I know it’s a month late this time, but we return yet again to the world of metal compilations. We’ve looks at a lot of fascinating collections of songs in prior years, and 2021 will be no exception. In fact, things might be more interesting in this still sadly plague-ridden year. To start things off this time around, I’m actually going to be reviewing a compilation I mentioned in 2019. A compilation from a band I’ve taken a look at twice so far on this blog. So sit back, relax, and enjoy my review for Megadeth’s Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years. Let’s begin!
Background
Taken from Wikipedia:
“The title of the album is an allusion to the band's persistent difficulties with their record label, Capitol Records. Megadeth ultimately left Capitol and signed with Sanctuary Records, but were contractually obliged to release one further album with Capitol, hence the greatest hits compilation. With the exception of material from the band's debut album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!, which was released on Combat Records rather than Capitol, the compilation contains songs from all Megadeth's previously released albums at the time, in reverse-chronological order. In addition to the new track "Kill the King", Capitol insisted on the inclusion of "Dread and the Fugitive Mind", a track recorded for the album The World Needs a Hero, then in the production stage. The band agreed simply to release themselves from their obligations to Capitol, but the enmity between band and label was memorialized in the title of the album, intended to demonstrate that working with Capitol was a form of punishment. It is out of print. As of December 2005, Capitol Punishment had sold 200,000 copies in the U.S.”
Reception for the most part was positive. Nick Lancaster of Drowned in Sound complained that there were more tracks from albums like Cryptic Writings and Risk instead of their earlier release. He also took a laser-focused aim at the inclusion of the "ludicrously moronic Crush 'Em", but said that "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" and "Kill the King" were a return to form. In a similar view, Steve Huey of AllMusic also criticized the compilation for focusing more on commercial material at the expense of the band's earlier work, as well as soundtrack songs like "Go To Hell", "Angry Again" and "99 Ways to Die".
Basic Description
A fantastic thrash medley......that’s just a tiny bit weird.
I find some intriguing parallels between this compilation & Back To The Start in 2019 (Read Here). Mainly, the selection of songs picked for this are fantastic! With one notable exception (See the “Worst Track” section), you’re given a clear picture into Megadeth’s history from the year 2000 to 1986. You saw that correctly: the tracklisting on Capitol Punishment was ordered backwards rather than forwards. It goes from the then modern material, all the way to their earliest days. To make things weirder, this compilation opens up with completely new material, and while that does add to the character of the release it just comes across like record company interference. Yet for the faults presented, Capitol Punishment is a good compilation. There’s more of a casual vibe here, but the music presented is some of Megadeth’s best! Though I’d argue that the compilation the band would release in 2006 has a better selection, Capitol Punishment has some value to it.
Best Track
I said it back in 2019 when I reviewed Back To The Start, and I’ll be repeating myself here, but Kill The King hits like a Mack truck. Sound-wise not that much different than it’s appearance in 2006, this track is the perfect middle finger to any corrupt figure of power. Drums that sound like machinegun fire, guitars that shock the system, and Dave’s patented raspy singing, all come together to create something that is just Thrash magic.
Kill The King
A nice 2nd place track would just so happen to be the tune from their newest album that would come out a year later, Dread and the Fugitive Mind. Gone is any of that commercial feel from the band’s late 90s material, and it seems as if Megadeth went back to their old-school mentality. While the production & sound feel very modern for it’s time, the overall vibe & fell are distinctively Megadeth. I can definitely see why Capitol Records wanted this song on the compilation, as it certainly planted a seed or two in listeners’s minds about what was to come.
Dread and the Fugitive Mind
Perhaps the final positive thing I can say doesn’t come from the music itself, but from the song organization. Whereas Back To The Start is more disorganized & you don’t have a solid picture of their history, Capitol Punishment is perfect in it’s display of the band’s history. You get a good look into their past, and it all leads up to what was current in 2000. Definitely a plus!
Worst Track
Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years is a great compilation of song. From their earliest years to the then current material, you get a pretty clear picture of their history. Like I said above, what’s weird is the ordering: instead of going from old to new, they went from new to old. It’s not bad per se, as the tracklisting is clear & precise, but I find it strange that they decided to start with newer songs instead of old. Also, I find the slight emphasis on tunes from Cryptic Writings odd, and opening this compilation with new tunes also seems odd. Perhaps the most damning negative point about Capitol Punishment is that there is nothing from their first album represented on here, but in Capitol Records’s defense, Killing Is My Business was released on Combat Records & not them.
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:
Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years
Overall Impression & Rating
Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years is a fun selection of songs. The ordering of tracks from new to old (Excluding the openers) is easily a strange decision, and the slight emphasis on one record is equally strange. You get the feeling that there was some record company interference, but regardless the compilation is a lot of fun. Capitol Punishment may be for more casual Megadeth fans, but there’s still plenty of material on here that it would satisfy just about anybody that gets there hands on this. Take a listen, and hear for yourself.
Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years gets 7.5 to 8 out of 10.
And that was Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years. Not quite as essential as the compilation that would appear 6 years later, but there’s still a great bushel of song to listen to. With that out of the way, Come back in the middle of May, when some old Germanic friends come by for a visit. See you then!
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