SUNDAY DROP - SPIN # 116 FROM THE R'NR WITH RYLO RECORD COLLECTION
In 2004, Megadeth released an album for the first time without longtime bassist, David Ellefson playing on it. I feel 'The System Has Failed', truly kicked off a new era for the band by reuniting Chris Poland with Dave Mustaine. It was a masterstroke and it seemed to reinvigorate them all. Can you believe that Mustaine was told that his guitar playing days were over? Megadeth actually disbanded due to this reason, combined with slower sales of albums 'Risk' and 'The World Needs A Hero'. Personally, I love those albums and I'm glad that he managed to play again. To think we wouldn't have had another seven albums to listen to would have been sad. I remember seeing Megadeth in 2015 play at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney with my sister. We were walking towards the venue a few hours before gates open and I remember stopping to hear his guitar playing through the wall. Mustaine was going through some warm-ups and the distinct riffing of 'Symphony of Destruction' could be heard. My sister also managed to get the current line-up of the band to sign their more recent album at Utopia records, Sydney. I recommend checking it out If you are a new fan of the band - 'The Sick, The Dying....and the Dead!".
Some people say that 2004's, 'The System Has Failed' is more of a solo Mustaine project, rather than a Megadeth album. How many times can they be expected to do 'Killing is My Business....and Business is Good' or 'Peace Sells.....but Who's Buying" albums and not try something new. On the album that is now playing on our turntable, they have managed to fuse the sound between early 80's thrash, late 90's rock ballads and truly made the best metal album of 2004 (closely followed by Lamb of God's - ' Ashes of the Wake'). You can hear where Megadeth have learned from their late 90's and early 00 albums and built on that style. I would rate 'The System Has Failed' as one of my favourite metal albums and love tracks - 'DIE DEAD ENOUGH', 'KICK THE CHAIR', 'THE SCORPION', TEARS IN A VIAL' and 'BACK IN THE DAY'. I almost felt as if I was listing the whole album then. If you look at the album artwork, you will see the band mascot handing out wads of cash to government officials and politicians in a decaying Washington D.C. You can also spot on the back of the album, Vic Rattlehead in the fire storm that is approaching from down the road.
Listening along, I couldn't play these guitar riffs even if I had years of practice. To think this is being played by a guy who has been told that he would never play guitar again.....wow. Listen to that opening riff on 'BACK IN THE DAY' and tell me that he is washed up. Sometimes starting a fire in someone's belly is the ultimate motivation that you need and Mustaine has used the criticism to his benefit. I've been told that I couldn't do something before and I proved people wrong. Like our 5 year old son says, "I can do anything". He was telling me last night before bed that he wanted to build the biggest house the world has ever seen and I told him - "If you believe that you can do it, then you will buddy". This week we had the kids walking around the house with their tools. We have been reading the books by Anh Do called 'Hot Dog'. Its about a sausage dog who goes on adventures with his lizard and cat friend. The kids decided to 'fix' everything around the house by walking up to it and saying, "Fix, Fix Fix". I think they marked walls and damaged more things than they fixed, but it was cute watching them play together. Today we have been soaking up a small bit of sun by completing some puzzles in the front room. Our daughter has been working through the different puzzles and advancing pretty quickly to the more difficult ones.
The stylus is spinning with no issues on this remastered version of the album. I could tell that it was heavyweight 180grm vinyl by holding it and they've done a really good job on the mix. Another album that I have of Megadeth that I feel has been remixed better than the original is, "Killing is My Business.....and Business is Good!". The original suffered from lack of funds and polish, so over the years Mustaine has decided to go back and re-release it as it should have sounded. I want to add a few more 'deth albums to the R'nR collection, because they sound awesome turned up loud.
I've been doing the push-up challenge this month and raising money towards Headspace in Wollongong. Thank you to those who have donated and all the proceeds will go directly to local youth in Wollongong. I've completed over 1000 push-ups and have just a few more to complete before the end of the month. I can see visible changes and feel so much stronger. It's for a great cause and I also feel like I was getting back to my pre-Goulburn fitness days. If you are able to donate to the cause, please check out the linktree on our Instagram page. A couple of you guessed this album from our MWSP clues and I didn't want to make it too difficult. I was coming up with some easy ones and probably gave it away by using the John Steinbeck novel clue. 'OF MICE AND MEN' is a killer song and also a great book. If you haven't read it yet, make sure that you do. It won't take you long, maybe a few hours but the story will stick with you for a lifetime. The end of the album sort of sounds like an introduction with the songs, 'SHADOW OF DETH' and 'MY KINGDOM'. It actually could be taken as a farewell or a signal that the band has been reborn. The stylus hits the dead wax and lets me know that another Sunday spin from our collection has come to an end.
Quickly before we finish up, I want to mention some moments this week and end the blog with a joke. I loved watching and explaining the Euro 2024 match, between Germany and Scotland, to our son yesterday. He was really interested and cheering along as the goals flew in. I think he has really started to get into different sports and it will be interesting to see what one he wants to play. Our daughter is going through a growth this week and I can tell because we are having little conversations more and more. She wanted to help out in the kitchen and I'm enjoying our little chats together. A spooky thing that happened on Friday night in our sons bedroom - something that we couldn't explain. I was sitting with our son, getting him ready for bed and he asked me for his Bumblebee Transformer. I remembered that it was left in the loungin (loungeroom) and went to go grab it for him. When I came back in to the room he said, "Dad, my books just lifted up by themself". I clarified what he meant and he went on to show me just how a stack of small books lifted up on their own, then fell back down. This happened twice in a space of 10-15 seconds. I re-enacted it with him and he said, "Maybe it was an invisible ghost". I could see that he was a bit shaken up, but was brave enough to stay in his room. It wasn't a ploy to get me to lay down in bed with him until he fell asleep. He didn't ask me to stay. I thought about it and asked myself the question, why did he say it if it didn't happen? Spooky scary!
I hope that you enjoyed our spin 116 from the R'nR collection and if you've never heard of the band, maybe it even starts you on your Megadeth journey. Our children are reading nicely now in the front room library area and maybe it's time to make ourselves a nice cuppa. Night Kat Kiz, the kids and I will be back next week as we spin something from the collection. Join us on Wednesday for the MWSP clues and don't be afraid to have a guess. If you are interested in doing a Guest Spin too, please let me know through our social pages and I'll get in contact. Ah, the joke. "What did one saggy boob say to the other saggy boob? If we don't get some support around here, people are going to think we're nuts!". Hug your loved ones and keep spinning records.
Until our next Spin......
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