The System Has Failed

With global affairs at a new low in 2004, fans expected *The System Has Failed* to be Megadeth’s ode to the decaying civilization they had been prophesying for almost 20 years. But with the exception of a few pointed diatribes directed at the government, the majority of the album returns to the internal conflicts that Dave Mustaine started exploring in the \'90s. “Something I’m Not,” “Tears In A Vial,” and the inscrutable “The Scorpion” might be Megadeth’s first foray into… breakup songs. Even when Mustaine rails against terrorism in “Truth Be Told” it feels like he’s trying to ward off the effects of a broken heart: “Cause we are all guilty, guilty as sin / There\'ll be no peace, never for you and me.” With “Back in the Day” Mustaine takes a page from hip-hop’s playbook by designing a nostalgic ode to metal’s past that is as grumpy as it is salutary: “Well that was back in the day / And if you weren\'t there / It doesn\'t matter anyway / Because you wouldn\'t understand.” Thankfully, just when you think Megadeth have become old men in a young man’s world, there is the furor of “Blackmail the Universe,” proof that Megadeth will never be better than when they are dealing with the one subject they love above all others: the ruination of mankind.

The System Has Failed marks a return from the dead for Megadeth -- and quite a glorious return, it must be said. When bandleader Dave Mustaine was diagnosed in early 2002 with radial neuropathy -- strained nerves in his left arm and hand -- the snarling guitar shredder was forced to disband his once groundbreaking group after nearly two decades of activity. Granted, it wasn't that big of a loss at the time, chiefly so because Megadeth had long passed its prime. The band's key recordings date back to the speed metal era, from 1986 (the year of Peace Sells, Reign in Blood, and Master of Puppets) to 1992 (the year Megadeth, like Metallica a year earlier, made a distinct, more commercial shift, releasing Countdown to Extinction -- to the dismay of many longtime fans).