Super Collider (album)

On July 17, 2012, a tweet from the Twitter account for Megadeth's mascot Vic Rattlehead implied that frontman Dave Mustaine had begun writing lyrics for a follow-up album to 2011's Th1rt3en.[1] In an interview with NME, Mustaine confirmed that the band had been working on new material, commenting: "Some of it's a little darker, some of it's a little faster."[2]

Later Mustaine announced that the band was preparing to start work on the album, and suggested early 2013 as a tentative release, on a new label, as the band had split from their previous label, Roadrunner Records. The band's previous contract with that label was only for three albums, expiring after the release of Th1rt3en.[3]

On October 27, Mustaine revealed that the band was planning to enter the studio to begin tracking the album in the first week of November 2012,[4] before leaving the studio for the American leg of the Countdown to Extinction 20th anniversary tour. However, drummer Shawn Drover later suggested that recording for the album wouldn't begin until early 2013, and also suggested that the album would possibly be released in the summer of that year, rather than Mustaine's initial projection of a late-spring release. Drover said the band was in the process of composing material and determining what riffs to use on the record.[5] On December 24, 2012, Mustaine announced that three new songs were "tracked and almost done".[6] Mustaine later announced via the Vic Rattlehead Twitter page that he had chosen a title and cover art for the new album,[7] though neither was revealed at that time. As with Thirteen, work on the album was done at "Vic's Garage", the band's own studio in San Marcos, California.[8]

David Draiman of Disturbed was asked to perform guest vocals on "Dance in the Rain"

From January 2013 onwards, several short video clips were uploaded to the band's official YouTube channel, showing the band members working on new material in the studio.[9][10][11][12][13] Later that month, Mustaine announced that the band had finished recording 11 of 13 songs that the band planned to give to the label. Additionally, he confirmed that the band had decided on a new label and was signed.[14] The label was later revealed to be to Tradecraft, a Universal label created for Mustaine.[15] Several days later, on February 1, Mustaine announced that mixing had begun.

On February 12, 2013, the album's title was revealed as Super Collider. About two weeks later, Mustaine announced several song titles in an interview, discussing some of those songs in the process. Mustaine also revealed that fourteen songs were being worked on in total.[16] Recording for the album was completed in mid-March.[17]

On April 10, 2013, a snippet of a new song titled "Don't Turn Your Back" was posted to the band's website for streaming, and the cover artwork for the album was revealed.[18] Later that month, it was announced that David Draiman (of Disturbed and Device) would be featured as a guest vocalist on "Dance in the Rain". The title track was released as the album's lead single, and "Kingmaker" was released for streaming in May.[19]

Super Collider was released in several versions domestically. There are two versions of the CD: a standard edition and a Best Buy-exclusive edition which features three bonus tracks along with 3D cover art. Additionally, standard and limited vinyl editions were made available, as well.[19]

On April 23, 2013, "Super Collider" was released as the album's lead single through iTunes.[21] Several days earlier, the track debuted on an edition of the Full Metal Jackie radio show.[22] A video was also produced for the song.[23] The track deviates from a more traditional metal style in favor of a more radio-oriented rock sound,[22] which Mustaine claims was done to show the record label that the band could write and play more commercially accessible material.[24] Mustaine also stated that while the track drew some inspiration from particle colliders and the search for the "God particle", the lyrical meaning was less scientific.[16]

On May 18, 2013 "Kingmaker" was announced and released for streaming via YouTube.[19] Mustaine has revealed that "Kingmaker" was written about painkiller abuse and dependency.[16] He also said that he had altered the lyrics many times to "fit the intention" of the song.[24] Additionally, "Built for War" was featured on an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles on October 8, 2013.[25]

Mustaine has elaborated on the subject matter of several of the album's other songs as well. He has noted that "Forget to Remember" was intentionally written in an ambiguous way so that it could interpreted as being about either a person trying to forget about a relationship or someone who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and has memory problems. He also compared the concept behind the song to the film The Notebook. "The Blackest Crow" has a Southern influence and features a slide guitar,[16] while the lyrics are about loss and subsequent depression. Mustaine initially hoped to have a guest feature on the song, and reached out to country musicians Willie Nelson and Miranda Lambert; however, neither appeared on the song.[26] "Don't Turn Your Back..." was inspired by a friend of Mustaine, who described him as "the kind of guy that will steal your dope and then help you look for it."[27]

"Cold Sweat" is a Thin Lizzy cover, originally appearing on Thunder and Lightning (1983). Excluding bonus tracks, it is the first cover song to appear on a Megadeth album since "Anarchy in the UK", a Sex Pistols cover, was included on So Far, So Good... So What! in 1988. Mustaine said he had been wanting to cover the song since the early 1990s.[24]

All music and lyrics composed by Dave Mustaine, except where noted.

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.[45]

• Super Collider at Discogs (list of releases)