Never accuse "Megadeth" of not trying. The band consistently strives to make heavy, melodic, hard rock. "Risk" finds the band doing just that, working with elements and structures that would be slightly to the left of what a "traditional" hard rock band would embrace. Feel the almost Middle Eastern tinged roll in the opener "Insomnia," patched with some razor sharp break downs. Makes for an attention getting opener. Dave Mustaine is his growly, whiny, system loathing, multi-voice-tracked, schizophrenic self through much of this release (and would you have it any other way?).

Bands that have a lengthy history face certain unfair pitfalls as their careers continue to outlast most of their contemporaries - namely the line that must be walked between regurgitating old ideas and offering something new - but not so drastic as to smack of effort and alienate the core ideal that made the band successful in the first place. This album finds "Megadeth" moving toward a progressive hard rock with metal sheen and occasional chunk with high attention to dynamics and melodies. This does lend to a slick studio range and "Megadeth" could do with a good dose of "raw," especially on the guitar attack.

It seems "Megadeth" has completly forgotten how to write a good ol' thrashy guitar riff. Both Mustaine and Friedman flex their soloing skills often, but one good three-chord riff usually tastes better than a hundred guitar school grad technical solos, y'know? These wankerings are top-notch and creatively done, but the gut of the "Megadeth" guitar attack is missing. There are moments, but too few, although the tangent in "Prince Of Darkness" has some old school ruff stutters with a cool whiney lead playing on top." In place of the riff-fests that typified the early years is a low smooth rumble of slickness, that coupled with the band's (or producers'?) taste for sonic dynamics (i.e. violins, ethnic stringed instruments, etc.) produces a talented and matured, but less aggressive, unit.

The disco bass run and sassy retro 70's clean guitar squawk of the verses of "Crush 'em" is a catchy surprise, with some of the more interesting lead work on this album and is "Megadeth" at it's most original I've heard, but the song itself is generic cheese with the chorus serving as substandard metal fare and pretty much fails where the rest of the track sort of works (the verses are fresh.)

EDITOR'S NOTE: "Crush 'em" was originally written as a new "anthem" to be played at the "Phoenix Cayotes" hockey games. When the team passed on it, "Megadeth" pitched it to the bighshots of the NHL and it's now one of the "official" songs to get the fans going at all hockey games.

The shuffle of "Ecstasy," with the warm backing keyboards, has an almost Monster Magnet pull to it, but that almost cliché word phrasing cheeses it out some. Mustaine has a habit of writing everything in real "clever" rhyme schemes and these grate on the nerves and are the biggest negative I can find about this release - and "Megadeth" for that matter. He's mastered the whiney snarl, but traps himself into such structured vocal deliveries that it becomes formulaic and stuck in shallow evil, intense, aggravated, pissed off (done, done, done and done). Then there's the Ratt (???) clone of "Breadline" and is "Megadeth" in an almost glam sound, but it's surprisingly un-cheesy and I could see the radio loving it - if it was 1986.

A lot of this release smacks of trying too hard to be diverse. The songs are a motley collection of disjointed ideas and approaches. With the time and money and talent achieved from lasting as long as these musicians have, these songs are presented with gleaming production and forced intensity, with the "we're angry, but not so angry that we can't get some radio play" and scattered idea endeavors. Still, the trademark whine is there, and this is "Megadeth" doing a slightly more diverse angle than their last couple of radio albums. So, if that's your kick, "Risk" has enough to make you wish you liked it more.