Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Megadeth - Youthanasia (1994)

With my main criticism of Youthanasia being that it is far too long, with a significant amount of filler (the final 4 tracks are completely pointless) thrown in, overall I don’t mind that it is a blatant attempt to commercialise the band as they do this very well and there are some genuinely catchy tracks on here that stick around the grey matter for a while after listening through.

The more heavy metal style works well even though it sounds like groove metal without much groove in places and to be honest I don’t miss thrashy Megadeth all that much on Youthanasia. It feels like a much more settled record because of its predictability, and it feels better off for that loss of urgency and tension that I normally associate with the band (and would no doubt normally champion them for). Tracks feel like they build quicker to appease this drive for accessibility, but they still fall into gear easily and although I doubt Dave and company barely broke sweat making this album, they still took a huge risk and it paid off.

By this point Metallica had dropped their self-titled release as has already been noted on previous reviews here but we had also seen Anthrax drop their majority thrash sound for a more groove orientated style with the arrival of John Bush for Sound of White Noise, notwithstanding that Megadeth had already opened the door to some more toned-down content on Countdown to Extinction. If they left that door just ajar in 1992, they certainly ensured it was kicked wide open two years later. The infectious nature of tracks like Addicted to Chaos, Elysian Fields (with backing vocals and that harmonica again, no less) and Family Tree feel effortlessly formulated to the point of arrogance – which would be out of character for Dave Mustaine of course.