Customer Reviews

The Complete Remasters (Amazon.com Exclusive)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Good

Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?

Originally recorded for Combat Records, who released Megadeth's first album, Killing is My Business...and Business is Good. The big leagues came knocking shortly after it was recorded, assigned a new producer, and Peace Sells... became Megadeth's major label debut.

Extra guitar squealing can be heard on "Wake up Dead", and as the song draws to a conclusion the solo sounds a little different. The vocal section at the end sounds different as well. On "The Conjuring" you can actually hear what Dave is saying now. I'm skeptical that this is the original restored and not a new one. The guitar riffs that lead into the bridge of "Peace Sells" hold a little longer than they did before. After Dave exclaims, can you put a price on peace, the guitar solo section sounds extended.

The bonus tracks are the original producer's mixes for "Wake Up Dead", "The Conjuring", "Peace Sells", and "Good Morning/Black Friday". Unless you're an audio engineer, you're probably not going to hear the differences between their mixes and the ones that appeared on the original album.

So Far, So Good...So What?

Coming off their highly successful major label debut Megadeth returned to the studio, totally wasted might I add, and released a musically assault that paved the way for their future notoriety.

"Into the Lungs of Hell" takes on a whole new life with the guitar work less chaotic, although I'm not thrilled about the horn section in the introduction. I've always liked the fact that this instrumental actually feels like you're falling into Hell. I swear there are a few riffs missing from "Anarchy in the U.K." At least the backing vocals were cleaned up. I can't believe Dave took the sound of the car crashing out of the solo section of "502" and added more Police siren in the song. In return he extended the solo breaks. There's a clean guitar section that starts off "In My Darkest Hour" that wasn't there before.

The bonus tracks here are also the original producer's mixes. It seems like Dave never liked his first producers (or his second I guess if he's remastered them). "Into the Lungs of Hell" has a few different riffs thrown in, while "Set the World a Fire" sounds a little rough around the edges. "Mary Jane" has a whole different introduction than it does in its original format. There's not much difference with "In My Darkest Hour".

Rust in Peace

Described by many as the definitive Megadeth album, metal fans ate it up as Rust in Peace became the benchmark for heavy metal music at the time. It was fast, furious, and head-banging loud.

Thank God Dave decided to leave this one along for the most part. All he did was clean it up. Maybe he added a little more chime where "Holy Wars" leads into "Rust in Peace", and he definitely re-recorded "Take No Prisoners". Word was that they couldn't find the masters. Unfortunately, it sounds worse. You can finally hear what the lyrics are to "Dawn Patrol" now. I know you were all scratching your heads.

The bonus tracks are demos of "Rust in Peace...Polaris", "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due", and "Take No Prisoners". It's great to hear how raw the first records of these songs were and how they changed over the years. "Take No Prisoner"s has a much different beginning. It's funny how they found the demo but not the final product. "My Creation" is a track that was left off the album. It runs about a minute and a half with spoken lyrics similar to "Dawn Patrol's" vocal style. It's got a great heavy drum/guitar combination going on as Dave creates the bride of Frankenstein.

Countdown to Extinction

There was no turning back for Megadeth now, their fourth album debuted at number two on the Billboard chart, eventually going four times platinum. Megadeth were now everywhere, a few singles on radio, a few videos on MTV, and a World-wide tour of course. The music was still just as heavy as their past efforts, but you could hear what direction the group was heading.

There's a brand new introduction to "Sweating Bullets". It's basically the same as the opening riff, but without the drums and bass. It leads right into the original beginning. The last verse doubles up on the vocals till the end of the track. On "Countdown to Extinction", there's a new guitar part between the end of the chorus and the beginning of the next verse. The interlude section is slightly altered as well.

Dave includes the highly sought-after "Crown of Worms" as one of the bonus tracks. If you haven't heard it before (and you call yourself a fan!), it sounds like a long lost Diamond Head, and that might have something to do with the fact that Sean Harris co-wrote it. The demo of "Countdown to Extinction" has a twangier guitar section, and showcases an uninspired vocal delivery by Dave. Don't get any rougher than that. The riffs in the chorus are arranged differently too. I hate to say it, but the demo of "Symphony of Destruction" is better than the original. It has a heavier tone to it. "Psychotron" is the final demo. This time around it has a longer, escalating introduction. Dave's a little more manic on this version.

