Megadeth - Rude Awakening (2002)

By the time this album arrived, I had already seen Megadeth a couple times in the live setting, so there wasn't any real sense of anticipation to hear how it would come off on the stage. When I watched Sabbat's The End of the Beginning VHS tape, for instance, that was a band I had longed for and thus became more satisfied for all its flaws to at least get the chance to see them. Here on Rude Awakening, two whole discs of live material (and to their credit, they gave it almost two decades before dumping this sort of release onto their fandom), it feels competent but slightly dialed in, probably with some studio overdubs, and not all that high energy despite a considerable two hours and 24 tracks that cover the good chunk of their career. Still, The World Needs a Hero lineup manages not to cock up the classics, and that means something.

Right away I can tell you that I'm not interested in the inclusion of material from the three studio LPs before this, but it was inevitable since that is what they were touring on. I loved hearing "Angry Again" here, but I would have much rather had "Go to Hell" or "99 Ways to Die" on the track list above "Trust" and "Almost Honest". Still, they unleash a nice trio of "Symphony of Destruction", "Peace Sells" and "Holy Wars" at the end of the double-album which is probably what any crowd would want, and you get some of my favorites like "Tornado of Souls", "Hook in Mouth", "Devils' Island" and "Wake Up Dead" among the choices, so the bulk of this is rock fucking solid. Dave sounds pretty great, you get some of the flaws or imperfections in his pitch, but they only add to the personality. Considering that you have Dave and Al Pitrelli, I think the guitars sounds a little on the wimpy side, like when a lead breaks out there doesn't feel like the rhythm guitar offers much support. The drums are steady and I can make out the bass well enough, but even though I like the general 'airiness' of the recording, I think a little more punch and power to the instruments would have improved my rating.

Overall, though, if you had been waiting almost two decades to wander down to your record store and buy a proper Megadeth live offering, I don't think this one would disappoint you much, they sound tight enough and offer you a robust selection of tracks from their whole history, leaving only a few noted obscurities behind and 3-4 awesome Rust in Peace tunes that would have been better than anything off the more contemporary studio material for the time. This one doesn't approach the timeless annals of a Live After Death, No Sleep 'til Hammersmith or Unleashed in the East, but it's professional enough not to totally waste your money. As for the cover art, a fun image, but I feel like it would have been better on an actual studio outing...say you switch the random person for Vic Rattlehead, include the logo along the opposing building, here it feels thrown away, and I don't get the point. There's nothing rude or offensive or even explosive about how this sounds, instead it's practiced and rigid.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://www.megadeth.com/