The Evergrey – “In Search Of Truth” post, the Muse – “Origin Of Symmetry” by post and the Machine Head – “Supercharger” post were meant to be part of one 2001 – Part 1 post, however after I finished writing those posts they had a lot of words in there to be part of one, so they ended up as separate posts.

This post is 1.4 and the upcoming Ozzy post will be 1.5.

Megadeth – The World Needs A New Hero

I was excited for this album as I am a fan of Al Pitrelli. I like his work with Widowmaker, his session and song writing work with Alice Copper (plus touring), Y&T, Savatage, Danger Danger, TSO and many more. Plus in the few interviews he had in the guitar magazines, he shares a wealth of information about soloing and modes and what not.

“The World Needs a Hero” is the ninth studio album and a return to the metal and sometimes thrash of Megadeth between the “Countdown To Extinction” to “Cryptic Writings” era.

And to understand this album, you need to understand what a commercial disappointment “Risk” was in 1999 and how it eventually led to the departure of Marty Friedman and Nick Menza.

And it’s their first album on Sanctuary after they parted ways from Capitol Records with cover art by Hugh Syme.

Drummer Jimmy DeGrasso also features on this and the usual two Dave’s, but in this case, this would be the last album Ellefson would feature on until 2010. It was DeGrasso who actually recommended Pitrelli to Mustaine.

“Disconnect”

The intro riff reminds of “Trust”.

I like the interlude when it’s just bass and chords ringing out and then the lead break from Pitrelli starts. And I played air guitar to every note.

Lyrically the song deals with living a double life between the person we portray to people which is very different to the person’s inner thoughts or even Google search history.

“The World Needs a Hero”

If it’s a musical hero, a techie hero, a sporting hero, an author, a politician, whatever. We all need someone to look up to, to aspire to be like. Sometimes it’s a parent, a brother or a sister or another family member. It’s not my favourite song but I do like the title.

“Moto Psycho”

This song is about people who commute to work every day and spend a lot of time on the road.

In between 1997 and to the end of 2000, I drove 80 minutes to get to work and 80 minutes to get home. Then I changed jobs and commuted via a train, which took me 90 minutes to get to work and 90 minutes to get home.

Do the math.

160 to 180 minutes a day on travelling. That’s 800 to 900 minutes a week travelling. 41600 to 46800 hours in the year wasted on the road building someone else’s dream instead of my own.

“1000 Times Goodbye”

The intro riff is enough to hook me in. And then the drums come in, building the section until the verses explode.

And for some reason it keeps reminding me of “Tornado Of Souls”.

From about 3.57, the solo section begins. And after Mustaine says “you suck”, Pitrelli takes over for another guitar hero moment.

Check it out.

“Burning Bridges”

Check out the harmonized guitar riff in the Chorus.

“Promises”

The acoustic riff reminds me of “Dream On”. The violins make it haunting.

The song is about relationships that can’t be together in this life because of religion or social norms.

“Recipe for Hate… Warhorse”

It’s fast Intro gives way to a bass riff and spoken verse. And it’s a weird song with flamenco inspired passages. More like MegaZappa than Megadeth.

“Losing My Senses”

No one likes it when people speak the truth and that’s how this song starts off.

Check out the main riff. It puts all those alternate metal acts to shame.

Or the “When The Levee Breaks” inspired solo section which gets Pitrelli soloing with a Middle Eastern vibe.

“Dread and the Fugitive Mind”

My favorite song on the album. Especially the “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine” section.

And don’t forget the whole interlude build up into the Pitrelli solo section.

“Silent Scorn”

An instrumental which gets played over the sound system at concerts.

“Return to Hangar”

The sequel to “Hangar 18” as the captive aliens from the first song escape and kill their captors. When I saw the band live, they played both songs back to back.

Make sure you check out the harmony lead break.

“When”

The main riff and structure of “When”, is reminiscent of “Am I Evil?” by Diamond Head, which Mustaine said was intentional.

After this album, the band was ended as Mustaine had to deal with a career ending arm injury. Then once he resurrected Megadeth, he had to deal with lawsuits from former members. But that story is for another day.