Youthanasia

Megadeth rakes in another two million in record sales with this 1996 release. Overlooked by many, Youthanasia is by far Megadeth's finest hour. Sure, purists will tell you it lacks the rawness of Rust in Peace, but recording technology had advanced leaps and bounds by 1996. The production is slick, the songwriting is intelligent, and the music kicks you in the teeth.

You can hear a more dominant bass line in the chugga-chugga intro to "Train of Consequences". The outtro solo is different too. Vocals are doubled up on certain sections of "Addicted to Chaos" that weren't before. A subtle string section was added to the beginning of "Blood of Heroes", as was a more noticeable guitar lick throughout the bridge section.

On the first bonus track "Millennium of the Blind", a pounding riff accentuates Dave's evil voice over. Marty throws in some melodic runs as well. You get the demo versions of "New World Order", which appeared in full on the Duke Nuke Em' Soundtrack. There's a lot less guitar work on this version. "Absolution" apparently turned into the breakdown section of "Trust", with a heavier section thrown in at its conclusion. After listening to the A Tout Le Monde demo, it's amazing it was ever used. Dave's vocals are really, really rough. Okay, their horrible; a lot less guitars here too. The French lyrics section is different on the demo.

Cryptic Writings

The first nail is hammered into Megadeth's coffin at this point. Dave and company (or Bud Prager) deicide to go for a radio-friendly alternative sound. Not as heavy or fast as previous releases, but just as potent. If Dave wasn't so much against the musical shift, this sound may have worked for them commercially. Yeah the die hard fans panned it, but Cryptic Writings reached a broader audience; an audience that perhaps hadn't heard of Megadeth in the past.

The opening guitar sliding that accompanied the drum section on "Trust" has been replaced by strings. The whirring effect that begins "Almost Honest" extends into the opening guitar riff. The little song sample that began "Use the Man" has been taken out. There's a new effect that starts of "The Disintegrators". Some extra muted riffing was added to "A Secret Place". There's an onslaught of new music sections at its conclusion. I can't skip the harmonica introduction that was added to "Have Cool, Will Travel".

The Spanish version of "Trust" appears as one of the bonus tracks. Now you can compare the two introductions. Only the chorus is in Spanish. "The Evil That's Within" is essentially an alternate version of "Sin". Dave does mention in the liner notes that he had to re-write a lot of his original ideas due to his management at the time. The demo of "Vortex" is another example of that. The music part of it is mostly the same, just rougher. "Bullprick" is an alternate version of "FFF" complete with different lyrics too.

Risk

Yep, this is the final nail in the coffin. An all out commercial, radio-friendly, alternative rock, train wreck. It's called Risk, what did you expect? It had a sports anthem and a ballad of sorts that described the plight of the homeless. Not very Megadeth! Mustaine hated it too. That doesn't mean that there aren't a few good songs here and there.

For album Dave didn't care for, he chose not to change too much. First thing you'll notice is the CD cover is different. Also, the burnt Megadeth logo is replaced with the classic logo. The intro to "Insomnia" is much shorter than before. The outro guitar solo is altered and extended on "Price of Darkness". I wish Dave had eliminated "Enter the Arena" all together. How that qualifies as a full song is beyond me. A more prevalent string section is present on "Time: The Beginning". There's also an added electric section.

A more metal mix of "Insomnia" is included as one of the bonus tracks. An alternate version of Breadline is also included with the bonus material. This version has a heavy guitar intro as opposed to the clean intro of the original. The verses still flow like the original. Techno meets metal on the jock mix of "Crush Em". A lot of electronic effects replace the guitar riffs and solos. Think of every rap remix you've ever heard.

The Bad

MD.45 - The Craving (NOT INCLUDED)

Sometimes a dud is a dud. Even with Dave on vocals this time around, it doesn't save this ill-fated side project. After hearing this version, I have more of an appreciation for the original. It's not that Dave sounds bad, it's that his Megadeth vocal style doesn't synch with the hardcore/punk music he created with Lee Ving (Fear vocalist). The bonus track "Chutney" is like a half-finished piece of work looped together. "Segue" is a two minute instrumental that's made of snippets that we're left over from the recording session. "The Creed" is a left over Megadeth demo that surpasses anything else on this version of MD.45.

