SPIN

8

• SPIN Rating:8 of 10

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Release Date: July 12, 2011
Label: Capitol/EMI

Despite its metal signifiers, Megadeth's 1986 second album is basically glossy hardcore with magic-show guitar solos and poetry about Satan. Singer-guitarist Dave Mustaine's vision is as inspired and uninformed as an adolescent conspiracy theory, but his playing (and the band's suffocating breakdowns) capture a raw paranoia that words can't. The ?resulting paradox is music that feels ugly and frightened, executed with complete finesse -- rock as a grindhouse money shot on loop. Disc two's live cover of "These Boots Are Made for Walking" ends with Mustaine growling, "And you think I'm kidding, don't ya?" Yes.