Rude Awakening
Rec-room rock stars can rejoice knowing that drum and guitar solos, long thought extinct in the post-grunge era, are alive, well, and flourishing in the hands of speed-metal granddaddies Megadeth. Seriously,Rude Awakening, the band's first-ever live set, is almost certain to benefit from renewed interest sparked by the reissue of their spruced-up debut,Killing Is My Business. . . and Business Is Good. That album, like most in Megadeth's canon, is quoted here ("Mechanix"). The band also revisitsSo Far, So Good. . . So What("Hook in Mouth"),Peace Sells. . .  But Who's Buying("Peace Sells"),The World Needs a Hero("Return to Hangar"),Countdown to Extinction("Symphony of Destruction," "Sweating Bullets"),Youthanasia("Train of Consequences"),Rust in Peace("Hangar 18"), andCryptic Writings("Almost Honest"). Fanned across two discs,Rude Awakening's 24 tracks capture Dave Mustaine and cohorts in top form--lightning fast, muscular, nihilistic, urgent, and, of course, very, very angry--with crowd noise kept to a bearable minimum.--Kim Hughes