Bad news for fans of that raw sound that classic Megadeth albums had, any evidence of their existence will slowly disappear. One has to ponder how much was touched up and how much was redone.

Getting tired or reading yet?

The Verdict

I never understood the motivation for bands to change their past works (oh yeah, money). Just the roughness, classic, and raw sound of those albums remind you of your past. You remember a song by its sound, no so much by its composition. When you hear someone cover a song by your favorite band, you know it's a cover. Do you ever confuse it with the original done by the original band? I don't think so. This may be the way Dave Mustaine wants the recordings to sound now, but back then it didn't seem to matter to him, or us. Everyone second-guesses their work, but we usually have to live with it.

The bonus tracks are what make the CDs worth getting a hold of. This is what fans crave and Dave delivers. I'm not saying the remastered works are bad. They're actually quite good. It's nice to actually hear what Dave is talking about, and to hear some great guitar solos that were muffled up in the past. Its just lacks what the originals offered.

Hell Wasn't Built In A Day: The Complete Remasters...well, that is false...yes, if you are only counting the Megadeth albums that were remasterd, then yes this is complete. Or maybe not!
My gripe is, if you remastered Md.45 The Craving and included that in with the Megadeth reissues a few months ago, why not include it in this set??? So, Md.45 was remastered, so I really do not look at this as complete. But what really is the head scratcher, why did Dave Mustaine remaster the Md.45 album, but left out Hidden Treasures???? He could have easily remastered that and tacked on a few extra covers that were done after 1995. Lastly, no Killing Is My Business and Business Is Good. You know, nobody can seem to get things right anymore, and it pisses me off.

This Amazon exclusive box set is incredible!Not only do you get all EMI albums(Remasters),but also all albums were personally remastered by Dave Mustaine.

The artistic box which holds the disks is incredible on it's own,and on top of that,you get some of the best metal ever recorded!!

This set is a No-Brainer!!Get it now!!!!

Love and Bruises,

Doug

to backup D. R Toner "cd-heaven"'s review: the set is not complete without the first release "Killing Is My Business....And Business Is Good". it was the first disc to be remastered before the rest of the catalogue was remixed/remastered later on. soooo.... why not include the classic first release and the aforementioned MD45 re-release of 2004? i have each disc separately, so i'm glad i didn't wait for this boxed set.

you can't rate what IS included anything less than five stars. one star decrease for this products misleading title. 'Incomplete' is more fitting.

I first received this and was very anxious to hear these remixed cds. I have been listening to the originals for,...well a long time, since they were first released many moons ago. I am pushin 40 and still enjoy our music.

I will start by saying this well surpassed my expectations, the sound is amazing,..yes for the many oldschool fans as myself, we usually go by the unwritten rules of " NO F'N REMASTERS " but these cds are great,.....the sheer wall of sound and window shaking production is great. yes there are snippets that dont match up from the original masters, but who gives a S***. These are great sounding, I was never TRULY INTO the post Countdown releases, as there is so much music out there to lose hearing to, so megadeth was on partial hold for a few years, while the career and life in general was moving so fast. I figured i would pick up this box set, the material and Amazon packaging & price were to good to pass up,..and yes I did receive my stuff in a timely manner. Cryptic and Risk are good rock albums, I guess Megadeth went on a metal hiatus for a couple years releasing these 2 cds, but not bad by any means, still good catchy riffs and choruses!! all in all THIS SET IS WELL WORTH THE MONEY, AS I SAID BEFORE.." THE PRICE,MATERIAL YOU GET, THE NICE BOX, AND SOUND QUALITY FAR SURPASSES THE FEW SKEPTICS OUT THERE!!! I highly reccomend this set, as my ears forgot how good this music was. Megadeth are still at the top of their game. As World needs a hero , system and, united are all great albums as well. Timeless metal!! the originals will be released soon I am sure, as money talks, there are thousands of fans who will only listen to the originals, as opposed to these remasters. Oldschool rivetheads will enjoy this set, well worth it.
LP vs. CD-- I compared these cds to my vinyls, and the cds do have a more punchy bass and guitar tone, butu you'll never get the airyness, or depth of vinyl. i will pack up the vinyls and save for the kids, and enjoy these cds for a long time to come!! Good jod Dave, well done.

