Cries from the Quiet World: Megadeth "The System Has Failed"

martes, 20 de febrero de 2018

Megadeth "The System Has Failed"

The System Has Failed is the tenth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on September 14, 2004. It was the band's second and final studio album distributed by Sanctuary Records. The System Has Failed was the first album to be released after Mustaine recovered from his arm injury sustained in 2002 which prevented him from playing guitar. It is also the first of three Megadeth records not to include original bassist and co-founder David Ellefson. Instead, the album features session players, including former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland on lead guitar. However, Poland only provided lead guitar parts and solos on a contractual basis and did not rejoin the band. To date, it is the only Megadeth album where the only certified member of the band was the sole Mustaine.

The System Has Failed received positive reception from critics and managed to debut at number 18 on the Billboard 200. The album was generally thought of as being a return to form for the band, after the release of more commercially accessible albums through the 1990s. "Die Dead Enough" and "Of Mice and Men" were released as singles in 2004, and "The Scorpion" was released as a single in 2005. The track "Back in the Day" was featured in the Duck Dodgers episode "In Space, No One Can Hear You Rock" in 2005, which featured an animated version of the band performing the song.

In 2002, frontman Dave Mustaine announced that he was disbanding Megadeth due to an arm injury that rendered him unable to play guitar. In a statement published on April 3, 2002, he stated that doctors expected that it would take about a year before he would recover from the injury. However, it was uncertain as to how complete of a recovery it would be. Mustaine stated his hopes to regain the ability to play guitar. He subsequently recovered following months of physical therapy.

The album was recorded at Oceanway and Emerald Entertainment in Nashville, Tennessee and at Phase Four Studios in Tempe, Arizona. In a promotional statement from Megadeth's then-label Sanctuary Records, Mustaine clarified that recording the album had been "liberating", due to having more control over the record than he had had since the first two Megadeth records. Mustaine also noted that he initially took a casual approach to the album, starting out working three hours a night, four days a week.

Originally intended to be a solo album by Mustaine, the record was re-branded with the Megadeth name as a result of contractual obligations owed to Mustaine's publishing company. Mustaine co-produced the record with Jeff Balding, who had previously engineered Cryptic Writings and Risk. Upon restarting Megadeth, Mustaine contacted bassist and founding member David Ellefson about resuming bass guitar duties for the band. Those efforts were ultimately fruitless, however. Ellefson claimed that Mustaine was not financially willing to pick up "where it was when [the band] broke up" and did not return to Megadeth.

The cover art was designed by Mike Learn, and features Vic Rattlehead at a podium in front of the United States Supreme Court building selling a not-guilty verdict to then U.S. President George W. Bush. Saluting is Hillary Clinton, next to former President Bill Clinton. Behind President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney holds a briefcase labeled "plan B". Behind Cheney are several other Bush Administration officials: Then National Security Advisor (and later Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft. The $100 bills on the cover depict Vic Rattlehead's face rather than the one of Benjamin Franklin.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Dave Mustaine.