The remixed and remastered
Megadeth albums released in 2004 aren't your typical cash-ins. They're stark improvements over the originals: group leader
Dave Mustaine did the remixing and remastering himself, making especially significant revisions to the earlier albums, and he includes insightful liner notes for each reissue, including track-by-track commentary for the bonus tracks, as well as lyrics and period photos. The reissue of
Countdown to Extinction, like those of the albums that postdate it, isn't all that different from its original incarnation.
Megadeth was a big-budget band by this point and afforded itself top-shelf production. So, unlike the band's earlier albums from the '80s, there's not too much to improve upon with
Countdown to Extinction. Even so,
Mustaine does slightly improve upon the album's already glossy sheen, especially bringing his vocals to the fore (think
"Sweating Bullets") and giving the bottom end a little more oomph. Of course, the sheen of
Countdown to Extinction has always been a thorny issue with some longtime fans, and this further polishing isn't likely to remedy those too-slick criticisms that have increasingly dogged this album with the passing of time. To go back to 1992 for a moment, you should remember that the almost chart-topping
Countdown to Extinction was a major turning point for
Megadeth as well as for the
thrash metal movement they'd helped lead throughout the late '80s. For a
thrash metal band to debut at number two on the
Billboard album chart (a slim notch below
Billy Ray "Achy Breaky Heart" Cyrus'
Some Gave All) would have been unimaginable a few years earlier, when
Megadeth and their
thrash ilk were on the cutting edge of the
metal underground -- firmly antithetical to
pop-metal chart-toppers like
Poison and
Moetley Cruee. So it's curious to ponder what the hell happened in a few years' time. Such a chart-topping position (
Mustaine writes in the liner notes that he was "pissed" upon learning of his number two debut -- because he'd "wanted number one") was as much a result of
Megadeth's growing acceptance among the
metal community at large as it was the band's more mannered songwriting (much in the spirit of
Metallica's mannered songwriting on their 1991 self-titled, black album -- make of that what you will). For instance, the speed is toned down here -- significantly! -- the singing is quite melodic, and the songwriting is very lyrical, all of this well illustrated on the pair of heavily rotated
MTV favorites:
"Symphony of Destruction" and
"Sweating Bullets." Given how little the remix of this album differs from its original mix, the bonus tracks should be the primary draw: an okay
Diamond Head tribute of sorts titled
"Crown of Worms" and a trio of demos, most notably an interesting version of
"Symphony of Destruction" that resembles the live version recorded for the
Rude Awakening album (2002). ~ Jason Birchmeier
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