Since the release of the Killing is My Business remasters, I couldn't wait for Dave to go back and do the same for his earlier works. As landmark as the album was, there was no denying the incredibly poor sound quality. The remasters done for it brought it back to life, and made it sound as if it was just put out. Bass and drum parts that were once muddled were now throbbing in your ears. Indeed, I never truly appreciated the drum work of Gar Samuelson until I heard the remastered KIMB. Fast forward a few years and my wish has been granted...with some mixed results.
While it's an obvious decision to polish up the first several albums due to the lack of technology at the time, one has to question the choice to do the same to the later albums which didn't seem to have any sound limitations to begin with.
Of the Capitol remasters, Peace Sells is the most essential. If you pick up one make sure this is it. Even if you have an old copy and rarely listen to it, pick this one up anyway. The sound quality is simply incredible. Yes, the songs are the same, but now it sounds 100 times better and could compete with anything out now. My favorite moment? The opening bass riffs of My Last Words. Once muddled in the mix, they now pound in your ears. Be sure to turn your speakers up with this one. The bonus tracks are where this one is lacking. You are limited to dull and ultimately forgetable mixes. The only neat part being a version of Peace Sells where the guitar continues to ring after the "if there's a new way..." part.
Now on to "So Far..." While this had some very good songs, it was probably the weakest of the early Deth albums. The new remaster helps a bit, but the songs still seem to be lacking. One thing that should be pointed out here, as the do it again in a later album, is that "In My Darkest Hour" has a new,brief intro. Some may consider it an intrusion, but the fact is they have often used this intro in concert before playing it. Once again, we are given throwaway bonus tracks. I woulda preferred live versions from this era instead. Moving on...
Rust in Peace is arguably their finest moment. That being said, when you screw with perfection...think George Lucas going back to Star Wars...you're bound to piss some people off. This is where the first of many noticeable changes occur. Many have been covered in other reviews, however the one unforgiveable is the new vocals for Five Magics. They are weaker and lack any punch. I'll be hanging onto the original for this reason alone.
Here we finally begin to receive interesting bonus material. I'm a big fan of demos, as we can see the structuring process of the songs. They often have different vocal lines and alternate guitar parts which any hard core fan will find intriguing.
With "Countdown", we begin to question how neccessary the remasters were for the later albums. After all, wasn't this album recorded completely digital? We see a new intro for "Sweating Bullets" which again is one they've used in concert for years. If you listen to the new and old albums right after another you might pick up some differences but most people won't. This does have Crown of Worms, which depending on how big of a fan you are you already own. The standout bonus here is the demo of Countdown. The song is much faster paced, especially the drums...wow...I think I prefer it to the original. Find someway to listen to this track if you opt not to buy.
Youthanasia's standout is the bonus tracks as well. Most interesting is the demo of A Tout Le Monde. Yes the vocals are shaky, but the vocal lines are clearly in an experimental stage and offer different melodies. Also of note is a completely different guitar solo. Most likely this was done off the top of Marty's head as a guide solo and never intended for release, but I love it! Absolution is a fantastic track as well...and just see if you don't break into a smile when you hear the riff from here that was eventually made into one of their biggest singles. =)
Cryptic Writings finds Dave meddling a little more with the songs. Taking intros out, putting some in...both unnecessary. The album was strong in my opinion and didn't need changes. The original is preferred again here as well. Bonus track standout: Bullprick. At it's core a version of FFF with different lyrics. However the guitars are tuned lower and the playing is a little faster. Don't miss this one either.
"Risk" was one of the more recent releases so how could he be second guessing it already? Granted by Deth standards it wasn't their best, but if he had released this as a side project I probably would have enjoyed it more. While slower then most, my favorite track is "I'll be There". If it had gotten any radio play, it would have been to radio friendly, but I like it as an obscure song, and it even has helped me score on a few occasions. =P
I also am part of the people that yell the the chorus of Crush Em, so this album has a special place in my heart.
If you are a completist like me the decision to get these albums is obvious. The casual fan may want to get just the older ones. If you already have the later releases you can probably stick with the ones you have, but you will be missing some neat new versions. I would have loved an extra disc of all bonus material. There are a few singles floating around that didn't make it to these discs. "One Thing" and the "Duke Nukem Theme" immediatly come to mind. Why these couldn't have been added instead of some of the blah alternate mixes may seem puzzling,but he does mention in the Countdown liner notes that it was a difficult decision deciding which one to include now and which ones to save for later, hinting there will be such a disc in the future. Let's hope its more of the nifty demos and not of the lame Randy Burns mixes. All in all, worth the upgrades. Just don't pawn your originals. There most likely will be tracks you prefer left untouched.

