• Record Label: UMD
  • Release Date: Jun 4, 2013
User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 70 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 70
  2. Negative: 20 out of 70
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  1. Jun 16, 2013
    5
    Many Megadeth fans keep expecting the band to make another Rust in Peace-style record, and 2009's Endgame proved they were still a thrash metal force to be reckoned with. Even TH1RT3EN had some great moments. Not so with Super Collider. Aside from "Built for War," the songs on this album are mainly of a hard rock or classic metal nature. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed the albumMany Megadeth fans keep expecting the band to make another Rust in Peace-style record, and 2009's Endgame proved they were still a thrash metal force to be reckoned with. Even TH1RT3EN had some great moments. Not so with Super Collider. Aside from "Built for War," the songs on this album are mainly of a hard rock or classic metal nature. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed the album has some good songs, such as the opening track "Kingmaker," the Southern-influenced "The Blackest Crow," and a respectable cover of Thin Lizzy's "Cold Sweat." The main problem with Super Collider is that the songs feel uninspired. The riffs aren't very memorable, and there's nothing spectacular about the solos. Dave Mustaine's lyrics are downright cheesy and mediocre, which ruin otherwise decent songs like "Built for War" and "Don't Turn Your Back..." Super Collider isn't Megadeth's worst record, but it's far from their best. Expand
  2. Jul 4, 2013
    4
    Megadeth are Thrash Metal legends, with their albums Rust in Peace and Peace Sells...but Who's Buying? and the band have also tried to take their sound in a dynamically different direction with Risk. On Super Collider the band don't present us with their trademark Thrash sound, and I was glad for that because I think that bands should develop and evolve over time, they shouldn't stick withMegadeth are Thrash Metal legends, with their albums Rust in Peace and Peace Sells...but Who's Buying? and the band have also tried to take their sound in a dynamically different direction with Risk. On Super Collider the band don't present us with their trademark Thrash sound, and I was glad for that because I think that bands should develop and evolve over time, they shouldn't stick with the same formula because it becomes boring and tiresome. Yet this is what this album suffers from, it gets lost in it's mid-tempo pace and the heavy but dull production on the guitars and bass.

    The first two songs, "Kingmaker" and "Super Collider" are the albums singles, and they are passable at best. But what is worse, is "Burn", sure the intro sounds something like Van Halen, but it slowly deteriorates. The lyrics are cheesy and the song is boring, three songs into this record and it feels really stodgy.

    "Built for War" begins with what I would expect to be an outro riff or something along those lines but instead I'm sat thinking, "Dear God, it get's worse" but it didn't. "Built for War" is one of the highlights on the album. It's actually a good song, not amazing, but it outshines the first three songs. Dave's vocals seem to suite this song, and I think that may be because it's faster and heavier, it's most like their classic work. And then there is this grand sounding rock soundtrack chorus of "War" at the end of the song, which is really different for the band, and it's these bits that chop up the dynamics that shine on Super Collider. The intro of "Dance in the Rain" would fit in on a Deftones record, that is before it kick in with trademark Mustaine lyrics, but it still changes the musical spectrum of this album. Really the album gets good from "Dance in the Rain" until "The Blackest Crow", but even these three good songs can't save the album.

    The album closes with a cover of Thin Lizzy's "Cold Sweat". I, personally am a Thin Lizzy fan, and they don't really do it justice, they don't kill it, you know it's "Cold Sweat" but I just don't like the heaviness of it, Dave's vocals in the verse, it feels a little cheesy.

