strikes me as the perfect way to express havoc-wreaking. Maybe I’m just a fangirl, but “Good Mourning/Black Friday” embodies the chaos of the early Megadeth years in a way that makes my ears very happy.
8. 502
Drunk driving is wrong and bad and no one should ever, EVER do it, but Megadeth make it sound so good, don’t they?
7. Last Rites/Loved To Deth
Megadeth’s very first song is unsurprisingly a good one! I know I was born significantly later than Killing Is My Business was released, but I long for the old days when I hear the stuff from Megadeth’s fast-paced frenetic beginnings.
6. Hook In Mouth
F is for fucking hell I love this song, R is for really this song is so beyond awesome, E is for elation that I experience when I listen to this song…okay, I’m done with this silliness. Bottom line, this track was the perfect way to end So Far So Good…So What. I’m just old enough to barely remember the PMRC (mostly because my then-teenage uncle listened to gangsta rap), but the anti-censorship message can be understood by the Internet generations too.
5. Lucretia
This is the second time “Lucretia” has made it onto a HearEvil list. The only reason it’s not higher up is because the instrumental outro is kind of long, but I loved this song enough to name my guitar after it. Rust In Peace is classic all-around, which brings me to the next song on the list…
4. Rust In Peace…Polaris
The entire peak of NICK MENZA’s career, right here. Really, everyone shines in this song, and the verse riff is a real earworm, but the drumming particularly stands out.
3. Youthanasia
What I love most about this song is how uncannily relevant it still is, even 18 years later. Once upon a time, Dave Mustaine wasn’t a total nutjob — he actually had real and rational opinions on things like war, social injustice, and the sociopolitical climate. The song’s tone matches the serious mood of the song, and Mustaine’s…sanity keeps it from seeming maudlin.
2. Architecture Of Aggression
Megadeth’s best songs are the ones about violence. Think about it. “Architecture Of Aggression” is one example, but there are so very many others. “Sleepwalker” and “Play For Blood” from United Abominations come to mind first, but “Architecture Of Aggression” is about wholesale brutality — nothing personal, just straight-up genocide. I can’t get enough of it.
1. Chosen Ones
“Chosen Ones” is not only my favorite Megadeth song, it might actually be my favorite thrash song ever (eeeeeeh, let me give Exodus’s “Bonded By Blood” another listen before I commit to that statement). It’s nothing about anything particularly relevant, it’s just plain old awesome. Short, sweet, and uncomplicated, this little ditty tops the list because it’s just so easy to enjoy.
In short, happy birthday Dave Mustaine. I still hate you, but your music brings me endless joy so I’m celebrating your birthday the only way I know how.