Being a fan of Megadeth is not an easy thing. It is a love/hate relationship that has been lingering for nearly two decades. Strange that when it comes to either being a Metallica fool or a Megadeth nut, I find myself divided. I prefer some of each. Now, as things go, we are faced with the "Remixed & Remastered" catalog of Megadeth in its less-than-entirety. Hmmmmm. If you go the Ozzy route to remastering, where you're pissed off at previous band members, so you just record over them with hired guns, that's fine. I won't buy it, but get down with your bad self. I don't think Dave Mustaine did that, although these recordings of Megadeth's 2nd through 8th albums sound very different in some places. Reflecting upon their composition, maybe Dave would have been better off just coming out with a box set with the hits and the rarities. Demos do nothing for me, so I don't know why they bother. The kick-you-in-the-face feeling of some of these classics is missing, or been retoned, and it's not the same. Symphony Of Destruction should push you down and kick you in the teeth, but it doesn't. Neither does Holy Wars . . . The Punishment Due. Now. I digress. The earlier works such as Peace Sells and SFSGSW really benefit from the retooling, but a simple remastering would have done that to boost the EQs. It has been said that Dave had to re-record his vocal tracks on several songs due to the fact that Capitol lost the original master tapes. So . . . should this be called original "Remixed & Remastered" or should this be called "Re-Recorded" or better yet . . . Dave Mustaine's Obsessive Reconstruction of Megadeth's Catalog. I'm not sure that these discs are essential. As I said . . . a simple remastering would have greatly improved some, if not all of the recordings. The exclusion of KIMB and Hidden Treasures makes this set eerily incomplete. Overall . . . Capitol Punishement had the remasters of a few Megadeth classics, but this set soundz too different to be called original. Stick with the past. I gotta give it four stars, just because there are enough cool tune here to listen to, but you don't need to have this set. If you've got the extra cash and you wanna explore the avenue of: How things could have been? Go for it. If not, you're not missing anything essential.

As noted by other reviewers, this is not a complete set as it does not include Killing is My Business or Hidden Treasures, nor the latest disk The System Will Fail that was released before this box set. The CDs in this set are good but I actually prefer the original recordings. Dave has remixed them as well as digitally remastered them so they sound both different musically as well as crisper and cleaner acousitcally. The latter is great - compare the remastered Master of Puppets with the original. What I don't like is that the mixing isn't as good as the originals. Buy it and decide for yourself - but if you don't own the non-remixed versions I recommend those instead. That's what I grew up with, not these altered post-2000 versions.

This is over all a great box set for every thing Megadeth has done. That means Md.45 is not on there because it is not Megadeth. It was a side project that Dave Mustaine did. Other songs that were not on there like "These Boots" he did not write and could not get permission to use on the re-masters ( Thanks alot Nancy Sinatra). But over all, this is a complete and solid remake of all the classics from Megadeth.

I HAVE READ THE REVIEWS FROM THE OTHERS AND wow you guys amaze me lets not thank Dave and MEGADETH for helping to keep the true message of metal alive or hey DAVE thanks for the hard work you have done but you nit pick on a guitar solo guys get a clue to me MEGADETH ranks up there with the best there was is and always will be the band knows there craft and there passion and to nit pick or not buy something because it is not the original then man your sad lets see take something good from the 80s and add some digital technology and make it better then ever to those thinking about this product buy you wont be displeased to those who have and nit pick get a life