Like clockwork, thrash metal pioneers Megadeth release a new album every couple of years…and like clockwork, they abandon it shortly thereafter
The website www.setlist.fm, a wiki that allows users to upload, you guessed it…concert set lists, is an absolute godsend for live music junkies like me. Say I wake in a panic, covered in sweat because I can’t remember whether or not Mötley Crüe played their mid-period, mostly forgettable single “Hell On High Heels” during their Maximum Rock Tour stop at Pine Knob Music Theatre back in August of 2000. I go to the site and my mind is instantly put at ease. Or perhaps I’m at at a show feelin’ a bit dickish and I want to pull off my best “Bill Murray watching Jeopardy at a Punxatawney B&B” impression and call out what the band will play next. Not that I would actually do that (I would and have).
Suffice it to say I spend an inordinate amount of time on the site and more often than not, one click leads to another and I find myself tripping down the concert rabbit hole. That Crüe show investigation (they DID play “Hell On High Heels” that night, btw) led me to explore the set list of the co-headliner for the tour; thrash metal masters, Megadeth.
As I recall, the band really killed it that night, though not as much as the guy who got to third base with his date right next to me on the grassy hill. Their set list was a combination of the radio-friendly rockers like “Trust” and, in “Return To Hangar” and “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due,” rippers of a more dexterous and nimble-fingered variety (but maybe not as nimble-fingered as my friend on the hill).
The one song that stands out to me though, is “Crush ‘Em” and not because it’s particularly good. It’s actually less of a song and more a series of tough guy clichés wrapped in funky guitar splurges and generic power chords seemingly designed to usurp “We Will Rock You” as the preeminent chant-along for sporting events. It failed in that mission (the only song to really come close has been The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”) and had little staying power on rock radio as well. I had just forgotten that I’ve actually heard that it live during one of the eight or nine times I’ve caught the band.
Despite the fact that the song (off of 1999’s ill-received, experimental Risk) is recognized by many as one of the lowest valleys in a thirty-five plus year of mostly peaks, I’m still glad to say I heard it in person. Like a Bob celebrates Michael Bolton’s entire catalog, as do I with Megadeth.
You know who doesn’t celebrate Megadeth’s entire catalog? Megadeth. Take “Crush ‘Em” for example. According to setlist.fm, they haven’t played it live since November of 2001. In fact, they haven’t played ANY song off of Risk since then. No “Prince of Darkness” (outside of a prerecorded version sometimes used to open their shows). No “Insomnia.” Not even “Seven,” though that may be for the best. Again, the album came out in 1999. That means you had about a two-year window to catch any of it live and if you missed it…sorry about your luck.
I know right now you’re saying “I thought it was a mediocre record? Who cares if they never play it live?” And to that I say, check out the stats for The World Needs A Hero, the subsequent and far-superior album. You will find the same disturbing (to me) trend. It was released in May of 2001 and not one note of any song has been played live since October of 2005. I guess four years is better than two. That means no “Disconnect,” no “Recipe For Hate…Warhorse” and no “1,000 Times Goodbye” since early into W.’s second term. And you know what? That sucks.
Every record since has suffered the same fate. Just check out the chart below that shows how long each studio album has been represented in Megadeth’s set list since its release (2016’s Dystopia was omitted because it is too early to tell if those songs will be able to linger much longer than their predecessors).
You see Youthanasia has lasted 8,761 days so far with its initial release on 11/01/1994 and “A Tout Le Monde” being played at their most recent show, 10/27/2018 in Indonesia. United Abominations, on the other hand, only lasted 925 days from its release on 5/15/2007 and the last play was “Washington Is Next” on 11/25/2009 in San Antonio. You get the picture.
That gradual decline from 1985’s Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good to 1997’s Cryptic Writings? That makes sense. Earlier releases obviously will have a higher count as long as they continue to make an appearance in Megadeth’s sets. What doesn’t make sense is that Mariana’s Trench-like chasm that occurs after Cryptic Writings. The disparity between how long each of the newer records theoretically could have remained in the sets (to that October Indonesia show) versus how long they actually have is more easily visualized below.
I find the complete and utter abandonment of anything released in the last twenty years to be flabbergasting. You have to wonder why they bother to continue recording new music if it’s going to be disposed of after only one touring cycle.
It is not as if this is just what happens when a band reaches a certain point in their career. Sure, legacy acts like Journey or Blue Öyster Cult (I used them just as an excuse for more umlauts) will lean heavily on their old material and maybe sprinkle in a token performance of whatever their newest single is but is that where Megadeth is at this point? Even if you argue that yes, they are, were they ten or fifteen years ago when they adopted this model?
I don’t think so.
Even their peers don’t behave this way. Check out what Slayer has done on their most recent “Farewell” tour that has stretched over the last two years. Every single release except 1998’s nu-metal tinged Diabolus In Musica has got some love (even that record, their Risk if you will, maintained representation until 2013).
Metallica (you know I couldn’t write a Megadeth piece without at least mentioning them) is touring Europe as we speak. Every studio record except Load got airtime at their most recent show in Amsterdam (it did on the 2018 leg, though) and they even dusted off “No Leaf Clover” from their symphony album.
This is not a “legacy” act thing or a “veteran thrash metal” act thing. This is a Megadeth thing. Could it be that Dave Mustaine still holds a candle for the “classic” lineup (himself, David Ellefson, Nick Menza (R.I.P.) and Marty Friedman) who last recorded together on Cryptic Writings and nothing else since can compare? Does he think his audience is disproportionately comprised of newbies who long to hear “the hits” and would shun a set list more all-encompassing of their entire recording history? Do the constant line-up changes make it challenging for the new players to memorize anything more than the core of the catalog? Or did all those years of headbanging give Mustaine a sort of anterograde amnesia that prevents him from remembering anything after 1997? (Doubtful)
Only he knows the answers to those questions. What I know is that Megadeth’s last twenty-odd years have been composed of some stellar, nay “head-crushing” material and an ideal set list* would give it a share of the spotlight. And even if I were to be called insane (which I have the right to go) I would argue that some of the newer songs not only hold up to the old ones, but in some cases surpass them.
* CURRENT AND IDEAL SET LISTS
| Current | Ideal |
| Hangar 18 | Last Rites/Loved To Deth |
| Wake Up Dead | Wake Up Dead |
| The Threat Is Real | Dystopia |
| She Wolf | Time/Use The Man |
| Conquer Or Die | Sweating Bullets |
| Sweating Bullets | Hangar 18 |
| Trust | Sleepwalker |
| Mechanix | Kick The Chair |
| Poisonous Shadows | In My Darkest Hour |
| The Conjuring | Sudden Death |
| Tornado Of Souls | Dread And The Fugitive Mind |
| A Tout Le Monde | Headcrusher |
| Dystopia | A Tout Le Monde |
| Symphony Of Destruction | Symphony Of Destruction |
| Peace Sells | Peace Sells |
| Holy Wars…The Punishment Due | Holy Wars…The Punishment Due |
Cover Art by Erik Belcarz: Gravestones, https://pixabay.com/photos/gravestones-military-graveyard-918566/. Logo, https://i.vimeocdn.com/filter/overlay?src0=https%3A%2F%2Fi.vimeocdn.com%2Fvideo%2F639979405_1280x720.jpg&src1=https%3A%2F2Ff.vimeocdn.com%2Fimages_v6%2Fshare%2Fplay_icon_overlay.png. Sky, https://pixabay.com/photos/seaside-stormy-sky-sea-storm-1149687/.