Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years

Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years is a greatest hits compilation album by heavy metal band Megadeth, released in 2000, through Capitol Records. The album featured the Dave Mustaine/David Ellefson/Jimmy DeGrasso/Al Pitrelli line-up on the new tracks "Kill the King" and "Dread and the Fugitive Mind". The album features a hidden track, "Capitol Punishment", which is a medley of numerous previous Megadeth songs.

Capitol Punishment:
The Megadeth Years
Greatest hits album by
ReleasedOctober 24, 2000
Recorded1986–2000
GenreHeavy metal, hard rock, thrash metal, speed metal
Length1:05:53
LabelCapitol
ProducerVarious
Megadeth chronology
Risk
(1999)
Capitol Punishment:
The Megadeth Years

(2000)
The World Needs a Hero
(2001)
For the article on the death penalty, see Capital punishment. For the professional wrestling event, see WWE Capitol Punishment.

Background

The title of the album is an allusion to the band's persistent difficulties with their record label, Capitol Records. Megadeth ultimately left Capitol and signed with Sanctuary Records, but were contractually obliged to release one further album with Capitol, hence the greatest hits compilation. With the exception of material from the band's debut album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!, which was released on Combat Records rather than Capitol, the compilation contains songs from all Megadeth's previously released albums at the time, in reverse-chronological order. In addition to the new track "Kill the King", Capitol insisted on the inclusion of "Dread and the Fugitive Mind", a track recorded for the album The World Needs a Hero, then in the production stage. The band agreed simply to release themselves from their obligations to Capitol, but the enmity between band and label was memorialized in the title of the album, intended to demonstrate that working with Capitol was a form of punishment. It is out of print. As of December 2005, Capitol Punishment had sold 200,000 copies in the U.S.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [2]
Drowned in Sound(8/10) [3]
Q [4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide [5]

Nick Lancaster of Drowned in Sound criticized the compilation for including too many tracks from albums like Cryptic Writings and Risk instead of earlier, heavier material. Lancaster took particular aim at the inclusion of the "ludicrously moronic" "Crush 'Em". Despite that, he did give praise to the two then-new songs "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" and "Kill the King", citing them as a "return to form."[3]

Similarly, Steve Huey of AllMusic also criticized the album for focusing more on commercial material at the expense of the band's earlier thrash material, as well as the exclusion of soundtrack songs like "Go To Hell", "Angry Again" and "99 Ways to Die". Huey summed up the compilation as "more of a sampler for casual fans", finding the release "too incomplete" and "too scattershot" otherwise.[2]

Track listing

No.TitleAlbumLength
1."Kill the King"New Song3:46
2."Dread and the Fugitive Mind"2000 - New Song / 2001 The World Needs a Hero4:26
3."Crush 'Em"1999 - Risk4:59
4."Use the Man"1997 - Cryptic Writings4:37
5."Almost Honest"1997 - Cryptic Writings4:04
6."Trust"1997 - Cryptic Writings5:12
7."A Tout le Monde"1994 - Youthanasia4:31
8."Train of Consequences"1994 - Youthanasia3:28
9."Sweating Bullets"1992 - Countdown to Extinction5:04
10."Symphony of Destruction"1992 - Countdown to Extinction4:03
11."Hangar 18"1990 - Rust in Peace5:13
12."Holy Wars... The Punishment Due"1990 - Rust in Peace6:35
13."In My Darkest Hour"1988 - So Far, So Good... So What!6:19
14."Peace Sells"1986 - Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?4:04
Total length:1:06:21

Hidden track (US version)

No.TitleAlbumLength
15."Capitol Punishment" (Hidden Track)New Song (US Release Only)4:47

Bonus track (Japanese version)

No.TitleAlbumLength
15."Wake Up Dead"1986 - Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?3:40

Charts

Year Chart Position
2000 Billboard 200 66
New Zealand 41
Year Single Chart Position
2001 "Kill the King" Mainstream Rock Tracks 21

References

  1. http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=45667
  2. Allmusic Review
  3. Drowned in Sound Review
  4. Album reviews at CD Universe
  5. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 534. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
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