    Overall, the album, whilst different, is poor, and I'm sad to see that it is. The first couple of listens, I actually enjoyed it, but it just seemed to get worse as I paid attention to the album, It drags on here and there, it gets boring, and at points you question your self why your exactly listening to it. However, it is listenable, it is tolerable and I have to give credit to them for trying.
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  3. Aug 28, 2013
    5
    Eh, it's better than I expected. Songs like "Kingmaker" and their cover of Thin Lizzy's "Cold Sweat" are good, even their experiment with Southern style music on "The Blackest Crow" worked to a certain to degree but songs like the title track and "Don't Turn Your Back" are among some of the worst Megadeth have ever recorded. Dave's lyrics aren't just what they used to be. Megadeth have hadEh, it's better than I expected. Songs like "Kingmaker" and their cover of Thin Lizzy's "Cold Sweat" are good, even their experiment with Southern style music on "The Blackest Crow" worked to a certain to degree but songs like the title track and "Don't Turn Your Back" are among some of the worst Megadeth have ever recorded. Dave's lyrics aren't just what they used to be. Megadeth have had a series of very good albums up until "Super Collider" and I feel that they will have to do a lot better next time out so as not to further alienate their fans. Not their worst album, but far from their best. Very far. Expand
  4. Mar 23, 2019
    4
    The only standout song, at least IMO, is Kingmaker. Everything else lacks the Megadeth sound we all know and love. It's almost like listening to Risk again. I appreciate trying new things but it just doesn't work for Megadeth.
  5. Sep 27, 2013
    5
    One thing I try hard not to do when I'm reviewing an album is let the general consensus affect my own. And between the dismal critic average & the fact that it's basically this year's butt of the joke in the metal community, that was kinda hard to do for this. Of course this reception all started when the title track from this album dropped. Between the slick production, simplistic chordOne thing I try hard not to do when I'm reviewing an album is let the general consensus affect my own. And between the dismal critic average & the fact that it's basically this year's butt of the joke in the metal community, that was kinda hard to do for this. Of course this reception all started when the title track from this album dropped. Between the slick production, simplistic chord structure & overall poppiness, it was pretty easy to tell why people expecting another Rust in Peace wouldn't be a fan of this track. Personally, while the lyrics are kinda stupid & the vocal effects in the verses aren't exactly necessary, I found it hard to not enjoy this song mostly because of how insanely catchy it is. Call it a guilty pleasure I guess. As for the album, I don't think it's the worst thing since AIDS like seemingly everyone else does, but there are definitely some major problems. Sure there are some undeniable glaring flaws, but there's at least enough redeemable elements here & there to make it not a total waste of time.

    Right off the bat my expectations shot to the ceiling with “Kingmaker”. Between the pummeling thrash metal riffs & poignant social commentary-based lyrics about hedonism & society's glorification of & dependence on drugs, all while staying melodically memorable, it's everything that you could wish for in a 2013 Megadeth song. In fact the song was so good that throughout the rest of the first listen I thought it was a decent enough album. Then I began to listen closely to the lyrics & my opinion started plummeting... FAST. This has to be lyrically one of the worst metal albums I've ever heard. The various lyrical approaches taken on this album are met with mixed results at say the least. It's known that Dave Mustaine has a talent for sociopolitical lyrical messages. But for every hit like “Kingmaker” or “Beginning of Sorrow”, which potently details the endless cycle of teenage pregnancy to ill-raised delinquent children (rinse & repeat), there's a big miss like “Off the Edge”, “Dance in the Rain” or bonus track “A House Divided”. These tracks are built around nothing but the most basic of social commentary cliches like “This world's gone crazy”, “cubicle hell for the middle class”, and don't go into any major point outside of “yup, this issue sure does exist” paired with vague anger. “Dance in the Rain” is the most notable of these 3, both because of the laughably bitter & paranoid spoken-word verses & the bizarrely effective David Draiman feature at the end of the song. While the lyrics are at around the same level as Mustaine's part, it's at least musically a lot more interesting, with the song picking up energy at that point to at least give what Draiman is saying some kind of passion.

    The one other track here I'll commend Mustaine for lyrically is “The Blackest Crow”, which is the story of a man dealing with the inevitable end of an infidelity-laced relationship. It's a little odd to hear coming from Mustaine but for what it's worth I think it works well. Plus the folk instrumentation, which is surprisingly well-incorporated with the heavy guitars, adds some much-needed variety to the album musically & sonically. But of course there are a lot of tracks here where I'm absolutely baffled that the lyrics went past Mustaine's rough-draft notebook. “Burn!” tries way too hard to be some angsty biker anthem & just falls flat on its face. Then there's “Don't Turn Your Back...”, which starts with a cool Latin-flavored intro solo immediately wasted by subsequent lyrics about “betrayal” that sound like they came straight out of a teenage girl's vaguely angry post-breakup Facebook statuses. But the most mind-boggling moment is the bonus track “All I Want”. Here the band devolves into in a way that, combined with Mustaine's voice, becomes unintentionally hilarious & gets into so-bad-it's-good territory. Speaking of his voice, on previous albums, though a bit polarizing, Mustaine's uniquely nasally voice gave the songs a distinct sense of wit & tongue-in-cheek snark that was one of Megadeth's most appealing traits. Whereas now on most tracks on Super Collider he basically sounds like a constipated version of Taz from Looney Tunes. He might do a serviceable job on the tracks I've highly praised, but any attempt he makes to recreate that same neurotic spoken-word edge doesn't have nearly the same impact.

