I love picking up CDs that are loaded with tracks from here, there, and everywhere, because a band has done a lot of soundtracks or other collection albums. Sometimes you find some really good songs without having to go pick up a bunch of shitty soundtracks.Megadeth covering No More Mr. Nice Guy, is there a better way to open a collection of miscellaneous songs? I'm not going to say that this version is better than Alice Cooper's, but I will say that it's jacked up in a way that's totally Metal. This song was originally from the Shocker soundtrack, and was produced by Desmond Child, which I think explains why it sounds so good. It also helps that it's a song that Dave Mustaine can totally relate to.
I don't think anything good came out of the Super Mario Bros. movie, including Breakpoint. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad song. It's actually pretty decent, but it's so typical of everything they were releasing in 1992, that I don't have much use for it. However, on this album it's a great filler track.
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey was a wickedly funny movie, that had some great Metal. Go To Hell was one of those songs. My favourite part of this song is the lyrics. "I saw my funeral that day / I know who didn't show to mourn / My judgement was life in hell / Pillars of pain and thorns / My only friend's the goat / With 666 between his horns / Go to hell / Place all your trust here in me / Rest assured these things I know / And as Charon sails the sea / Your journey too shall end below / Ah yes you're all sitting ducks / It's true you reap what you sow / Go to hell". The music is also good, but it's standard Megadeth.
I've covered Angry Again in my review for The Last Action Hero. It's a song I like. It's a bit of a throw away, and a little commercial, but other than that pretty solid.
I have to admit I am not a huge Megadeth fan. They only have three, maybe four albums, that I like, and only two albums I regularly listen to (Peace Sells and Cryptic Writings). However, Hidden Gems does see it's own fair share of play, because it's great in a mix.
My favourite song on this collection, that's not a cover, is 99 Ways to Die. This song is fast, furious, and totally psychotic. It's one of my favourite Megadeth songs. "If I see the morning hours / I'll have one more yesterday / I take life from tomorrow / Cause I've burned out my today / If I get up to the top I know / I'll just go back downhill / I've got a terminal future / And it's time to write my will / I down another glass of courage / And a shot of thorazine / We're not ready to see you yet / 99 ways to die / We're not ready to see you yet", and that's the reason why. Musically it's decent, and clearly a Megadeth song.
Paranoid comes from the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity In Black. ( This is a modified review copied from that album, that I covered some time ago.) The song has been covered non-stop by any band thinking they are Hard Rock or Metal. Ozzy performs it in every show, and I'm sure that Black Sabbath without Ozzy also performed this song constantly. Megadeth, did a great job Thrash Metalling the shit out of this song. It's faster, more furious, and pierces with a shrapnel that the original version wanted to do, but couldn't back during the original recording.
The last soundtrack song is Diadems from Tales From The Crypt Presents Demon Knight. This is a slow ominous tune, that is a little more diverse than most of the songs on this album. Or, at least it has the most unique musical styling of all the songs. However, that doesn't make it any better. In fact, this is a pretty bland song for the most part.
The album ends with a cover of The Sex Pistols' Problems. This is the only song on the album that had never been released prior to this CD. It's a decent cover, but I never cared for the original, so that doesn't help. I will say that it is a good closer to this collection.
Now it sounds like this album is stuffed full of fillers, and for the most part that's an accurate description. However, for a disc that barely makes it past the point of being a maxi single it's a great quick listen that will still pump you up.
6/10 - content
7/10 - production
6/10 - personal bias
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