    Both Mustaine & Broderick have always been great guitarists & that hasn't changed one bit, with some tracks including the two performing an epic guitar duet in the solo. And throughout there are exceptional basslines that create a nice groove that makes even the worst tracks here pleasant to hear if you don't pay attention to what's being said. Also the cover of the Thin Lizzy's “Cold Sweat” is pretty well-executed. Overall this isn't my biggest disappointment of the year so far, but it's pretty close.

    Score: 59/100
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  6. Aug 2, 2014
    5
    Risk was one of the worst Megadeth albums, but at least it had a soul. It was written with something in mind.
    Super Collider sounds like a lackluster mess of pop-oriented songs mixed with more heavy oriented stuff. It has few good episodes (Kingmaker, Dance In The Rain), but they are not enough to hold the whole record on their back. Also, the song structure is very repetitive and the
    Risk was one of the worst Megadeth albums, but at least it had a soul. It was written with something in mind.
    Super Collider sounds like a lackluster mess of pop-oriented songs mixed with more heavy oriented stuff. It has few good episodes (Kingmaker, Dance In The Rain), but they are not enough to hold the whole record on their back. Also, the song structure is very repetitive and the lyrics are somewhat preachy.
    After such good works like United Abominations, Endgame and in a lesser way even Thirteen, Super Collider is an utter disappointment. It's not metal, it's not hard rock, it's not pop... it's a mess.
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  7. Aug 30, 2013
    6
    I'll be doing a track by track review here.
    Kingmaker 10/10 Great song, Very thrashy, probably a great live song
    Super Collider 8/10 People love to hate this song. I thought it was like a 6 at first, but if you listen to the 3 after it you'll like it alot more! Burn! 3/10 The only redeeming part of the song is the intro, which is a cool solo. The chorus is almost as dull as Hail to the
    I'll be doing a track by track review here.
    Kingmaker 10/10 Great song, Very thrashy, probably a great live song
    Super Collider 8/10 People love to hate this song. I thought it was like a 6 at first, but if you listen to the 3 after it you'll like it alot more!
    Burn! 3/10 The only redeeming part of the song is the intro, which is a cool solo. The chorus is almost as dull as Hail to the King.
    Built for War 4/10. This song has some thrashy elements to it, too bad the lyrics are awful
    Off the Edge 5/10 Extremely unmemorable...
    Dance in the Rain 10/10 is a nice song that feels very progressive. One of my Favorite here.
    Beginning of Sorrow 9/10 Cool song with a nice bass intro, love listening to this one.
    Blackest Crow 7/10 The slide guitar is cool but the rest of the song falls flat.
    Forget to Remember 6/10 A song I could really care less about, it feels like its missing something. It could've made an excellent ballad.
    Don't turn your back 3/10 Despite being hardcore, the lyrics are soo bad!!!!
    Cold Sweat 10/10 Great Cover thats all I can really say.

    Super Collider isn't the best album ever made by Megadeth, but it isn't the worst.
    Final Rating 6.8
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  8. Sep 2, 2014
    4
    Such an uninspired album. It was really lacking creativity. A huge letdown for me considering that Megadeth's previous albums were actually decent. "Super Collider" is one of the worst (Risk) Megadeth albums if not the worst one.
  9. Mar 16, 2017
    6
    It was bad, but not THAT bad. Other than the title track, the songs were generally fine (although Burn! was only deemed "fine" because the intro was good). The lyrics were terrible, but the riffs were still good and most of the songs sounded decent if you don't know the lyrics. Megadeth's worst album, probably, but not awful.
  10. Mar 22, 2015
    6
    6/10 .................................................................................................................................................
  11. Apr 11, 2018
    5
    The most meh album released by Megadeth but it's still not the worst album by them. I don't mind radio rock but the mid-tempo blandness gets boring after like 3 songs.
  12. Nov 19, 2016
    6
    This is a nice album if you forgot about existing of other Megadeth albums. Definitely it's a worst Megadeth album but still it's worth listening to it. Dance in the Rain, Kingmaker, Forget to Remember, Don't Turn Your Back... are really good songs. The cover of Thin Lizzy classic Cold Sweat is on point too.
Metascore
41

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 8
  2. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. Apr 22, 2014
    40
    Truthfully, Super Collider is just a Megadeth album born of complacency and issued with only the faintest interest in remaining relevant.
  2. Q Magazine
    Jul 10, 2013
    40
    It ditches classic thrash for bland classic rock. [Aug 2013, p.96]
  3. Classic Rock Magazine
    Jun 26, 2013
    80
    It's the culmination of four years during which Megadeth have continuously raised their game. [Jul 2013, p.92]